View Full Version : Regional Accents
Will accents disappear with globalisation, education and the ozzie soap influence?
If so, will we lament on their passing? Are they a worthy mark of identity?
I have noticed that I have had to tone down my accent and speak the Queen's English to enable myself to be understood in Caithness but no one seems to tone down their accent for my benefit:p , I'm not complaining though, I like the Caithness acccent and dialect. I am just worried that we may be sleeping walking into a bland society that is bereft of diversity in parlance.
(I have been reading Melvyn Bragg's 'The Adventure of the English Language' and found it to be a great read because I share the author's dialect.)
landmarker
16-Feb-06, 18:26
Hasnt Bragg's dialect been a little elevated beyond Wigton. I think he only reverts when he wished t re-commune with the common man.
Eventually much of localised dialect and regional accents will disappear into the homogenous melting pot some politicians crave.
This may be the least of our concerns but by then I will have shuffled off this mortal coil, you too probably Rheghead.
It's an interesting question, I think part of the answer concerns whether or not regional words continue to be used in everyday speech. The use of regional words and terms should be encouraged as IMHO it adds to the uniqueness of a place.
I hope accents stay cos I love them, although I find my own (north Belfast) a little bit jarring. I have noticed that my own has toned down a bit in the years since I have been in Caithness. Last time I went back I was told I sounded posh! I don't. ;)
My wife and mother-in-law are going over to Belfast in a couple of weeks for the first time. I predict four days of almost constant interpreting for them.
Will accents disappear with globalisation, education and the ozzie soap influence?
If so, will we lament on their passing? Are they a worthy mark of identity?
I have noticed that I have had to tone down my accent and speak the Queen's English to enable myself to be understood in Caithness but no one seems to tone down their accent for my benefit:p , I'm not complaining though, I like the Caithness acccent and dialect. I am just worried that we may be sleeping walking into a bland society that is bereft of diversity in parlance.
(I have been reading Melvyn Bragg's 'The Adventure of the English Language' and found it to be a great read because I share the author's dialect.)
I've had to tone down my accent as well. When I got my first job in Caithness my work mates thought I had hearing problems because I continually had to ask them to repeat themselves! :lol:
Now I'm well used to the Caithnessian accents.
It's a great diversity in the human experience, I doubt it will disappear altogether....but just in case.......
SAVE THE ACCENT!!
At last a discussion to which I can bring some experience to the table. I can assure you that Scottish accents will live even to a second generation. Although you might be right about the ultimate blending of accents after several generations of globalization.
My grandfather never lost his Edinburgh accent into his 90's. Burlington is full of Scots, many who came as teenagers and in their twenties. 50, 60 years later they maintain the accent. I especially notice the accent when the speaker is under stress. One of the things I loved most about Scotland was the Caithness accent.
You are correct about local expressions. Wickerinca sometimes has to translate for me on this forum. But expressions are easily picked up and just as easily not used in a foreign environment.
cuddlepop
16-Feb-06, 21:11
Some accents are stronger and are more difficult to get rid of.Iremember when Sheena Easton,the wee lassie from Bellshill in Glasgow,started to aquire a wee bit fame.Well as fast as she was making it big in the states the accent was disappearing.My own glasgow accent is not as strong as it use to be;been up here20years but a few days back home and its as strong as ever.Ileft the heart of Glasgow when Iwas eight but I'LL ALWAS BELONG THERE.Anyone else feel the same pull?:Razz
wickerinca
16-Feb-06, 21:19
Oh.........I hope not. I love accents and dialects. It's part of who you are and I have had many a conversation with people who would have otherwise remained complete strangers to me, just because of my accent!!
It is funny how you use a word sometimes that is completely normal to you and other people think it strange!! I was among Canadian friends one evening and we were discussing an upcoming event. I said that it was taking place "a fortnight Friday". No idea what I was talking about apart from one older man who remembered his Grandmother saying it!!!
There are also two rather funny stories concerning the words 'nursing' and 'stones' but not sure about getting banned!!:confused :D
Cedric Farthsbottom III
16-Feb-06, 21:23
The same goes for myself cuddlepop,find when I go back to Ayrshire that my accent automatically becomes stronger.I spent the first few months in Caithness and I couldn't understand a word my father-in-law was saying and he had the same problem with me(probably still says he does.)
