Shetland Dialect

The Shetland dialect

If you have been to Shetland, or heard any Shetlanders speak, you’ll notice that on top of a very distinctive accent, a lot of the words used are quite different to the rest of Scotland. The Shetland dialect is influenced by Old Scots and Norn, which was spoken in Shetland until the 18th century.

Some of the words are recognisable, and others, totally different! See if you can guess what these Shetland words mean. The explanations are given further down the page.

Peerie

Hamefarin

Fantin

Gansey

Draatsi

Tammie Norie

Muckle

Shilpit

Peerie-wyes

Peerie – small

Hamefarin - homecoming

Fantin - starving

Gansey - jumper

Draatsi - otter

Tammie Norie  - puffin

Muckle - big

Shilpit - sour

Peerie-wyes – carefully

You can read much more about the Shetland dialect on the fantastic Shetland for Wirds website.