Scouse

Scouse (/skaʊs/; formally known as Liverpool English[2] or Merseyside English)[3][4][5] is an accent and dialect of English originating in the northwest county of Merseyside. The Scouse accent is highly distinctive and has little in common with those of the neighbouring regions.[6] It was primarily confined to Liverpool until the 1950s, when slum clearance resulted in migration from Liverpool into newly-developed surrounding areas of Merseyside. The accent is named after scouse, a stew eaten by sailors and people who worked down at the docks.

This article is about the accent and dialect. For the food, see Scouse (food).

Scouse
Liverpool English / Merseyside English
Native toLiverpool
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
IETFen-scouse

The continued development of Liverpool since the 1950s has spread the accent into nearby areas such as the towns of Runcorn and Widnes.[7] Variations within Scouse have been noted, with the faster accent of the city's centre and northern areas typically being described as "harsh" and "gritty"[8] and the slower accent of the southern suburbs being referred to as "soft" and "dark".[9] Popular local sayings also show a growing deviation from the historical Lancashire dialect[7] and a growth in the influence of the accent in the wider area.[6][10][11][12][13] Natives and/or residents of Liverpool are formally referred to as Liverpudlians, but are more often called Scousers.[14]

The north Liverpool accent has been featured in mainstream media, often serving only to be mocked in comedy shows such as Harry Enfield & Chums and its Scousers sketch.[15] It is consistently voted one of the least popular accents in the UK.[16] Conversely, it is also rated one of the friendliest UK accents alongside that of Newcastle.[17] The northern variation of Scouse has become so synonymous with Liverpool that outsiders often mistakenly believe that the Beatles-like south Liverpool accent no longer exists, and it is not uncommon for those from the southern suburbs to encounter people who doubt that they are from Liverpool.[18]

Etymology

The word scouse is a shortened form of lobscouse, the origin of which is uncertain.[19] It is related to the Norwegian lapskaus, Swedish lapskojs, and Danish labskovs, as well as the Low German labskaus, and refers to a stew of the same name commonly eaten by sailors. In the 19th century, poorer people in Liverpool, Birkenhead, Bootle and Wallasey commonly ate scouse as it was a cheap dish, and familiar to the families of seafarers. Outsiders tended to call these people scousers.[20] In The Lancashire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore, Alan Crosby suggested that the word only became known nationwide with the popularity of the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part (1965–1975), which featured a Liverpudlian socialist and a Cockney conservative in regular argument.[21]

Origins

Originally a small fishing village, Liverpool developed as a port, trading particularly with Ireland, and after the 1700s as a major international trading and industrial centre. The city consequently became a melting pot of several languages and dialects, as sailors and traders from different areas (alongside migrants from other parts of Britain, Ireland, and northern Europe) established themselves in the area. Until the mid-19th century, the dominant local accent was similar to that of neighbouring areas of Lancashire. The influence of Irish and Welsh migrants, combined with European accents, contributed to a distinctive local Liverpool accent.[22] The first reference to a distinctive Liverpool accent was in 1890.[23] Linguist Gerald Knowles suggested that the accent's nasal quality may have derived from poor 19th-century public health, by which the prevalence of colds for many people over a long time resulted in a nasal accent becoming regarded as the norm and copied by others learning the language.[24]

Academic research

The period of early dialect research in Great Britain did little to cover Scouse. The early researcher Alexander John Ellis said that Liverpool and Birkenhead "had no dialect proper", as he conceived of dialects as speech that had been passed down through generations from the earliest Germanic speakers. Ellis did research some locations on the Wirral, but these respondents spoke in traditional Cheshire dialect at the time and not in Scouse.[25] The 1950s Survey of English Dialects recorded traditional Lancastrian dialect from the town of Halewood and found no trace of Scouse influence. The phonetician John C Wells wrote that "the Scouse accent might as well not exist" in The Linguistic Atlas of England, which was the Survey's principal output.[26]

The first academic study of Scouse was undertaken by Gerald Knowles at the University of Leeds in 1973. He identified the key problem being that traditional dialect research had focused on developments from a single proto-language, but Scouse (and many other urban dialects) had resulted from interactions between an unknown number of proto-languages. He also noted that the means by which Scouse was so easily distinguished from other British accents could not be adequately summarised by traditional phonetic notation.[27]

Phonetics and phonology

The phonemic notation used in this article is based on the set of symbols used by Watson (2007).

