LL-L: "Phonology" LOWLANDS-L, 04.SEP.2000 (02) [E/S]
Lowlands-L
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Mon Sep 4 18:28:28 UTC 2000
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L O W L A N D S - L * 04.SEP.2000 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Matthew McGrattan [matthew.mcgrattan at bnc.ox.ac.uk]
Subject: LL-L: "Phonology" LOWLANDS-L, 03.SEP.2000 (04) [E/S]
> As we ken, the'r the spellins "fit", "wid" &c in Scots that whiles
> raivels us "Central" spaekers an gars us write them *fuit an *wuid an the
> like.
>
> A'v juist been leukin at Professor Aitken's essay "How to Pronounce
> Older Scots" in "Bards And Makars" (University of Glasgow Press 1977,
ISBN
> 0
> 85261 132 3), whaur the'r a explanation o whaur thae soonds comes fi:
>
> "...the early shortening (earlier than that of the Vowel-length Rule)
> of vowel 7 to yields vowel 15 in _fit_ 'foot', _sit_ 'soot', _nit_ 'nut',
> _pit_ 'put', _wid_ 'wood', _ither_ 'other', _brither_ and _mither_ and
> other
> words..."
>
> A wis wonderin if it wad be possible ti big a fair comprehensive list o
> sic wirds for reference, espeecially bi Central spaekers, that wad help
ti
> stop the kin o daft spellins we aftwhiles see. A'v pit thegither aa the
> anes
> A can think on, an A wonder if folk could hae a leuk an add ony mair?
> Asweel, see if the'r ony A'v got wrang, that we should redd oot - A juist
> made
> this list up fae what A think micht be richt - the'r likely A fair few
> that's no richt. A'v pit the English an aa ti mak it claer what wird's
> ettlt
Re: _nit_ "nut"
This one just seems wrong to me. I am a Central speaker and I would never
pronounce <nut> with the same vowel sound as the others.
<foot> [English orthography] I would pronounce /fIt/ or /fI?/ [I hope I
have
the IPA ascii right here] but this one:
> nit nut
Would be pronounced /nVt/ or /nV?/ and I would be much happier with
standard
english orthography here... since <nit>, for me, would be referring to head
lice :-) and pronounced /ni:t/.
> pit put
> wid wood
> ither other
> brither brother
> mither mother
> *sin sun, son
This is another one that I would pronounce /sVn/ and where the standard
English orthography would make more sense.
All of the words below are wrong, in my pronunciation none of them would
feature /I/ as the central vowel phoneme. There would be no "fronting" of
the vowel.
I've given approximations of pronunciation after each one...in each case
the
standard English orthography or some other alternative would be
preferrable.
> simmer summer /sVmr/
> sindry sundry /sVndrI/
> hinny honey /hVnI/
> clister cluster /klVstr/
> rin run /rVn/
This one I'm not sure about. I don't pronounce it /tItS/ but I know some
people do... So am I am unclear about what the bets spelling would be...
The next four are OK. All would be pronounced with something approximating
a
/I/
> *titch touch
> *bit but
> wird word
> wirk work (verb)
Again, while I wouldn't pronounce it with a front vowel, I know others who
would.
> nidge nudge
I'll see if I can think of others. Most of the ones you listed look right
but some would not be pronounced with a front vowel by anyone I know form
the Central area.
"Nut", "son", "honey" are the three that stick out the most. They just seem
wrong. They are pronounced with a slight "fronting" of the vowel but the
vowel sounds still seems closer to /V/ to me in most cases. Of course that
could be just my interpretation. The others I have marked out, I suspect
probably are often pronounced with a front vowel but just not by me.
Thanks,
Matt
----------
From: Andy Eagle [Andy.Eagle at t-online.de]
Subject: LL-L: "Phonology" LOWLANDS-L, 03.SEP.2000 (04) [E/S]
Sandy wrate:
> Subject: "Vowel shifts"
>
> As we ken, the'r the spellins "fit", "wid" &c in Scots that whiles
> raivels us "Central" spaekers an gars us write them *fuit an *wuid an the
> like.
>
> A'v juist been leukin at Professor Aitken's essay "How to Pronounce
> Older Scots" in "Bards And Makars" (University of Glasgow Press 1977,
ISBN
> 0
> 85261 132 3), whaur the'r a explanation o whaur thae soonds comes fi:
>
> "...the early shortening (earlier than that of the Vowel-length Rule)
> of vowel 7 to yields vowel 15 in _fit_ 'foot', _sit_ 'soot', _nit_ 'nut',
> _pit_ 'put', _wid_ 'wood', _ither_ 'other', _brither_ and _mither_ and
> other
> words..."
>
Here's an ootwale o whit Grant an Dixon - Manual of Modern Scots 1921 says
anent the <ui> wirds:
This wis fae lang /o:/ in AS an AN (Auld Norse) mona an hrosa. An u (user)
in French vocabular.
This o or u wis frontit an /O-slash/. Than it became /y/ cept afore vyced
fricatives an /r/ an in a final poseetion.
Conservative dialects aye still haes /y/ an /O-slash/ - subject tae SVLR)
In central Scots unroondin haes gane on sae /y/ becam /I/ an /o-slash/
becam
/e/. This haes been spreidin lang syne.
"The price of shin" (1674)
"The collection to the pare..."(1635)
In the NE /o-slash/ becam /y/ athoot bein shortent, syne unroodin tae /i/.
/o-slash/ micht coud hae been unroondit tae /e/ an raised tae /i/ -
whitiver - the outcome wis /i/.(subject tae the SVLR) Whan a back consonant
gaed afore the oreeginal lang o, it roondit an a glide developit ansyne
becam /w/ guid, cuit, schuil etc.
In central Scots an the NE an oreiginal lang o /o:/ > /o-slash/ becam /ju/
or /iu/ afore back consonants /k/ an /x/ In some airts this syne becam /jV/
i.e. beuk, eneuch, heuk, neuk, leuk, sheuch etc.
> A wis wonderin if it wad be possible ti big a fair comprehensive list o
> sic wirds for reference, espeecially bi Central spaekers, that wad help
ti
> stop the kin o daft spellins we aftwhiles see. A'v pit thegither aa the
> anes
> A can think on, an A wonder if folk could hae a leuk an add ony mair?
> Asweel, see if the'r ony A'v got wrang, that we should redd oot - A juist
> made
> this list up fae what A think micht be richt - the'r likely A fair few
> that's no richt. A'v pit the English an aa ti mak it claer what wird's
> ettlt
> (thame marked wi aisterisks is for ornar spelt the English wey even in
> Scots):
>
> fit foot
> sit soot - haes [sit] in NE
> nit nut
> pit put
> wid wood
> ither other
> brither brother
> mither mother
> *sin sun, son
> simmer summer
> sindry sundry
> hinny honey
> clister cluster
> rin run
> *titch touch
> *bit but
> hizzy hussy
> nidge nudge
> wird word
> wirk work (verb)
Some o thir haes aither /I/ or /V/. Nane o thon rings alang onie weel
defined boonds. /V/ especially efter /w/ an /M/.
A aye write <i>.
Maist o the raivelment comes fae wirds that haes <oo> in English but no
<ui>
in Scots. Aa ye need dae is leet thaim.
Andy
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