The Caithness accent is braw and adds a character to the people.:grin:
Wickerinca, I have one that should make it through the banning hoops.
When you say crack with a North American accent it really sounds like you are refering to cocaine. So, when I stood up at Old Parish Church on Sunday morning and read the announcement I was handed that "the Church Fayre had been a success and good crack had been enjoyed", I am not sure who was more taken aback me (who didn't know the word in its Scottish connotation) or the congregation, because we both thought that I was talking about drugs.
wickerinca
16-Feb-06, 21:47
Wickerinca, I have one that should make it through the banning hoops.
When you say crack with a North American accent it really sounds like you are refering to cocaine. So, when I stood up at Old Parish Church on Sunday morning and read the announcement I was handed that "the Church Fayre had been a success and good crack had been enjoyed", I am not sure who was more taken aback me (who didn't know the word in its Scottish connotation) or the congregation, because we both thought that I was talking about drugs.
Knowing some of the congregation I am sure that caused an awkward moment of silence:lol:
The worst part was the look of absolute horror on the author's face when he realized as soon as I started speaking what was going to happen.
wickerinca
16-Feb-06, 22:07
Yes....there are times when you just can't stop something[lol] [lol]
Some accents are stronger and are more difficult to get rid of.Iremember when Sheena Easton,the wee lassie from Bellshill in Glasgow,started to aquire a wee bit fame.Well as fast as she was making it big in the states the accent was disappearing.My own glasgow accent is not as strong as it use to be;been up here20years but a few days back home and its as strong as ever.Ileft the heart of Glasgow when Iwas eight but I'LL ALWAS BELONG THERE.Anyone else feel the same pull?:Razz
I think Lulu, also from Glasgow, has lost her accent even more than Sheena Easton. She has sounded English for quite a number of years now. However, a couple of years ago, I saw her being interviewed by Michael Parkinson on TV. I thought it was good that she was able to switch back to her Glasgow accent very easily, when recounting events from her days growing up in Glasgow! :) Not that there's anything wrong with her adopted English accent - it's pleasant in its own right, in my opinion.
I also like Michael Parkinson's Yorkshire accent - a Barnsley one, I think. :cool:
Oh.........I hope not. I love accents and dialects. It's part of who you are and I have had many a conversation with people who would have otherwise remained complete strangers to me, just because of my accent!!
It is funny how you use a word sometimes that is completely normal to you and other people think it strange!! I was among Canadian friends one evening and we were discussing an upcoming event. I said that it was taking place "a fortnight Friday". No idea what I was talking about apart from one older man who remembered his Grandmother saying it!!!
There are also two rather funny stories concerning the words 'nursing' and 'stones' but not sure about getting banned!!:confused :D
Please PM me those stories, I'm sure I would enjoy reading them, wickerinca! :lol:
I miss not hearing the word "fortnight" in the US too! Also the word "twice" - people tend to say "two times" here instead.
Wickerinca, I have one that should make it through the banning hoops.
When you say crack with a North American accent it really sounds like you are refering to cocaine. So, when I stood up at Old Parish Church on Sunday morning and read the announcement I was handed that "the Church Fayre had been a success and good crack had been enjoyed", I am not sure who was more taken aback me (who didn't know the word in its Scottish connotation) or the congregation, because we both thought that I was talking about drugs.
Poor canuck, that must have been so embarrassing for you! But reading your story brought a smile to my face, nonetheless! :lol:
Whitewater
16-Feb-06, 23:44
Depending on where you are I think some people loose their accent to be understood. I remember many years ago as I stood in a shop in Sydney Australia, I heard a really broad Glasgow accent, I turned round and asked the guy "have you just arrived from Scotland" "Naa son" he replied "I'll 've been ere 36 year come October". I could have sworn when he spoke that I was in Sochiehall St (spelling ???).
It just goes to show some people never loose theirs or are perhaps determined to keep it, and over emphasis it on occasions.
I myself enjoy hearing all the different accents (even though I don't like one or two) and I think it would be a very boring world if we all talked the same way.
I love accents, provided having a Brummy accent is made a Criminal Offence. Any other is fine by me.
What is a pity is that while much fuss is made over Gaelic and Welsh should be preserved local dialects are treated as nasty horrible slang and frowned upon.
