Scots language

The form of the English language as traditionally spoken and written in Scotland, regarded by some scholars as a distinct language. Scots derives from the Northumbrian dialect of Anglo-Saxon or Old English, and has been a literary language since the 14th century.

It is also known as Inglis (now archaic, and a variant of ‘English’), Lallans (‘Lowlands’), Lowland Scots (in contrast with the Gaelic of the Highlands and Islands), and ‘the Doric’ (as a rustic language in contrast with the ‘Attic’ or ‘Athenian’ language of Edinburgh's literati, especially in the 18th century). It is also often referred to as Broad Scots in contrast to the anglicized language of the middle classes.

Scots has been spoken in southeast Scotland since the 7th century. During the Middle Ages it spread to the far north, blending with the Norn dialects of Orkney and Shetland (once distinct varieties of Norse). Scots has a wide range of poetry, ballads, and prose records, including two national epic poems: John Barbour's Brus and Blind Harry's Wallace. With the transfer of the court to England upon the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the dissemination of the King James Bible, Scots ceased to be a national and court language, but has retained its vitality among the general population and in various literary and linguistic revivals.

Words originating in Scots that are now widely used in English include bonnie (= good-looking), glamour, raid, and wee (= small). In Scotland a wide range of traditional Scots usage intermixes with standard English.