Scots Norse

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Scots Norse
Sudhraèsc
Pronunciation[sˠɤðˠ.ˈreʃc]
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
Scots Norse is classified as critically endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Scots Norse (Also Sodor Norse; endonym: Sudhraèsc; /sˠɤðˠ.ˈreʃc/) is a West Nordic language, thus 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 Gàidhlig 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.

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, Hàsudraèsc, literally meaning "High Scots Norse". ("high" as in "exalted")

Scots Norse is hard to classify type-wise, as it shows signs of creolization, but not to the extent where it could typically be classed as a creole, this leads to the branching from Insular West Norse into so-called "Gaelo-Nordic", characterized by the partial creolization of Old West Norse with Middle Irish and Scots Gaelic. Regardless how it is classed, Scots Norse is with no doubt some kind of mixed language.

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 Man (Scots Norse Monaèirr). Little is known about Manx Norse (Monaèsc), 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 (see the Noreine speche fra Man), 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."

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 dental alveolar velar
plain broad slender plain broad slender plain broad slender plain broad slender
Nasal m mˠ mʲ n nˠ ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p pˠ pʲ t tˠ tʲ k c
Voiced b bˠ bʲ d dˠ dʲ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f fˠ fʲ θ θˠ θʲ s sˠ ʃ h¹ x ç
Voiced v vˠ vʲ ð ðˠ ðʲ z zˠ ʒ ɣ ʝ
Approximant r, l rˠ, lˠ rʲ, ʎ j
  1. /h/ merges with /x/ outside of Standard Scots Norse.
Front Back
Unround Round
High i u
Near-High ɪ ɤ~ʊ
Mid e (ə) o
Low æ~ɛ ɔ~ɒ
  1. /ə/ is the unstressed realization of /æ, ɔ/. (differing by slender vs broad)
  2. /æ/ is often /ɛ/ before nasals, but rarely so anywhere else.

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 (Though "nh" is /n̥/)
  • In some irregular positions when loaned from another language.

Dialects

Uist Norse

labial dental alveolar velar
broad slender broad slender broad slender broad slender
Nasal m mʲ n ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p pʲ t tʲ k c
Voiced b bʲ d dʲ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f fʲ θ θʲ s ʃ x ç
Voiced v vʲ ð ðʲ z ʒ ɣ ʝ
Approximant r, ɫ rʲ, ʎ j
Front Back
Unround Round
High i u
Mid e o
Low ɛ (ɐ) ɔ~ɒ
  1. /ə/ is the unstressed realization of /ɛ, ɔ/. (differing by slender vs broad)

Nasal vowels in Uist Norse are typically realized slightly centralized and longer, often without the nasalization.

Front Back
Unround Round
High ɪ̈ˑ ʊ̈ˑ
Mid ɘˑ ɵˑ
Low ɜˑ (əˑ) ɞˑ

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 sudhraèir is stressed on "aèi")

Mutation

Since Old Norse, initial consonant mutation has developed. Scots Norse has three forms:

radical (basic)
lenition
eclipsis

these can be shown quite well through pronoun + verb, as a pronoun exists that causes both, the word order for these will be slightly odd.

The following gives an example using "mik" ("I, me"), "ha" ("he"), and "ic" ("we, us", emphatic):

mic tàlarr /ˈmʲɪc ˈto.ʎərʲ/ — "I speak"
ha dtàlarr /ˈçæʰdo.ʎərʲ/ — "he speaks"
ic thàlarr /ˈɪc θo.ʎərʲ/ — "we (emphatic) speak"

Orthography

(updated up to "dh")

Morphology

Pronouns

Scots Norse personal pronouns
plain emphatic possessive
sg. 1st mic mìnhich mì E
2nd tic tìda L tì E
3rd m ha E haza E haz
f hành L henha E henhar
pl. 1st och ochuith ochar
2nd uech uechith uechar
3rd tèr tèrthir tèor

L Triggers lenition   E Triggers eclipsis

Nouns

Nouns have been reduced down to a basic singular/plural distinction, with the masc/fem distinction only maintained in the singular and when paired with the article hin.

Noun declensions
masculine feminine
singular plural singular plural
indefinite -ᶫ -arr - -arr
definite hin h-ᶫ hin h-arr hin - hin -arr

All nouns fit into one of these two patterns, regardless the forms in Old Norse. Below are several examples.


