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Apologetic apostrophe

January 01, 1970

The 'apologetic'[1] or parochial apostrophe[2] is the distinctive use of apostrophes in some Modern Scots spelling.[3] Apologetic apostrophes generally occurred where a consonant exists in the Standard English cognate, as in a' (all), gi'e (give) and wi' (with).

The practice, unknown in Older Scots, was introduced in the 18th century[4] by writers such as Allan Ramsay,[5] Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns as part of a process of Anglicisation. The 18th-century practice was also adopted by later writers such as Walter Scott, John Galt and Robert Louis Stevenson. It produced an easily understood spurious Scots that was very popular with English readers and on the English stage. It was also sometimes forced on reluctant authors by publishers desirous of a wider circulation for their books.[6]

The custom "also had the unfortunate effect of suggesting that Broad Scots was not a separate language system, but rather a divergent or inferior form of English".[7] The use of the apologetic apostrophe became less widespread[1] after the appearance of the 'Style Sheet'[8] in 1947 and is now considered unacceptable,[9] the apostrophe-less forms such as aw (all), gie (give) and wi (with) being preferable.

L-vocalisation edit

Main article: L-vocalization

Early Scots had undergone a process of L-vocalisation where /l/ was preceded by the vowels /a/ and /u̞/ in closed syllables, which was completed by the end of the 14th century.[10] The cluster /al/ vocalised to /aː/ and /u̞l/ to /uː/ hence spellings such as a' (all), ba' (ball), ca' (call), sa't (salt) and ha'd (hold),[11] and fu' and pu' with the doublets full [fʌl] and pull [pʌl].[12] The standard[13] literary apostrophe-less spellings for /aː/ (also /ɑː, ɔː/) were ⟨au⟩ and ⟨aw⟩[14] with ⟨au⟩ generally occurring word initially or medially, and ⟨aw⟩ occurring word final[15] thus aw (all), baw (ball), caw (call), saut (salt) and haud (hold).

The standard literary spelling of /uː/ was ⟨ou⟩, generally preferred in the Scottish National Dictionary,[16] although the use of ⟨oo⟩, borrowed from Standard English, became popular by the 19th century.[17] Thus fou and pou, but the form fu functioning as the cognate of the suffix 'ful'. L also vocalised after /o̞/ in closed syllables[10] resulting in a diphthong which became /ʌu/ in Modern Scots, for example knowe (knoll), fowk (folk), gowf (golf) and gowd (gold).[18]

Inflectional endings edit

The consonant clusters in the inflectional endings ⟨ing⟩ and ⟨and⟩, cognate with Standard English ⟨ing⟩, changed to /n/ in Early Scots:[19] the modern realisations generally being /ɪn/ and /ən/[20] hence the spelling in'.

Consonant clusters edit

The cluster ⟨mb⟩ had been reduced to /m/ in Early Scots[19] hence spelling such as num'er (number), cham'er (chamber) and tim'er (timber), the standard literary apostrophe-less spellings being nummer, chaumer and timmer.[21]

The cluster ⟨nd⟩ is reduced to /n/ in some Scots dialects[22] hence spellings such as caun'le (candle), haun' (hand) and staun' (stand)[21] though the ⟨d⟩ is generally written in the literary standard, thus caundle, haund and staund.

The cluster ⟨ld⟩ is also reduced to /l/ in some Scots dialects,[22] hence spellings such as aul' (old), caul' (cold) and faul' (fold)[21] though the ⟨d⟩ is generally written in the literary standard, thus auld, cauld and fauld.

Loss of consonants edit

By the Middle Scots period, /f/ and /v/ deletion had occurred intervocalically and between a nasal/liquid consonant and a vowel.[19] Hence spellings such as de'il (devil), gi'e (give), ha'e (have), lo'e (love), o' (of), o'er (over) and sil'er (silver), the standard literary apostrophe-less spellings being deil, gie, hae, lue, o, ower and siller.[23]

Also by that period, word-final /θ/ had been lost in a number of words.[19] Hence spellings such as fro' (froth), quo' (quoth), wi' (with) and mou' (mouth), the standard literary apostrophe-less spellings being fro, quo, wi and mou,[23] the latter having the doublet mooth.

Change of vowel edit

In some Scots words the realisation differs from that of the Standard English cognate; hence spellings such as bak' (bake), mak' (make) and tak' (take), the standard literary apostrophe-less spellings being bak, mak and tak.

