Changing times, changing perceptions? A perceptual dialectology case study of a Scottish community in flux

According to census data, the North-East of Scotland is one of the strongholds of the Scots language. However, the dialect of Scots found there is undergoing change, with linguistic studies reporting dialect attrition. This article focuses on Inverurie – a town whose population has increased almost threefold since the 1950s as it has become an important commuter hub for Aberdeen.

By comparing perceptions of older and younger speakers, the results of this study support accounts of dialect attrition, observed through weakening of the traditionally perceived urban/rural linguistic (and geographic) divide, youngsters’ lack of identification with traditional identity labels, and – most importantly – differing accuracy rates when geographically placing a speech sample from an older Garioch speaker. Conversely, the fact that such stark results are not found among youngsters surveyed in some other North-East communities suggests that linguistic change may be afoot at different paces in different parts of the region.