Declension of ald (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite ald aldarr
definite hin h'ald hin h'aldarr


Declension of hàet (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite hàet hàtarr
definite hin hàet hin hàtarr


Declension of hàmar (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite hàmar hàmrarr
definite hin hàmar hin hàmrarr


Declension of bèdh (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite bèdh bèdharr
definite hin bhèdh hin bhèdharr


Declension of bòegh (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite bòegh bògharr
definite hin bhòegh hin bhògharr


Declension of màel (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite màel màlarr
definite hin mhàel hin mhàlarr


Declension of poest (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite poest postarr
definite hin phoest hin phostarr


Declension of arrv (feminine)
singular plural
indefinite arrv arrvarr
definite hin arrv hin arrvarr


Declension of bèt (feminine)
singular plural
indefinite bèt bètarr
definite hin bèt hin bètarr

Adjectives

Adjectives have essentially lost all declension, at most declining for gender, where the forms are identical, the only difference being that the masculine form triggers lenition. (see sèl)

Both the comparative and superlative forms were lost by the time of Sudrey Norse, being replaced with the usage of mèr ("more") and mast ("most"), so rather than, say, Old Norse "beztr" (hypothetical Scots Norse **bast) for "better", it is instead mèr ghòedh (lit. "more good").

Numerals

1 èn
2 tfèrr
3 trìrr
4 fiòrarr
5 fi
6 sac
7 siò
8 àet
9 naì
10 taì
11 aliov
12 tòlv

èn is the only adjective-like word in all of Scots Norse that retains a distinct plural form, ènarr

Prepositions

Scots Norse has a very, very simple system of inflected prepositions, only inflecting for person and number.

A large amount of speakers simply don't use inflected prepositions.

Inflection of in (class 1)
plain emphatic
singular 1st inmì E inmìnhic
2nd intì E intìda
3rd m inaz inaza E
f inenh inenha E
plural 1st inach inachúith
2nd inich inichith
3rd intèor L intèorthi

E: Triggers eclipsis L: Triggers lenition


Inflection of til (class 1)
plain emphatic
singular 1st tilmì E tilmìnhic
2nd tiltì E tiltìda
3rd m tilaz tilaza E
f tilenh tilenha E
plural 1st tilach tilachúith
2nd tilich tilichith
3rd tiltèor L tiltèorthi

E: Triggers eclipsis L: Triggers lenition

Verbs

Many significant changes have happened to the verb system since Old Norse, notably both the mood and voice distinctions have been lost. The active indicative has descended into the present and past tense, while the active subjunctive was lost entirely. The oppositive happened in the mediopassive, with the subjunctive becoming the future and stative, while the indicative was lost.

The stative doesn't exist for every verb, but the forms are still displayed for convenience's sake.

The original mediopassive indicative only remains in a small set of verbs acting as a reciprocal, typically physical actions taken towards others, like [Term?] ("to fight"), slà ("to hit"), [Term?] ("to embrace"), as well as a few abstract verbs, such as [Term?] ("to love"). Otherwise it's been replaced by hìnu n-onaru

Verbs have reduced to such a limited number of forms that analogy and sound changes have leveled them all down to essentially one pattern (excluding a few irregular verbs), which seemingly descends from Old Norse's weak class 2 pattern.

Conjugation of tàl (regular)
infinitive tàl(ich)
pres. part. tàlin
past part. tàladh
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
ind. pres. tàlir tàltir è thàlir è thàltir
past tàlaidhir tàltaidhir è thàlaidhir è thàltaidhir
fut. tàlist tàltist è thàlist è thàltist
cond. tàlaidhist tàltaidhist è thàlaidhist è thàltaidhist
cont. pres. tàlireu tàltireu è thàlireu è thàltireu
past tàlaidhireu tàltaidhireu è thàlaidhireu è thàltaidhireu
fut. tàlisteu tàltisteu è thàlisteu è thàltisteu
cond. tàlaidhisteu tàltaidhisteu è thàlaidhisteu è thàltaidhisteu
perf. pres. tàliriò tàltiriò è thàliriò è thàltiriò
past tàlaidhiriò tàltaidhiriò è thàlaidhiriò è thàltaidhiriò
fut. tàlistiò tàltistiò è thàlistiò è thàltistiò
cond. tàlaidhistiò tàltaidhistiò è thàlaidhistiò è thàltaidhistiò
imp. tàl tàlt è thàl è thàlt


Conjugation of mèl (regular)
infinitive mèl(ich)
pres. part. mèlin
past part. mèladh
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
ind. pres. mèlir mèltir è mhèlir è mhèltir
past mèlaidhir mèltaidhir è mhèlaidhir è mhèltaidhir
fut. mèlist mèltist è mhèlist è mhèltist
cond. mèlaidhist mèltaidhist è mhèlaidhist è mhèltaidhist
cont. pres. mèlireu mèltireu è mhèlireu è mhèltireu
past mèlaidhireu mèltaidhireu è mhèlaidhireu è mhèltaidhireu
fut. mèlisteu mèltisteu è mhèlisteu è mhèltisteu
cond. mèlaidhisteu mèltaidhisteu è mhèlaidhisteu è mhèltaidhisteu
perf. pres. mèliriò mèltiriò è mhèliriò è mhèltiriò
past mèlaidhiriò mèltaidhiriò è mhèlaidhiriò è mhèltaidhiriò
fut. mèlistiò mèltistiò è mhèlistiò è mhèltistiò
cond. mèlaidhistiò mèltaidhistiò è mhèlaidhistiò è mhèltaidhistiò
imp. mèl mèlt è mhèl è mhèlt


