Shetland Dialect

The Shetland dialect of Scotland is distinctive. One of the most distinctive features of the dialect is the use of the second person singular du instead of you to address family and friends. Objects are often referred to as he or she instead of it.

The fricatives of words such as this, that, thick and thin are replaced with plosives. This is also common in Irish English. The be verb is often used for present perfect. Have you heard? Yes, I've heard can be expressed with Is du heard? Yea, I'm heard.

Shetland and Orkney form part of a wider dialect known as Insular Scots. Shetland is an archipelago of islands located northeast of the Scottish mainland. The dialect was influenced by Norn, an extinct Scandinavian language.