Monophthongs
Monophthongs of Scouse (from Watson (2007:357)). /ɛː/ and /ɑː/ show considerable allophonic variation.[28]
Diphthongs of Scouse (part 1, from Watson (2007:357))
Diphthongs of Scouse (part 2, from Watson (2007:357)). /ɛʉ/ has a considerable allophonic variation.[28]
Monophthongs of Scouse[29]
Front Central Back
short long short long
Close ɪ iː ʉː ʊ
Mid ɛ ɛː ə ɔː
Open a ɒ ɑː
  • As other Northern English varieties, Scouse lacks the FOOT-STRUT and TRAP-BATH splits, so that words like cut /kʊt/ and pass /pas/ have the same vowels as put /pʊt/ and back /bak/.[30][31] However, some middle-class speakers may use a more RP-like pronunciation, so that cut and pass may be /kʌt/ and /pɑːs/, with the former containing an extra /ʌ/ phoneme that is normally not found in Northern England English. Generally, speakers are not very successful in differentiating between /ʊ/ and /ʌ/ or /a/ and /ɑː/ (only in the BATH words), which often leads to hypercorrection. Utterances such as good luck or black castle may be /ˌɡʌd ˈlʊk/ and /ˌblɑːk ˈkasəl/ instead of RP-like /ˌɡʊd ˈlʌk/, /ˌblak ˈkɑːsəl/ or Scouse /ˌɡʊd ˈlʊk/, /ˌblak ˈkasəl/. Speakers who successfully differentiate between the vowels in good and luck may use a schwa [ə] (best identified phonemically as /ə/, rather than a separate phoneme /ʌ/) instead of an RP-like [ʌ] in the second word, so that they pronounce good luck as /ˌɡʊd ˈlək/.[30]
  • The words book, cook and look are typically pronounced with GOOSE rather than that of FOOT, which is true within Northern England and the Midlands. This causes minimal pairs such as look and luck, and book and buck. The use of a long /uː/ in such words is more often used in working-class accents, however recently this feature is becoming more recessive, being less found with younger people.[28]
  • Some speakers exhibit the weak vowel merger, so that the unstressed /ɪ/ merges with /ə/. For those speakers, eleven and orange are pronounced /əˈlɛvən/ and /ˈɒrəndʒ/ rather than /ɪˈlɛvən/ and /ˈɒrɪndʒ/.[32]
  • In final position, /iː, ʉː/ tend to be somewhat diphthongal [ɪ̈i ~ ɪ̈ɪ, ɪ̈u ~ ɪ̈ʊ]. Sometimes this also happens before /l/ in words such as school [skɪ̈ʊl].[33]
  • /ʉː/ is typically central [ʉː] and it may be even fronted to [yː] so that it becomes the rounded counterpart of /iː/.[28]
  • The HAPPY vowel is tense [i] and is best analysed as belonging to the /iː/ phoneme.[32][34]
  • /ɛː/ has a huge allophonic variation. Contrary to most other accents of England, the /ɛː/ vowel covers both SQUARE and NURSE lexical sets. This vowel has unrounded front [ɪː, eː, ëː, ɛː, ɛ̈ː], rounded front [œː], unrounded central [ɘː, əː, ɜː] and rounded central [ɵː] variants. Diphthongs of the [əɛ] and [ɛə] types are also possible.[28][35][36][37][38] For simplicity, this article uses only the symbol ⟨ɛː⟩. There is not a full agreement on which realisations are the most common:
  • Middle class speakers may differentiate SQUARE from NURSE by using a front vowel [ɛː] for the former and a central [ɜː] for the latter, much like in RP.[28]
  • There is not a full agreement on the phonetic realisation of /ɑː/:

