Dialects of Scots
In some cases there’s a perfect overlap (e.g., between Orkney and Shetland and the Insular Scots dialect), but in many cases I’ve had to split a council area in half, so the numbers won’t be very precise.
Bearing those caveats in mind, the numbers I came up with are as follows: West Central 551,984; South East Central 277,836; Mid Northern 230,380; North East Central 221,027; South Northern 101,913; South West Central 75,501; Southern 34,873; North Northern 24,226; Insular 19,266.
It’s interesting that the Central dialects (roughly the ones spoken in the Central Belt) account for nearly three quarters of all Scots speakers.
Interesting thing about the dialect where I live (south Edinburgh) is it sounds mostly English. Apparently the older generation in this area were taught to speak the “Queen’s” English as Scots accents was frowned upon.
Melissa: Interesting about the “Queen’s English” thing — it was widespread across the UK and the Commonwealth too. I grew up on the south coast of England and went a school where there was a high proportion of ‘rough kids’. My family spoke ‘The Queen’s English’ and at home I had to speak with a posher accent than the one I needed to survive at school. Here in NZ, where I now live, the older generation of the professional classes speak a rather stilted Kiwi-ised version of ‘The Queen’s English’. It’s evolved into a distinctive urban professional accent that’s neither “aww yiss” kiwi nor ‘The Queen’s English’.
Of course; in the nouveau riche suburbs of Edinburgh and Glasgow, speaking with anything other than a ‘pan loaf’ accent was ‘common’ … my late grandmother (born in Dennistoun, daughter of a barrow boy-turned-high-class West End greengrocer) had had years of elocution lessons to drive the East End out of her speech. Her telephone voice was an unwitting pastiche of RP.
‘Common’ — that was the word my grandmother used of the kids I was at school with. Shopping at the Co-Op (and later, at Tescos) was ‘common’ too. We were a Sainsbury’s family.
I really don’t miss that aspect of the UK at all.
I wonder if being embarrassed by one’s Scottish accent contributed to the whole Scottish cringe endemic. My husband’s parents were from Lewis & spoke (speak) fluent Gaelic. They never taught to their 4 sons, because they thought they’d be stigmatised if they spoke it.
Of course now my husband wishes he spoke some Gaelic & the younger generation are proudly learning to speak it.
Yep. Quite the bucket of crabs, Scottish family culture.