Scouser Information

Scouse ( / ˈ s k aʊ s /) is an accent and dialect of English found primarily in the Metropolitan county of Merseyside, and closely associated with the city of Liverpool and the adjoining urban areas such as the boroughs of south Sefton, Knowsley and the Wirral. The accent is known to be as far reaching as Clwyd, Runcorn and Skelmersdale in Wales, Cheshire and Lancashire.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

The Scouse accent is highly distinctive, and has little in common with those used in the neighbouring regions of Cheshire and Lancashire.^[4] The accent itself is not specific to all of Merseyside, with the accents of residents of St Helens and Southport, for example, more commonly associated with the historic Lancastrian accent.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The accent was primarily confined to Liverpool until the 1950's when slum clearance in the city resulted in migration of the populace into new developments in surrounding areas.^[6] The continued development of the city and its urban areas has brought the accent into contact with areas not historically associated with Liverpool such as Prescot, Whiston and Rainhill.^[6]

Variations within the accent and dialect are noted, along with popular colloquialisms, that show a growing deviation from the historical Lancashire dialect^[6] and a growth in the influence of the accent in the wider area.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Inhabitants of Liverpool are called Liverpudlians but are more often described by the colloquialism Scousers.^[9] People from surrounding areas that do not speak scouse are commonly referred to as "woolybacks" or "wools" (or derivatives thereof).

Etymology

The word "scouse" is a shortened form of "lobscouse", derived from the Norwegian lapskaus (and/or the German Labskaus), a word for a meat stew commonly eaten by sailors. In the 19th century, people who - supposedly - commonly ate "scouse" became known as "scousers".

History

Originally a small fishing village, Liverpool developed as a port, particularly with Ireland, and after the 1700's as an international trading and industrial centre. By this point a city, it became a melting pot of several languages and dialects, but primarily Lancastrian English, Irish, Welsh, Dutch, Scandinavian, German and Scottish. As a result the Liverpool accent often has more in common with accents from other European and British port cities such as Glasgow, Dublin and Amsterdam than it does with local towns such as St Helens.^{[citation needed]}

The influence of these different speech patterns became apparent in Liverpool and Birkenhead, distinguishing the accent of its people from those of the surrounding Lancashire and Cheshire areas. It is only recently that Scouse has been treated as a cohesive accent/dialect; for many years, Liverpool was simply seen as a melting pot of different accents without one of its own. For example, the early dialect researcher A. J. Ellis said that Liverpool and Birkenhead had "no dialect proper".^{[6][clarification needed]} The Survey of English Dialects did investigate Halewood, which is just outside the city council boundaries. However, no audio recording was ever taken from the site, and all the notes were done in phonetic transcriptions.^{[clarification needed]}

Phonology

Scouse is noted for a fast, highly accented manner of speech, with a range of rising and falling tones not typical of most of northern England.

Irish influences include the pronunciation of the name of the letter 'h' as /heɪtʃ/ and the 2nd Person plural (you) as 'youse/yous/use' /juːz/.

There are variations on the Scouse accent, with the south side of the city adopting a softer, lyrical tone, and the north a rougher, more gritty accent. Those differences, though not universal, can be seen in the pronunciation of the vowels. The northern half of the city more frequently pronounces words such as 'book' and 'cook' differently,^{[clarification needed]} whereas the southern half of the city is closer to the RP English pronunciation of these words. The use of a long /uː/ in such words was once used across the whole of Britain, but is now confined to the more traditional accents of Northern England and Scotland.^[10]

The Scouse accent of the early 21st century is markedly different in certain respects from that of earlier decades.^{[citation needed]}. The Liverpool accent of the 1950s and before was more a Lancashire-Irish hybrid. But since then, as with most accents and dialects, Scouse has been subject to phonemic evolution and change. Over the last few decades the accent is no longer a melange but has started to develop further. One could compare the way George Harrison and John Lennon spoke in the old Beatles films such as A Hard Day's Night with modern Scouse speakers such as Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. Harrison pronounced the word 'fair' more like the standard English 'fur' - as Cilla Black does still. This is a pure Lancashire trait but modern Scousers do it the other way round pronouncing 'fur' like 'fair'. Huge changes have taken place in Scouse vowels, which show astonishing length and exaggeration at times in words like 'read' but conversely shorter than standard in a word like 'sleep'. A final 'er' is a sound whilst pronounced 'schwa' in surrounding Lancashire and Cheshire is emphasised strongly as the 'e' in 'pet' /pɛt/. In a strong Scouse accent, the phoneme /k/ in all positions of a word except the beginning can be realised as /x/ or sometimes /kx/.

