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'''Scots ''' refers to the [[indiginous ]] [[language ]] of lowland [[Scotland]] and parts of the north of [[Ireland]] where it is also known as Ulster Scots.Since there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing languages from dialects[[dialect]]s, scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots. Although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects do exist these often render contradictory results Consequently Scots has, on the one hand, been traditionally regarded as one of the [[ancient ]] dialects of [[English ]] but with its own ancient and distinct dialects. Scots has often been treated as part of English as spoken in Scotland but differs significantly from the Standard Scottish English taught in schools. On the other hand, it has been regarded as a distinct Germanic [[German]]ic language the way [[Swedish ]] is distinct from [[Danish]]. Its subordination to [[Anglo]]-English has also been compared to the subordination of [[Frisian ]] to [[Dutch ]] in the [[Netherlands]].Thus Scots can be interpreted as a collective term for the dialects of English spoken or originating in Scotland, or it can be interpreted as the autochthonous language of Lowland Scotland.<ref>A.J. Aitken in ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' p.894</ref>

:"The UK Government announced on 4 June 1998 its decision to sign the [[Council of Europe ]] [[Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]]. This came into effect as of the 1 July 2001. The Scots language will be covered by Part II of the Charter. By applying Part II of the Charter to Scots the Government will be recognising the distinctive nature and cultural value of the language." <ref>http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/148.htm</ref>

In Scots, [[vowel ]] length is usually conditioned by the ''Scottish vowel length rule''. Words which differ only slightly in pronunciation from ''Scottish English'' are generally spelled as in English. Other words may be spelt the same but differ in pronunciation, for example: ''aunt'', ''swap'', ''want'' and ''wash'' with /a/, ''bull'', ''full'' v. and ''pull'' with /&#652;/, ''bind'', ''find'' and ''wind'' v., etc. with /&#618;/.