TheGlasgow dialect,also calledGlaswegian,varies fromScottish Englishat one end of a bipolarlinguistic continuumto the local dialect of WestCentral Scotsat the other.[1][2]Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegians can draw on a "continuum between fully localised and fully standardised".[3]Additionally, the Glasgow dialect hasHighland EnglishandHiberno-Englishinfluences[4]owing to the speech ofHighlandersandIrish peoplewho migrated in large numbers to the Glasgow area in the 19th and early 20th centuries.[5]While being named for Glasgow, the accent is typical for natives across the fullGreater Glasgowarea and associated counties such asLanarkshire,Renfrewshire,Dunbartonshireand parts ofAyrshire,which formerly came under the single authority ofStrathclyde.It is most common inworking classpeople, which can lead tostigmafrom members of other classes or those outside Glasgow.
| Glasgow dialect | |
|---|---|
| Glaswegian | |
| Native to | United Kingdom |
| Region | Scotland |
| Ethnicity | Scottish people |
Native speakers | (undated figure of Unknown, likely up to 1,000,000 (seeGlasgow)[citation needed]) |
Early forms | |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| IETF | sco-u-sd-gbglg, en-scotland-u-sd-gbglg |
As with other dialects, it is subject todialect levellingwhere particularlyScotsvocabulary is replaced byStandard Englishwords and, in particular, words largely fromcolloquial English.[6]However, Glaswegians continue to create neweuphemismsandnicknamesfor well-known local figures and buildings.
Literature
editThe Glasgow vernacular has also established itself inScottish literature.[7]Many authors spell some of theScotselements phonetically, often coinciding with common spelling errors,[8]rather than using the prestigiousModern Scotsconventions. The general effect of that, particularly its comic forms, is to exaggerate the unintelligibility of Glasgow speech to outsiders.[8]The resultingorthographicrepresentation of the vernacular gives the overall impression of an anti-standard rather than a local standard.[8]
Michael Munro wrote a guide to Glaswegian entitledThe Patter,first published in 1985. With illustrations byDavid Neilson,and later by thePaisley-born artist and playwrightJohn Byrne,the book was followed byThe Patter – Another Blastin 1988, withThe Complete Patter,an updated compendium of the first and second books, being published in 1996.
James Kelman's 1994 novelHow Late It Was, How Lateis written largely in Glaswegian dialect from the point of view of Sammy Samuels, a 38-year-old ex-convict who wakes up blind after a drinking binge and a fight with police. The novel won the 1994Booker Prize.
Jamie Stuart, aChurch of Scotlandelder from the HighCarntyneChurch, produced "A Glasgow Bible" in 1997, relating some biblical tales in the Glaswegian vernacular. More recently, in 2014Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandwas translated into Glaswegian Scots byThomas ClarkasAlice's Adventirs in Wunnerlaun.
A 2020Graeme Armstrongnovel,The Young Team,narrated by agang memberin the local dialect, focuses on the 'ned culture' of the region in the early 21st century (albeit set inAirdrie, North Lanarkshirea few miles east of Glasgow rather than in the city itself).[9][10]Armstrong, who had been inspired by the style used byIrvine WelshforTrainspotting– written in the similar but distinct accent ofEdinburgh[11]– struggled to have his novel published and was advised to mitigate the use of the dialect to appeal to a wider audience, but refused to compromise the authenticity of the characters' voices.[12]
Phonology
editJane Stuart-Smith defined two varieties for descriptive purposes in a chapter of the 1999 bookUrban Voicesentitled "Glasgow: accent and voice quality":
- Glasgow Standard English (GSE), the Glaswegian form ofScottish English,spoken by most middle-class speakers
- Glasgow vernacular (GV), the dialect of many working-class speakers, which is historically based on West-Central Scots,but which shows strong influences fromIrish English,its own distinctiveslangand increased levelling towards GSE[13]
Differences between the two systems are mostly in lexical incidence.[14]Many working-class speakers use the SSE system when reading aloud, albeit with different qualities for the vowels.[14]The table below shows the vowels used in both variants below:[15]