Even if Irish accents are rhotic, meaning that they pronounce /r/ at the beginning as well as at the end of a syllable, Scouse is a non-rhotic accent, pronouncing /r/ only at the beginning of a syllable and between vowels, but not at the end of a syllable.

The use of the glottal stop as an allophone of /t/ can occur in various positions, including after a stressed syllable. This is called T-glottalisation and is particularly common amongst the younger speakers of the Scouse accent. /t/ may also be flapped intervocalically. /t/ and /d/ are often pronounced similarly to the fricatives /s/ and /z/.

The loss of dental fricatives, /ð/ and /θ/, was commonly attributed as being present due to Irish English influence. They were realised as /d/ and /t/ respectively. However, in the younger generation, this feature is being outnumbered by those who realise them as a labiodental fricatives.

• /θ/ becomes /f/ in all environments. [θɪnk] becomes [fɪnk] for "think."
• /ð/ becomes /v/ in all environments except word-initially, in which case it becomes /d/. [dɪðə] becomes [dɪvɛ] for "dither"; [ðəʊ] becomes [dəʊ] for "though."

The use of me instead of my was also attributed to Irish English influence: for example, "That's me book you got there" for "That's my book you got there". An exception occurs when "my" is emphasised: for example, "That's my book you got there" (and not his).

Other Scouse features include:

• The use of 'giz' instead of 'give us'.
• The use of the term 'made up' to portray the feeling of happiness or joy in something. For example, 'I'm made up I didn't go out last night'.
• The term 'sound' is used in many ways. It is used as a positive adjective such as 'it was sound' meaning it was good. It is used to answer questions of our wellbeing, such as 'I'm sound' in reply to 'How are you?' The term can also be used in negative circumstances to affirm a type of indifference such as 'I'm dumping you'. The reply 'sound' in this case translates to 'yeah fine', 'ok', 'I'm fine about it', 'no problem' etc.
• [k] pronounced as [x] at the ends of some words.

International recognition

Scouse is highly distinguishable from other English dialects and because of this international recognition on 16 September 1996 Keith Szlamp made a request^[11] to IANA to make it a recognised Internet dialect. After citing a number of references,^{[12][13][14][15][16]} the application was accepted on 25 May 2000 and now allows Internet documents that use the dialect to be categorised as 'Scouse' by using the language tag "en-Scouse".

Notable scouse-speaking people

See also Category: People from Liverpool

Notable people

• Leighton Baines, footballer
• Michael Angelis, actor and vocal artist
• Joey Barton, footballer
• John Bishop (comedian), comedian
• Cilla Black, singer and TV presenter
• Alan Bleasdale, playwright
• Phillip Blond, political philosopher
• Robbie Brookside, wrestler
• Neil Buchanan, children's TV presenter
• Pete Burns, singer
• Carcass, band
• Jamie Carragher, footballer
• Cast (band), band
• Craig Charles, actor
• Melanie Chisholm, singer and songwriter, Spice Girl
• Abigail Clancy, lingerie and catwalk model
• Margi Clarke, actor
• Kenneth Cope, actor
• The Coral, band
• Alex Curran, model & columnist
• Les Dennis, TV presenter
• Ken Dodd, comedian and singer songwriter
• Jennifer Ellison, model and actress
• Terry Etim, professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter
• Robbie Fowler, footballer
• Steven Gerrard, footballer
• Miles Kane, singer
• Martin Kelly, footballer
• Stephen Graham, actor
• George Harrison, guitarist for The Beatles
• Tony Hibbert, footballer
• Geoffrey Hughes, actor
• Brian Jacques, author of the "Redwall" books
• Paul Jewell, football manager
• The La's, band
• Fred Lawless, playwright
• John Lennon, singer and songwriter, The Beatles
• Danielle Lloyd, WAG, Glamour Model
• Jason McAteer, footballer
• Paul McCartney, singer and songwriter, The Beatles
• Ian McCulloch, musician
• Joe McGann, actor
• Mark McGann, actor
• Paul McGann, actor
• Stephen McGann, actor
• Roger McGough, poet
• Jimmy McGovern, TV scriptwriter
• Steve McManaman, footballer
• Jack McMullen, actor
• Gerry Marsden, singer
• Kevin Nolan, footballer
• Paul O'Grady, TV presenter
• Philip Olivier, actor
• Leon Osman, footballer
• John Parrott, snooker player and TV presenter
• Anthony Peake, Author
• David Price, Boxer
• Pete Price, Radio DJ
• Micky Quinn, footballer
• Ray Quinn, actor and singer
• Heidi Range, singer
• Brian Reade, journalist
• The Real People, band
• Peter Reid, football manager
• Phil Redmond, TV producer and screenwriter
• Nicola Roberts, singer
• Jack Rodwell, footballer
• Coleen Rooney, WAG, columnist
• Wayne Rooney, footballer
• Willy Russell, playwright
• Sunetra Sarker, actor
• Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey, Drummer, The Beatles
• Alexei Sayle, actor
• Andrew Schofield, actor
• Paul Smith, boxer
• Michael Starke, actor
• Alan Stubbs, footballer
• Ray Stubbs, broadcaster and former footballer
• Claire Sweeney, actor
• Jimmy Tarbuck, TV presenter and comedian
• Ricky Tomlinson, actor
• Carl Rice, Actor
• The Zutons, band
• The Wombats, band

