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While once referred to as Scotch-Irish by several researchers, that has now been superseded by the term Ulster Scots[11]. Native Speakers usually refer to their vernacular as 'Scotch'[12] or the 'hamely tongue'[13]. Since the 1980s it has also been called 'Ullans', a portmanteau neologism popularized by the physician, amateur historian and politician Dr Ian Adamson[14], merging Ulster and Lallans - the Scots for Lowlands[15]- but also an acronym for "Ulster-Scots language in literature and native speech".[16] Occasionally the term Hiberno-Scots is used[17], although it is usually used for the Ethnic group[18] rather than the vernacular.
During the middle of the 20th century, the linguist R. J. Gregg established the geographical boundaries of Ulster's Scots-speaking areas based on information gathered from native speakers[19].
Ulster Scots is spoken in east Antrim, north Down, north-west County Londonderry, the Laggan area of Donegal, and also in the fishing villages of the Mourne coast.[20]
