Test Yourself for Ulster-Scots

Dr. Philip Robinson is a well known Ulster-Scot writer and linguist and former Board member of the Ulster-Scots Agency. His book, ‘Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language’ is the foundation work in Ullans.

Here he sets out a simple test for native speakers who are unsure of the difference between Ulster-Scots and Ulster-English (dialect).

How, then, can we tell the difference between somebody who is talking Ulster-Scots, and somebody who is just using “dialect”?

The easiest way to identify Ulster-Scots is by listening for a number of “markers”. These “markers” are the most common words used by Ulster-Scots speakers, and which are not used by other dialect speakers.

For example, the Scots words thon, dander and wee (for “that”, “stroll” and “little”) are used every day by the great majority of folk throughout Ulster.
Although they are Scots rather than English words, they have simply been borrowed into Ulster dialect.

On the other hand, words like nicht, cannae and gye (for “night”, “can’t” and “very”) are very common markers of Ulster-Scots speech. Indeed, they are also markers of Ulster-Scots literature, if you wish to distinguish this from Ulster “dialect” writing.

It is important to remember that almost all Ulster-Scots speakers will only use the “markers” in each other’s company. When speaking to an outsider, in public, or to a professional person such as a teacher, minister or doctor, Ulster-Scots speakers will switch to Standard English, or - more often - to Ulster dialect, which is regarded as more acceptable. 

The following test contains a list of everyday words set out to show how English, Ulster dialect and Ulster-Scots are different from each other. In particular, note how some words in this list are Scots words used in everyday speech throughout Ulster. The rest are words which are only used in Ulster-Scots.

© Philip Robinson and The Ulster-Scots Language Society