XV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2023

The Scouse accent is one of the most interesting in the British Isles. Today it is popular all over Merseyside, despite being unusual compared to traditional northern accents. It originated in Liverpool, a city that until the 18th century was a small fishing village, but after the industrial revolution and industrialization began to grow rapidly due to trade. Migrants from different places began to come to the city. Their interaction was the reason for the emergence of such an unusual accent [4]. Scouse is one of the most distinctive regional accents in England, with unique sound variations and a melody all of its own. This accent is associated with Liverpool and the surrounding county of Merseyside. Until about the 50s of the XX century, this emphasis remained only within the city of Liverpool, when the process of redevelopment of the poorest areas began. This process forced part of the population to move to the suburbs of Liverpool.

M. V. Zolotarev and R. Z. Nazarova argue that the Scouse accent absorbed the features of the local dialects of the north-west of England, as well as the introduced “Celtic dialects” of Ireland, Wales and Scotland [3]. It was not a direct continuation of any dialect that existed before, but was created from a mixture of dialects. The biggest influence on Scouse's accent came from the Irish, who actively migrated to Liverpool for work. They chose Liverpool because of its location - the city is located on the west coast, in close proximity to Ireland. Since 1851, censuses began to indicate the place of birth, they show that about 20 percent of the population of Liverpool then came from Ireland [4].

Immigrants from Wales and Scotland also influenced Scouse's accent, but to a lesser extent than the Irish. The Welsh and Scots often lived in communities, thanks to which they were able to maintain their native languages.

The word scouse is an abbreviation for lobscouse, which is the name of a cheap meat dish, a traditional meal of northern European sailors. In the 19th century scouse was a common food among the poor in and around Liverpool: Birkenhead, Bootle and Wallasey. Visitors called those who ate labscouse scousers.

The exact date of the appearance of the Scouse accent cannot be determined, but it is still believed that it was formed as an accent in the 19th century. This coincides with the growth of the city's population. The English language in Liverpool naturally underwent further changes from the nineteenth century, largely due to immigrants who came mainly to Liverpool, until the 1930s [4].

The Scouse accent has long been one of the most understated accents in the English language. Even now it is not highly quoted by the carriers, it is considered unpleasant and is evaluated negatively [1]. But because of the rock wave of the 1960s. and the popularity of the Beatles, he became temporarily perceived as "pleasant to the ear, perky and very melodic" [2].

Having briefly reviewed the history of this accent and attitudes towards it among native English speakers, we can say that now the Scouse accent is associated with the poor population of Liverpool, despite the popularity of John Lennon.

So, lets discuss some of the distinctive features of this accent. Let’s start with consonants.

/t/ is pronounced with /s/ to make an affricate [t͡s] in Scouse: TEA, TALK, PART, WITTY. 

“Time is taking its toll on Terry.” 

In short words ending /t/ like IT, THAT, NOT the final /t/ can be [h]:

“You’re not that good you know!”

“You what?”

When /k/ appears in the end of a syllable in Scouse, it can be pronounced as a fricative [x] KICK, ROCK, BACKGROUND, BLOKE.

“Rick’s always on a break, he’s never working!”

“Look who’s talking!”

When you say a Scouse ‘r’ it’s pronounced as a voiced tap [ɾ] RING, ARROW, FERRY, RIVAL – the tongue-tip touches the roof of the mouth behind the teeth very quickly:

“It’s rubbish! And very wrong of Rachel to write that.”

The ‘th’ sounds can be pronounced as a dental [t̪] and [d̪] in Scouse: THINK, THEATRE, THOSE, BOTHER instead of dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/:

“I think that’s their brother.”

Let's move on to the vowels

The vowel sound in BIRD is made with the tongue further forward and the lips a bit rounded in Scouse [œː]: SHIRT, SIR, TURN, WORLD.

“Bernard was the first person to learn the words.”

Some scousers make this sound starting with the tongue to the back [ɒʊ]: GO, NO, BOAT, ALONE. Others start with the tongue to the front [ɛʊ]: GO, NO, BOAT, ALONE, but both are different from the central tongue position in GB /əʊ/.

“Don’t you know the road to Dover?”

In words ending with the long vowel sounds /iː/ or /uː/, the sound starts with an [ɪ]: BEE, FLEE, NEW, TRUE. This also occurs before /l/, so LIVERPOOL has a distinctive [ɪu] sound in the last syllable.

“It’s free to see the new zoo in Liverpool.”

And also, to get acquainted with this accent, this video is suitable - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_C4PDSfQJA

This accent does not have the best reputation, because it was mostly used by poor people. In our time, however, the attitude towards him has softened. But some of its features, which I did not mention as - drop /h/, are still repulsive to speakers.

Today we learned about the Scouse accent, its location, history and some interesting distinctive features. I hope now you can easily distinguish it from another accent.

Thank you for attention!

Список литературы:

1. Безбородова М. В., Медведева Т. В. Региональное и нормативное в речи современных британцев / М. В. Безбородова, Т. В. Медведева // Вестник МГЛУ. Гуманитарные науки. — 2020. — № 1. — С. 24-40.

2. Караваева Д. Н. Диалекты как маркер идентичности в современной северной Англии / Дина Николаевна Караваева // Сибирские исторические исследования. — 2020. — № 1. — С. 203-229.

3. Золотарев М. В., Назарова Р. З. Влияние кельтских языков на процесс формирования и современное состояние диалекта скауз / М. В. Золотарев, Р. З. Назарова // Известия Саратовского университета. Новая серия. Серия Филология. Журналистика. — 2020. — № 2. — С. 168-172.

4. Scouse – the Liverpool Accent [Электронныйресурс]: https://pronunciationstudio.com/scouse-accent/

5. New-dialect formation in nineteenth century Liverpool. A brief history of Scouse / Patrick Honeybone // Grant, A. & Grey, C. (eds) (2007) The Mersey Sound: Liverpool’s Language, People and Places. — Liverpool:Open House Press., 2007. — С. 106-140.

Код для цитирования: Скопировать