Highland English

Highland English
Highland English
Native to	United Kingdom
Region	Scotland
Ethnicity	Scottish people
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Ingvaeonic Anglo-Frisian Anglic English International English Commonwealth English European English Euro English British English Scottish English Highland English; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Germanic Proto-West Germanic Proto-English Old English Middle English Early Modern English Modern English ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Last updated March 22, 2025

Highland English is the variety of Scottish English spoken by many in Gaelic-speaking areas and the Hebrides.^[1] It is more strongly influenced by Gaelic than are other forms of Scottish English.^[2]^[3]

Phonology

This section contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The epenthesis ("helping vowel"), which is used in some consonant combinations in Gaelic and Scots, is sometimes used in the Hebrides and so "film" may be pronounced "fillum".^[4]

Vocabulary

Up south and down north, as opposed to the usual English up north and down south, are used in parts of the Highlands and Islands, most notably in Uist.^[5]^[6] It is likely derived from Gaelic usage, attested in the Wester Ross dialect.^[7]

References

↑ "HIGHLAND ENGLISH | Encyclopedia.com". Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
↑ Jones, Charles (1997). The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 566–567. ISBN 978-0-7486-0754-9.
↑ McMahon, April M. S. (2000). Lexical Phonology and the History of English . Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-521-47280-7.
↑ Shuken, Cynthia "Highland and Island English", in Trudgill, Peter (1984). Language in the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-521-28409-7
↑ Uist Beò
↑ Lost in the Western Isles
↑ Wentworth, Roy (2003). Gaelic Words and Phrases From Wester Ross / Faclan is Abairtean à Ros an Iar. Inverness: CLÀR. ISBN 1900901218.

Sources

Sabban, Annette (1982), Sprachkontakt: zur Variabilität des Englischen im gälischsprachigen Gebiet Schottlands; eine empirische Studie, Heidelberg: Groos.
Watson, Murray (2003) Being English in Scotland. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-1859-7

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[1] "HIGHLAND ENGLISH | Encyclopedia.com". Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13 April 2024.

[2] Jones, Charles (1997). The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 566–567. ISBN 978-0-7486-0754-9.

[3] McMahon, April M. S. (2000). Lexical Phonology and the History of English . Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-521-47280-7.

[4] Shuken, Cynthia "Highland and Island English", in Trudgill, Peter (1984). Language in the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-521-28409-7

[5] Uist Beò

[6] Lost in the Western Isles

[7] Wentworth, Roy (2003). Gaelic Words and Phrases From Wester Ross / Faclan is Abairtean à Ros an Iar. Inverness: CLÀR. ISBN 1900901218.

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Highland English

Contents

Phonology

Vocabulary

See also

References

Sources