| 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 |
TheGlasgow dialect, also calledGlaswegian, varies fromScottish English at one end of a bipolarlinguistic continuum to the local dialect of WestCentral Scots at 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 English andHiberno-English influences[4] owing to the speech ofHighlanders andIrish people who 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 Glasgow area and associated counties such asLanarkshire,Renfrewshire,Dunbartonshire and parts ofAyrshire, which formerly came under the single authority ofStrathclyde. It is most common inworking class people, which can lead tostigma from members of other classes or those outside Glasgow.
As with other dialects, it is subject todialect levelling where particularlyScots vocabulary is replaced byStandard English words and, in particular, words largely fromcolloquial English.[6] However, Glaswegians continue to create neweuphemisms andnicknames for well-known local figures and buildings.
The Glasgow vernacular has also established itself inScottish literature.[7] Many authors spell some of theScots elements phonetically, often coinciding with common spelling errors,[8] rather than using the prestigiousModern Scots conventions. The general effect of that, particularly its comic forms, is to exaggerate the unintelligibility of Glasgow speech to outsiders.[8] The resultingorthographic representation 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 Blast in 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 Late is 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 Scotland elder from the HighCarntyne Church, produced "A Glasgow Bible" in 1997, relating some biblical tales in the Glaswegian vernacular. More recently, in 2014Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was translated into Glaswegian Scots byThomas Clark asAlice's Adventirs in Wunnerlaun.
A 2020Graeme Armstrong novel,The Young Team, narrated by agang member in the local dialect, focuses on the 'ned culture' of the region in the early 21st century (albeit set inAirdrie, North Lanarkshire a few miles east of Glasgow rather than in the city itself).[9][10] Armstrong, who had been inspired by the style used byIrvine Welsh forTrainspotting – 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]
Jane Stuart-Smith defined two varieties for descriptive purposes in a chapter of the 1999 bookUrban Voices entitled "Glasgow: accent and voice quality":
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]
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In the 1970s, the Glasgow-born comedianStanley Baxter parodied 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]Burnistoun andLimmy'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 ofGreenock which has a local accent virtually identical to that of Glasgow,[21][22] and with the 2010 releaseNeds set in the city.[23]
Studies have indicated that working-class adolescents in areas such asGlasgow have begun to use certain aspects ofCockney and otherAnglicisms in their speech,[24] infiltrating the traditional Glasgow speech.[25] For example,th-fronting is commonly found, and typicalScottish features 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 ofEnglish speech 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]