Editing Ulster Scots dialect (section)

==Speaker population and spread==

During the middle of the 20th century, the linguist [[Robert John Gregg]] established the geographical boundaries of Ulster's Scots-speaking areas based on information gathered from native speakers.<ref>Gregg, R. J. (1972) ''The Scotch-Irish Dialect Boundaries'' in Ulster in Wakelin, M. F., ''Patterns in the Folk Speech of the British Isles'', London: Athlone Press</ref> By his definition, Ulster Scots is spoken in mid and east [[County Antrim|Antrim]], north [[County Down|Down]], north-east [[County Londonderry]], and in the fishing villages of the Mourne coast. It is also spoken in the Laggan district and parts of the [[River Finn (County Donegal)|Finn Valley]] in east [[County Donegal|Donegal]] and in the south of [[Inishowen]] in north [[County Donegal|Donegal]].<ref>Caroline I. Macafee (ed.), ''A Concise Ulster Dictionary''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996; pp. xi–xii.</ref> Writing in 2020, the [[Fintona]]-born linguist Warren Maguire argued that some of the criteria that Gregg used as distinctive of Ulster Scots are common in south-west Tyrone and were found in other sites across Northern Ireland investigated by the [[Linguistic Survey of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Maguire|first=Warren|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=9781474452908|title=Language and Dialect Contact in Ireland: The Phonological Origins of Mid-Ulster English|year=2020|page=4}}</ref>

[[File:Ulster-Scots speakers in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland.png|left|thumb|The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland aged 3 and above who stated that they could speak Ulster Scots]]

The 1999 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey found that 2% of [[Northern Ireland]] residents claimed to speak Ulster Scots, which would mean a total speech community of approximately 30,000 in the territory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/1999/Community_Relations/USPKULST.html |title=NI Life and Times Survey – 1999: USPKULST |publisher=Ark.ac.uk |date=9 May 2003 |access-date=17 April 2015}}</ref> Other estimates range from 35,000 in Northern Ireland,<ref name="dcalni.gov.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/index/language-cultural-diversity-r08/frequently_asked_questions.htm#q1 |title=Frequently Asked Questions &#124; DCAL Internet |publisher=Dcalni.gov.uk |access-date=17 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221094546/http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/index/language-cultural-diversity-r08/frequently_asked_questions.htm |archive-date=21 December 2010 }}</ref> to an "optimistic" total of 100,000 including the [[Republic of Ireland]] (mainly the east of [[County Donegal]]).<ref name="Ulster Scots">{{cite web |url=http://www.uni-due.de/IERC/ulster_scots.htm |title=Ulster Scots |publisher=Uni-due.de |access-date=17 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205124558/https://www.uni-due.de/IERC/ulster_scots.htm |archive-date=5 February 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Speaking at a seminar on 9 September 2004, Ian Sloan of the Northern Ireland [[Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure]] (DCAL) accepted that the 1999 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey "did not significantly indicate that unionists or nationalists were relatively any more or less likely to speak Ulster Scots, although in absolute terms there were more unionists who spoke Ulster Scots than nationalists".{{citation needed|date=May 2011}}

In the [[United Kingdom 2021 Census|2021 census of Northern Ireland]], 20,930 people (1.14% of the population) stated that they can speak, read, write and understand Ulster Scots, 26,570 people (1.45% of the population) stated they can speak but cannot read or write Ulster Scots, and 190,613 people (10.38% of the population) reported having some knowledge of it.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-07 |title=Census 2021 main statistics language tables |url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/census-2021-main-statistics-language-tables |access-date=2022-10-21 |website=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency |language=en}}</ref>

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