Tae be laek tae

Da Shaetlan wird laek gits øsed in a lok o wyes. Da wird itsel cam inti' Scots fae Old English ġelīċ 'laek, seemlar; alaek, equal' an yun in turn wis infludenced bi Old Norse (g)líkr 'sam, laek, equal; laek tae happen, laekly, øswal; güd'. Baith comes fae Proto-Germanic *galīkaz 'laek, seemlar, sam' at ultimately comes fae dae Proto-Indo-European *leyg- 'seemlar; even, level.'

In Shaetlan hit can shaa whit you lippen in whit's caaed a predicative øs (makkin oot somethin aboot da main actor idda claase):

– I pat da car til da gerridge but dey wir nivver laek tae fix her.

– I pat ower muckle claise on da line an he wis laek to brak.

– He wis ey laek tae be laet/airly.

Da clossest translation ti' Standirt English is 'to be likely to...' bit yun døsna pit ower da wye it can mean 'jüst aboot tae' or 'behaviour you'd lippen' idda 2nt an 3rd examples.

Dis øs o tae be laek(in) tae is nidder new, or slang, or a døless wye o spaekin. Hit's attestit fae da 15C, an can still be fun in Scots, da Sooth o da US an African-Amercian varieties. In Shaetlan de'r a langer laekin an a shorter form laek. Da langer form is mair common in da Scots varieties and da shorter form is mair common idda American varieties.

Pic: Solution concept with hand stopping wooden blocks from falling in the line of domino by Marco Verch. Licent under CC-BY-2.0.