Diphthongs
Diphthongs of Scouse[29]
Start
point		 Endpoint
[-back] [+back]
Close iɛ (uɛ)
Mid eɪ ɔɪɛʉ
Open aɪaʊ
  • The NEAR vowel /iɛ/ typically has a front second element [ɛ].[29]
  • The CURE vowel /uɛ/ often merges with the THOUGHT vowel /ɔː/, so that sure is often /ʃɔː/. When distinct from THOUGHT, this vowel is a diphthong [uɛ] or a disyllabic sequence [ɪuə] or [ɪwə]. The last two realisations are best interpreted phonemically as a sequence /ʉːə/. Variants other than the monophthong [ɔː] are considered to be very conservative.[32]
  • The FACE vowel /eɪ/ is typically diphthongal [eɪ], rather than being a monophthong [eː] that is commonly found in other Northern English accents.[40]
  • The GOAT vowel /ɛʉ/ has a considerable allophonic variation. Its starting point can be open-mid front [ɛ], close-mid front [e] or mid central [ə] (similarly to the NURSE vowel), whereas its ending point varies between fairly close central [ʉ̞] and a more back [ʊ]. The most typical realisation is [ɛʉ̞], but [ɛʊ, eʉ̞, eʊ, əʉ̞] and an RP-like [əʊ] are also possible.[28] Wells (1982) also lists [oʊ] and [ɔʊ]. According to him, the [eʊ] version has a centralised starting point [ë]. This and variants similar to it sound inappropriately posh in combination with other broad Scouse vowels.[33]
  • Older Scouse had a contrastive FORCE vowel /oə/ which is now most commonly merged with THOUGHT/NORTH /ɔː/.[32]
  • The PRICE vowel /aɪ/ can be monophthongised to [äː] in certain environments.[28] According to Wells (1982) and Watson (2007), the diphthongal realisation is quite close to the conservative RP norm ([aɪ]),[29][41] but according to Collins & Mees (2013) it has a rather back starting point ([ɑɪ]).[31]
  • The MOUTH vowel /aʊ/ is [aʊ], close to the RP norm.[29][41]

Consonants
  • NG-coalescence is not present as with other Northern English accents, for instance realising along as [əˈlɒŋɡ].[42]
  • Like many other accents around the world, G-dropping also occurs, with [ən] being a substitute for [ɪŋɡ].[42]
  • /t/ has several allophones depending on environment:
    • Debuccalisation to [h], with older speakers only doing this in function words with short vowel pre-pausally: it, lot, not, that, what, pronounced [ɪh, lɒh, nɒh, d̪ah, wɒh] respectively. On the other hand, younger speakers may further debuccalise in polysyllabic words in unstressed syllables, hence aggregate, maggot, market [ˈaɡɾɪɡɪh, ˈmaɡɪh, ˈmɑːxɪh].[43]
    • Word-finally and before another vowel, it is typically pronounced [ɹ] or [ɾ], which is found in several other Northern English varieties.[43]
    • T-glottalisation also occurs like the rest of the UK, with [ʔ] occurring before /l/ and other syllabic consonants, however rarely occurring.[43]
  • Fricatisation of voiceless plosives /p, t, k/:
    • Affrication of /t/ as [t͡s] word-initially and lenited, variously articulated such as [θ̠~ð̠], intervocalically and word-finally.[43]
    • /k/ can turn into an affricate or a fricative, determined mostly by the quality of the preceding vowel.[43] If fricative, a palatal, velar or uvular articulation ([ç, x, χ] respectively) is realized. This is seen distinctively with words like book and clock.[43][41]
    • /p/ can be fricatised to [ɸ], albeit rarely.[43]
  • As with other varieties of English, the voiceless plosives /p, t, k/ are aspirated word-initially, except when /s/ precedes in the same syllable. It can also occur word- and utterance-finally, with potential preaspirated pronunciations [ʰp, ʰt, ʰk] (which is often perceived as glottal noise or as oral friction produced in the same environment as the stop) for utterance-final environments, primarily found in female speakers.[42]
  • The voiced plosives /b, d, ɡ/ are also fricatised, with /d/ particularly being lenitioned to the same extent as /t/, although it is frequently devoiced to /t/.[29]
  • The dental fricatives /θ, ð/ are often realised as dental stops [t̪, d̪] under Irish influence, although the fricative forms are also found.[42]
  • The accent is non-rhotic, meaning /r/ is not pronounced unless followed by a vowel. When it is pronounced, it is typically realised as a tap [ɾ] particularly between vowels (mirror, very) or as a consonant cluster (breath, free, strip), and approximant [ɹ] otherwise. Nevertheless, the approximant realisation can also be seen where the tap is typically realised.[42]

