Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SHAMPSE, v. To speak with a slur, to pronounce s somewhat like sh or, more exactly, like a lateral l [l]. See Slush. [ʃɑmps]Sh. 1879 Shetland Times (2 Aug.):
Her impediment was neither a stammer nor a burr, nor a lisp, nor a snivel, and, like her hair, English wants a word for it, so we must again resort to Zetlandic. She had a “shampse,” which consists in almost invariably introducing an “h” sound following the “s”, modified sometimes by a sound between an “h” and a “z”.