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Lowland Scots/Lesson02
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Lowland Scots Lesson Two: Numbers and Greetings
Number Basics
The number system in Scots is very similar to English, which is obvious because Lowlands is English's closest relative. The numbers are as follows;
'wan"1 one
twa two
three three
fower four
five five
sax six
seiven seven
aicht eight
nine nine
ten ten
eleiven eleven
twal twelve
thirteen2 thirteen
fowerteen fourteen
fifteen fifteen
saxteen sixteen
seiventeen seventeen
aichteen eighteen
nineteen nineteen
twinty twenty
1: Also pronounced "yin" "een" or "wan" and "ae" also pronounced "yae".
2: Also "thritteen" or "deil's dizzen".
Greetings
Some common phrases include as follows:
Scots: walcome. hous it gaun?1 a'am daein fine.2,3 thank ye. thanks. hou much. cheerio.
English: welcome. how are you? I am well. thank you. Thanks. how much? good-bye.
1: It literally says "how is it going?".
2: It literally says "I'm doing fine".
3: "A am" would coloquially be contracted into the word "A'm".
Dialogue
Scots:
John: Whit like?1
Mary: A'm daein fine. An yersel?2
John: A'm daein fine an aw. Thanks for askin! A'm awa the nou. See ye efter.3
Mary: See ye efter.
English:
John: How are you?
Mary: I'm well. You?
John: I'm well, too. Thanks for asking! I got to go now. Bye.
Mary: Bye.
Literal Translations:
1 "What like?" - similar in meaning to: "How's things?"
2 "I'm doing fine. And yourself?"
3 "I'm doing fine and all. Thanks for asking. I'm away the now. See you after"
End of lesson two
Now that lesson two is complete, you'd should also be able to have a simple conversation with anybody that speaks Scots. You can even count up to "twinty"! In the next lesson, we will discuss more advanced number material.
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On to Lesson Three!>>