The following extracts from "Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language" by Philip Robinson (Published for The Ulster-Scots Language Society by The Ullans Press, 1997), are provided by permission of Philip Robinson and The Ulster-Scots Language Society. Copyright: Philip Robinson, 1997. All rights reserved. No part of these extracts may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Ulster-Scots Language Society.

INTRODUCTION

The Ulster-Scots Agency is delighted to share with you several important extracts from Philip Robinson’s "Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language" (Published by the Ullans Press for the Ulster-Scots Language Society, 1997).

Dr Robinson’s book complements James Fenton’s work on vocabulary in describing how the Ulster-Scots language is constructed, both in the contemporary spoken tongue, and in the traditional literature with which the author is particularly familiar. From the opening chapters on historical background, spelling and pronunciation and "nouns and numbers" (which are presented below), to the more detailed sections on each part of speech and syntactical form, the author has combined meticulous research and analysis with a wealth of illustrative material.

This work is the standard reference on the subject, and has been hailed by leading Scots- language academics as "a scholarly triumph" and "a work of outstanding importance". Together with James Fenton’s "The Hamely Tongue", we have the two cornerstones of all future language development and research programmes relating to the Ulster-Scots language.

All rights reserved. No part of these extracts may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Ulster-Scots Language Society.

The following extracts are reproduced by permission of Philip Robinson and The Ulster-Scots Language Society.

Click here to view Map of Ulster-Scots Areas in Ulster

Note on Figure 1 (see map):  The Ulster-Scots speaking areas were mapped by Prof R J Gregg in 1960 - 1963, [1] and the boundary for County Antrim confirmed by James Fenton's The Hamely Tongue, 1995.
The Ulster-Scots cultural zone was mapped by P S Robinson in 1974, [2]  and published in 1984, and represents the areas where (a) the majority of Protestants are Presbyterian (rather than Anglican), and (b) the majority of people with 'non-Irish' surnames have Scottish rather than English surnames.

  [1]Gregg, R J, 'The Scotch-Irish Dialect Boundaries in Ulster' in M F Wakelin, ed.  Patterns in the Folk Speech of the British Isles (London, 1972).
  [2] Robinson, P S, The Plantation of Ulster: British Settlement in an Irish landscape, 1600-1670 (Dublin, 1984).