Doric Dialect (Scotland) - Phonology

Phonology

Most consonants are usually pronounced much as in other Modern Scots dialects but:

• In Buchan the cluster cht, also ght, may be realised /ð/ in a few words, rather than /xt/ as in other dialects, for example: dochter (daughter), micht (might) and nocht (nought), often written dother, mith and noth in dialect writing.
• The clusters gn and kn are realised /ɡn/ and /kn/, for example gnaw, gnap, knee, knife, knock (a clock) and knowe (knoll).
• In Buchan, towards the coast, th followed by er may be realised /d/, rather than /ð/ as in other dialects, for example: brither (brother), faither (father), gaither (gather) and mither (mother), often written bridder, fadder, gaider~gedder and midder in dialect writing.
• wh is realised /f/, rather than /ʍ/ as in Central Scots dialects, for example whit (what) and wha (who), often written fit and fa(a) in dialect writing.
• The cluster wr may be realised /vr/, rather than /r/ as in Central Scots dialects, for example wratch (wretch), wrath, wricht (wright) and wrocht (wrought~worked), often written vratch, vrath, vricht and vrocht in dialect writing.

Some vowel realisations differ markedly from those of Central Scots dialects. The vowel numbers are from Aitken. See also Cardinal vowels.

• a (vowel 17) before /b/, /ɡ/, /m/ and /ŋ/ may be /ə/ or /ʌ/ rather than /a(ː)/.
• aw and au (vowel 12), sometimes a or a' representing L-vocalisation, are realised /aː/, rather than /ɑː/ or /ɔː/ as in Central Scots dialects, for example aw (all), cauld (cold), braw (brave, handsome, fine, splendid), faw (fall) and snaw (snow), often written aa, caal(d), braa, faa and snaa in dialect writing. In Buchan, in some words the stem final w may be realised /v/, often with a /j/ glide before the preceding vowel, for example awe (awe), blaw (blow), gnaw, law, snaw (snow) and taw ~ often written yaave, blyaave, gnaave, snyaave and tyauve~tyaave~chaave in dialect writing.
• In some areas ai or a(consonant)e /e(ː)/ (vowel 4 or 8) may be realised /əi/ after /w/, dark /l/ and occasionally after other consonants, for example claes (clothes), coal, coat, gape, wade, waik (weak), wait, wale (choose) and wame (belly), often written clyes, kwile, kwite, gype, wyde, wyke, wyte, wyle and wyme in dialect writing. A preceding /k/ or /n/ may produce a /j/ glide, with the vowel realised /a/, for example caird (card), cake, naig (nag) and nakit (naked). The cluster ane is realised /en/ in Moray and Nairn but is usually /in/ in other areas, for example, ane (one) ance (once), bane (bone) and stane (stone), often written een, eence, been and steen in dialect writing.
• ea, ei (vowel 3) is usually /i(ː)/, though the realisation may be /e(ː)/ along the coast and in Moray and Nairn. The realisation may also be /əi/ in, for example, great, quean (girl), seiven (seven), sweit (sweat), weave and wheat, and /ɪ/ before /k/ in, for example, speak, often written gryte, quine, syven, swyte, wyve, fyte and spik(k) in dialect writing. Before /v/ and /z/ the realisation may be /ɪ/ in, for example, heiven (heaven), reason, season and seiven (seven), often written hivven, rizzon, sizzon and sivven in dialect writing.
• ee (vowels 2 and 11), e(Consonant)e (vowel 2). Occasionally ei and ie with ei generally before ch (/x/), but also in a few other words, and ie generally occurring before l and v. The realisation is generally /i(ː)/ but may be /əi/ after /w/, dark /l/ and occasionally after other consonants in, for example, cheenge (change), heeze (lift) and swee (sway), often written chynge, hyse and swye in dialect writing.
• eu (vowel 7 before /k/ and /x/ see ui), sometimes ui and oo after Standard English also occur, is generally /ju/ in for example, beuk (book), eneuch (enough), ceuk (cook), leuk (look) and teuk (took).
• Stem final ew (vowel 14) may be realised /jʌu/ in, for example, few, new and also in beauty and duty, often written fyow(e), nyow(e), byowty and dyowty in dialect writing. Before /k/ the realisation may be /ɪ/ in, for example, week, often written wyke in dialect writing.
• ui (vowel 7) is realised /i(ː)/ and /wi(ː)/ after /ɡ/ and /k/. Also u(consonant)e, especially before nasals, and oo from the spelling of Standard English cognates, in for example, abuin (above), cuit (ankle) and guid (good), often written abeen, queet and gweed in dialect writing. In Moray and Nairn the realisation is usually /(j)uː/ before /r/ in, for example, buird (board), fluir (floor) and fuird (ford), often written boord, floor and foord in dialect writing. The realisation also occurs in adae (ado), dae (do), shae (shoe) and tae (to~too).