Languages of Scotland

Languages of Scotland
Geographic distribution of Scots and Gaelic speakers in Scotland
Official	English, Scots, Scottish Gaelic and British Sign Language[1]
Main	English (98.6%)[2]
Minority	Scots (30.1%), Scottish Gaelic (1.1%)[2]
Foreign	Polish (1.1%), Urdu (0.5%), Chinese (0.5%), Punjabi (0.5%)[3]
Signed	British Sign Language (official)
Keyboard layout	QWERTY

Part of a series on the
Culture of Scotland
History Timeline Prehistoric Roman times Middle Ages Early Middle Ages Kingdom High Middle Ages Davidian Revolution Wars of Independence Late Middle Ages Renaissance Early modern Reformation Colonisation of the Americas Glorious Revolution 1707 Acts of Union Jacobitism Enlightenment Lowland Clearances Highland Clearances Industrial Revolution Romanticism Modern
People
Languages Scottish Gaelic Broad Scots Scottish English Pictish Norn
Traditions Clothing Hackle Burning of the Clavie Burns supper Common Riding Crofting Saining Scots law Scottish clan Skalk Up Helly Aa Units of measurement
Mythology and Folklore
Cuisine
Festivals St. Andrew's Day Hogmanay Burns supper Tartan Day Lanimer Day Imbolc Bealltainn/May Day Lùnastal Samhainn
Religion
Art
Literature
Music and Performing arts Folk music Scottish highland dance Scottish country dance Scottish sword dances Mod Keening Waulking song Opera Puirt à beul Border Ballad
Media Radio Television Cinema
Sport Golf Curling Football Haggis hurling Hailes Highland games Horse racing Rugby sevens Rugby union Shinty Shot put
Monuments World Heritage Sites
Symbols Flag Coat of arms National anthem Lion Rampant Thistle Tartan Celtic cross Celtic knot Scottish inventions and discoveries
Scotland portal
v t e

The languages of Scotland belong predominantly to the Germanic and Celtic language families. The main language now spoken in Scotland is English, while Scots and Scottish Gaelic are minority languages. The dialect of English spoken in Scotland is referred to as Scottish English.