Modern Scots phonology

Consonants
Most consonants are usually pronounced much as in English but:
 * c: or, much as in English.
 * ch:, also gh. Medial 'cht' may be in Northern dialects. loch (fjord or lake), nicht (night), dochter (daughter), dreich (dreary), etc. Similar to the German "Nacht", "Tochter".
 * ch: word initial or where it follows 'r' . airch (arch), mairch (march), etc.
 * gn: . In Northern dialects may occur.
 * kn: . In Northern dialects or  may occur. knap (talk), knee, knowe (knoll), etc.
 * ng: is always.
 * nch: usually . brainch (branch), dunch (push), etc.
 * r: or  is pronounced in all positions, i.e. rhotically.
 * s or se: or.
 * t: may be a glottal stop between vowels or word final. In Ulster dentalised pronunciations may also occur, also for 'd'.
 * th: or  much as is English. In Mid Northern varieties an intervocallic  may be realised . Initial 'th' in thing, think and thank, etc. may be.
 * wh: usually, older . Northern dialects also have.
 * wr: more often  but may be  in Northern dialects. wrack (wreck), wrang (wrong), write, wrocht (worked), etc.
 * z: or, may occur in some words as a substitute for the older <ȝ> (yogh). For example: brulzie (broil), gaberlunzie (a beggar) and the names Menzies, Finzean, Culzean, Mackenzie etc. (As a result of the lack of education in Scots, Mackenzie is now generally pronounced with a  following the perceived realisation of the written form, as more controversially is sometimes Menzies.)

Silent letters

 * The word final 'd' in nd and ld but often pronounced in derived forms. Sometimes simply 'n' and 'l' or 'n and 'l e.g. auld (old) and haund (hand) etc.
 * 't' in medial cht ('ch' = ) and st and before final en e.g. fochten (fought), thristle (thistle) and also the 't' in aften (often) etc.
 * 't' in word final ct and pt but often pronounced in derived forms e.g. respect and accept etc.

Vowels
The vowel system of Scots:


 * 1) With the exception of North Northern dialects this vowel has generally merged with vowels 2, 4 or 8.
 * 2) Merges with vowels 1 and 8. in central dialects and vowel 2 in Northern dialects. Also  or  before  and  depending on dialect.
 * 3) Vocalisation to  may occur before.
 * 4) Some mergers with vowel 5.

In Scots, vowel length is usually conditioned by the Scottish Vowel Length Rule. Words which differ only slightly in pronunciation from Scottish English are generally spelled as in English. Other words may be spelt the same but differ in pronunciation, for example: aunt, swap, want and wash with, bull, full v. and pull with , bind, find and wind v., etc. with.
 * The unstressed vowel may be represented by any vowel letter.
 * a (vowel 17): usually, often in south west and Ulster dialects, but  in Northern dialects. Note final a (vowel 12) in awa (away), twa (two) and wha (who) may also be , ,  or  depending on dialect.
 * au, aw (vowel 12) or  in Southern, Central and Ulster dialects but  in Northern dialects, with au usually occurring in medial positions  and aw in final positions. Sometimes a or a' representing L-vocalisation.  The digraph aa also occurs, especially in written representations of the  realisation im Northern and Insular dialects. The cluster 'auld' may also be  in Ulster, e.g. aw (all), cauld (cold), braw (handsome), faw (fall), snaw (snow), etc.
 * ai (vowel 8) in initial and medial positions and a(consonant)e (vowel 4). The graphemes ae (vowel 4) and ay (vowel 8) generally occur in final positions. All generally . Often before . The merger of vowel 8 with 4 has resulted in the digraph ai occurring in some words with vowel 4 and a(consonant)e occurring in some words with vowel 8, e.g. saip (soap), hale (whole), ane (one), ance (once), bane (bone), etc. and word final brae (slope) and day etc. The digraph ae also occurs for vowel 7 in dae (do), tae (too) and shae (shoe). In Northern dialects the vowel in the cluster 'ane' is often  and after  and dark  the realisation  may occur. In Southern Scots and many Central and Ulster varieties ae, ane and ance may be realised,  and  often written yae, yin and yince in dialect writing.
 * ea, ei (vowel 3), has generally merged with (vowel 2) or  (vowel 4 or 8) depending on dialect.  may occur before . In Northern varieties the realisation may be  after  and  and in the far north  may occur in all environments. deid (dead), heid (head), meat (food), clear etc.
 * ee (vowels 2 and 11), e(Consonant)e (vowel 2). Occasionally ei and i.e. with ei generally before ch, but also in a few other words, and ie generally occurring before l and v. The realisation is generally but in Northern varieties may be  after  and . Final vowel 11  may be  in Southern dialects. e.g. ee (eye), een (eyes), speir (enquire), steek (shut), here, etc. The digraph ea also occurs in a few words such as sea and tea.
 * e (vowel 16): . bed, het (heated), yett (gate), etc.
 * eu (vowel 7 before  and  see ui):  or  depending on dialect. Sometimes u(consonant)e. Sometimes u phonetically and oo after Standard English also occur, e.g. beuk (book), eneuch (enough), ceuk (cook), leuk (look), teuk (took) etc.
 * ew (vowel 14): . In Northern dialects a root final 'ew' may be . few, new, etc.
 * i (Vowel 15):, but often varies between and  especially after 'w' and 'wh'.   occurs in much of Ulster except Donegal which usually has . E.g. big, fit (foot), wid (wood), etc.
 * i(consonant)e, y(consonant)e, ey (vowels 1, 8a and 10): or . 'ay' is usually  but  in ay (yes) and aye (always). In Dundee it is noticeably.
 * o (vowel 18): but often merging with vowel 5  often spelled phonetically oa in dialect spellings such as boax (box), coarn (corn), Goad (God)joab (job) and oan (on) etc.
 * oa (vowel 5):.
 * oi, oy (vowel 9)
 * ow, owe (root final), seldom ou (vowel 13): . Before 'k' vocalisation to may occur especially in western and Ulster dialects. bowk (retch), bowe (bow), howe (hollow), knowe (knoll), cowp (overturn), yowe (ewe), etc.
 * ou the general literary spelling of vowel 6. Also u(consonant)e in some words: the former often represented by oo, a 19th-century borrowing from Standard English. Root final  may occur in Southern dialects. cou (cow), broun (brown), hoose (house), moose (mouse) etc.
 * u (vowel 19): . but, cut, etc.
 * ui, the usual literary spelling of vowel 7 (except before and  see eu), the spelling u(consonant)e also occurred, especially before nasals, and oo from the spelling of Standard English cognates:  in conservative dialects. In parts of Fife, Dundee and north Antrim . In Northern dialects usually  but  after  and  often spelled ee in dialect writing, and also  before  in some areas e.g. fuird (ford). Mid Down and Donegal dialects have . In central and north Down dialects merger with vowel 15  occurs when short and vowel 8  when long, often written ai in dialect writing, e.g. buird (board), buit (boot), cuit (ankle), fluir (floor), guid (good), schuil (school), etc. In central dialects uise v. and uiss n. (use) are  and.