Preface

HE Dictionary of the Scots Language (DSL) provides teachers, students, researchers, professionals and all members of the public with copious information about Scotland and its languages, from 1200 to 1976. For nearly a century, successive editors of the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (1931-2002) and The Scottish National Dictionary (1931-1976) aspired to create a historical and cultural record of Scots. These twenty-two magisterial volumes are principally held in major research libraries. The DSL employs a process of ‘virtual’ integration to bring their linguistic, historical and cultural records together, and to facilitate rapid searching of their contents.

    This milestone in Scottish historical lexicography could not have been achieved without generous support from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Department of English in the University of Dundee, the Arts and Humanities Research Board, Scottish Language Dictionaries Limited, and The Russell Trust.

    As Convener of the Joint Council for the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue from 1992, I am particularly conscious of those whose commitment over several decades lies behind the development of DSL. These include the Scottish National Dictionary Association Limited, the Friends of the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, the Scottish Arts Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Joint Council universities: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews and Stirling.

    The web interface for DSL has been created by Jeffery A. Triggs at Global Language Resources, and web-hosting is being provided by IT Services at the University of Dundee. Should funding become available, the DSL’s search capabilities will be enhanced to improve its flexibility as a linguistic and cultural resource. Its present electronic arrangement will also simplify the continuing process of refining and supplementing the text, being undertaken by Scottish Language Dictionaries Limited.

    It remains for me to thank everyone involved in creating the DSL, and in particular, the editor, Susan C. Rennie. Her introductory essay, ‘About the Dictionary of the Scots Language’, gives a sense of the project’s complexity, and of our efforts to provide users of the DSL with a first-rate resource.

Victor Skretkowicz
Director
Dictionary of the Scots Language
Department of English
University of Dundee
(v.skretkowicz@dundee.ac.uk)