The dialect of Caithness is generally spoken in the lowlying land to the east of a line drawn from Clyth Ness to some 4 miles west of Thurso. To the west of that Scottish Gaelic used to be spoken. The Caithness varieties have been influenced by both Gaelic and Norn. The dialect spoken in the neighbourhood of John o' Groats resembles that of Orkney to some extent.
Initial j or g, which is realised in most other Scots dialects, may be realised.
The k in the clusterkn may be pronounced in for example, knife and knowe.
th, usually or in other Scots dialect, may be realised in a few words, for example muith and thresh. The initial thdropped in all pronominals, for example the, they and thare etc.
The w in the cluster wr may be realised in Canisbay, in for example wrack and wrang.
ai in initial and medial positions and a'e, usually, may be realised in, for example, alane, ane, ance, bane, hail, hairse, hame, kail, kaim, stane and wame.
au may be realised rather than before ld in, for example Bauld, cauld and sauld.
ea, ei may be realised rather than or as in other Scots dialects, in for example, cheap, east, heid, heiven, leaf, peir, seiven, sheaf, speak, sweir and sweit.
i'e, y'e may be realised in, for example, bide, byke, line and pipe.
ui is realised including after and. Also u'e, especially before nasals, and oo from the spelling of Standard English cognates, in for example, abuin, cuit and guid, often written abeen, keet and geed in dialect writing. The realisation is usually before in, for example, buird, fluir and fuird, often written boord, floor and foord in dialect writing. The realisation also occurs in adae, dae, shae and tae.
Grammar
The grammar generally follows that of other Scots dialects, but: The past tense and past participles-it an t are realised and in, for example, hurtit, skelpit, mendit, traivelt, raxt, telt and kent. The diminutive -ock is realised influenced by or borrowed from Gaelic. A final -ock in other words may also be realised. Often written -ag in dialect writing. The present participle and gerund-in may be differentiated and, for example: He wis aye gutteran aboot and He's fond o gutterin aboot.
The phonology of the Black Isle and Easter Ross varieties generally follow the pattern of the Caithness varieties but:
Initial ch, usually realised in other Scots dialects, may be realised in, for example, chap, chield, chirl and chowk.
Initial h may be 'dropped' in, for example, haund and hoose but 'added' in for example in ale and Annie.
wh may be dropped or realised in the pronominals wha, whit, whase, whan and whaur. The realisation may also be as in Mid Northern Scots and in Cromarty the realisation may be .