| Lexical set | GSE | GV |
|---|---|---|
| KIT | ɪ | ɪ̈~i |
| DRESS | ɛ | ɛ |
| HEAD | ɛ | i |
| NEVER | ɛ~ɛ̈ | ɪ̈ |
| TRAP | a̠ | a̠ |
| STAND | a̠ | ɔ |
| LOT | ɔ | o |
| STRUT | ʌ̈ | ʌ̈ |
| FOOT | ʉ | ɪ̈~ɪ |
| BATH | a̠ | a̠ |
| AFTER | a̠ | ɛ |
| CLOTH | ɔ | o |
| OFF | ɔ | a̠ |
| NURSE | ʌ̈ | ʌ̈~ɪ |
| FLEECE | ï~i̠ | i~i̠ |
| FACE | e | e |
| STAY | e | e~ʌi |
| PALM | a̠ | a̠ |
| THOUGHT | ɔ | o |
| GOAT | o | o |
| MORE | o | e |
| GOOSE | ʉ | ʉ |
| DO | ʉ | e |
| PRICE | ʌi | ʌi |
| PRIZE | ae | ae |
| CHOICE | ɔe | ɔe |
| MOUTH | ʌʉ | ʉ |
| NEAR | i | i |
| SQUARE | e | ɛ~e |
| START | a̠ | e |
| BIRTH | ɪ | ɪ̈~ʌ̈ |
| BERTH | ɛ | ɛ~ɪ |
| NORTH | ɔ | o |
| FORCE | o | o |
| CURE | jʉ | jʉ |
| happY | e | e~ɪ̈ |
| lettER | ɪ̈~ʌ̈ | ʌ̈ |
| horsES | ɪ | ɪ̈~ʌ̈ |
| commA | ʌ̈ | ʌ̈ |
Stuart-Smith (1999)describes notable features of consonants that distinguish the Glasgow dialect from other dialects.[16]
- T-glottalizationis "strongly stigmatized yet extremely common". Glottalization also occurs of/k/and/p/,albeit less frequently.
- /d/and/t/can be pronounced withdentalisation./d/is sometimes omitted at the end of a word (e.g.old,stand).
- Th-frontingoccurs with some younger speakers.
- /x/is used in words such asloch,although this is dying out amongst younger speakers.
- /ʍ/is used in words beginning "wh" (e.g.whine).
- There is noH-droppingexcept in unstressed cases ofhimandher.
- Yod-droppingonly occurs after/l/or/s/.
- Most Glasgow speech isrhotic,but non-rhoticity can be found amongst some younger working-class speakers. The realisation of/r/can be[ɹ],[ɻ]or[r].
- /l/is adarkl[ɫ]in almost all positions.
In the media
editThis sectionneeds additional citations forverification.(August 2020) |
In the 1970s, the Glasgow-born comedianStanley Baxterparodied the patter on his television sketch show. "Parliamo Glasgow" was a spoof programme in which Baxter played a language coach and various scenarios using Glaswegian dialogue were played out for laughs.[17][18][19]Popular television comedies using the dialect includeRab C. Nesbitt,Chewin' the Fat,Still Game,[20]BurnistounandLimmy's Show.
The 1998 film byKen Loach,My Name is Joe,is one of the few films recorded [almost] entirely in Glasgow dialect. As a result, the film had to be given subtitles when released in the United States and even for audiences in England. The same situation occurred with another Loach film, 2002'sSweet Sixteen,based in the town ofGreenockwhich has a local accent virtually identical to that of Glasgow,[21][22]and with the 2010 releaseNedsset in the city.[23]
Alleged influence from Cockney
editStudies have indicated that working-class adolescents in areas such asGlasgowhave begun to use certain aspects ofCockneyand otherAnglicismsin their speech,[24]infiltrating the traditional Glasgow speech.[25]For example,th-frontingis commonly found, and typicalScottishfeatures such as thepost-vocalic /r/are reduced,[26]although this last feature is more likely to be a development of Central Belt Scots origin, unrelated to Anglo-English nonrhoticity.[27]Researches suggest the use ofEnglishspeech characteristics is likely to be consequential on the influence of London and south east England accents which feature prominently on television.[28][29][30][31]
The linguistJohn C. Wells,a critic of the media reporting onEstuary English,has questioned whether Glasgow is being influenced by Cockney speech. He claimed that journalists had misrepresented the prevalence of th-fronting in Glasgow and that there is no evidence that th-fronting originated in London. He also wrote that all dialects change over time and that change does not mean that the Glasgow patter will disappear.[32]
Notes
edit- ^Macafee C.I. (1983) ‘Glasgow’ in Varieties of English around the World. Amsterdam: Benjamins. p.7
- ^Stuart-Smith J.Scottish English: Phonologyin Varieties of English: The British Isles, Kortman & Upton (Eds), Mouton de Gruyter, New York 2008. p.47
- ^Macafee C.I. (1983) ‘Glasgow’ in Varieties of English around the World. Amsterdam: Benjamins. p.31
- ^Menzies, Janet (1991),"An Investigation of Attitudes to Scots",Scottish Language,10:30–46, archived fromthe originalon 11 November 2020,retrieved28 August2010
- ^Fraser, W. Hamish; Thomas Martin Devine; Gordon Jackson; Irene Maver (1997).Glasgow: Volume II: 1830–1912.Manchester University Press.pp. 149–150.ISBN978-0-7190-3692-7.
