Scots Norse

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Scots Norse
Sudhrø̀sk
Pronunciation[sˠʌ.ˈreskʰ]
Created byMelinoë
DateApril 3rd, 2026
Native toSuðreyjar
EthnicityNorse Scots
Native speakers(L1) 2,000 (2019)
(L2) < 50,000
Early forms
Dialects
  • Inner South
  • Inner Central
  • Inner North
  • Outer South
  • Outer North
Official status
Official language in
Scotland
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Scots Norse (Also Sodor Norse; endonym: Sudhrø̀sk; /sˠʌ.ˈreskʰ/) is a West Nordic language, making it closer to Icelandic and Faroese than Swedish or Danish. It is natively spoken throughout Suðreyjar, being the dominant language of the isles. It has recieved heavy influence from Scots Gaelic over the last several centuries, contributing heavily to the spelling conventions of the language, and likely being the primary pushing force behind the development of the broad/slender distinction in Scots Norse (see "-ske" /ʃcʰ/ vs "-sk" /skʰ/)

Scots Norse is typically split into two main dialect groups, Inner and Outer, corresponding to the Inner and Outer Hebrides, these are further divided into North and South for both, with a Central division for Inner. These dialects are almost entirely mutually intelligible within their groups, and mostly so even between the groups. Uniting all of these is the standardized form, Hàsudhrø̀sk, literally meaning "High Scots Norse". ("high" as in "exalted")

History

Pre-Modern

Scots Norse originates in the mid to late 13th century, around the time Suðreyjar was handed over to Scotland with the Treaty of Perth. Though the language would continue to be largely unchanged from the Old Norse of the 12th century, 1266AD is often used as a dividing date between Old Norse and the earliest forms of Scots Norse. While 1266 is a relatively arbitrary date, it serves its purpose as a convenient divide between two stages, as following the Treaty of Perth, the Hebrides would gain a much larger population of Gaelic and English speakers (At this point still Middle Irish and Middle English), and from roughly 1450AD onward, Scots Norse would be increasingly influenced by Scots Gaelic and, to a lesser extent, Scots.

Having been spoken throughout Suðreyjar, Scots Norse had a dialect within the Isle of Mann (Scots Norse "monø̀jr" /mɒ.ˈnei̯θ͇/). Little is known about Manx Norse (monø̀sk), as it is very poorly recorded, the most extensive description being a short document from around 1500AD that contains a list of about 150 words, with a very poor description of the pronunciations. Though from this description we can gather that Manx Norse still had the dental fricatives that had been lost in other dialects (merging with t/d), we get this from the description "... these [th and dh] are like that of the Saxons' beloved þ or the Scots' [Gaels'] sounds of the same staves [=letters]."

Following the treaty of Perth, the usage of Norse began declining significantly, with evidence it was nearly extinct by 1550. A small revitalization occured in the mid 18th century when several of the last native speakers (at the time, Scots Norse had no more than 150 remaining speakers) gathered together to document the language so it could be taught to children. This effort was mostly effective, leading to the first noticeable rise in speaker count since it began declining. By the 1880's, there would be upwards of 1,500 native speakers, a majority of them young.

Modern

Modern Scots Norse is typically classed as critically endangered due to how few speakers it has, having no more than 2,500 native speakers as of 2020, and virtually all of them live in the Hebrides, making it extremely limited.

Since the early 1990's, Scots Norse has gained a small but dedicated community of linguists that are determined to further document it and make resources more readily available. As of 2018, an online course has been published that goes over Standard Scots Norse, and it has been continually updated since then, improving the quality and extent of the contents, having started out as a rather barebones description of the phonology, orthography, and rudimentary grammar.

