Glaswegian Dialect
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The Glasgow dialect, also called Glaswegian, varies from
Scottish English Scottish English is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard English may be defined ...
at one end of a bipolar
linguistic continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated variet ...
to the local dialect of West
Central Scots Central Scots is a group of dialects of Scots. Central Scots is spoken from Fife and Perthshire to the Lothians and Wigtownshire, often split into North East Central Scots (Northeast Mid Scots) and South East Central Scots (Southeast Mid Sc ...
at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegians can draw on a "continuum between fully localised and fully standardised". Additionally, the Glasgow dialect has
Highland English Highland English is the variety of Scottish English spoken by many in Gaelic-speaking areas and the Hebrides. It is more strongly influenced by Gaelic than are other forms of Scottish English. Phonology *The epenthesis ("helping vowel"), whi ...
and
Hiberno-English Hiberno-English or Irish English (IrE), also formerly sometimes called Anglo-Irish, is the set of dialects of English native to the island of Ireland. In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, English is the first language in e ...
influences owing to the speech of Highlanders and
Irish people The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has be ...
who migrated in large numbers to the Glasgow area in the 19th and early 20th centuries. While being named for Glasgow, the accent is typical for natives across the full
Greater Glasgow Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...
area and associated counties such as
Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...
,
Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...
,
Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...
and parts of
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, which formerly came under the single authority of
Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath
alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...
of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...
. It is most common in
working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
people, which can lead to stigma from members of other classes or those outside Glasgow. As with other dialects, it is subject to
dialect levelling Dialect levelling (or leveling in American English) is an overall reduction in the variation or diversity of a dialect's features when in contact with one or more other dialects. This can come about through assimilation, mixture, and merging o ...
where particularly Scots vocabulary is replaced by
Standard English In an English-speaking country, Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone codification to the point of being socially perceived as the standard language, associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and off ...
words and, in particular, words largely from
colloquial English Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...
. However, Glaswegians continue to create new
euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...
s and
nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
s for well-known local figures and buildings.


Literature

The Glasgow vernacular has also established itself in
Scottish literature Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes works in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin, Norn or other languages written within the modern boundaries of Scotland. The e ...
. Many authors spell some of the Scots elements phonetically, often coinciding with common spelling errors,Macafee C.I. (1983) ‘Glasgow’ in Varieties of English around the World. Amsterdam: Benjamins p.40 rather than using the prestigious
Modern Scots Modern Scots comprises the varieties of Scots traditionally spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster, from 1700. Throughout its history, Modern Scots has been undergoing a process of language attrition, whereby successive generations ...
conventions. The general effect of that, particularly its comic forms, is to exaggerate the unintelligibility of Glasgow speech to outsiders. The resulting orthographic representation of the vernacular gives the overall impression of an anti-standard rather than a local standard. Michael Munro wrote a guide to Glaswegian entitled ''The Patter'', first published in 1985. With illustrations by
David Neilson David Neilson (born 13 March 1949) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as cafe owner Roy Cropper in the long running ITV (TV network), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', which he has played since 1995. Early life Neilson wa ...
, and later by the Paisley-born artist and playwright John Byrne, the book was followed by ''The Patter – Another Blast'' in 1988, with ''The Complete Patter'', an updated compendium of the first and second books, being published in 1996.
James Kelman James Kelman (born 9 June 1946) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His fiction and short stories feature accounts of internal mental processes of usually, but not exclusively, working class narrators and their ...
's 1994 novel ''
How Late It Was, How Late ''How late it was, how late'' is a 1994 stream-of-consciousness novel written by Scottish writer James Kelman. The Glasgow-centred work is written in a working-class Scottish dialect, and follows Sammy, a shoplifter and ex-convict. It won th ...
'' 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 1994
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...
. Jamie Stuart, a
Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
elder from the High
Carntyne Carntyne (; ) is a suburban district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde, and in the east end of the city. it has formed the core of the East Centre (ward), East Centre ward under Glasgow City Council, which ...
Church, produced "A Glasgow Bible" in 1997, relating some biblical tales in the Glaswegian vernacular. More recently, in 2014 ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
'' was translated into Glaswegian Scots by Thomas Clark as ''Alice's Adventirs in Wunnerlaun''. A 2020 Graeme Armstrong novel, ''The Young Team'', narrated by a gang member in the local dialect, focuses on the ' ned culture' of the region in the early 21st century (albeit set in
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Airdrie (; ; ) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau 400 ft (130 m) above sea level, 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow. , it had a population of 37,130. Airdrie developed as a market town in the late 17th ce ...
a few miles east of Glasgow rather than in the city itself). Armstrong, who had been inspired by the style used by
Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...
for ''Trainspotting'' – written in the similar but distinct accent of
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– 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.


