The Predictability of {S} Abbreviation in Older Scots Manuscripts According to Stem-final Littera

Abstract

This chapter presents an analysis of the spelling variation found in the Older Scots plural noun {S} morpheme. The realisation of this morpheme as or , as in acctionis ‘actions,’ has been claimed to be a diagnostic of the “Scottishness” of a text (e.g. Kniezsa 1997: 41). In A Linguistic Atlas of Older Scots (LAOS), the most common realisation of {S} (61%) is in fact the scribal abbreviation <>; of non-abbreviated realisations, /ys> in indeed the most frequent realisation, although it only accounts for 25% of all tokens. The abbrevation <> is often assumed to be functionally identical to , rather than to <(e)s>, in the literature. To test this assumption, the author uses generalised additive modelling. The Independent Variable that turned out to be the best predictor for the use of <> as opposed to a full form like is the identity of the stem-final letter. The salient feature triggering <> is whether the stem-final letters terminates in a horizontal stroke or not. The realisation of the plural morpheme {S} in Older Scots legal texts, then, appears to be primarily motivated by palaeographical convenience.