Wikipedia:RRSSC Shortleet o Frequent Words in Scots

Pairt o the wirk the Scots Spellin Comatee pit in thur RRSCC wis a leet o words, based on whit som uised in "primary schuils ti lairn bairns the maist important words in English." These ar set oot ablo for reference in addition tae RRSSC Common wordleet (Scots til Inglis).

Nouns

Scots	English	Comments
air	air
airt	place	cairies the sense o “direction” asweel
answer	answer
back	back
baest	animal	but mini-beasts ar baesties
bairn	child
ben	mountain
beuk	book	EU raither nor UI afore K - cp. neuk, heuk, leuch.
bit	place
bodie	body	if a person, pronunced “buddie”; gin a person’s body, pronunced “boadie” but spelt the same wey sen American English haes nickit the “buddie” spellin tae maen a frein, wi ither connotations forbye
boy	boy
caur	car
cheil	fellow
childer	children
ceity	city
colour	colour
day	day
ee	eye
en(d)	end	it’s aye temptin ti hip thir “d”s in Scots - the Comatee advises generally no ti dae it, as it aften kythes agane in derivatives an compoonds.
example	example
face	face
faimlie	family	the -ie endin is uised cause the word is itherweys chynged ti mak the Scots spellin. See notes in Extendit Discussion.
faither	father
feet	feet
fuid	food	UI phoneme in maist airts. See notes in Extendit Discussion.
form	form
fower	four
fowk	people
gate	way
group	group
hail	whole	haill (tho aften seen) braks the dooble-vowel, single consonant rule athoot need, an hale haes anither specialised maenin ti drag, as weel as pairtnerin hertie whiles.
hame	home
hantle	number
haun(d), han(d)-	hand	maistlie han(d)- in derived forms
heid	head
hint	back
hoose	house	OO for English OU, ti evyte confuision aboot soond
idea	idea
ile	oil
kin(d)	kind
kintra	country
laddie	boy
laun(d), lan(d)-	land	* lan(d)- in derived forms
lassie	girl
leet	list	Kenspeckle spellin in Scottish Standard English
licht	light
life	life
line	line
loun	boy	OU whaur nae confuision likely.
maet	food
man	man
maucht	might	noun form juist
men	men
mile	mile
mither	mother
monie	many
muisic	music	UI phoneme in maist airts.
name	name
nicht	night
page	page
pairt	part
paper	paper
pictur	picture
plant	plant
pynt	point	Y for English OI
read	read
rig	spine, ridge
river	river
sang	song
schuil	school	haudin wi the sch- raither nor sk- or sc- cause o the sib forms frae Latin scholar, scholastic etc, whaur hippin the “h” maks for orra spellin
screive	letter	this form, no recently preferred bi SNDA, kythes nanetheless in SND an is preferred ti regularise the Scots -ei- rule an reflect common recent practice
sea	sea
sentence	sentence
side	side
some	some	nae pronunciation differ tae justifee uisin “sum”, as in some recent practice
something	something
soond	sound	OO for English OU, ti evyte confuision aboot soond.
state	state
steid	stead
stert, start	start	Legeitimate variants
story	story
thing	thing
thocht	thought
three	three
time	time
tree	tree
twa	two
uiss	use	ti encompass by-leid variants wi the -ui- digraph.
walk	walk
wark	work	No generally a verbal form
warld	world
watter	water	Dooblin the “t” shaws the first syllable rhymin wi English “vat”
wean	child	Maistlie soondit “waen”, but a contraction o “wee ane”, an whiles no contractit in spaek, sae better spelt this tradeitional wey
wey	way
word	word
year	year
yird	earth

Adjectives an Articles

Scots	English	Comments
a	a
aa	all	-AA for English an aulder Scots -ALL.
ae	only (one)	ae disna cover aa the uisses o “only” in English. Tho a Scots “anelie” is heard, the word an its uiss is thocht bi maist ti be an invasive English form, a kennin fremmit ti Scots eidiom
ain	own
an	an
ane	one	see note on the gremmar o ane vs. wan
anither	another
auld	old
baith	both
ben	inside, etc.
big	big
close	close
different	different
eneuch	enough
faur	far
few	few
first	first
guid	good
hard	hard
heich	high	EI afore the gutteral CH soond - cp. dreich; ct. beech.
hie	high
hindmaist	last
ilka	each, every
important	important
ither	other
iverie	every
landwart	(rural)
lang	long
late	late
left	left
last	last	the form lest seems ti be juist verbal, no adjectival
little	little
ma / my	my	for some spaekers, ma is the unemphatic, my the emphatic; for ithers ma is uised baith weys
mair	more
maist	most
muckle	big, large
nae	no
nearhaun	close
new	new
nummer	number
puckle	few
rael	real
richt	right
saicont	second
same	same
sic	such
smaa	small	-AA for English an aulder Scots -ALL.
the	the
twa-three	few
wan	one
wee	little, small
weel	well	EE correspondin ti English E, for readabeility.
wheen	many	whiles, less commonly, fowk uises this ti mean few
white	white
young	young

