Scottish English is the set of English varieties spoken in Scotland, with Scottish Standard English recognized as the accepted norm in professional and educational settings. It sits at one end of a continuum with the broader Scots language, and many speakers move between the two registers depending on formality. The accent is largely rhotic, preserves vowel distinctions lost elsewhere in English, and follows the Scottish Vowel Length Rule, which lengthens vowels before voiced fricatives or a following r. Its vocabulary carries many words inherited from Scots, including wee for small, bairn for child, and bonnie for pretty, alongside legal and administrative terms drawn from Scotland's own separate legal system. English influence in Scotland grew after the Reformation and the spread of printing in the sixteenth century, and intensified further once King James VI moved his royal court to London in 1603.
Facts
RegionScottish English is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. 1 Speaker Communitythe characteristic speech of the professional class [in Scotland] and the accepted norm in schools 1 Distinguishing FeaturesThe Scottish Vowel Length Rule lengthens the PRICE vowel and most other vowels, except STRUT, KIT and the vowel in comma, before voiced fricatives or before r. 1 Classification
Variety Kind Sources
1. Wikipedia: Scottish English
Wikimedia FoundationVowels section, Scottish Vowel Length Rule sentence
According to the rule, PRICE and all pure vowels bar STRUT, KIT and commA are lengthened before voiced fricatives or before /r/.
Lead section, opening sentence
Scottish English is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland.
Lead section, SSE definition quotation
the characteristic speech of the professional class [in Scotland] and the accepted norm in schools
Variety kind, Scottish English entity page
Scottish English is the set of English varieties spoken in Scotland, with Scottish Standard English recognized as the accepted norm in professional and educational settings.
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