Fictional characters

• Albie, psychotic murderer, played by Robert Carlyle in the ITV series Cracker
• Moxey, in Auf Wiedersehen Pet
• Yosser Hughes, portrayed by Bernard Hill and other characters, in cult series Boys from the Blackstuff
• Francis Scully, in drama series Scully
• Scouse Steve, in the E4 series Fonejacker
• The Beets, in Doug
• Runaway teenagers Billy Rizley (David Morrissey) and 'Icky' Higson (Spencer Leigh), in Willy Russell's play One Summer
• John Constantine, occult detective anti-hero in comic books
• The Dungbeetles, in Conker's Bad Fur Day and Conker: Live & Reloaded
• "The Scousers" in Harry Enfield's Television Programme
• Dave Lister (played by Craig Charles), in Red Dwarf
• "Super Scouse", narrator of song "Convoy GB", by DJ Dave Lee Travis, the British version of "Convoy"
• Wakko Warner, in Animaniacs
• Dane McGowan, in Grant Morrison's The Invisibles
• Ron Nasty of parody rock band The Rutles
• Combo, in the 2006 British drama film This Is England
• In the children's television series Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends some narration and voices are performed in scouse accent by Ringo Starr and Michael Angelis
• Radio from Sonic the Hedgehog.
• Zak Ramsey and Hayley Ramsey, in Hollyoaks
• Zebedee, in children's television series TUGS
• Characters played by Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans, and Emily Mortimer in The 51st State (Formula 51 in the US)
• The Duck Brothers, voiced by Ringo Starr and Samuel Vincent, in Courage the Cowardly Dog
• Ruby, Iris and May Moss, three sisters with scouse accents in the 2007 BBC eight-part drama Lilies, set in 1920s Liverpool.
• Ron Wheatcroft, in long-running BBC comedy Goodnight Sweetheart.
• Danny Kavanagh, in BBC drama series The Lakes
• Ben 'Fox' Daniels, in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.
• Mimi Maguire, in the 2004 Channel 4 drama television series Shameless, set in the fictional Chatsworth council estate, of Stretford, Manchester.
• Tyler, played by Philip Whitchurch, in TV series My Hero
• Jeff Heaney, in Peep Show
• Garry and Dean, the pair of "scouse thieves" in Guy Ritchie's film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

See also

Other northern English dialects include:

• Geordie (spoken in Newcastle upon Tyne)
• Pitmatic (spoken in Durham and Northumberland)
• Tyke (spoken in Yorkshire)
• Mackem (spoken in Sunderland)
• Mancunian (spoken in Manchester)
• Lancashire dialect and accent, which varies across the county.
• Cumbrian dialect, spoken largely in North and West Cumbria.