Conjunctions, Adverbs an Preposeitions

Scots	English	Comments
-na	(n't)
(a)cause	because
aamaist	almost
ablo	below
aboot	about
abuin	above
aff	off
afore	before
aften	often
again	again
ahint	behind (after)	juist in some idioms; efter for after maistlie
aince	once
alang	along
an	and
an aa	also	see entry ablo at forbye
anent	concerning
aroon(d)	around
as	as
at	at
athoot	without	wioot is heard an aa, but athoot seemed the better selection for this leet, sib ti a nummer o Scots words o this type aa stertin wi an “a”.
atween	between
awa	away
aye	always, still
but	but
by, bi	by	By in the sense o “past”, walking past a door = walkin by a door. Bi in aa ither senses an uisses.
doun	down
e'en	even
efter	after
for	for
forbye	also	forbye is uised at the end o phrases, an micht cairie the English senses “as well” or “into the bargain” or “besides” - but canna be uised aa the weys also micht be uised in English. “Alsae” is heard, but isna that common, an tends tae be a kynd o Trojan horse for English syntax an cliché forbye.
fae, frae	from	suggestit at frae is better for general uiss as "r" is whiles soondit
gey an	very
gif, if	if
gin	if
gin	until, before,when, by the time that
here	here
in	in
inti	into
intil	into	gey aften uised as intil’t at the end o phrases
iver	ever	ivver micht be mair logical bi consonant rules, but v’s disna normally dooble cause thay micht leuk like w’s syne
juist	just	UI phoneme: variously soondit joost / jist / jeest different airts
like, lik	like	the lik form aften intrudes as an unemphatic - the Comatee haesna generally recommendit uiss o unemphatic forms ootby some pronouns, but this is a gey common ane
mibbie	maybe
muckle	much
naur	near	the form naur mibbie isna aa that common some airts, whaur fowk juist says near, an is whiles soondit as nar. Naur is preferred, permittin the nar pronunciation aesier nor the ither wey roon.
na	no	Better form for non-regional uiss nor naw.
neist	next
niver	never	Neever is heard, no sae commonly
no	not	Better form for non-regional uiss nor nae.
nor	than
nou	now
o	of
oot	out
oot ower	over
or	or
or	until, before
ower	over; too	better nor owre, at tends ti gie smaa wecht ti the disyllabic pronunciation
sae	so
siccan	such
tae	too
than	then
thegither	together
thonder	there
throu	through
til, ti	to	nae simple wey o sayin whan ti uise ti an whan til: this varies frae airt ti airt
till	until
unner	under	Under is uised an aa, but it wis conseidered the “d” is mair aften elidit than itherweys in words o this ilk like thunner, hunner etc
up	up
verra	very
while	while
whiles	sometimes
wi	with
yet	still	eidiomatic uise o yet in Scots differs frae idiomatic uise o still in English; e.g.: he's still sleeping = he's sleepin yet
yont	along

Waek Verbs

Infin + Past Endin	English	Comments
add -it	add
answer -t	answer
ask -ed, aks -t	ask
awn -ed	own
birl -t	turn
caa -d	call
cairie, cairiet	carry
chynge -d	change
clype, clypit	tell	in the sense o tellin on a bodie, informin against
cry -ed (cried)	call
cut -tit	cut
daff -t	play
daunder -t	wander
eik -it	add
ettle, ettelt	try
flit -tit	move
follae -d	follow
gar -t	cause
gie -d	give	pp gien
growe -d	grow	pp growen
help -it	help
jee ‘d	move	in parteicular senses o move, ithergates muve. Verbs endin wi dooble ee haes ti uise an apostrophe ti evyte triple e in the past tense.
keep -it	keep
ken -t	know
kep -pit	catch
kythe -d	seem
lairn -t	learn
lest -it	last	but the idiomatic adjective is last, same as English
leuk -it	look
leive -d	live
muve -d	move
need -it	need
open -t	open
play -ed	play	the form pley / pleyed is mibbie ower local ti recommend for general uiss.
pree ‘d	try, taste, sample
prieve -d	try, taste, sample
pruve -d	prove	past participle pruven
repone -d	reply	gey leiterary Scots
screive -d	write
shaw -ed	show
sneck -it	latch
sned -dit	sned, cut
speir -ed	ask
spell -t	spell
stap -pit	stop, stuff
start -it/stert-it	start
steek -it	shut
stell -t	place
stey -d (in / at)	live	in the sense o dwell (in / at)
stop -pit	stop, halt	In sense o Eng. halt.
study, studied	study
talk -ed	talk	micht expect talkit, but we didna think it aften kythes, likely cause uise o the verb spaek is commoner in Scots
tell -t	tell
traivel -t	walk	Final -EL efter V.
try -ed (or: tried)	try
turn -t	turn
tyne, pt/pp tint	lose, miss
uise -d	use
walk -it	walk
want -it	want
watch -t	watch

