Handsel number 2: hand

There are four pronunciations and about five spellings of this word in Scots. The Dictionary of the Scots Language [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] chooses the Standard English spelling as the primary headword.

The two main pronunciation categories in this word are the vowel used and the inclusion or exclusion of the 'd'. In dialects south of the Tay the vowel pronunciation tends towards the THOUGHT sound, typically spelled as in Scots, resulting in haun>. The northern Scots dialects tend towards a version of this vowel sound where the lips aren't rounded. This can sound closer to the 'ah' sound heard in TRAP, this is typically spelled in Scots, resulting in the handsel word being spelled haan>.

Activity 9

Listen to the two words, then record yourself pronouncing them paying attention to the variation in pronunciation. Don’t forget to compare your recording with our model.

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Transcript

Listen

haun, haan

Model

haun, haan

End transcript

 

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Choosing a pan-dialectical standard spelling of this vowel in Scots would involve picking one of either convention, or , again with speakers continuing to pronounce the word as they do in their own dialect.

There is also a variation in consonant usage in this handsel word. The exclusion of a after the letter is a pattern of how these consonant sounds behave in the spoken language that generally applies to many words: hunner, grun, fin, en, soun, pun, poon, etc.

This can also be extended to the letter following the letter : i.e. in nummer, nimmle. And, even though the spelling in both English and Scots poorly accommodates the sound followed by the sound, Scots words take the 'singer' form, with no hard [g], in words like finger, langer.

Language links

Singer sewing machine

The close links between Scots and German can not only be found in the vocabulary the two languages use, but also in the way letters, or combinations of letters are pronounced. There is a very obvious correlation when it comes to the pronunciation of the sound followed by the sound. In German the words Finger, langer, or surname Singer sound the same as these words with the same spelling in Scots as they do not have a hard [g].

In some Scots dialects, this is not a completely consistent rule. Some dialects would use 'hunder' for 'hunner'. Also, when the word is extended with an ending, these letters may, or may not, reappear. For example, haun becoming the word 'haunner', or in the verb meaning ‘to give’ or ‘to hand (over)’, one can have either 'haanit' or 'haandit'. Indeed, the word 'handsel' itself can be pronounced as either haunsel> or haandsel>.

When considering deciding upon a standard Scots spelling, we may ask: Ought we to maintain silent consonants like and as found in these examples? English and French keep many silent letters. Or ought we to agree on a spelling which represents a rule that's generally adhered to with a handful of exceptions and which represents the majority of Scots speakers’ pronunciation?

These are just some of the aspects to consider when thinking about developing a Standard Scots.