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Mid Ulster English
Mid Ulster English (Ulster Anglo-Irish) is the dialect of most people in Ulster, including those in the two main cities. It represents a cross-over area between Ulster Scots and Hiberno-English. It is an English-based dialect spoken across mid Ulster between the Lagan and Clogher valleys in areas historically planted by settlers, the majority of which came from the West Midlands. The dialect has enjoyed higher social prestige than the Ulster Scots dialects that have influenced it to varying degrees. The dialect is currently encroaching on the Ulster Scots area, especially in the Belfast commuter belt, and may eventually consume it.
Phonology
- Main article: phonemic differentiation.
Phonetics are in IPA.
Vowels
| /i/ |
|
feet |
|
/əi/ |
|
fight |
| /e/ |
|
fate |
|
/əʉ/ |
|
shout |
| /ɛ/ |
|
bet |
|
/ɛ̈/ |
|
bit |
| /a/ |
|
bat |
|
/ɔ̈/ |
|
but |
| /ɑ/ |
|
pot |
|
/ɔː/ |
|
bought |
|
| /o/ |
|
boat |
|
/aː/ |
|
father |
| /ʉ/ |
|
boot |
|
/ɔe/ |
|
boy |
- Vowels have phonemic vowel length with one set of lexically long and one of lexically short phonemes. This may be variously inluenced by the Scots system.
- /a/ in after /w/ e.g. want, what, quality.
- /ɑ/ and /ɔː/ distinction in cot, body and caught, bawdy. Some varieties neutralise the distinction in long environments, e.g. don = dawn and pod = pawed.
- like, light, meat and beard also with /e/ [lek], [let], [met], [berd]
- /i/ may occur before palatalized consonants, e.g. king, fish , condition, brick and sick.
- /e/ may occur in such words as beat, decent, leave, Jesus etc.
- Laggan Valley /ɛ/ before /k/ in take and make etc.
- /ɛ/ before velars in sack, bag, and bang etc.
- Merger of /a/ - /aː/ in all monosyllables e.g. Sam and psalm [sɑːm].
- /ɑ/ may occur before /p/ and /t/ in tap and top etc.
- /ʉ/ before /r/ in floor, whore, door, board etc.
- Vowel oppositions before /r/, e.g. /ɛrn/ earn, /fɔr/ for and /for/ four.
Consonants
- Rhoticity, that is, retention of /r/ in all positions.
- Palatalisation of /k, g, ŋ/ in the environment of front vowels.
- Clear /l/ in all positions.
- Aspiration in words beginning with dr and tr for example drum and tractor
- /b/ for /p/ in words like pepper
- /d/ for /t/ in words like butter
- /g/ for /k/ in words like packet
- /ʍ/ - /w/ contrast in which - witch.
- Dental realisations of /t, d, n, l/ may occur through Irish influence before /r/, e.g. ladder, matter dinner and pillar etc.
- Lenition of /d/ in hand [hɑːn], candle /'kanl/ and old [əʉl] etc.
- Lenition of /b, g/ in lamb [lam] and sing [sɪŋ], thimble, finger etc.
- /θ/ and /ð/ for th.
- /x/ for gh is retained in proper names and a few dialect words or pronunciations, e.g. lough, trough and sheugh.
Vocabulary
Much non-standard vocabulary found in Mid Ulster English and many meanings of standard English words peculiar to the dialect come from Scots and Irish. Some examples are shown in the table below.
| Mid-Ulster English |
Standard English |
Notes |
| Och!/Ach! |
annoyance, regret, etc. (general exclamation) |
Usually used to replace "Oh!" and "Ah!". Compare with German "Ach!", etc. |
| jap |
to spill |
From Scots jaup. |
| crack |
banter, fun, eg. "What's the crack (with ye)?" - "What's up?" |
From Scots or Northern English. Often "craic" the nativised Irish spelling. |
| bake |
face |
From Scots, extension of meaning from beak. Many body parts are also from Scots: see below. |
| gob, gub |
mouth |
Perhaps from Scots gab, but also Scottish Gaelic gob, mouth. |
| aye |
yes |
|
| wee |
little, but also used as a generic diminutive |
Cognate with German "wenig", meaning "a little", although more closely related to English "weigh". |
| thon |
that |
From Scots, originally yon, the th by analogy with this and that. |
| oxter |
armpit |
Scots |
| dander |
walk (noun or verb) |
Almost always a noun in (Ulster-)Scots ("daunder"), its use as a verb is English influence. |
| lug |
ear |
Scots, almost certainly from a Scandinavian source, eg. Norwegian "lugg", a tuft of hair. |
| Sheugh |
Pronounced /ʃʌx/ a small, shallow ditch. |
From Scots sheuch. |
| (to have) a hoak, hoke |
to look for, eg. "Have a wee hoak" - "Take a look". |
From Scots howk with Ulster vocalisation to /o/. |
| throughother |
like "something the cat dragged in" |
|
Furthermore, speakers of the dialect conjugate many verbs according to how they are formed in Scots, eg. "driv" instead of drove as the past tense of drive, etc.
See also
External links
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