An examination of the phonological representation used in Scots dialect literature

This paper will use the Itchy Coo translations of The Gruffalo to explore modern Scots orthographic practices. Specifically, it will determine the orthographic variants across the texts and analyse their respective frequencies (as suggested in Bann and Corbett, 2015:146), from this any emerging orthographic consistencies which might represent the development of a standard modern Scots spelling system can be identified. The current educational system means that learners of Scots will already be familiar with English, particularly by the time they encounter written Scots. Walker (1969:155) argues that new orthographies should provide maximal transference with the conventions of the larger society and it is in this way that Scots has been impacted by the wider usage of English in modern times. Conversely, Bann and Corbett (2015:72) claim that modern Scots orthography has become more salient in response to a modern readership being unfamiliar with the Scots-specific pronunciations. Mühlhaüsler (1990:198) assumes that literacy tends to favour a single-standard language and that dialectal variation, which is more widely tolerated in oral communication, is lost as a result. This means that standardisation is likely to be a natural effect of Scots as a modern written medium. Joseph (1987:58) concludes that the factors which influence the emergence of a standard are so complex that they’re more easily analysed in hindsight than predicted in advance but based on systematic analysis of orthographic variants and their respective frequencies, this paper will be able to realistically suggest what such a standard modern Scots spelling system might look like.