I was pleasantly surprised to discover that in 2018 the Doric was officially recognised as a Scottish language in its own right. When I returned to Scotland at the end of 2012, after being away for many years, I was somewhat taken aback with regard to how much has changed in the last few decades. Now, road signs and names at railway stations are in Gaelic as well as English. Here in the Highlands, Gaelic is taught in some schools and is still spoken by some on the west coast and the Hebrides.

But, what about the Doric, the language of my childhood, which is really more a dialect than a language per se? The Doric is predominantly spoken by people in North East Scotland and it takes a bit of practice to get the hang of it. I recall about 30 years ago a Polish friend and her boyfriend had come to stay with me for a short break and had gone to the village pub one evening. When they returned, the comment my friend made was that they couldn’t understand a word the people were saying. That’s the Doric for you.

For anyone who is interested, I’m going to introduce you to some very basic words and phrases in the Doric.

nae - no/not
aye - yes
canna - can’t
dinna - don’t
fit - how
fas - who
far - where

Fit like the noo? How are you?
I dinna ken. I don’t know.
Far ye gaen/guan? Where are you going?
Ben the hoose - to another room
Far div ye bide? Where do you live?

lassies or quines - girls
lads, loons or loonies - boys
wifies - women

bonnie - lovely
dreich - miserable
scunnered - fed up
nae weel - ill

semmit - vest
sark- shirt
gutty pergees - gym shoes
doddies - mittens
marless- gloves or shoes that don’t match

If there are any speakers of the Doric here, it would be great if you could share some more words and phrases. For those who want to take it further, you can go to - reference.yourdictionary.com and put in the search bar - ‘Doric Language and English Translation’. Another site, which gives some information about the Doric, as well as books you can buy, is doricphrases.com

Those who are even more ambitious might want to read Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s classic trilogy ‘A Scots Quair’ which has been televised several times in the UK. Sunset Song, the first book in the trilogy gives a very moving account of the life of Chris Guthrie in the early years of the last century up until the First World War and is set in an area close to my childhood home. This will test your understanding of the Doric!