Ok, so my journey in Scotland was coming to an end. I'd been in the land of lassies, kilts, and deep-fried Mars bars for over a week, and one thing I must confess is: I love the accent.
Granted, I'm a sucker for all kind of cool accents. When I was in Boston I swear I wanted to convert and become a true Bostonian (Hey, I can do a mean Matt Damon Boston accent!) :) I've now found another accent which drives me to want to convert: the Scottish accent. Granted I was only there for a short time, but I liked what I heard. I know I can't pull off a real Scottish accent, but I can do a few phrases or words.
With Bostonians, "r's" are hijacked and removed from tons of words and then inserted in the weirdest of places. In Scotland, "t's" are the letters which are treated hijackery. Ok, here are a few examples, and I'll leave it at that:
Scottish ----- (English)
*************************************
Wu-ed I el-ya? ----- (What did I tell you?)
Pho'o ----- (photo)
Wu ----- (what)
Compu'ah ----- (computer)Granted, I'm a sucker for all kind of cool accents. When I was in Boston I swear I wanted to convert and become a true Bostonian (Hey, I can do a mean Matt Damon Boston accent!) :) I've now found another accent which drives me to want to convert: the Scottish accent. Granted I was only there for a short time, but I liked what I heard. I know I can't pull off a real Scottish accent, but I can do a few phrases or words.
With Bostonians, "r's" are hijacked and removed from tons of words and then inserted in the weirdest of places. In Scotland, "t's" are the letters which are treated hijackery. Ok, here are a few examples, and I'll leave it at that:
Scottish ----- (English)
*************************************
Wu-ed I el-ya? ----- (What did I tell you?)
Pho'o ----- (photo)
Wu ----- (what)
Scoh-lan ----- (Scotland)
Scoh-ish ----- (Scottish)
Please excuse me for calling the translation "English". I don't want to start any wars and don't want to come off as a sell out, but it sounds more proper than calling the translation something else (i.e. American, proper, etc.).
Now, the Scottish accent isn't only different because of the "t-situation". There are also lots of r-rolling, elongation of vowels, hijacking of other letters, etc., but it's hard to write down the sounds of some of these features. I'll make an attempt below:
Wu-ah yu trrryin' tu-dooo? ----- (What are you trying to do?)
So, yeah, there you have it. A few of my thoughts on the Scottish accent. I love it. I'd like to get it down. Looks like I'll need to come back to Scotland to get it down!
Oh before signing off.....The "Other Language" in Glasgow
I have to say a little something just about the "Scottish Accent" in Glasgow. I swear, when I was in Glasgow I truly felt I was in another country--mainly because I didn't know what people were saying most of the time. There were times when people talked to me, and I would have to take a double-take, shake my head, look a little clueless (an easy feat for me), and then say "Whu?"
Glasgow is a blue-collar, rough and industrial city. They speak really fast and the accent is wicked strong. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but it was just hard to understand. Below is a video clip I took while waiting outside of a takeaway one night. Not sure what everyone was doing here. The bars just let out, and I think most of the people here were waiting for cabs. I defy you to understand what these people are saying! **if you figure it out, comment it below!**
Scoh-ish ----- (Scottish)
Please excuse me for calling the translation "English". I don't want to start any wars and don't want to come off as a sell out, but it sounds more proper than calling the translation something else (i.e. American, proper, etc.).
Now, the Scottish accent isn't only different because of the "t-situation". There are also lots of r-rolling, elongation of vowels, hijacking of other letters, etc., but it's hard to write down the sounds of some of these features. I'll make an attempt below:
Wu-ah yu trrryin' tu-dooo? ----- (What are you trying to do?)
So, yeah, there you have it. A few of my thoughts on the Scottish accent. I love it. I'd like to get it down. Looks like I'll need to come back to Scotland to get it down!
Oh before signing off.....The "Other Language" in Glasgow
I have to say a little something just about the "Scottish Accent" in Glasgow. I swear, when I was in Glasgow I truly felt I was in another country--mainly because I didn't know what people were saying most of the time. There were times when people talked to me, and I would have to take a double-take, shake my head, look a little clueless (an easy feat for me), and then say "Whu?"
Glasgow is a blue-collar, rough and industrial city. They speak really fast and the accent is wicked strong. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but it was just hard to understand. Below is a video clip I took while waiting outside of a takeaway one night. Not sure what everyone was doing here. The bars just let out, and I think most of the people here were waiting for cabs. I defy you to understand what these people are saying! **if you figure it out, comment it below!**
No comments:
Post a Comment