- ^Robert McColl Millar (2018) Modern Scots: An Analytical Survey, Edinburgh University Press, p. 135
- ^Hagan, Anette I. (2002) Urban Scots Dialect Writing. Bern: Lang.
- ^abcMacafee C.I. (1983) ‘Glasgow’ in Varieties of English around the World. Amsterdam: Benjamins p.40
- ^Book review: The Young Team, by Graeme Armstrong,Stuart Kelly,The Scotsman, 5 March 2020
- ^The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong review – a swaggering, incendiary debut,Jude Cook, The Guardian, 13 March 2020
- ^"Ex-gang member and Young Team author Graeme Armstrong on the lonely road to redemption".HeraldScotland.7 March 2020.Retrieved15 May2023.
- ^"Graeme Armstrong – Standard English is oor Second Language".Literature Alliance Scotland.Retrieved24 May2023.
- ^Stuart-Smith (1999),pp. 203–4.
- ^abStuart-Smith (1999),p. 205.
- ^Stuart-Smith (1999),p. 206.
- ^Stuart-Smith (1999),pp. 208–210.
- ^"Scotslanguage – Parliamo Glasgow".scotslanguage.Retrieved11 December2021.
- ^"A newbie's guide to Glasgow".Blog.Retrieved11 December2021.
- ^Wright, Jane (1 June 2016)."Parliamo Glasgow? Stanley Baxter is still puredeadbrilliant byrraway".GlasgowLive.Retrieved11 December2021.
- ^Wallace, Megan (2 April 2019)."Still Game: why the filthy, cantankerous, duck-feeding Scots will be sorely missed".the Guardian.Retrieved11 December2021.
- ^"Loach film may be subtitled for English audience".The Independent.London. 23 July 2002.Retrieved17 August2020.
- ^"'English' subtitles on film set in Scotland ".21 February 2005.Retrieved17 August2020.
- ^Neds – Film ReviewThe Hollywood Reporter, October 14, 2010
- ^Is TV a contributory factor in accent change in adolescents?– ESRC Society Today
- ^Cockney creep puts paid to the patter– Evening Times
- ^Stuart-Smith, Jane; Timmins, Claire; Tweedie, Fiona (1 April 2007). "'Talkin' Jockney'? Variation and change in Glaswegian accent1 ".Journal of Sociolinguistics.11(2): 221–260.doi:10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00319.x.
- ^Speitel, H. H. & Johnston, P. (1983). ESRC End of Grant Report "A Sociolinguistic Investigation of Edinburgh Speech."
- ^"Soaps may be washing out accent".Bbc.co.uk.4 March 2004.
- ^'We fink, so we are from Glasgow'– Times Online
- ^Scots kids rabbitin' like Cockneys–Sunday Herald
- ^– Faculty of Arts, University of GlasgowArchived30 May 2008 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Glasgow and Estuary English".Phon.ucl.ac.uk.Retrieved31 March2019.
References
edit- Stuart-Smith, Jane (1999). "Glasgow: accent and voice quality". In Foulkes, Paul; Docherty, Gerard (eds.).Urban Voices.Arnold. pp. 203–222.ISBN0340706082.
External links
edit- Glesca Glossary: self-published glossary (of variable quality and pertinence)
- Glasgow DialectArchived27 February 2021 at theWayback Machine
- A series of articles on the Glasgow dialect on the Scots Language Centre website
- Lexicon Planet, featuring excerpts fromThe PatterArchived31 January 2020 at theWayback Machine
- The Online Scots Dictionary