A genuine dialect is just as distinctive as any language. I can almost guarantee that if you put an old Caithnessian with an old Wiganer from Lancashire (It’s yon place wi’th pier, tha’ ‘no’s) who had not been brought up hearing BBC Dialect then they would need an interpreter.
All you need to do is look at the list of Caithness words on this site and I'll bet most youngsters might have heard them but will hardly ever use them.
The shame about it is that a lot of the words and sayings tell you about the history of a place and once they are gone, that bit of local history goes with them.
What a loss and it can never be recovered.
Please PM me those stories, I'm sure I would enjoy reading them, wickerinca! :lol:
I miss not hearing the word "fortnight" in the US too! Also the word "twice" - people tend to say "two times" here instead.
Sporran - you must come to Toronto when Weeboyagee comes for a visit. Not only do we say "twice" in Canada, you can listen to many Scottish accents here.
Dialect is dependent on the accent for authenticity as it would be a bit naff if I tried to speak in the Caithnessian dialect(though I must confess that I do...sometimes). However, I have been doing some investigating with my own 'native' dialect and found that 'blether' (http://www.jpb.co.uk/dialect/interactive/indexpage.htm) is also from Cumbria as well. It must have something to do with the Norse influence.:p
wickerinca
17-Feb-06, 22:02
Yes...I have noticed there are some of 'our' words that are the same. or at least very similar to some you can hear elsewhere..........usually in coastal areas!! One of my friends is Norwegian and e discovered that there were a few common words also........like Kirk and dochter (Daughter!!) though I think they have a 'g' in it somewhere. I did learn some Norwegian from her but had a bit of difficulty witht the tongue stuck to the roof of the mouth bit!!
Although I am going to Gaelic lessons have no fear Jaws, I will never lose my Caithness tongue. It is great to blether away in a store or suchlike with my hubby and no-one has any idea what we are saying!! I actually have the Caithness Dictionary and am renewing my acquaintance with some words from my childhood......so then no-one will have any idea!!
Cedric Farthsbottom III
17-Feb-06, 22:12
As an Ayrshire man my favourite Caithness versatility word is pronounced Fleur.....
1.Fleur(floor)
2.Fleur(a Flower)
3.Fleur(you bake bread with it)
The three fleurs as I call it.........classic!!!!!:lol:
Dialect is dependent on the accent for authenticity as it would be a bit naff if I tried to speak in the Caithnessian dialect(though I must confess that I do...sometimes). However, I have been doing some investigating with my own 'native' dialect and found that 'blether' (http://www.jpb.co.uk/dialect/interactive/indexpage.htm) is also from Cumbria as well. It must have something to do with the Norse influence.:p
Rheghead, I must agree, and that's why I hate the thought of loosing such things, Having beel brought up in Lancashire I too have noticed a few words in common with Caithness "blether" being one of them. Had it been lost in the past I would never have made, like you, the Norse link. Preston is at the first point at which the Ribble can be easily crossed by bridge. Below that is either wide sandbanks or marsh. One or two of the settlements along the Ribble inlets have names ending in "wick" so the Norse influence is obvious.
People in Lancashire, Cumbria and Caithness all have a blether wi' wun anuther. There may be slight differences in pronunciation but the origins have to be the same especially as there are huge areas in between where they'd wonder what on earth bletherin wer'.
People in Lancashire, Cumbria and Caithness all have a blether wi' wun anuther.
OMG I've just had a scary thought, I might have a thousand times removed cousin that might be a weeker!!:o:D
Dialect is dependent on the accent for authenticity as it would be a bit naff if I tried to speak in the Caithnessian dialect(though I must confess that I do...sometimes). However, I have been doing some investigating with my own 'native' dialect and found that 'blether' (http://www.jpb.co.uk/dialect/interactive/indexpage.htm) is also from Cumbria as well. It must have something to do with the Norse influence.:p
After about 3 weeks in Caithness, and once I had figured out what some of the expressions meant, I noticed that I was using them quite freely. But because they were new to me I was also speaking them with the Caithness accent. I was so concerned that people would think that I was making fun of them that I consciously stopped using them. And I feel poorer for it because I love the Caithness accent.
But I have kept a few words in my vocabulary - craic of course and blether. I won't forget "going down a bomb". The first time I heard that my reply was, "I didn't think that I had done that badly." I was hearing "bombed out." And there was the time that I was misquoted in the newspaper. I knew that I had not said what was printed because it was not an expression I would use. Then I realized that the journalist was translating my original words for his readers.
