Language analysis for the determination of origin (LADO) for Scottish solicitors and advocates
SILA Linguists® provides language analysis for solicitors and advocates across Scotland when an asylum client's origin is disputed and the papers cannot resolve it. Our services are available to firms, charities and public bodies in Scotland as part of a much wider practice across the UK, North America, Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Scottish cases therefore benefit from the same native-speaker analysts and forensic standards we apply everywhere. Our LADO and nationality assessment work is not limited to Scotland or any single country.
Language analysis in Scottish asylum and immigration cases
Asylum and immigration decisions for people living in Scotland are made within the UK system, and appeals are heard by the tribunal. When the Home Office doubts a claimed nationality or home region, often because identity documents are missing, unclear or alleged to be false, a LADO report gives the representative an independent, expert view based on the person's speech.
A report can support a client's account, call a claimed origin into question, distinguish closely related dialects, or answer an existing analysis that the solicitor considers unreliable. In the UK, a 2010 tribunal ruling emphasised that reports by native-speaker analysts with expert supervision should be given significant weight, which is why our analysts are always native speakers working under expert oversight.
How we work with solicitors, advocates and charities in Scotland
We prepare our reports with two readers in mind: solicitors handling asylum claims under legal aid, and advocates preparing for tribunal hearings. We understand that representatives need a report that is clear about its methods and limits, delivered in a form ready to lodge with the tribunal, and an analyst who can give evidence if called. SILA Linguists® provides expert witnesses who can explain the method and findings plainly to judges.
Scottish charities and refugee organisations can also contact us, whether to understand what language analysis involves, to support a client who has received an adverse report, or to find interpreters for advice sessions. Everything can be handled remotely: recordings and documents are sent securely, and reports come back in English ready for use.
A Scottish LADO instruction from start to finish
Instruction received
The solicitor sends the client's language, claimed origin, hearing dates and any existing report, with recordings shared through a secure channel.
Analyst appointed
We select a native-speaker analyst for the exact variety, supported by a forensic linguist, and advise if a new recording would help.
Evidence analysed
Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are examined in a dialect-aware transcript, with competing origins and the client's travel history weighed.
Report for the tribunal
A written expert report sets out methods, findings and uncertainty, ready to lodge, with the analyst available to give evidence at the hearing.
Languages and varieties covered
SILA Linguists® has dedicated LADO pages for Arabic, Hassaniya Arabic, Burmese, Kpelle, Kurdish (including Badini, Kurmanji and Sorani), Lingala, Mandinka, Pashto, Somali and Uyghur, and our analysts also cover Dari, Farsi and Turkish. Many cases hinge on fine distinctions within one language: one Arabic dialect against another, Sorani against Kurmanji, or one Somali dialect against its neighbour. Those are judgements that call for an analyst who grew up with the variety and has the linguistic training to explain the evidence.
What happens inside the analysis
An interview recording or similar audio is transcribed with careful attention to dialect features. The analyst draws on forensic phonetics, dialectology and sociolinguistics, examining vowel quality, consonants, intonation and stress, together with vocabulary, idioms and grammar. Acoustic measurement software supports the listening where helpful.
Rather than simply testing the claimed origin, the analyst compares it with other plausible origins and considers the person's background, including any time in other countries or contact with other language communities. Each step is documented in the written report, which sets out the methods, discusses alternative explanations and is open about uncertainty. Our work follows recognised professional codes of practice, and we routinely prepare second-opinion reports on analyses produced by others.
Nationality assessment for Scottish representatives
Where the question is citizenship rather than a particular town or district, a nationality assessment may be the better tool, or a useful partner to LADO. It examines national-level evidence such as the standard language, other languages of public life, administrative vocabulary and cultural knowledge of the claimed country. LADO traces speech to a region or community. For clients who speak a minority dialect, combining the two can present their background more fairly to the tribunal.
How LADO and nationality assessment fit together
- Nationality assessment works at national level: the macro view.
- LADO traces a speaker to a region, town or community: the micro view.
