Scotlands People plug

[SarahND]

Thanks for the feedback, Wilma! Wini will be surprised to see where her post has gone while she slept on the other side of the world

I've never been to Ireland (unless you count being in transit in the airport) but hope to one day soon, as I have a genealogical puzzle over there that will most likely require a visit in person (not that I'm complaining!) Look forward to hearing what some of my ancestors must have sounded like!

Cheers,
Sarah

[Ina]

I find accents to be fascinating. I can usually tell if someone is from Glasgow the minute I hear them talk, same with Dundee. I grew up in Greenock and I think Greenockians have rhythm to their words.

I remember my nephews visiting me here in the states and asking "whaaat tiiime is it aunt Ina?" sounded like they were singing.

Ina

[Andrew C.]

I think linking a person to the accent is the obvious way to do it, the person who though I was from Motherwell was married to someone from the town and thought I spoke exactly like him. I know Lanarkshire has our Irish connections as well My great grandfather was from Armagh and worked at Hamilton Palace Colliery and my grandmother was from Tyrone and moved to Coatbridge.

I sometimes get an Ayrshire and Fife accents confused don't know why. Do you think they are similar?

[WilmaM]

I sometimes get an Ayrshire and Fife accents confused don't know why. Do you think they are similar?

No, I don't but then I have a brother-in-law from each area!

[Anne H]

Hi All,

Coatbridge was known as 'Little Ireland' because of the influx of the Northern Irish from the early/mid 1800's and therefore, has more of a Northern Ireland sound.

I was born and raised in Coatbridge and many people thought of themselves as being a little more sophisticated than those in Airdrie or Glasgow areas. We have more of a 'lilt' to our words...kind of 'sing-song-ie' and can be very pleasant to the ear, but I did notice going back home for visits through the years that the speech patterns were changing...that was probably because of the outspill of people moving from the Glasgow areas coming closer to Coatbridge. I hear more 'Glaswegian' sounding words spoken more frequently each time I go back home....and that's as far as my knowledge goes!

Regards,
Anne H

[wini]

All your comments are very interesting.
Sarah, as you appear to be the only linguist it would be good to hear your comments on your next visit to Glasgow.
I don't have a very good ear and apart from the obvious ones like Glasgow, Edinburgh,Aberdeen Inverness etc. it is good that the accents can still be differentiated and haven't become an amalgam of them all.

wini

[Andrew C.]

Anne, Coatbridge is not alone in becoming more Glasgowfied. Lots of new housing estates have sprung up on the edges of Bellshill which seem to attract Glasgow escapees, with the M74 and M8 bordering the town and trains to Glasgow and Edinburg it is becoming right cosmopolitan (we'll be having street cafes next) I took my niece one day to primary school a while back, the same school I went to anf my mother before me, and I couldn't believe the accents. Perhaps it was just more slanging than I remember but I thought the children spoke differently to we did.

[Anne H]

Andrew, I wonder if the slanging of words is just going back to their roots and what we hear is more people speaking 'Scottish'. Until I started my family research, what I used to think of as people using slang, was actually the old Scottish tongue mixed in with the English.

Regards,
Anne H

[Andrew C.]

Perhaps opening up a can of worms with that debate. Are you saying it is becomming more acceptable to speak Scots (lallans or whatever) in the classroom rather than the "Queens English" that we had to speak when we were at school. Don't know how I feel about that, I'm certainly not embarrassed about my dialect but I am thankful that I perhaps was brought up with both and try to use each in the right context.

[Anne H]

Hi Andrew,

I would hope it doesn't "open up a can of worms"...no time for debates.

I've no idea what might be acceptable in the classroom these days, but somehow doubt that it would be much different since we attended school if my young nieces and nephews are anything to go by...They all speak and write beautifully, probably like most people in Scotland. They are a credit to a proud country.

Personally, I like the way I speak also and am frequently complimented on how I sound. Lalland Scots, is nice when used in context, the only problem might be that others, including myself, not familiar with some of the words and expressions won't understand what's being said, so best to stick with what is understandable.

Regards,
Anne H