Legitimate use of the apostrophe in Scots edit

Many words in Scots have both a full form and a contracted form. In contracted forms, an apostrophe is generally used in place of the elided graphemes, for example, e'en and even, e'er and iver (ever), eneu' and eneuch (enough), lea' and leave, ne'er and niver (never), ne'er's day and new year's day, nor'land and northland.

In the construction of the past tense or past participle, Scots often appends the apostrophe to verbs ending with ee to prevent three es from occurring in a single word:

  • dee (die) > dee'd
  • gree (agree) > gree'd

Scots also uses, as does English, the apostrophe to indicate contractions of multiple words: A'm (I'm), wi't (with it), ye're (you're), o't (of it).

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Graham W. (1977) The Scots Word Book, The Ramsay Head Press, Edinburgh, p.11
  2. ^ Purves D. (1997) A Scots Grammar, The Saltire Society, p. 111
  3. ^ Eagle, Andy (2014). "Aw Ae Wey—Written Scots in Scotland and Ulster" (PDF). v1.5.
  4. ^ Rennie, S. (2001) "The Electronic Scottish National Dictionary (eSND): Work in Progress", Literary and Linguistic Computing 2001 16(2), Oxford University Press, pp. 159
  5. ^ Murison d. (1977) The Guid Scots Tongue, Blackwell, Edinburgh, p.31
  6. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, Introduction §18.1 p. xiv Vol. 1
  7. ^ Corbett, John; McClure, Derrick; Stuart-Smith, Jane (Editors)(2003) The Edinburgh Companion to Scots. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. pp. 12-13
  8. ^ The Scots Style Sheet
  9. ^
  10. ^ a b A History of Scots to 1700, p.xc
  11. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, p.xxi, Entry: A
  12. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, p.xxiii-xxiv
  13. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, Entry: U, Entry: W
  14. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, Entry: A
  15. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, p. xix
  16. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, p. xiv, Entry: O
  17. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, Entry: O
  18. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, p.xxi, xxiii-xxiv
  19. ^ a b c d A History of Scots to 1700, p.ci
  20. ^ Scottish National Dictionary, Entry: -IN(G)
  21. ^ a b c Scottish National Dictionary, p. xxii
  22. ^ a b Johnston, Paul (1997b). Regional variation in Charles Jones ed. The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, p. 502.
  23. ^ a b Scottish National Dictionary, p. xxiii

References edit

  • William Grant and David D. Murison (eds) The Scottish National Dictionary (SND) (1929–1976), The Scottish national Dictionary Association, vol. I Edinburgh.
  • A History of Scots to 1700 in A Dictionary of Older Scots Vol. 12. Oxford University Press 2002.