Strang an Irregular Verbs

Verb (Infin; Past; Past Participle.)	English	Comments
begin	begin
begoud	began
begun	begun
bide	live, reside
bade	lived
bidden	lived	Also a waek pt an pp - bidit.
come	come
cam	came
come	come (pp)
aet	eat
ett	ate
aeten / etten	eaten
fin(nd)	find
fan(nd)	found (pt)
fun(nd)	found (pp)
gang, gae	go
gaun, gaein	going
gaed	went
gaen	gone
git	get
gat	got (pt)
gotten	get (pp)
lea(ve)	leave
left	left (pt, pp)
lat	let
luit	let (pt)
latten	let (pp)
mak	make
made	made (pt, pp)	Also a weak pt and pp - makkit.
pit	put
pat	put (pt)
pitten	put (pp)
read	read
read	read (pt)
rin	run
ran	ran
run	run (pp)
say	say
sayed	said
see	see
saw	saw
seen	seen
set	set (p, pt, pp)
spaek	speak	reversin the -ea- digraph ti merk the fact at in Scots this verb is variously soondit as speak, spake, spik
spak	spoke	Maistlie ae wey soondit
spoken	spoken
tak	take
teuk	took
taen	taken
think	think
thocht	thought (pt, pp)
win	win, gain, etc.
wan	won
wun	won
work	work
wrocht	worked (pt, pp)
write	write
wrat(e)	wrote
written	written

Frequent an Auxiliary Verbs

Verb	Negative	English	Comments
be		be
am	amna	am
is	isna	is
ar	arna	are
wis	wisna	was
war	warna	were
been		been
dae	dinna	do
dis	disna	does
did	didna	did
duin		done
div	divna	do	As auxiliary only. Ither tenses like dae.
hae	haena	have
haes	haesna	has
haed	haedna	had
haen		had	(past participle)
hiv	hivna	have	Ither tenses like hae.
can	canna	can, may
cuid	cuidna	could	exception ti general rules on uiss o -ui- phoneme
micht	michtna	may, might
maun	maunna	must
shuid	shuidna	should	exception ti general rules on uiss o -ui- phoneme, soud in some airts whaur the "s" isna aspiratit
will	winna	will
wad	wadna	would
dow	downa	be able
docht	dochtna	was able

Personal Pronouns

Person	Normal		Informal Only		English	Comments
	Emphatic	Unemphatic	Emphatic	Unemphatic
Singular
1	I, A				I	Baith permissible, mibbie no wyce ti uise baith in the same text
	me				me
	ma or my	ma			my
	mine(s)				mine
2	you	ye	youse		you
	your	yer			your
	yours				yours
3	he				he
	him				him
	his				his
	she				she
	her		hur		her
	hers		hurs		hers
	hit	it			it	emphatic form rarer
	hits	its			its	emphatic form rarer
Plural
1	we				we
	us		hiz, huz		us
	oor	oor / wir	wir		our
2	you	ye	yiz, youse		you
	your	yer			your
	yours				yours
3	thay				they
	thaim	them			them
	thair	thur			their

The Lave

Basic Interrogatives.
Scots	English	Comments
wha	who
whase	whose
whaur	where
whit	what, which
whan	when
why	why
whit wey, whit for	why, how	for whit raeson
hou	how	in whit mainer

Relatives
Scots	English	Comments
at, that	that, which, who

Demonstratives
Scots	English	Comments
here	here
thare	there
this	this, these
that	that, those
thir	these
thae	those
yon	that, those
thon	that, those