Phonology

labial alveolar velar
plain broad slender plain broad slender plain broad slender
Nasal m mˠ mʲ n nˠ ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p pˠ pʲ t tˠ t͡ʃ k c
Voiced b bˠ bʲ d dˠ d͡ʒ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f fˠ fʲ s, θ͇¹ sˠ ʃ h² x ç
Voiced v vˠ vʲ
Approximant r, l³ rˠ, lˠ rʲ, ʎ j
  1. Often plain /θ/
  2. /h/ merges with /x/ outside of Standard Scots Norse.
  3. Final "l" (not "ll") is often realized as /ʃ/.
Front Back
Unround Round
High i u
Near-High ɪ ʊ
Mid-High e (ə) o
Mid-Low ɛ (ʌ) ɔ
Low ɑ (ɒ)
  1. /ə, ʌ, ɒ/ are the unstressed realizations of /ɑ, ʊ, ɔ/.
  2. /ʊ/ is most typically realized as [ɤ]

Long vowels have long been lost, though their effects remain prominently, influencing the languages stress patterns heavily.

Every vowel can appear nasalized, though nasalization only occurs in specific positions, and is always shown with a single N. (though not all single Ns are nasalization)

  • Word finally
  • Before a fricative (S and H)
  • In some irregular positions when loaned from another language.

Prosody

The rules for stress are very slightly more complex than they were in Old Norse, but not by much.

Stress always goes on the left-most syllable possible. When there are vowels with a grave, stress goes to the first one, skipping over all vowels without one. (so sudhrø̀jr is stressed on "ø̀")

Orthography

(only accurate up to "d")