Phonology

Jane Stuart-Smith defined two varieties for descriptive purposes in a chapter of the 1999 book ''Urban Voices'' entitled "Glasgow: accent and voice quality": * Glasgow Standard English (GSE), the Glaswegian form of
Scottish English Scottish English is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard English may be defined ...
, spoken by most middle-class speakers * Glasgow vernacular (GV), the dialect of many working-class speakers, which is historically based on West-
Central Scots Central Scots is a group of dialects of Scots. Central Scots is spoken from Fife and Perthshire to the Lothians and Wigtownshire, often split into North East Central Scots (Northeast Mid Scots) and South East Central Scots (Southeast Mid Sc ...
, but which shows strong influences from
Irish English Hiberno-English or Irish English (IrE), also formerly sometimes called Anglo-Irish, is the set of dialects of English native to the island of Ireland. In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, English is the first language in e ...
, its own distinctive
slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...
and increased levelling towards GSE Differences between the two systems are mostly in lexical incidence. Many working-class speakers use the SSE system when reading aloud, albeit with different qualities for the vowels. The table below shows the vowels used in both variants below: describes notable features of consonants that distinguish the Glasgow dialect from other dialects. *
T-glottalization In English phonology, ''t''-glottalization or ''t''-glottalling is a sound change in certain English dialects and accents, particularly in the United Kingdom, that causes the phoneme to be pronounced as the glottal stop in certain positio ...
is "strongly stigmatized yet extremely common". Glottalization also occurs of and , albeit less frequently. * and can be pronounced with dentalisation. is sometimes omitted at the end of a word (e.g. ''old'', ''stand''). *
Th-fronting ''Th''-fronting is the pronunciation of the English "th" as "f" or "v". When ''th''-fronting is applied, becomes or (for example, ''three'' is pronounced like ''free'') and becomes or (for example, ''further'' is pronounced like ''fervou ...
occurs with some younger speakers. * is used in words such as ''loch'', although this is dying out amongst younger speakers. * is used in words beginning "wh" (e.g. ''whine''). * There is no
H-dropping ''H''-dropping or aitch-dropping is the elision, deletion of the voiceless glottal fricative or "''H''-sound", . The phenomenon is common in many dialects of English language, English, and is also found in certain other languages, either as a pu ...
except in unstressed cases of ''him'' and ''her''. *
Yod-dropping The phonological history of English includes various changes in the phonology of consonant clusters. H-cluster reductions The H-cluster reductions are various consonant reductions that have occurred in the history of English, involving conso ...
only occurs after or . * Most Glasgow speech is rhotic, but non-rhoticity can be found amongst some younger working-class speakers. The realisation of can be , or . * is a dark ''l'' in almost all positions.


In the media

In the 1970s, the Glasgow-born comedian
Stanley Baxter Stanley Livingstone Baxter (born 24 May 1926) is a retired Scottish actor, comedian, impressionist and author. Baxter began his career as a child actor on BBC Scotland and later became known for his British television comedy shows '' The Stanley ...
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. Popular television comedies using the dialect include '' Rab C. Nesbitt'', ''
Chewin' the Fat ''Chewin' the Fat'' is a Scottish comedy sketch show, starring Ford Kiernan, Greg Hemphill and Karen Dunbar. Comedians Paul Riley and Mark Cox also appeared regularly on the show among other actors such as Tom Urie. ''Chewin' the Fat'' ...
'', ''
Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scotland, Scottish sitcom produced by Effingee Productions, The Comedy Unit and BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis (Still Game character), Jack Jarvis, ...
'', '' Burnistoun'' and ''
Limmy's Show ''Limmy's Show!'' is a Scottish surreal comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Two Scotland, written, directed and partly based on the 2006 podcast ''Limmy's World of Glasgow'' by Brian "Limmy" Limond, who stars as himself and a variety of chara ...
''. The 1998 film by
Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...
, ''
My Name is Joe ''My Name Is Joe'' is a 1998 British romantic drama film directed by Ken Loach. The film stars Peter Mullan as Joe Kavanagh, an unemployed recovering alcoholic in Glasgow, Scotland, who meets and falls in love with a health visitor, played by ...
'', is one of the few films recorded lmostentirely 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's '' Sweet Sixteen'', based in the town of
Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...
which has a local accent virtually identical to that of Glasgow, and with the 2010 release ''
Neds Ned directly translates to “Non Educated Delinquent” but can mean “Hooligan”.Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
have begun to use certain aspects of
Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...
and other
Anglicism An anglicism is a word or construction borrowed from English by another language. Due to the global dominance of English in the 20th and 21st centuries, many English terms have become widespread in other languages. Technology-related English ...
s in their speech, infiltrating the traditional Glasgow speech. For example,
th-fronting ''Th''-fronting is the pronunciation of the English "th" as "f" or "v". When ''th''-fronting is applied, becomes or (for example, ''three'' is pronounced like ''free'') and becomes or (for example, ''further'' is pronounced like ''fervou ...
is commonly found, and typical
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
features such as the post-vocalic /r/ are reduced, although this last feature is more likely to be a development of Central Belt Scots origin, unrelated to Anglo-English nonrhoticity. Researches suggest the use of English speech characteristics is likely to be consequential on the influence of London and south east England accents which feature prominently on television. The linguist
John C. Wells John Christopher Wells (born 11 March 1939) is a British phonetician and Esperantist. Wells is a professor emeritus at University College London, where until his retirement in 2006 he held the departmental chair in phonetics. He is known for ...
, a critic of the media reporting on
Estuary English Estuary English is an English accent, continuum of accents, or continuum of accent features associated with the area along the River Thames and its estuary, including London, since the late 20th century. In 2000, the phonetician John C. We ...
, 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.


Notes


References

*


External links


Glesca Glossary: self-published glossary (of variable quality and pertinence)



A series of articles on the Glasgow dialect on the Scots Language Centre website
*
The Online Scots Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasgow Patter City colloquials Culture in Glasgow Scottish English Scots dialects