OMG I've just had a scary thought, I might have a thousand times removed cousin that might be a weeker!!:o:D
Help! I'm emigrating! What a scary thought. :(
wickerinca
18-Feb-06, 00:09
OMG I've just had a scary thought, I might have a thousand times removed cousin that might be a weeker!!:o:D
Rheghead...........seems you need do a bit of research. WBG could be a blood relation!!;)
WBG could be a blood relation!!;)
Now that is scary:p
willowbankbear
18-Feb-06, 00:16
Rheghead...........seems you need do a bit of research. WBG could be a blood relation!!;)
Who :p is WBG?
wickerinca
18-Feb-06, 00:17
Who :p is WBG?
Weeboyagee.................Rheghead's Gaelic teacher:D
People in Lancashire, Cumbria and Caithness all have a blether wi' wun anuther. There may be slight differences in pronunciation but the origins have to be the same especially as there are huge areas in between where they'd wonder what on earth bletherin wer'.Dinna be daft min! People blether all over Scotland.
Canuck, I've encountered the "bomb" problem, but in reverse. I too was bamboozled.
Cedric Farthsbottom III
18-Feb-06, 01:57
Dinna be daft min! People blether all over Scotland.
Canuck, I've encountered the "bomb" problem, but in reverse. I too was bamboozled.
True DrSzin, us Scots like to blether,about anything and onything.It's what makes us the Scots that we are.You can meet a Scot anywhere in the world and the first thing you ask is "Where in Scotland are you from?"9 times out of ten you go "aw I know where that is."Scotland forever!:grin:
connieb19
18-Feb-06, 01:59
True DrSzin, us Scots like to blether,about anything and onything.It's what makes us the Scots that we are.You can meet a Scot anywhere in the world and the first thing you ask is "Where in Scotland are you from?"9 times out of ten you go "aw I know where that is."Scotland forever!:grin:Us Scots blether...no that's no true...lol:roll:
Dinna be daft min! People blether all over Scotland.
I know the border used to be fairly fluid but I never knew it got so far south.
The only other thing I can think of is that on one of the excursions south by Scots Hooligans to sort out English Yobbos that some of them stayed.
Unless it was from the time when the good Burghers of Preston ventured out, many centuries ago, to confront the Scots Army. With all their bravery, the said good Burghers were glib enough to talk the Scots into going round the town instead of burning it as they usually did.
Perhaps we learned from that how to blether with the Scots in their own dialect instead of shouting abuse at them in English!
Very versatile is Preston Folks when they're in danger of running short o' bog roll!
Seems you Scots have more in common with the Northern Tribes of England than either of us realised.
Them Armstrongs and Elliots have a lot to answer for. Not to mention them Stanleys and Percys from south of the Border.
If they weren’t fighting them across the Border than they would fight them ont' same side o' it.
I hope that regional accents and dialects survive. As an "atomic" brought up in the Pennyland estate in Thurso, I was exposed to accents and dialects from all over the UK, and it made life interesting. Although I never had a Caithness accent myself, I still like to hear it, and I also enjoy listening to the accents and dialects of my relatives in Aberdeenshire and Lancashire. I think it would be boring if we all sounded the same!
Does that mean My scouse accent is good enough
JimH, your scouse accent is great!
I am far from being a linguist, but I think that there must be more to accent than "hearing" it. For months my sole activity on caithness.org was "reading". The news and the forum posts were insights into continuing life in Caithness. About a month ago I jumped into conversation to be part of the fitness club. Within a week I noticed that the bit of accent which I had aquired while in Scotland but quickly lost in Burlington, was back. I do hear Scottish accents on a daily basis, so I wasn't making big leaps into nothingness, but it was through participation in the conversation of the forum that the accent was reclaimed. It must be the uniquely Scottish phrases which are triggering it. Some people write in a style that reads like the accent and I am sure that pulls it out as well. The point is that the accent re-emerged not from just hearing it or reading it, but from being engaged in conversation even if just back and white conversation.
Does that mean My scouse accent is good enough
Yes, of course it does Jim! The Scouse accent must be one of the most well liked English accents in the world, thanks to the Beatles! :D
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