Lexicon and syntax

Some of the more notable Irish influences include the pronunciation of the name of the letter H with h-adding, so it is said as /heɪtʃ/, and the second person plural "you" as "yous" /juːz/. The use of "me" instead of "my" is also present, i.e. "that's me book you got there" instead of "that's my book you've got there". An exception occurs when "my" is emphasised in an example such as "that's my book (not your book)". Other common Scouse features include the use of "giz" instead of "give us", which became famous throughout the UK through Boys from the Blackstuff in 1982; the use of the term "made up" to mean "extremely happy", such as in "I'm made up I didn't go out last night"; and the terms "sound" for "okay" and "boss" for "great", which can also be used to answer questions of wellbeing such as "I'm boss" in reply to "How are you?" and can also be used sarcastically in negative circumstances (the reply "sound" in the case of being told bad news translates to the sarcastic use of "good" or "okay").

International recognition

Scouse is highly distinguishable from other English dialects. Because of this international recognition, Keith Szlamp made a request to IANA on 16 September 1996 to make it a recognised Internet dialect.[44] After citing a number of references,[45][46][47][48][49] 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".

Scouse has also become well known as the accent of the Beatles, an international cultural phenomenon.[50] While the members of the band are famously from Liverpool,[51] their accents have more in common with the older Lancashire-like Liverpool dialect found in the southern suburbs; the accent has evolved into Scouse since the 1960s, mostly in the centre and northern areas of the city, with some identifying the improvement of air quality as a potential factor.[50]

