Lexis
General items are outwith, meaning outside of; pinkie for little finger; doubt meaning to think or suspect; and wee, the Scots word for small. Correct is often preferred to right meaning morally right.
Culturally specific items like , , and landward for rural.
There is a wide range of legal and administrative vocabulary inherited from Scots. depute /ˈdɛpjuːt/ for deputy. /ˈproːvən/ for proved, and sheriff substitute for acting sheriff.
Phonology
Pronunciation features vary among speakers, and there are regional differences:
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It is a , with r usually pronounced as [r] (an ), though sometimes [ɽ] or [ɹ].
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The differentiation between "w" in witch and "wh" in which, [w] and [ʍ] respectively.
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The realisation [x] for "ch" in loch, technical, etc. (Wells 1982, 408)
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L is usually dark, though in areas where Gaelic was recently spoken — including Dumfries and Galloway a clear l may be found.
- The following may occur in colloquial speech, usually among the young, especially males. They are not usually regarded as part of SSE, their origin being in Scots:
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The use of for [t] between vowels or word final after a vowel, for example butter /ˈbʌʔəɹ/ and cat /ˈkaʔ/.
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The realisation of the nasal velar in "-ing" as a nasal alveolar "in'" for example talking /ˈtɑːkɪn/.
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is usually non-phonemic and operates in varying degrees across varieties and gives Scots their distinctive "clipped" pronunciation. That is generally the same as in the Scots language.
Some speakers, however, distinguish some pairs by vowel length, for example leek /lik/ vs. leak /liːk/, vane /ven/ vs. vain /veːn/, creek /krik/ vs. creak /kriːk/, etc.
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SSE usually distinguishes between [ɛ]-[ɪ]-[ʌ] before [r] in herd-bird-curd, in these have merged into [ɜː].
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SSE contrasts [o] and [ɔ], before [r] as in hoarse and horse.
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Many varieties contrast [oːr] and [uːr], as in shore, core and door, floor, poor, moor.
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fool and full have [u] or [ʉ] or [y] in SSE where RP differentiates.
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Many varieties have the , so that cot and caught are both pronounced with [ɔ]
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cat and cart have [a(ː)] where RP differentiates.
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SSE usually distinguishes between [ʌur] and [ʌuər], in flour and flower.
Syntax
Syntactical differences are few though in colloquial speech shall and ought are wanting, must is marginal for obligation and may is rare. Many syntactical features of SSE are found in :
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Can I come too? for "May I come too?"
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Have you got any? for "Do you have any?"
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I've got one of those already. for "I have one of those already."
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It's your shot for "It's your turn."
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My hair needs washed. for "My hair needs to be washed."
Other examples are distinctively :
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She's a bonnie lass. for "She's a pretty girl."
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Dae ye no/nae ken? for "Don't you know."