Conjugation of àgh (regular)
infinitive àgh(ich)
pres. part. àghin
past part. àghadh
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
ind. pres. àghir àghtir è h'àghir è h'àghtir
past àghaidhir àghtaidhir è h'àghaidhir è h'àghtaidhir
fut. àghist àghtist è h'àghist è h'àghtist
cond. àghaidhist àghtaidhist è h'àghaidhist è h'àghtaidhist
cont. pres. àghireu àghtireu è h'àghireu è h'àghtireu
past àghaidhireu àghtaidhireu è h'àghaidhireu è h'àghtaidhireu
fut. àghisteu àghtisteu è h'àghisteu è h'àghtisteu
cond. àghaidhisteu àghtaidhisteu è h'àghaidhisteu è h'àghtaidhisteu
perf. pres. àghiriò àghtiriò è h'àghiriò è h'àghtiriò
past àghaidhiriò àghtaidhiriò è h'àghaidhiriò è h'àghtaidhiriò
fut. àghistiò àghtistiò è h'àghistiò è h'àghtistiò
cond. àghaidhistiò àghtaidhistiò è h'àghaidhistiò è h'àghtaidhistiò
imp. àgh àght è h'àgh è h'àght

Suppletive verbs

There is only one known suppletive verb in Scots Norse, that being the copula vèr, and even it has been leveled by many speakers.


Conjugation of vèr (suppletive)
present past future
infinitive vèr(ich) vèradh vèrast
participle vèrin vèra vèranist
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
pos. pres. vèrir vèrscir ibèrir ibèrscir
past vèradhir vèrscadhir ibèradhir ibèrscadhir
fut. vèrist vèrscist ibèrist ibèrscist
imp. vèradhist vèrscadhist ibèradhist ibèrscadhist
cont. pres. i bèrir u i bèrscir u i n'ibèrir u i n'ibèrscir u
past i bèradhir u i bèrscadhir u i n'ibèradhir u i n'ibèrscadhir u
fut. i bèrist u i bèrscist u i n'ibèrist u i n'ibèrscist u
imp. i bèradhist u i bèrscadhist u i n'ibèradhist u i n'ibèrscadhist u
perf. pres. as vèrir u as vèrscir u as ibèrir u as ibèrscir u
past as vèradhir u as vèrscadhir u as ibèradhir u as ibèrscadhir u
fut. as vèrist u as vèrscist u as ibèrist u as ibèrscist u
imp. as vèradhist u as vèrscadhist u as ibèradhist u as ibèrscadhist u

"arr" and "varr" are the more prevalent forms, but the regularized forms "vèrarr" and "vèradharr" are also rather common.

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.

Old Norse (modern translation)

Allir menn eru bornir frjálsir ok jafnir at virðingu ok réttum. Þeir eru allir viti gœddir ok samvizku, ok skulu gøra hvárr til annars bróðurliga.

Scots Norse

arr manarr al bhori mhriàl h-o hiavn, vèrann vhirrdhing o rhèt h-atharr. vèrann gaèdhadh h-o shanvisc h-atharr, o shcùl ghèor hanna thil bròdhligh.
arr manarr al bhori mhriàl h-o hiavn, vèrann vhirrdhing o rhèt h-atharr. vèrann gaèdhadh h-o shanvisc h-atharr, o shcùl ghèor hanna thil bròdhligh.

English translation
lit: "all men are born free and equal, being dignity and rights at them. being reason and conscience at them, and should act to brotherhood at each other"
"all men are born free and equal, having dignity and rights. they have reason and conscience, and should act to eachother as a brotherhood"

Deor

Old English

Welund him be wurman
wræces cunnade,
anhydig eorl
earfoþa dreag,
hæfde him to gesiþþe
sorge and longaþ,
wintercealde wræce,
wean oft onfond
siþþan hine Niðhad on
nede legde,
swoncre seonobende
on syllan monn.
Þæs ofereode,
þisses swa mæg.

Scots Norse

Vòluenn shi, thur ròvnirr
cvàlarr cenn,
ànar iall
arrvidh thoeld,
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ta h-oevgangtirr,
tash thil mègh.

(lines with "-" are yet to be translated)

Lexical comparison

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