Shetland and Orkney
The Shetland and Orkney accent
Shetland and Orkney spoke Norn — a Norse language, not a Scots dialect — until the eighteenth century, and the English that replaced it is built on that foundation. It is the only British variety that regularly turns TH into T and D, so “that” is “dat” and “three” is “tree”, and it kept the singular “du” and “dee” that the rest of English lost.
Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →
How to recognise a Shetland and Orkney accent
- TH-stopping: “dis”, “dat” and “tree” for “this”, “that” and “three”.
- “Du” and “dee” — a singular “you” of the kind English dropped centuries ago.
- “Peerie” for small, where the rest of Scotland says “wee”.
- A Norse-derived vocabulary of weather, sea and land with no Scots equivalent.
Also known as Shetland accent, Orkney accent, Shetlandic, Orcadian accent. Spoken in Shetland and Orkney, Scotland.
The Shetland and Orkney pronunciation fingerprint
These are the answers the quiz expects from a Shetland and Orkney speaker on its 27 pronunciation questions. Where a feature varies within the region, more than one answer counts as a match.
“bath” takes the short vowel of “cat” — no trap–bath split
The Trap–Bath Split: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
rhotic — the R at the end of “car” is pronounced
a clear T in the middle of “bottle”
“cot” and “caught” rhyme — the cot–caught merger
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
“Mary”, “marry” and “merry” all sound the same, or two of “Mary”, “marry” and “merry” match and one differs
“day” is one flat sound — deh
“go” is one flat sound — gaw
“tune” keeps its Y — “tyoon”
no — they sound different
one — “film”
“Film” or “Fillum”? The Helping Vowel in Highland and Irish English
no — they end in a vowel
a d-like sound — “dat”
“ship” and “sheep” hold two distinct vowels apart
Ship or Sheep? The Vowel That Divides Native and Learned English
“put” and “putt” have different vowels — the foot–strut split
TH-stopping — “three” sounds like “tree”, or a true TH at the start of “three”
the H in “house” is pronounced
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
“beer” and “bear” stay distinct
“happy” ends on a long “-ee” — happy-tensing
“wine” and “vine” start with different sounds
“school” starts straight on the S
“bed” keeps its voiced ending, apart from “bet”
a tapped or trilled R, or an approximant R, made without contact
“pin” and “pen” stay distinct
the vowel in “ride” glides from one sound to another
“celery” and “salary” stay distinct
Everyday words in Shetland and Orkney
The Shetland and Orkney accent test
Is your accent Shetland and Orkney? The only way to answer that against real data is to compare your own speech to the profile above. The test takes about two minutes: answer 29 questions, pin the town where you grew up, and see your closest accent matches ranked by how well they fit — plus where people who answer like you actually live.