LL-L: "Pronunciation" LOWLANDS-L, 05.SEP.2000 (05) [S]

[Lowlands-L]

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  L O W L A N D S - L * 05.SEP.2000 (05) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: John M. Tait [jmtait at altavista.net]
Subject: LL-L: "Phonology" LOWLANDS-L, 03.SEP.2000 (04) [E/S]

Sandy wrate:

>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):

Juist antrin comments on some o thae words, ti complement Matt's:
>
>fit       foot
>sit       soot (shuit - [S2t] in Shetland - i.e., wi the UI phoneme. Dinna
ken aboot the NE)
>nit       nut (In my pairt o Shetland, /nIt/ means a mechanical nut, /not/
ane at growes)
>pit       put
>wid       wood
>ither     other
>brither   brother
>mither    mother
>*sin      sun, son (In the NE [sIn]=son, but I think [sVn]=sun. In my
pairt o Shetland [sOn]=sun and son.)
>simmer    summer ([s3m at r] = /sIm at r/ in Shetland, but I hinna haurd a
pronunciation correspondin ti <simmer> i the NE.
>sindry    sundry
>hinny     honey (I hinna haurd this, an I'v only seen it in poietry -
baith Shetlandic an Mainland Scots - whan it refers til a lassie, no
bee-maet.)
>clister   cluster (Hinna come ower this ane)
>rin       run
>*titch    touch (Or this ane)
>*bit      but ([b3t] = /bIt/ in Shetland, but I think [bVt] i the NE)
>hizzy     hussy
>nidge     nudge (Hinna come ower this ane)
>wird      word
>wirk      work (verb)

Thir last twa is interestin. Mynd, Andy, at on the spellin comatee thare
wis at laest ae chiel - speaker o a Wast Central dialect, I think - at
wadna believe at thir pronunciations o thae words existit. I wondered at
the time gin it wis awin til a merger atween /V/ an /I/ in some Central
dialects, speecially efter /w/ - leadin ti maks like 'wund' (wind) etc -
sae at Scots /I/ ithergates wad hae been realised as [V] in his dialect an
coincidit wi the English pronunciation oniewey, but I dinna ken. Houaniver,
thay'r baith sayed wi an [I] soond in Shetland, an whiles in the NE tae.
This gart me think at thay maun be North maks. Funny, than, at Matt - at's
a Central Scots speaker, an disna ken a hantle o the ither [I]
pronunciations - dis ken thir anes!

Aa the words I hinna commentit on - rin, fit, pit, ither, brither, mither,
etc. - I ken the [I] pronunciation o, baith in Shetlandic (whaur [3]=/I/
afore unvyced stops) an the NE.

Merk, tho, at thir words disna aa hae the [u] soond in English, an sae
except for _wid_ an _fit_ ye wadna expect thaim ti hae the UI /2/ phoneme
in Scots oniewey. Whitiver lies ahint the soond chynges, in maist cases -
like in mother/mither - it seems at whaur the Anglo Saxon lang [o:] haes
become /I/ in Scots it haes become /V/ in standard English, whaurbyes
ithergates AS [o:] haes forordinar become /u/ in English (SSE) an /2/ in
Scots, like good/guid, poor/puir, etc. It's cause _fit_ an _wid_ disna
follae this uisual patren - wi /u/ in English an /I/ in Scots - at thay
cause spellin problems.

BTW, Ron, _guid_ an _beuk_ forordinar haes short vowels in Scots - e.g.
[g2d/gId], [bjuk/bVk].

John M. Tait.

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