LEADING Scottish writers and politicians have called for an Aberdeen literary festival to give as much prominence to the Scots language - especialy the Doric dialect - as it currently gives to Gaelic.

The Word festival - hosted by Aberdeen University and celebrating its fifth year - has programmed a day-long celebration of Gaelic literature for the event in May.

The Scots language is represented in the three-day line-up of speakers and events but does not have its own fringe programme in the same way as Gaelic. Critics have blamed its omission on a "cultural cringe" about Scots .

The Word festival's Gaelic programme is part of a growing trend to nurture Scotland's ancient tongue with proactive support. In February this year, MSPs unanimously supported a Gaelic Language Bill, to give the language official status and encourage the recruitment of more teachers.

Bryan MacGregor, head of the college of arts and social sciences, and a vice-principal of Aberdeen University said he hopes the Word programme will become a "major Gaelic festival in its own right". But writers and adherents of the Scots language believe that their voices should be given equal weight, in literary festivals and in legislation.

Aberdeen already has a Doric festival, but it consists of ceilidhs and concerts rather than academic debates.

Organisers of the Word festival, who will announce its full programme at events in Edinburgh and Aberdeen on Wednesday, say that there is simply not enough room for a Scots programme within their weekend festival too. But they insist that writers of Doric - the Scots language used in the Aberdeen area - have always had a significant role in the event.

Alan Spence, artistic director of Word, said that the few days of the festival, from May 13 to 15, are a constraint. "In a weekend festival, it is a bit tight to have a Doric day, " he explained.

"A weekend seems to be the optimum size, but there is only so much you can have. It would get a bit fragmented.

"There is an enlarged Gaelic element this year. Where we are located, there is a strong Gaelic presence, so it is good to reflect that. But we feature Doric quite prominently, and [the poet and writer] Sheena Blackhall has been a feature since the first festivals."

But one writer who translated much of Moby-Dick into Doric and whose latest book interweaves Scots, Gaelic and French, said it should not be a neglected language - and that languages such as Punjabi are part of Scotland's national voice.

John Aberdein, who will launch his first novel Amande's Bed at the festival, said Scots and Gaelic should be nurtured in both literary events and legislation.

"I would agree that [both languages should be encouraged in Scottish Executive legislation], not to be divisive against Gaelic, but to achieve parity, " he said. "When Scots is spoken by four million people, it seems neglectful that it doesn't have that status.

"People may learn it at their mother's knee, but you have to nourish it, although one of the biggest problems in writing it is that there can be no standard Scots because of the variations - Shetlanders are massively different from Glaswegians.

"Doric should be represented in Word, but festivals have a duty to represent quality rather than be tokenistic: we don't want a couthy corner, because Scots is selfconfident."

Aonghas MacNeacail, the Gaelic poet and broadcaster, said that the new Gaelic programme would encourage people to see it as a living literary language, but that Scots should have the same status.

"The Scots writer James Robertson said that because it is closer to English, it is hard to develop a coherent voice for their cause, " he said. "But most Gaelic writers are happy to see investment, not subsidy, in both. They should be seen as languages that belong to all of Scotland, from the Isle of Skye to the Borders."

Sheena Blackhall, poet, writer and research fellow at the Elphinstone Institute - which promotes Doric - in Aberdeen, said that this native tongue should also be nurtured in the Word festival, and more widely.

"Doric in the northeast involves everyone, and every ethnic group should be catered for, " she said. "But we often suffer from the cultural cringe, and sometimes they [legislators and programmers] are a bit timorous in incorporating their own culture.

"Scots isn't a minority language, but the problem is the sheer lack of publishers and a distribution network nationally, and it is difficult to promote unless it is heavily funded and subsidised."

Michael Matheson, culture spokesman for the SNP, said that Scots and Gaelic should be equally appreciated, and encouraged through a Languages of Scotland Bill.