inverness

[Stitchwiz]

Language is wonderful! I loved to read as a child and was always looking for more - even encyclopedias were fair game for me. Figuring out the symbols for how to say things was a challenge at a very young age, though. Thank goodness for Dad being so picky about 'the Queen's English', and he always welcomed my questions. My biggest problem was that I did most of my reading when I was supposed to be sleeping - it was hard to remember my questions the next morning.

Enunciation is always fun. When singing, we need to focus on the consonants so that listeners can hear the words properly. If we don't enunciate clearly, then the words just disappear into a beautiful stew of vowels.

Richard, you took me back years with your very accurate discussion. When I was tutoring, I had to figure out how to make the sounds so that I could help my students. I would sit them beside me in front of a mirror so we could practice together. As a very little girl, my daughter had a problem with the word 'yellow'. She would say 'lellow'. I figured out that the easiest way to help her was to break it down by the sounds. So we practiced 'ee-ll-oh', stretching it out slowly until she had all the various parts of her mouth moving the way that they needed to move. Then she just started saying it a little faster until it flowed. It took about a week and she was fine. For that short time, she loved sitting in front of the mirror to practice. But it didn't last long. She had 3 brothers to whip into shape, so she never spent much time in front of a mirror after that.

If you look at a map of Ontario, you would think that someone had taken the names of towns from the UK, stirred them in a pot and dumped it out and just spread them around the province. It is a very real reflection of the heritage of the people who settled in this area. And, of course, we have every mixed up pronunciation imaginable because everyone was trying to figure out how to pronounce those 'foreign' sounding place names.

For example - Alvanley. Some people with exposure to Latin will follow the rules and say AL-van-lee. While most of the locals say Al-VAN-lee. This type of issue has always been up for discussion around our dinner table. Of course, someone always plays the advocate and enjoys taking a contrasting opinion, just because they can...

Love these discussions...

[The Q]

I perhaps should have mentioned it before, as part of a military family, My first accent was English / Greek Cypriot, I'm told I could speak Greek and English at the age of 4-5.
With that accent I arrived in Northern Ireland and within a couple of years going to a local school had a Northern Irish accent.
With that accent I arrived in Wiltshire.
6 years later I arrived in the Outer Hebrides and Inverness speaking proper oo arrr West Country.
Inverness actually doesn't have a heavy English accent so that with travelling around the country in the RAF and later jobs I'm left with a nowhere in particular other than English accent.

[Father Bill]

One of my favourite linguistic discoveries was Canada's Gaspe penninsula where they speak beautiful 17th century French with an Irish lilt.

[Tarheel]

No one here has an accent - just everyone else has one.
Auto-correct has been going crazy as I typed this.

So far, this is the best. The times I've (and I know others here) have made the intentional effort to spell something as we have heard it, is maddening. Typing, "Ya'll cain't get thar from heah" drives my machine to red underlined objections. Hearing those same typed words in a strange accent, puts a smile on the RCA-Victor dog's face.

[KD Burke]

I was tempted to post a long, poignant dissertation of my own tribulations with accents....but decided instead to recall a Monty Python sketch in which Graham Chapman insisted that while his name was spelled "Luxury-Yacht" it was in fact pronounced "Throatwobbler-Mangrove."

[robbiethepiper]

I was at the watering hole asking about a departed waitress how she was doing ..her chum said she was living in ..Inverness, Fla.

but it came out like : in'foorniss ..sounded like "in furnace"

I got a kick out of that ..

other day I called about a 4x4 ATV somebody was peddlin' ..I said I knew the area she was up north of Sacandaga (in the 70's my granda 'right, fae Aberdeen min ! used to blow gaskets trying to pronounce local Dutch /n Indian name villages ..lakes) 'SCHAGTICOKE' WAS A DEAL BREAKER schnectady was not far behind ..Kayaderosseras Creek put him on the floor !!

she lady asked how I knew area ..so I told her ..well Dad's ma'd a camp up over at Edinburgh [correct Edin-bur'rah] and we'd to drive up each 3 wks to take her grocery shopping 'as she lived spring till fall ..

YEP she murdered it .. y'mean Ed 'n berg ..

just funny I guess .

th
d

Gàidhlig name for the city in Scotland is Inbhir Nis = mouth of the (river) Nis. Pronunciation something like INNER NEESH.

[georgeetta]

gàidhlig name for the city in scotland is inbhir nis = mouth of the (river) nis. Pronunciation something like inner neesh.

thanks, family lives there .

Run a b'n'b ..by the brook .

Th
d

when i was a yute ..ma'd still'd a strong accent but she spoke king's english as did her aberdonian ..relatives who came over after ww2 . The "kids" got many accolades because of the household 2nd language angle ..since we had to have developed dexterous tongues ..funny pronouncing doric with my 'mirak'n accent .

Doncha nose .

[Micric]

Something I have never understood;
Here in Western Canada, a 't' is often changed to a 'd' sound. How come? Example "thirty, forty, water", become thirdy, fordy.....etc.

Mind, as I'm from Yorkshire I can't say too much!
I don't think the New England sound is dying out back home though. I'm still a Faamuh.....faameh? (farmer)
We never seem to put R's in the middle of a word. Same as New England/Boston it seems!.....(Faam again)

I don't know why we write words with R in the middle....never use them, except in the case of something like an arrah.....used with a bow.

Near where we used to live was a village called Scalby. pronounced Scorby. why? I know not. Then of course the famous Worcester! (As is Worcestireshire sauce!!!)
When we all know it's Wuster!

[The Q]

Something I have never understood;
Then of course the famous Worcester! (As is Worcestireshire sauce!!!)
When we all know it's Wuster!

And the only real one is Lea and Perrins, the British / Canadian that is. The American version has 3 times as much salt and sugar in it. and as for the rest of the world!!!!?

Now owned By Heinz of course

[Tarheel]

Refined folks around here only call the sauce Lea and Perrins (due to the proper mix of anchovies.)
Everyone else knows the cooking liquid as "worst-chesters-shire".

Just go to the "Wal-Mark" if you don't believe me and browse the condiment aisle.
NOTE from a previous thread: Auto correct / spell check has quit trying to help me.