• Demographics of Scottish speaker

• Map of Scotland

• Demographics of Irish speaker

• Map of Ireland

The history of English in Scotland and Ireland

• Scottish English

• Irish English

  
  

Variations

• Phonemic Variation

• Prosodic Variation

• Lexical Variation

  
  

Analysis: Audio files of the speakers

• Scottish English vs Irish English

• Scottish speaker

• Irish speaker

• IPA Transcription

Conclusion

Reflection

• Individual Written Reflection #1

• Individual Written Reflection #2

References

1) My favourite korean food is bibimbap.

2) I have a dimple on my right cheek.

3) I'm allergic to dark chocolate.

• According to World Atlas (2023), Scotland is a country in the northern part of the United Kingdom. It shares a border with England to the south and is surrounded by the North Sea on the east and the Atlantic Ocean on the west and north. Covering about 30,090 square miles, it is the second-largest country in the UK. Scotland's landscape is mainly divided into two regions, which are called "the Highlands" and "the Lowlands".

• The Highlands, located in the north and west, are known for their steep mountains and wild scenery. The highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis, is located here and stands at 4,413 feet tall. This area also includes the Grampian Mountains, which have many peaks over 3,000 feet (World Atlas, 2023).

• World Atlas (2023) also states that the Lowlands, located in the south and east, are made up of gentle hills and rich farmland. Most of Scotland's people live here, and it is where much of the farming takes place, especially growing crops like barley and wheat. The Central Lowlands, also called the Midland Valley, are home to Scotland's two biggest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

• According to World Atlas (2023), Ireland, which is also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in Western Europe located on the island of Ireland.

• World Atlas (2023) also states that Ireland shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. To the east is the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean surrounds its west and south coasts. The warm North Atlantic Drift, part of the Gulf Stream, plays a big role in shaping Ireland’s climate.

• The country covers about 70,273 square kilometers (27,133 square miles). The Irish landscape includes four main regions, various rivers and lakes, and many islands (World Atlas, 2023).

• According to Brandon (2023), to make the Irish "r" sound, gently tap the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, directly behind your front teeth. Avoid rolling or trilling the "r" like you would in other dialects. Instead, concentrate on producing a delicate, nearly whispered sound.

Examples:

• In the video (2:09-3:22) - "park" "garden" "earth"

  
  

The "o" sound

• It's frequently described as a cross between the "o" in "cot" and the "u" in "cut." To say it correctly, begin with the "o" sound but round your lips slightly and pull your tongue back slightly into your mouth (Brandon, 2023).

Examples:

• In the video (3:23-4:57) - "how" "flower" "found"

The "u" sound

• Brandon (2023) states that the sound is often described as a blend of the "u" in "put" and the "oo" in "loop." To acquire it, start with the "u" sound, but round your lips and push your tongue slightly forward. This will give it a more rounded, front-of-mouth feel.

Examples:

• In the video (4:58-6:03) - "home" "blown" "stone"

• According to Woltmann (2023), Irish speakers speak fast while making sure to clearly pronounce each sound.

Stress on the right syllables

• One of the most distinguishing features of the Irish accent is the stress on specific syllables. This stress pattern varies according to the word and regional dialect (Brandon, 2023).

Rising and falling intonation

• Rising intonation occurs when the pitch of your voice raises at the end of a sentence or phrase. Meanwhile, falling intonation occurs when the pitch drops near the finish. These intonation patterns give the Irish accent its melodious sound (Brandon, 2023).

The Irish sing-song quality

• Brandon (2023) states, because of its melodious intonation and rhythm, the Irish accent is frequently referred to as having a sing-song sound. The sound provides charm and character to the accent, making it easily recognizable.

• Aside from being the yellow center of an egg, the term "yoke" refers to something you don’t have a proper name for (which is arguably less wacky than “thingamabob”).

• Calling someone "bold" speaks more about their bad behaviour than courage, similarly to the British "cheeky".

• Every inanimate thing is probably a "she," not a "it."

• "Craic" (pronounced "crack") is the infamous, multipurpose slang word from Ireland. In fact, the Irish first acquired the Middle English word crack or crak (to brag loudly), gaelicized it, and reintroduced it as craic. It is now widely used as a catch-all expression in sentences such as "What's the craic?" which use as Irish "Whassup?".

1. It's a good day for a walk, isn't it?

2. Oh no, I missed the bus!

3. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?

4. I was just joking, don't be upset.

5. Did you hear that someone has moved in down the road?

1) I could recite almost every line in the Harry Potter series

2) Lord of the Rings & The Hunger Games are in my top 3 most favourite movie series

3) I've always loved the quote "a hero would sacrifice you for the world, but a villain would sacrifice the world for you"

• The Scottish accent is considered fully rhotic, which means the /r/ sound is clearly pronounced in all positions within a word (O'Mahony, 2024).

• Examples:

  • Car: /kar/ — the "r" is pronounced clearly at the end.

  • Better: /ˈbɛtər/ — "r" is tapped or slightly rolled.

    
    

Elongated vowels

• In Scottish accent, some short vowel sounds are stretched out (O'Mahony, 2024).

• Examples:

  • Words like "dress" (/ɛ/), "trap" (/æ/), and "lot" (/ɒ/) have longer vowel sounds than usual.

  • The vowel in "foot" (/ʊ/) can sound more like the one in "goose".

• According to Cao, R., & Jin, S. (n.d.), Scottish English has different intonation patterns depending on the region. The accents in most parts of Scotland, other than those found in Glasgow, both statements and questions usually have a falling tone pattern.

• Many northern cities, like Glasgow, are known for using rising tones when they speak. The difference between how people speak in Edinburgh and Glasgow is that Edinburgh speakers usually end their sentences with a mid-to-low falling tone, while Glasgow speakers tend to use a high rising tone at the end (Cao, R., & Jin, S., n.d.).

Stress on the syllables

• According to Cao, R., & Jin, S. (n.d.), the primary stress in words like advertise, baptise, realise, and recognise falls on the final syllables in Scottish English. In words of porpoise and tortoise, there will be equal stress on each syllable. While words like lamentable and preferably have the primary stress on the second syllable.

• Scottish English distinguishes between verbs and nouns by stressing the second syllable in the case of a verb and on the first syllable in the case of a noun. For example, words like present and record have the second stressed syllable in the case of being verbs and the first stressed syllable in the case of being nouns (Cao, R., & Jin, S., n.d.).

Rhythm on the syllables

• According to Cao, R., & Jin, S. (n.d.), the distinct rhythm of Scottish English is known as Scottish snap—in disyllabic words, one syllable is long and the other is short. Disyllabic words such as table are often pronounced with a short first syllable and a long second syllable. It has something to do with word stress patterns of the Scottish accent, as a stress pattern of a language is probably the most crucial factor influencing rhythm.

• Syllabification tends to favor open syllables; a consonant at the end of one word in a closed syllable tends to be syllabicated with the following vowel of the subsequent word in Scottish English. For example, the phrase St Andrews will be syllabified into /sn tan drʉz/, and phrases of an aim and a name bear the same syllabification, with both bearing /ə.nem/ (Cao, R., & Jin, S., n.d.).

• In Scottish English, the vowel sounds typically occurs near the front of the mouth. Depending on the region, these vowels may sound rounded and high-pitched—often described as “hooty”—or broader and flatter, as is commonly heard in Glaswegian speech (O'Mahony, 2024).

Examples:

• From the video (0:28-1:00) - "who" "you" "through".