- Used together, they give the clearest and most reliable picture.
Questions about this language analysis
Can a LADO report be prepared for a legal aid asylum case in Scotland?
Yes. Our analysts can work on legal aid matters for Scottish solicitors. Contact us with the details of the case and the client's language, and we will explain what the analysis involves so that you can make the necessary arrangements on your side.
Our client already has a Home Office language analysis. Can you review it?
Yes. We prepare independent second-opinion reports that examine the original analysis, its methods and its conclusions, and set out our own reasoned view. Where we agree with parts of the earlier report, we say so.
Is SILA Linguists® a Scottish firm?
Our services are available in Scotland as part of a wider practice that covers the whole of the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Scottish solicitors, advocates and charities receive the same analysts and standards as everyone else.
Language analysis by language
Pages for languages and dialects we are often asked to analyse, and for clients in particular countries.
Af-May (Maay) LADO
Maay language analysis for people from the inter-riverine south of Somalia, kept apart from Northern and Benadir Somali.
Albanian LADO
Albanian LADO reports that read Gheg and Tosk features to assess origin in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia or Montenegro.
Amharic LADO
Amharic language analysis for Ethiopian claims, including speakers who learnt Amharic as a second language.
Arabic LADO
Arabic LADO by dialect specialists, from Morocco and Sudan to Syria, Iraq, the Gulf and Yemen.
Bengali LADO
Bengali (Bangla) LADO weighing Bangladeshi against Indian usage and regional speech from Sylhet to Chattogram.
Burmese LADO
Burmese LADO that separates Irrawaddy valley speech, Rakhine and Tavoyan features, and Burmese learned as a second language.
Dari and Hazaragi LADO
Dari and Hazaragi LADO for Afghans and Hazaras raised in Afghanistan, Iran or Pakistan, with Farsi and Urdu influence assessed.
Dari LADO
Dari LADO focused on Afghan regional speech, Iranian Farsi contrast and the official vocabulary of Afghan documents.
Edo (Bini) LADO
Edo (Bini) LADO for people from Benin City and Edo State, with Nigerian Pidgin and English considered alongside Edo.
Eritrea: LADO and nationality
Tigrinya and Amharic LADO with nationality assessment for claimed Eritreans, including Eritreans raised in Ethiopia.
Georgian LADO
Georgian LADO reports covering regional dialects, Mingrelian and Svan backgrounds and Georgian communities in Turkey or Iran.
Ghanaian Pidgin LADO
LADO for speakers of Ghanaian Pidgin, weighing it against Nigerian Pidgin and drawing on Twi and Ghanaian English.
Gulf Arabic LADO
Khaleeji LADO comparing Kuwaiti, Bahraini, Qatari, Emirati and Eastern Province speech with neighbouring varieties.
Hassaniya Arabic LADO
Hassaniya LADO for Mauritania, Western Sahara and the wider Sahara, by analysts who know Klam el-Bidhan.
Kibajuni (Bajuni) LADO
Bajuni language analysis that tests Kibajuni speech from the southern Somali coast against Kenyan and Tanzanian Swahili.
Kpelle LADO
Kpelle language analysis that weighs Liberian against Guinean speech, including Liberian English, French and Maninka influence.
Kurdish Badini LADO
Badini LADO for the Duhok governorate, weighing Iraqi Badinan against Kurmanji speech across the Turkish and Syrian borders.
Kurdish Kurmanji LADO
Kurmanji LADO across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, using accent, vocabulary and contact languages to assess origin.
Kurdish LADO
Kurdish LADO that starts by identifying the variety: Kurmanji, Badini, Sorani, Southern Kurdish and neighbouring forms.
Kurdish Sorani LADO
Sorani LADO that separates Iraqi and Iranian Central Kurdish, from Erbil and Sulaymaniyah to Sanandaj and Mahabad.
Kuwaiti Bidoon LADO
Gulf Arabic LADO and nationality assessment for stateless Kuwaiti Bidoon whose Kuwaiti origin is disputed against Iraq.