Vocabulary
  • Abar: About
  • Akip: Asleep
  • Antwacky: Old-fashioned
  • Arl arse: Unfair/mean
  • Aul fella: Father
  • Bail/ Bail it: To leave or decide to not do something
  • Baltic: Freezing
  • Barnet: Hair
  • Barneted: On drugs
  • Be arsed: Can't be bothered
  • Beak/lemo: Cocaine
  • Bevvy: Alcoholic drink
  • Bevvied: Drunk
  • Bezzy: Best friend
  • Bifter/ciggy: Cigarette
  • Bins: Glasses
  • Bird: Girlfriend
  • Bizzy: Police officer
  • Blag: Fake
  • Blueshite: Used by Liverpool fans to refer to Everton or its fans
  • Boss: Great
  • Brass/Brass House: Prostitute/Brothel
  • Brekkie: Breakfast
  • Butty: Sandwich
  • Chocka: Heavily populated/busy
  • Clobber: Clothes
  • Clocked/Clocked it: To notice or see something
  • Cob on: Bad mood
  • Da: Father
  • Daft: Stupid
  • Dead: Very
  • Devoed: Devastated
  • Divvy: Idiot
  • Gaff: House or place
  • Gary: Ecstasy pill. Originates from Cockney rhyming slang of footballers name Gary Abblett, which rhymes with tablet.
  • Gegging in: Being intrusive
  • Get on it/that: To do something or look at something
  • Giggs: Sunglasses
  • Go on: A term of agreement or goodbye
  • G'wed: Go ahead
  • Heavy: An expression used when something is very bad and less frequently when something is very good
  • Fuming: Extremely angry
  • Is right: An expression of agreement
  • Jarg: Fake
  • Jib off/sack off: To avoid doing something or dump a boyfriend/girlfriend
  • Kecks: Pants
  • Ken: House
  • Kid/Kidda: Term of endearment. Can be used for male or female
  • Kip: Sleep
  • Knock it/Knocked it: To vomit
  • Lad/la/lid: Male friend or young man in general
  • Lecky: Electricity
  • Leg it/Legged: To run away or not do something
  • Ma: Mother
  • Made up: Extremely happy
  • Meff: A person who lacks intelligence or is otherwise disliked
  • Ming: A person who is unattractive or not well liked
  • Minty: Dirty
  • Moody: When someone or something is bad
  • Offie: Off-licence
  • Our "R" kid: A term usually used for a family member or somebody close to someone
  • Ozzy: Hospital
  • Plazzy: Plastic
  • Plod: Police
  • Prin: A girl or woman (short for Princess)
  • Proper: Really/very
  • Queen: Woman
  • Quilt: Generic insult, usually used for someone who is scared
  • Redshite: Used by Everton fans to refer to Liverpool F.C. or its fans
  • Scally: Chav
  • Scatty: When something is dirty or strange
  • Scran: Food
  • Soft: Stupid
  • Sound: Okay
  • Sunnies: Sunglasses
  • Swerve: Avoid
  • Ta: Thanks
  • Ta-ra: Goodbye
  • Taking the Mick/Mickie: To poke fun or have a joke with someone
  • Terrored: When someone is being mocked or hounded about something (Short for Terrorised)
  • Trackie: Tracksuit
  • Trainees: Trainer shoes
  • Twisted: On drugs
  • Voddy: Vodka
  • Webs: Trainers
  • West: Weird or crazy
  • Wog head: An insult used for people with long or unkempt hair
  • Wool/Woolyback: Someone from the Wirral
  • Yous/Youse: 2nd person plural.

See also

Other northern English dialects include:

