Scots Norse

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Scots Norse
Sudhrø̀sk
Pronunciation[sˠʌ.ˈreskʰ]
Created byMelinoë
DateApril 3rd, 2026
Native toSuðreyjar
EthnicityNorse Scots
Native speakers(L1) 35,000 (2018)
(L2) 50,000~75,000
Early forms
Dialects
  • Inner South
  • Inner Central
  • Inner North
  • Outer South
  • Outer North
Official status
Official language in
Scotland
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Scots Norse (Also Sodor Norse; endonym: Sudhrø̀sk; /sˠʌ.ˈreskʰ/) is a West Nordic language, making it 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 Scots Gaelic 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 (see "-ske" /ʃcʰ/ vs "-sk" /skʰ/)

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

History

Early Scots Norse

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 Mann (Scots Norse "monø̀jr" /mɒ.ˈnei̯θ͇/). Little is known about Manx Norse (monø̀sk), 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, 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 or the Scots' [Gaels'] sounds of the same staves [=letters]."

Modern Scots Norse

Phonology

labial alveolar velar
plain broad slender plain broad slender plain broad slender
Nasal m mˠ mʲ n nˠ ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p pˠ pʲ t tˠ t͡ʃ k c
Voiced b bˠ bʲ d dˠ d͡ʒ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f fˠ fʲ s, θ͇ sˠ ʃ h x ç
Voiced v vˠ vʲ
Approximant r, l rˠ, lˠ rʲ, ʎ j
Front Back
Unround Round
High i u
Near-High ɪ ɤ
Mid-High e o
Mid-Low ɛ ʌ ɔ
Low ɑ ɒ

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 (S and H)
  • In some irregular positions when loaned from another language.

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 sudhrø̀jr is stressed on "ø̀")

Orthography

Morphology

Nouns

Strong nouns

Verbs

Strong verbs

Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
Class 7

Weak verbs

Suppletive verbs

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.

Lexical comparison

Lexical comparison

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