Parliamo
Scots Soutar
Davie
COMMON NOUNS
A
few nouns signifying quantity, like bi, drap, gowpenfu, hasntil, morsil,
mouthfu, neivefu, pikkil, spuinfu, whein, can be used as
quantifiers.
Dae ye fancie a bit kebbok wi yeir breid?
Ah’l hae a drap wattir
for a stert.
Tak a guid gowpenfu meal!
Thay believed a hantil queer things in thae days.
Gie me anither morsil breid.
Ah’l try a mouthfu parritch.
Thraw in a neivefu barley.
A pikkil mair saut wadna gang wrang.
Wad ye lyke anither spuinfu kail?
Grannie haed a whein ither ploys.
The use of nouns as qualifiers is common in
Scots. Forexample, we have: breik backsyde, breik erse, butcher maet,
hedge ruit, pudden brie, sea maw, snaw brie, Cripple Dick, houss door,
baw heid, mutton heid, sek needle, lobby press.
His mither dernt a patch on his breik backsyde wi a sek
needle.
We aye hae butcher maet for
kitchen the Setterday.
Think on the puir tramps sleepin at the hedge ruit the-nicht!
Sae ye wad skaud me wi pudden brie, wad ye?
We maun keep oor ain fish guts for oor ain sea maws
He disna lyke ti gang ower the houss door whan the’r snaw brie on the
caussie.
Ah hear tell yeir Provost is a
bit o a bawheid.
That lobbie press is a fair muck midden.
After certain nouns like, drawers, taibil,
brae, hill, stair, the words heid or fuit can be used to
locate position.
The tyme piece is on the drawers heid.
Hir taibil heid is never
richt cleared.
She is a richt stair heid limmer.
The doctor’s houss is at the brae heid.
The lobbie press is doun at the stair fuit.
He bydes up about Yarrae heid.
Ye micht finnd mair trout doun at the wattir fuit.
PLURALS
A
few plurals are irregular:
cou kye
mouss myce
ee een
ox owsen
fuit
feet shae shuin
guiss
geese tuith teeth
louss lyce
wumman weimen
Nouns of measurement are sometimes used without a plural sign, after a
numeral.
It’s mair nor fower hour sen he wes here.
Ah haena seen hir for mair nor fortie year.
It’s mair as thertie myle awa.
He coud pit awa seivin or echt pynt at the yae
dounsittin!
Words like, brose, kail, parritch, soup, are sometimes treated as
plurals.
Sowp up thir guid kail or thay ir cauld!
Ah dout thae parritch is ower wersh.
The singular forms of, beiss, fish and sheep are also used
as plurals.
The’r a hantil cattle beiss i the glebe the-nou!
The’r mair fish aye
soumin in the sea as whit evir cam out! |
