A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1490-1531, 1584-1616
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(Vowal,) Wowal, Voual, Wouall, n. [ME and e.m.E. wowel (c1308), vowel(l (c1450), OF vouel.] A vowel. 1490 Irland Mir. I 143/9.
This wourd ‘eva’ has twa wowalis, E & A 1531 Vaus (1531) 3.
Quhow mony of thir litteris ar voualis? 1584-9 Maxwall Commonpl. Bk. 8b.
Tak the first obiectiowne, with the ferd wouall And ane pow of the brow of will [etc.] c1616 Hume Orthog. 7.
Of them, five be vouales, ane a noat of aspiration, and all the rest consonantes c1616 Hume Orthog. 13.
The Latines usurped the voual i for a consonant in their use c1616 Hume Orthog. 16.
The consonantes … that may begin a syllab anie way in the middes of a word belong to the voual following, as in que-stion, qua-rel, fi-shar [etc.] c1616 Hume Orthog. 20.
Lykwayes we sould keep the vouales of the original, quherin the north warres the south … from regnum, the north regne, the south raigne c1616 Hume Orthog. 20.
Sum, to avoid the pronunciation of the voual befoer the l and n, wrytes it behind; as litle, mikle, muttne, eatne c1616 Hume Orthog. 33.
In our idiom … an [is] a particule of determination preceding a voual
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"Vowal n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/vowal>
