After an outline of the linguistic situation in present-day Scotland, the main features of contemporary Scottish Standard English are discussed. These chapters are followed by an analysis of the concept of ‘Scotticism’ from the historical point of view. Special prominence is given to the eighteenth century; the role of the most important prescriptive grammarians is described, together with an assessment of the ambiguous sociolinguistic attitudes that Scotticisms provoked at the turn of the century, when new literary figures returned status to ‘the vernacular’. Finally, the nineteenth century is taken into consideration. This, in turn, leads back to contemporary language, in order to discuss the ways in which items have changed their status, from ‘proscribed Scotticisms’ to ‘covert’ or ‘overt Scotticisms’, worthy of stylistic consideration, and still employed as highly valuable tools of expression.
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