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Julie Henry (30 Mar 2008). "Scouse twang spreads beyond Merseyside". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1583317/Scouse-twang-spreads-beyond-Merseyside.html.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Geordie and Scouse accents on the rise as Britons 'look to protect their sense of identity'". Daily Mail. 4th January 2010. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240264/Geordie-Scouse-accents-rise-Britons-look-protect-sense-identity.html.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Nick Coligan. "Scouse accent defying experts and 'evolving'". Liverpool Echo. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-life/liverpool-lifestyle/2008/03/29/scouse-accent-defying-experts-and-evolving-100252-20689770/.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Dominic Tobin and Jonathan Leake (January 3, 2010). "Regional accents thrive against the odds in Britain". The Sunday Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6973975.ece.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Chris Osuh (March 31, 2008). "Scouse accent on the move". Manchester Evening News. http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1043173_scouse_accent_on_the_move.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} Patrick Honeybone. [http://www.englang.ed.ac.uk/people/livengkoi.pdf "NEW-DIALECT FORMATION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY LIVERPOOL: A BRIEF HISTORY OF SCOUSE"]. Open House Press. http://www.englang.ed.ac.uk/people/livengkoi.pdf.
7. ^ ^{a b c} Richard Savill (03 Jan 2010). "British regional accents 'still thriving'". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6927109/British-regional-accents-still-thriving.html.
8. ^ John Mullan (18 June 1999). "Lost Voices". http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/1999/jun/18/features11.g22.
9. ^ Chris Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press,2006 (ISBN 0-7862-8517-60-7862-8517-6
10. ^ Peter Trudgill, The Dialects of England, page 71, Blackwell, Oxford, 2000
11. ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/lang-tags/en-scouse
12. ^ Frank Shaw, Fritz Spiegl, Stan Kelly, Lern Yerself Scouse Volume 1: How to Talk Proper in Liverpool., Scouse Press (ISBN 978-0901367013)
13. ^ Linacre Lane, Fritz Spiegl, Lern Yerself Scouse Volume 2: The ABZ of Scouse., Scouse Press (ISBN 978-0901367037)
14. ^ Brian Minard, Lern Yerself Scouse Volume 3: Wersia Sensa Yuma?, Scouse Press (ISBN 978-0901367044)
15. ^ Fritz Spiegl, Ken Allen, Lern Yerself Scouse Volume 4: The Language of Laura Norder., Scouse Press (ISBN 978-0901367310)
16. ^ Szlamp, K.: The definition of the word 'Scouser', Oxford English Dictionary

Further reading

• Black, William. (2005). The Land that Thyme Forgot. Bantam. ISBN 0593 053621. p. 348
• Honeybone, P. (2001), Lenition inhibition in Liverpool English, English Language and Linguistics 5.2, pp213–249.
• Marotta, G. and Barth, M., Acoustic and sociolingustic aspects of lenition in Liverpool English, Studi Linguistici e Filologici Online 3.2, pp377–413. Available onlinePDF (978 KiB) (including sound files).
• Shaw, F. and Spiegl, F. and Kelly, S., (1966). How to Talk Proper in Liverpool (Lern Yerself Scouse S.) Liverpool:Scouse Press. ISBN 0-901367-01-X
• Wells, J. C. (1982). Accents of English 2: The British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-28540-2.

External links

• Accent example: A working-class woman from Speke, Liverpool in Merseyside, being interviewed about her life for the British Museum's Collect Britain website.^{[clarification needed]} Format: WMA.
• Sounds Familiar? – Listen to examples of Scouse and other regional accents and dialects of the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
• 'Hover & Hear' Scouse pronunciations, and compare with other accents from the UK and around the World.
• English Accents and Dialects, British Library Collect Britain website features samples of Liverpool speech (wma format, with annotations on phonology, lexis and grammar):
• BBC - Liverpool Local History - Learn to speak Scouse!
• A. B. Z. of Scouse (Lern Yerself Scouse) (ISBN 0-901367-03-6)
• IANA registration form for the en-scouse tag
• IETF RFC 4646 - Tags for Identifying Languages (2006)
• Dialect Poems from the English regions
• Visit Liverpool The official tourist board website to Liverpool
• A Scouser in New York A syndicated on-air segment that airs on Bolton FM Radio during Kev Gurney's show (7pm to 10pm - Saturdays) and Magic 999 during Roy Basnett's Breakfast (6am to 10am - Monday thru Friday).

Categories: English language in England | Languages of the United Kingdom | Liverpool | Regional nicknames

Related 'Scouser' Searches: