Scots Translator

Scots and Scottish Gaelic are different languages. A Scottish setting does not identify the language of a text: a message may use Scots, Scottish Standard English, Gaelic or a mixture. Scots Translator is intended for written Scots and English, rather than Gaelic. Check the source label before pasting a passage. Familiar English-looking spelling does not establish that every word has its usual English sense. Keep the author’s spelling and punctuation in the input instead of correcting unfamiliar forms before you have understood them.

Paste a complete short sentence, including a subject and any word expressing a negative, a time or a condition. An isolated word such as ken gives less information than a clause explaining what someone knows. If a pronoun refers to a person in the previous sentence, include that sentence where space permits. For a long extract, divide it at paragraph or sentence boundaries. Keep a separate copy of the original so you can compare omissions, names and changes of emphasis without relying on memory.

The word-clue panel in Scots Translator checks a small, stated list rather than trying to identify every Scots word. Bairn and bairns differ in number; wee can describe something small; hoose is a written house form. A match tells you which entry to consider, not which interpretation the writer must intend. The panel treats a capitalized Ken as a possible match too, so a personal name still needs your judgment. Words outside the list are left unclassified, even when they belong to Scots.

Dictionaries of the Scots Language records senses across different periods and varieties. Dreich can concern dreary weather, but a wearisome or prolonged task can also be described with it. Outwith points outside or beyond a place or limit; identify the following phrase before choosing an English expression. Scots Translator is most useful here when you compare a sentence-level reading with a specific word question. A dictionary headword supplies possible senses, while the nearby nouns, verbs and topic help you narrow them down.

Written Scots is not one automatic accent spelling for all speakers in Scotland. Authors and communities may use different forms, and a literary source may reflect an earlier period. Avoid replacing a form everywhere just because another passage spells it differently. With Scots Translator, retain a short source note describing the author, date and context when those details are available. If two spellings appear in the same work, check whether the difference follows a character, a place or a grammatical context before treating it as a mistake.

After using Scots Translator, compare the practical facts first. Count the people or objects, verify the day and time, and check whether an instruction is positive or negative. A smooth English sentence can still shift who performs an action. Proper names and local place names may resemble ordinary words, so compare them individually with the original. For a classroom reading, mark the word that caused uncertainty and explain the meaning you chose; that is more useful than copying a result without the passage it came from.

For English-to-Scots writing, start with a clear message and decide who is speaking to whom. A family note, a poem and a public notice call for different wording. Scots Translator offers a starting passage, but a specific local voice requires knowledge of that speaker or community. Keep established quotations unchanged when discussing a text, and separate a quotation from your own paraphrase. Before printing a sign or publishing dialogue, ask a reader familiar with the intended variety to check the complete wording in context.