References
  1. "John Bishop". Desert Island Discs. 24 June 2012. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. Watson (2007:351–360)
  3. Collins, Beverley S.; Mees, Inger M. (2013) [First published 2003], Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students (3rd ed.), Routledge, pp. 193–194, ISBN 978-0-415-50650-2
  4. Coupland, Nikolas; Thomas, Alan R., eds. (1990), English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change, Multilingual Matters Ltd., ISBN 1-85359-032-0
  5. Howard, Jackson; Stockwell, Peter (2011), An Introduction to the Nature and Functions of Language (2nd ed.), Continuum International Publishing Group, p. 172, ISBN 978-1-4411-4373-0
  6. Dominic Tobin and Jonathan Leake (3 January 2010). "Regional accents thrive against the odds in Britain". The Sunday Times.
  7. Patrick Honeybone. "New-dialect formation in nineteenth century Liverpool: a brief history of Scouse" (PDF). Open House Press.
  8. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/11-funny-differences-between-north-16979992
  9. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18983558
  10. Julie Henry (30 March 2008). "Scouse twang spreads beyond Merseyside". The Telegraph.
  11. Nick Coligan (29 March 2008). "Scouse accent defying experts and 'evolving'". Liverpool Echo.
  12. Chris Osuh (31 March 2008). "Scouse accent on the move". Manchester Evening News.
  13. Richard Savill (3 January 2010). "British regional accents 'still thriving'". The Telegraph.
  14. Chris Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press, 2006 (ISBN 0-7862-8517-6)
  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIhFwLjsQug
  16. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/poll-brands-scouse-accent-one-9872053
  17. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100420005158/en/Geordie-Accent-Rated-UK%E2%80%99s-Friendly-Put-Good
  18. https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-differences-between-the-accents-of-Liverpool-and-the-Wirral
  19. "lobscouse" at Oxford English Dictionary; retrieved 13 May 2017
  20. "Scouse" at Oxford English Dictionary; retrieved 13 May 2017
  21. Alan Crosby, The Lancashire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore, 2000, entry for word Scouser
  22. Paul Coslett, The origins of Scouse, BBC Liverpool, 11 January 2005. Retrieved 6 February 2015
  23. Peter Grant, The Scouse accent: Dey talk like dat, don’t dey?, Liverpool Daily Post, 9 August 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2013
  24. Times Higher Education, Scouse: the accent that defined an era, 29 June 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2015
  25. Knowles, Gerald (1973). "2.2". Scouse: the urban dialect of Liverpool (PhD). University of Leeds. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  26. Review of the Linguistic Atlas of England, John C Wells, The Times Higher Education Supplement, 1 December 1978
  27. Knowles, Gerald (1973). "3.2". Scouse: the urban dialect of Liverpool (PhD). University of Leeds. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  28. Watson (2007), p. 358.
  29. Watson (2007), p. 357.
  30. Watson (2007), pp. 357–358.
  31. Collins & Mees (2013), p. 185.
  32. Wells (1982), p. 373.
  33. Wells (1982), p. 372.
  34. Gimson (2014), pp. 92, 115.
  35. Wells (1982), pp. 361, 372.
  36. Roca & Johnson (1999), p. 188.
  37. Beal (2004), p. 125.
  38. Gimson (2014), pp. 118, 138.
  39. Gimson (2014), p. 125.
  40. Beal (2004), p. 123.
  41. Wells (1982), pp. 372–373.
  42. Watson (2007), p. 352.
  43. Watson (2007), p. 353.
  44. "LANGUAGE TAG REGISTRATION FORM". IANA.org. 25 May 2000. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  45. Shaw, Frank; Spiegl, Fritz; Kelly, Stan. Lern Yerself Scouse. 1: How to Talk Proper in Liverpool. Scouse Press. ISBN 978-0901367013.
  46. Lane, Linacre; Spiegl, Fritz. Lern Yerself Scouse. 2: The ABZ of Scouse. Scouse Press. ISBN 978-0901367037.
  47. Minard, Brian (July 1972). Lern Yerself Scouse. 3: Wersia Sensa Yuma?. Scouse Press. ISBN 978-0901367044.
  48. Spiegl, Fritz; Allen, Ken. Lern Yerself Scouse. 4: The Language of Laura Norder. Scouse Press. ISBN 978-0901367310.
  49. Szlamp, K.: The definition of the word 'Scouser', Oxford English Dictionary
  50. "CLEAN AIR CLEANING UP OLD BEATLES ACCENT". abcnews.go.com. 23 February 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  51. Unterberger, Richie. Scouse at AllMusic. Retrieved 5 July 2013.

Bibliography
  • Beal, Joan (2004), "English dialects in the North of England: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 113–133, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
  • Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2013) [First published 2003], Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students (3rd ed.), Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-50650-2
  • Gimson, Alfred Charles (2014), Cruttenden, Alan (ed.), Gimson's Pronunciation of English (8th ed.), Routledge, ISBN 9781444183092
  • Roca, Iggy; Johnson, Wyn (1999), A Course in Phonology, Blackwell Publishing
  • Watson, Kevin (2007), "Liverpool English" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (3): 351–360, doi:10.1017/s0025100307003180
  • Wells, John C. (1982), Accents of English, Volume 2: The British Isles (pp. i–xx, 279–466), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-52128540-2

Further reading
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