External links edit

  • Phonetic Description of Scottish Language and Dialects

January 01, 1970
apologetic, apostrophe, apologetic, parochial, apostrophe, distinctive, apostrophes, some, modern, scots, spelling, generally, occurred, where, consonant, exists, standard, english, cognate, give, with, practice, unknown, older, scots, introduced, 18th, centur. The apologetic 1 or parochial apostrophe 2 is the distinctive use of apostrophes in some Modern Scots spelling 3 Apologetic apostrophes generally occurred where a consonant exists in the Standard English cognate as in a all gi e give and wi with The practice unknown in Older Scots was introduced in the 18th century 4 by writers such as Allan Ramsay 5 Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns as part of a process of Anglicisation The 18th century practice was also adopted by later writers such as Walter Scott John Galt and Robert Louis Stevenson It produced an easily understood spurious Scots that was very popular with English readers and on the English stage It was also sometimes forced on reluctant authors by publishers desirous of a wider circulation for their books 6 The custom also had the unfortunate effect of suggesting that Broad Scots was not a separate language system but rather a divergent or inferior form of English 7 The use of the apologetic apostrophe became less widespread 1 after the appearance of the Style Sheet 8 in 1947 and is now considered unacceptable 9 the apostrophe less forms such as aw all gie give and wi with being preferable Contents 1 L vocalisation 2 Inflectional endings 3 Consonant clusters 4 Loss of consonants 5 Change of vowel 6 Legitimate use of the apostrophe in Scots 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksL vocalisation editMain article L vocalization Early Scots had undergone a process of L vocalisation where l was preceded by the vowels a and u in closed syllables which was completed by the end of the 14th century 10 The cluster al vocalised to aː and u l to uː hence spellings such as a all ba ball ca call sa t salt and ha d hold 11 and fu and pu with the doublets full fʌl and pull pʌl 12 The standard 13 literary apostrophe less spellings for aː also ɑː ɔː were au and aw 14 with au generally occurring word initially or medially and aw occurring word final 15 thus aw all baw ball caw call saut salt and haud hold The standard literary spelling of uː was ou generally preferred in the Scottish National Dictionary 16 although the use of oo borrowed from Standard English became popular by the 19th century 17 Thus fou and pou but the form fu functioning as the cognate of the suffix ful L also vocalised after o in closed syllables 10 resulting in a diphthong which became ʌu in Modern Scots for example knowe knoll fowk folk gowf golf and gowd gold 18 Inflectional endings editThe consonant clusters in the inflectional endings ing and and cognate with Standard English ing changed to n in Early Scots 19 the modern realisations generally being ɪn and en 20 hence the spelling in Consonant clusters editThe cluster mb had been reduced to m in Early Scots 19 hence spelling such as num er number cham er chamber and tim er timber the standard literary apostrophe less spellings being nummer chaumer and timmer 21 The cluster nd is reduced to n in some Scots dialects 22 hence spellings such as caun le candle haun hand and staun stand 21 though the d is generally written in the literary standard thus caundle haund and staund The cluster ld is also reduced to l in some Scots dialects 22 hence spellings such as aul old caul cold and faul fold 21 though the d is generally written in the literary standard thus auld cauld and fauld Loss of consonants editBy the Middle Scots period f and v deletion had occurred intervocalically and between a nasal liquid consonant and a vowel 19 Hence spellings such as de il devil gi e give ha e have lo e love o of o er over and sil er silver the standard literary apostrophe less spellings being deil gie hae lue o ower and siller 23 Also by that period word final 8 had been lost in a number of words 19 Hence spellings such as fro froth quo quoth wi with and mou mouth the standard literary apostrophe less spellings being fro quo wi and mou 23 the latter having the doublet mooth Change of vowel editIn some Scots words the realisation differs from that of the Standard English cognate hence spellings such as bak bake mak make and tak take the standard literary apostrophe less spellings being bak mak and tak Legitimate use of the apostrophe in Scots editMany words in Scots have both a full form and a contracted form In contracted forms an apostrophe is generally used in place of the elided graphemes for example e en and even e er and iver ever eneu and eneuch enough lea and leave ne er and niver never ne er s day and new year s day nor land and northland In the construction of the past tense or past participle Scots often appends the apostrophe to verbs ending with ee to prevent three es from occurring in a single word dee die gt dee d gree agree gt gree d Scots also uses as does English the apostrophe to indicate contractions of multiple words A m I m wi t with it ye re you re o t of it Notes edit a b Graham W 1977 The Scots Word Book The Ramsay Head Press Edinburgh p 11 Purves D 1997 A Scots Grammar The Saltire Society p 111 Eagle Andy 2014 Aw Ae Wey Written Scots in Scotland and Ulster PDF v1 5 Rennie S 2001 The Electronic Scottish National Dictionary eSND Work in Progress Literary and Linguistic Computing 2001 16 2 Oxford University Press pp 159 Murison d 1977 The Guid Scots Tongue Blackwell Edinburgh p 31 Scottish National Dictionary Introduction 18 1 p xiv Vol 1 Corbett John McClure Derrick Stuart Smith Jane Editors 2003 The Edinburgh Companion to Scots Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press pp 12 13 The Scots Style Sheet Taylor S 2009 Ordnance Survey Introduction to Scots origins of place names in Britain a b A History of Scots to 1700 p xc Scottish National Dictionary p xxi Entry A Scottish National Dictionary p xxiii xxiv Scottish National Dictionary Entry U Entry W Scottish National Dictionary Entry A Scottish National Dictionary p xix Scottish National Dictionary p xiv Entry O Scottish National Dictionary Entry O Scottish National Dictionary p xxi xxiii xxiv a b c d A History of Scots to 1700 p ci Scottish National Dictionary Entry IN G a b c Scottish National Dictionary p xxii a b Johnston Paul 1997b Regional variation in Charles Jones ed The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language Edinburgh University Press p 502 a b Scottish National Dictionary p xxiiiReferences editWilliam Grant and David D Murison eds The Scottish National Dictionary SND 1929 1976 The Scottish national Dictionary Association vol I Edinburgh A History of Scots to 1700 in A Dictionary of Older Scots Vol 12 Oxford University Press 2002 External links editPhonetic Description of Scottish Language and Dialects Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Apologetic apostrophe amp oldid 1203540710, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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