MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Since devolution in 1998 Scotland’s newspapers have dramatically changed their use of Scots words with a corresponding impact on sales figures says newly published research by Scots academic.

Words such as ‘bairn’ or ‘wean’ (child), ‘bonnie’ (pretty/attractive) and ‘wee’ (small) have long been used by the Scottish media, reflecting their widespread use in Scottish society and culture and their significance in the country’s language and identity.

The research, undertaken by Dr Fiona Douglas from the University of Leeds and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), has just been published in a book ‘Scottish Newspapers, Language and Identity’ and looks at the usage of Scottish language by the Scottish press over the period from 1995 to 2005.

Key findings from the study show that the Daily Record has become ‘more Scottish’, having substantially upped use of these words between 1995 and 2005 whilst the indigenous broadsheet titles The Herald and The Scotsman are becoming ‘less Scottish’, having slashed the number of Scots words they use in the same period.

Meanwhile, Scottish editions of two UK papers - The Scottish Sun and The Times - have dramatically increased the number of Scots words they use, amid suggestions that they are emphasising their ‘Scottishness’ to appeal to readers.

Dr Douglas said: “Over a ten year period there has been a clear shift in terms of which newspapers use Scots words. It appears that the UK newspaper titles are increasingly realising that in order to appeal to a Scottish readership, they have to market themselves as Scottish.”

“These results are interesting because they suggest non-indigenous newspapers such as The Scottish Sun are now using Scots language as part of their strategy to appeal to Scottish readers. They have adopted the one thing that previously made the indigenous Scottish newspapers stand out and, given the close link between language and identity, there is a good chance that this tactic will help them be accepted as genuinely Scottish newspapers.”

For the project Dr Douglas selected 440 Scots words and monitored their use in Monday to Saturday editions of indigenous titles The Daily Record, The Herald and The Scotsman. Scottish editions of two UK papers, The Scottish Sun and The Times, were also examined. The study was repeated in 2005 and results compared.

The total number of Scots words used rose marginally from 15,517 in 1995 to 16,229 in 2005, but use in individual newspapers changed dramatically. In 1995, The Herald used 8,985 words but by 2005 that fell to 3,626, while The Scotsman used 3,492 in 1995 and 2,625 in 2005. In The Daily Record, numbers went from 2,617 to 5,428 in the same period.

Dr Douglas said: “Post-devolution, with increased national confidence, we might have expected to see a huge upsurge in the use of Scots words by Scotland’s indigenous national press but clearly this has not happened. Perhaps post-devolution, with increased political autonomy, some Scots now feel less need to rely on Scots words as a way of marking their distinctive Scottish identity.”

But the Scottish editions of UK newspapers have upped their use of Scots words post-devolution with The Scottish Sun in 2005 using 3,326 Scots words (rivalling usage in the indigenous broadsheets), and The Times showing a more modest but nevertheless significant presence of 1224 words.

The study found that Scots words are most-used in humorous diaries, sports sections and feature articles.

These increases in their use of Scots words coincide with a process of such newspapers exploiting changing methods in newspaper production to tailor editions to the local market, setting up satellite operations in Scotland, and having more Scottish journalists on the ground. And in the case of The Scottish Sun, this increased Scottishisation has coincided with an increased market share - in 2006 its sales overtook those of the indigenous Daily Record for the first time.

‘Scottish Newspapers, Language and Identity’ by Dr Fiona Douglas, lecturer in English Language at the University is published by Edinburgh University Press.

This research project was supported by a Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Leave award.