Levantine Arabic LADO
Levantine Arabic LADO for Syrian and Palestinian claimants: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestinian communities and refugee camps.
Lingala LADO
Lingala LADO weighing Kinshasa and Brazzaville speech, French borrowing, urban slang and the speaker's other Congolese languages.
Maghrebi Arabic LADO
Darija LADO that separates Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian and Libyan speech and reads French and Amazigh influence.
Mandinka LADO
Mandinka LADO placing speech in The Gambia, Casamance or Guinea-Bissau and separating it from Bambara, Maninka and Dyula.
Nigerian Pidgin LADO
Naija LADO separating Nigerian Pidgin from Cameroonian Pidgin and Krio, and Lagos from Niger Delta speech.
Oromo LADO
Oromo LADO that places speech in West Central, Eastern or Borana areas and weighs Ethiopia against Kenya.
Palestinian Arabic LADO
Palestinian Arabic LADO for urban, rural and Bedouin speech, compared with Jordanian and northern Levantine forms.
Pashto (Afghanistan) LADO
Pashto (Afghanistan) LADO weighing southern and northern speech and Dari or Urdu influence, with Pakistan as the main alternative.
Pashto (Pakistan) LADO
LADO for Pakhto speakers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Balochistan and Karachi, including Urdu contact and Pakistani schooling.
Pulaar (Fulfulde) LADO
Fula LADO distinguishing Pulaar, Pular and Fulfulde varieties from Senegal and Guinea to Nigeria and Cameroon.
Punjabi LADO
Punjabi LADO separating Indian and Pakistani Punjab, Majhi, Doabi and Malwai from Pothwari and Mirpuri speech.
Rohingya LADO
Rohingya LADO distinguishing northern Rakhine State speech from Chittagonian, with camp and migration history considered.
Russian LADO
Russian LADO that looks beyond the standard language to local vocabulary and the first language beneath a speaker's Russian.
Somali LADO
Somali LADO that tells Northern, Benadir and Maay speech apart and weighs time spent in Kenya, Ethiopia or Djibouti.
Sudanese and Darfur LADO
LADO for Sudanese Arabic and the Darfur languages Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit, weighing Sudan against eastern Chad.
Sylheti LADO
Sylheti LADO for speakers from the Sylhet Division and India's Barak Valley, analysed apart from standard Bengali.
Tamil LADO
Tamil LADO comparing Jaffna, eastern and hill country Tamil from Sri Lanka with Tamil Nadu speech.
Tibetan nationality assessment
Nationality assessment for claimed Tibetans, supported by LADO: raised in Tibet, or in exile communities in Nepal or India?
Tigrinya LADO
Tigrinya LADO that tests whether speech was formed in Eritrea or in Tigray, with loanwords and second languages examined.
Turkmen LADO
Turkmen LADO comparing Teke-based standard speech with Yomut, Ersari and the Farsi-influenced Turkmen of Iran and Afghanistan.
Urdu LADO
Urdu LADO that looks beyond the national language to the first language, region and schooling a speaker's Urdu reveals.
Uyghur LADO
Uyghur LADO covering the dialects of Xinjiang and the Central Asian communities, handled in full confidence.
Uzbek LADO
Uzbek LADO telling Northern Uzbek of Uzbekistan from Afghan Southern Uzbek, with Russian, Tajik and Dari contact assessed.
Wolof LADO
Wolof LADO that weighs Senegalese against Gambian speech, French against English loanwords, and Dakar urban Wolof.
Yemeni Arabic LADO
Yemeni Arabic LADO across Sanaani, Taizzi-Adeni, Hadrami and Tihami speech, with Gulf and Saudi forms as comparisons.
By location
LADO in Norway
LADO for Norwegian lawyers, organisations and public bodies, with English reports and certified Norwegian translation on request.
Discuss a language analysis case
Tell us the language or dialect, the type of report you need (origin, age or second opinion) and your deadline.