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The Concise Scots Dictionary
The Concise Scots Dictionary is the ideal Scots reference work for the reader, learner, speaker or student of the Scots language.
820 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1987
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August 16, 2024
I have reservations about claiming to have ‘read’ this book (I’ve read the Introduction, checked the advice and information it offers, looked at random listings of words).
After centuries of efforts to stamp out Scots (by England as colonising power, by the educated classes in Scotland as they sought to court favour and secure jobs in an Anglicised world), Scots is claiming a respectability and utility amongst the educated classes: there’s a newly rediscovered pride in the use of the language (in part in parallel with Scotland’s efforts to gain independence from English rule, in part as a local - and hopefully global - attempt to assert the variety of human languages and accents and there worth in the face of technology’s and AI’s drive to homogenous and standardise).
I’ve been looking at two Scots dictionaries over the last couple of days: they’ve both been on my bookshelf for years (I’ve got a 1987 edition of “The Concise Scots Dictionary”, its latest revision was published in 2017). Of the two, I must admit to favouring my 1984 “Chambers Scots Dictionary” – it has straightforward English translations of the words, while this “Concise Scots Dictionary” has lots of information about the etymology and semantics of words, which parts of Scotland they come from, etc., etc. From an academic perspective this is hugely valuable and extraordinarily worthy, but it can slow down your search if you’re just looking to see what the word means.
Robinson, in her Introduction, emphasises that two diverging streams of Anglo-Saxon language emerged from the post-Roman invasion - by the latter half of the 15th century, we had a 'metropolitan Tudor English' centred on London and radiating outwards, and a metropolitan Older Scots amongst the literate classes of Scotland and radiating downwards into the North of what had become England.
The latter half of the 15th century, of course, would see the printing press establishing its presence and the process of standardising words and meanings (and spelling). The ruling elites - the literate classes - would impose their standardised English not only on England but on Scotland too.
Because so much of current Scots popularity is about revitalising a language which has existed for centuries, there’s no huge pressure to buy a recently published dictionary – new words are not exactly being added to the language at breakneck speed and, if you’re living in Scotland, you’ve probably got used to them anyway. No, the value of a Scots dictionary is in helping you revitalise the extraordinary wealth of language used for centuries by Scots working men and women (and children).
If you are interested in the language – whether as teacher or writer, or simply as a Scot proud of your heritage – old, secondhand editions of Scots dictionaries are probably going to be the best option … especially as you can probably pick up three or four different ones for the price of a newly published work.
After centuries of efforts to stamp out Scots (by England as colonising power, by the educated classes in Scotland as they sought to court favour and secure jobs in an Anglicised world), Scots is claiming a respectability and utility amongst the educated classes: there’s a newly rediscovered pride in the use of the language (in part in parallel with Scotland’s efforts to gain independence from English rule, in part as a local - and hopefully global - attempt to assert the variety of human languages and accents and there worth in the face of technology’s and AI’s drive to homogenous and standardise).
I’ve been looking at two Scots dictionaries over the last couple of days: they’ve both been on my bookshelf for years (I’ve got a 1987 edition of “The Concise Scots Dictionary”, its latest revision was published in 2017). Of the two, I must admit to favouring my 1984 “Chambers Scots Dictionary” – it has straightforward English translations of the words, while this “Concise Scots Dictionary” has lots of information about the etymology and semantics of words, which parts of Scotland they come from, etc., etc. From an academic perspective this is hugely valuable and extraordinarily worthy, but it can slow down your search if you’re just looking to see what the word means.
Robinson, in her Introduction, emphasises that two diverging streams of Anglo-Saxon language emerged from the post-Roman invasion - by the latter half of the 15th century, we had a 'metropolitan Tudor English' centred on London and radiating outwards, and a metropolitan Older Scots amongst the literate classes of Scotland and radiating downwards into the North of what had become England.
The latter half of the 15th century, of course, would see the printing press establishing its presence and the process of standardising words and meanings (and spelling). The ruling elites - the literate classes - would impose their standardised English not only on England but on Scotland too.
Because so much of current Scots popularity is about revitalising a language which has existed for centuries, there’s no huge pressure to buy a recently published dictionary – new words are not exactly being added to the language at breakneck speed and, if you’re living in Scotland, you’ve probably got used to them anyway. No, the value of a Scots dictionary is in helping you revitalise the extraordinary wealth of language used for centuries by Scots working men and women (and children).
If you are interested in the language – whether as teacher or writer, or simply as a Scot proud of your heritage – old, secondhand editions of Scots dictionaries are probably going to be the best option … especially as you can probably pick up three or four different ones for the price of a newly published work.
April 17, 2013
A Scots Quair
Dieses Wörterbuch wurde mir von meinem Professor empfohlen, als ich für ein Austauschsemester an der University of Glasgow studierte. Daher - wer sich für die Sprache der Schotten interessiert, sollte sich dieses Nachschlagewerk zulegen, denn ohne geht es kaum, wenn man "nur" Englisch kann, und trotzdem Werke in Scots lesen will.
Papier- und Bindungsqualität entsprechen den typisch angloamerikanischen Billig-Taschenbüchern. Nicht sehr angenehm zu benutzen und nicht wirklich zweckmäßig.
Dieses Wörterbuch wurde mir von meinem Professor empfohlen, als ich für ein Austauschsemester an der University of Glasgow studierte. Daher - wer sich für die Sprache der Schotten interessiert, sollte sich dieses Nachschlagewerk zulegen, denn ohne geht es kaum, wenn man "nur" Englisch kann, und trotzdem Werke in Scots lesen will.
Papier- und Bindungsqualität entsprechen den typisch angloamerikanischen Billig-Taschenbüchern. Nicht sehr angenehm zu benutzen und nicht wirklich zweckmäßig.
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