Letter(s) Phoneme Examples
b plain /b/ [Term?]
broad /bˠ/ bògi /ˈbˠo.ɟɪ/
slender /bʲ/ [Term?]
bh before u/ù, a consonant, or finally /./ or null bhùrr /ˈur/, àbbh /ˈo/
usually plain /v/ bhàrr /ˈvor/
broad /vˠ/ [ɰ~w] bholc /ˈvˠʊkʰ/
slender /vʲ/ bhère /ˈvʲerʲ/
c plain/broad initially and finally /kʰ/ cotte /ˈkʰɔt͡ʃʰ/
between vowels /k/ [Term?] //
slender initially and finally /cʰ/ cìss /cʰis/
between vowels /c/ [Term?] //
ch word finally /x/ loch /ˈlˠɔx/
chd /xk/ [Term?] //
cn /kʰɾ/ cnà /ˈkʰɾo/
d plain /d/ dàge /ˈdoɟ/
broad /dˠ/ [Term?] //
slender /d͡ʒ/ [Term?] //
dh broad between vowels /./ odhar /ˈo.ər/, cladhadh /ˈkʰl̪ˠɤ.əɣ/
/ɣ/ modhail /ˈmɔɣal/
elsewhere dhà /ɣaː/, modh /mɔɣ/, tumadh /ˈt̪ʰuməɣ/
slender between vowels /./ Gàidheal /ˈkɛː.əl̪ˠ/
elsewhere /ʝ/ dhìth /ʝiː/, dhìol /ʝiəl̪ˠ/
f broad /f/ fathan /ˈfahan/, gafann /ˈkafən̪ˠ/
slender before front vowel fios /fis̪/, fèill /feːʎ/
before back vowel /fj/ fiùran /ˈfjuːɾan/, feòl /fjɔːl̪ˠ/
fh usual none fhios /is̪/, a fharadh /ˈaɾəɣ/
exceptionally /h/ fhathast /ha.əs̪t̪/, fhèin /heːn/, fhuair /huəɾʲ/
g broad /k/ gad /kat̪/, ugan /ˈukan/
slender /kʲ/ gille /ˈkʲiʎə/, leig /ʎekʲ/
gh finally, sometimes none* an-diugh /əɲˈtʲu/, nigh /ɲiː/
between vowels /./* aghaidh /ˈɤː.ɪ/, fiughar /ˈfju.əɾ/, nigheann /ˈɲiː.an̪ˠ/
/ɣ/ laghail /ˈl̪ˠɤɣal/
elsewhere broad /ɣ/ mo ghoc /mə ɣɔʰk/, lagh /l̪ˠɤɣ/
slender /ʝ/ mo ghille /mə ʝiʎə/, do thaigh /t̪ə hɤj/
gn /kr/ gnè /kɾʲɛː/
h /h/ a h-athair /ə hahɪɾʲ/, Hearach /ˈhɛɾəx/
slender /ç/ deich /tʲeç/, dìcheall /ˈtʲiːçəl̪ˠ/
l broad /l̪ˠ/ lachan /ˈl̪ˠaxən/, a laoidh /ə l̪ˠɯj/, balach /ˈpal̪ˠəx/
slender initially, unlenited /ʎ/ leabaidh /ˈʎepɪ/, leum /ʎeːm/
initially, lenited /l/ dà leabaidh /t̪aː lepɪ/, bho leac /vɔ lɛʰk/
elsewhere cuilean /ˈkʰulan/, sùil /s̪uːl/
ll broad /l̪ˠ/ balla /ˈpal̪ˠə/, ciall /kʰʲiəl̪ˠ/
slender /ʎ/ cailleach /ˈkʰaʎəx/, mill /miːʎ/
m broad /m/ maol /mɯːl̪ˠ/, màla /ˈmaːl̪ˠə/
slender before front vowel milis /ˈmilɪʃ/, tìm /tʰʲiːm/
before back vowel /mj/ meall /mjaul̪ˠ/, meòg /mjɔːk/
mh between vowels, sometimes /./ comhairle /ˈkʰo.əɾlə/
broad /v/ àmhainn /ˈaːvɪɲ/, caomh /kʰɯːv/
slender before front vowel caoimhin /ˈkʰɯːvɪɲ/, làimh /ˈl̪ˠaiv/
before back vowel /vj/ do mhealladh /t̪ɔ ˈvjal̪ˠəɣ/, dà mheall /t̪aː vjaul̪ˠ/
n broad initially, unlenited /n̪ˠ/ nàbaidh /ˈn̪ˠaːpi/, norrag /ˈn̪ˠɔrˠak/
initially, lenited /n/ mo nàire /mɔ ˈnaːɾʲɪ/, bho nàbaidh /vɔ ˈnaːpɪ/
elsewhere dona /ˈt̪ɔnə/, sean /ʃɛn/
slender initially, unlenited /ɲ/ neul /ɲial̪ˠ/, neart /ɲɛɾʃt̪/
initially, lenited /n/ mo nighean /mɔ ˈni.an/, dà nead /t̪aː nɛt̪/
elsewhere, after back vowel /ɲ/ duine /ˈt̪ɯɲə/, càineadh /ˈkʰaːɲəɣ/
elsewhere, after front vowel /n/ cana /ˈkʰanə/, teine /ˈtʰʲenə/
ng broad /ŋɡ/ teanga /ˈtʰʲɛŋɡə/, fulang /ˈful̪ˠəŋɡ/
