University of Glasgow launches crowdsource to research how locals use Scots language

The University of Glasgow has launched a new project that aims to map the many different types of Scots language spoken by people living in Scotland in 2022.

Speak for Yersel is a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council at the University of Glasgow, and is asking Scots from Stranraer to Dumfries and everywhere in between to submit the words, sounds, and sentences they use via a series of anonymous interactive resources on the website.

The project provided examples like wean, nicht, and gonnae no dae that, and academics at the University are calling on people across Scotland to log their speech on the Speak for Yersel website.

Professor Jennifer Smith, a Professor of Sociolinguistics based at the University’s School of Critical Studies, said: “Lots of people say ‘Oh I don’t speak Scots’. But just because you don’t sound like Robert Burns, doesn’t mean you’re not speaking Scots.

“We sometimes have an idea that Scots was something that was spoken centuries ago and now it has largely disappeared. But step out on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow or Union Street in Aberdeen and you’ll hear people sounding distinctly Scottish.

“We know intuitively that people across Scotland sound very different, so here we want to capture those differences, providing a record of how Scots is spoken in the 21st century.”

Speak for Yersel aims to record the types of Scots spoken across Scotland in different areas, from Aberdeen to the university’s home city of Glasgow.

Mary Robinson, Research Assistant on the Speak for Yersel project, said: “Scots is not just a subject you learn in school: it’s a living language that’s spoken by millions of people in Scotland, whether or not they realise it.

“There is no wrong way to speak Scots. These surveys aren’t a test to determine if you’re a ‘real’ Scots speaker or not, or if your speech is ‘Scots enough’ or not. Instead, it recognises that there are as many valid ways to speak Scots are there are Scots speakers.”

The project will allow academics to capture the changes in Scots language by comparing speakers across the generations.

Speak for Yersel also offers up the opportunity to study Scots in the classroom in a new engaging way. The resource contains a number of activities that aims to make pupils think about how they and others sound.

Bruce Eunson, Scots Language Co-ordinator for Education Scotland, said: “It’s been fantastic working with the University of Glasgow on this new Scots language resource. Digital resources such as “Speak for Yersel” are invaluable for both modern education settings, as well as for promoting use of Scots language in education.

“By giving children and young people across Scotland the opportunity to interact with the resource and to be the voices and responders to the data collected, it puts the learner at the centre of the experience and creates opportunities for them to not only be part of the process but to also shape the output of the resource.

“The more this unique platform is used, the more we will all learn about how Scots is used in classrooms and what children and young people have to say about the language, thus providing invaluable feedback and knowledge on this important aspect of modern education and Scottish culture. The academics at University of Glasgow have been brilliant to work with on this project and I look forward to promoting this for use in classrooms all over the country.”