slender /ŋʲɡʲ/ aingeal /ˈaiŋʲɡʲəl̪ˠ/, farsaing /ˈfaɾs̪ɪŋʲɡʲ/
nn broad /n̪ˠ/ ceannaich /ˈkʰʲan̪ˠɪç/, ann /aun̪ˠ/
slender /ɲ/ bainne /ˈpaɲə/, tinn /tʰʲiːɲ/
p broad
slender not before back vowel 		initially or after consonant /pʰ/ post /pʰɔs̪t̪/, campa /ˈkʰaumpə/, peasair /ˈpʰes̪ɪɾʲ/,
between vowels /ʰp/ cupa /ˈkʰuʰpə/, cipean /ˈkʰʲiʰpan/
finally after vowel cuip /ˈkʰuiʰp/
finally after consonant /p/ ailp /alp/
slender before back vowel after consonant, or initially /pʰj/ piuthar /ˈpʰju.əɾ/, peall /pʰjaul̪ˠ/
ph broad /f/ sa phost /s̪ə fɔs̪t̪/, bho phàiste /vɔ ˈfaːʃtʲə/
slender before front vowel dà pheasair /t̪aː ˈfes̪ɪɾʲ/, mo pheata /mɔ ˈfɛʰt̪ə/
before back vowel /fj/ mo phiuthar /mɔ ˈfju.əɾ/, sa pheann /s̪ə fjaun̪ˠ/
r initially, unlenited /rˠ/ ràmh /rˠaːv/, rionnag /ˈrˠun̪ˠak/
initially, lenited /ɾ/ do rùn /tɔ ɾuːn/, bho rèic /vɔ ɾeːʰkʲ/
elsewhere broad caran /ˈkʰaɾan/, mura /ˈmuɾə/
slender /ɾʲ/ cìr /kʰʲiːɾʲ/, cuireadh /ˈkʰuɾʲəɣ/
rr /rˠ/ cearr /kʰʲaːrˠ/, barra /ˈparˠə/
-rt, -rd /ɾʃt̪/ neart /ɲɛɾʃt̪/, bord /pɔːɾʃt̪/
s broad /s̪/ sàr /s̪aːɾ/, casan /ˈkʰas̪an/
slender /ʃ/ siùcair /ˈʃuːʰkɪɾʲ/, càise /ˈkʰaːʃə/
sh broad /h/ ro shalach /ɾɔ ˈhal̪ˠəx/, glè shoilleir /kleː ˈhɤʎɪɾʲ/
slender before front vowel dà shìl /t̪aː hiːʎ/, glè shean /kleː hɛn/
before back vowel /hj/ de shiùcair /tʲe ˈhjuːʰkɪɾʲ/, a sheòladh /ə ˈhjɔːl̪ˠəɣ/
sr, str /s̪t̪ɾ/ sràc /s̪t̪ɾaːʰk/, strì /s̪t̪ɾʲiː/
t broad initially, or non-finally after consonant /t̪ʰ/ tasdan /ˈt̪ʰas̪t̪an/, molta /ˈmɔl̪ˠt̪ə/
between vowels /ʰt̪/ bàta /ˈpaːʰt̪ə/
finally, after vowel put /pʰuʰt̪/
finally, after consonant /t/
slender initially, or non-finally after consonant /tʰʲ/ tiugh /tʰʲu/, caillte /ˈkʰaiʎtʲə/
between vowels /ʰtʲ/ litir /ˈʎiʰtʲɪɾʲ/
finally, after vowel cait /kʰɛʰtʲ/
finally, after consonant /tʲ/ ailt /altʲ/
th finally none teth /tʰʲe/, leth /ʎe/, strath /s̪t̪ɾa/
between vowels /./ leotha /ˈlɔ.ə/, piuthar /ˈpʰju.əɾ/, cnòthan /ˈkɾɔː.ən/
/h/ beatha /ˈpɛhə/, fathan /ˈfahan/, a mhàthair /ə ˈvaːhɪɾʲ/
initially broad mo thòn /mɔ hɔːn/, do thaigh /t̪ɔ hɤʝ/
slender, before front vowel thig /hikʲ/, ro thinn /rˠɔ hiːɲ/
slender, before back vowel /hj/ do theaghlach /t̪ɔ ˈhjɔːl̪ˠəx/, glè thiugh /kleː hju/

Morphology

Nouns

Strong nouns

Inflection of elde (masculine a-stem)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative elde eldin eldar eldarnir
accusative eld eldin eldd eldann
dative eldi eldinun eldun eldunun
genitive elds eldsins eldd eldann

Verbs

Strong verbs

Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
Class 7

Weak verbs

Suppletive verbs

Syntax

Texts

UDHR Article 1

Original (English):

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Lexical comparison

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