Pronunciation

[Phil]

Thanks, Phil, but that's not how it sounds to me when Kenneth MacKellar sings it in "The Road to the Isles". I'll have to go home and listen to my CD again!

Is this the one? - http://www.isa-music.com/player.html...fed38f1b43a7ea

[Macman]

Oh, yes it is! Thanks for that!

[Phil]

The late Andy Stewart has the same pronunciation too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDz6clakhXw - so it must be right enough. Not a "lock" to be heard.

[skauwt]

http://www.mediafire.com/?zxzjoxhzlxk ok im not sure if this is allowed on the forum but i have taken a sample of myself saying "lochaber" i couldnt find my mp3 player to save in mp3 format so i had to use my blackberry bold instead to record this clip and then email it to myself i added it to this site to let you folks hear how us central belters say lochaber , i opened it with windows media player on my pc

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

That was really, really, clever thinking. Well done Skauwt!

[cessna152towser]

This is going to be one of those threads like flat caps and white hose where there is perhaps no absolutely correct answer and we will have to agree to differ.
I've often heard Lohaber from highlanders and Lochaber from lowlanders.
I've also heard it pronounced Lockaber which I personally think is incorrect.

[Phil]

As you say, Alex, there are bound to be differences in pronunciation but I did enjoy Kenneth McKellar and Andy Stewart. Did it not bring back the White Heather Club memories?

[skauwt]

This is going to be one of those threads like flat caps and white hose where there is perhaps no absolutely correct answer and we will have to agree to differ.
I've often heard Lohaber from highlanders and Lochaber from lowlanders.
I've also heard it pronounced Lockaber which I personally think is incorrect.

i agree that there are diffrences regarding how folk about scotland say it sadly i dont consider myself a highlander or lowlander with being in the central belt,
i just merely wanted sharpdressedscot to hear a non singing version of how someone like myself would say lochaber rather than read the varations i just thought it best to let him hear a talking version ,

when thinking of folk from scotland i dont think of them as highlander and lowlanders i think of them as more regional for example cessna152towser in my view is a border man while phil is a lothian man i just happen to be someone in the central belt ,
the days of highlander/lowlander are some what stuck in the past with all the regions of scotland being so intermixed in this day and age

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

i agree that there are diffrences regarding how folk about scotland say it sadly i dont consider myself a highlander or lowlander with being in the central belt,
i just merely wanted sharpdressedscot to hear a non singing version of how someone like myself would say lochaber rather than read the varations i just thought it best to let him hear a talking version ,

when thinking of folk from scotland i dont think of them as highlander and lowlanders i think of them as more regional for example cessna152towser in my view is a border man while phil is a lothian man i just happen to be someone in the central belt ,
the days of highlander/lowlander are some what stuck in the past with all the regions of scotland being so intermixed in this day and age

There is something else to consider, and that is the effect radio and television have on speech. As more and more "urban" accents are heard, "rural" accents tend to become modified, adapting many of the spoken sounds heard on television and radio. The result is that regional accents are slowly dying out, and not just in Scotland, but everywhere.

[skauwt]

There is something else to consider, and that is the effect radio and television have on speech. As more and more "urban" accents are heard, "rural" accents tend to become modified, adapting many of the spoken sounds heard on television and radio. The result is that regional accents are slowly dying out, and not just in Scotland, but everywhere.

you are spot on there,
while i was younger i attended a few colleges in glasgow for my pottery and staind glass course`s and the majority of folk in my classes came from the likes of fort william,islay, fife and some as far as the caithness region sadly they had to live in glasgow to attend college as the central belt has most of the major colleges and what have you ...most of these folk i knew couldnt afford to buy a home in the regions they came from mainly due to a influx of tourists buying holiday homes , what student can fork out 100k for a cottage and what crofter isnt going to sell a old butt&ben for that kinda money either
one thing my partner said when watching a programme on tv about the highlands of scotland (she moved here from northen ireland ) she said on listening to the voices "where are all the scottish folk that are supposed to live there" and she couldnt have said it better

so what happens is these folk(from other regions) live in the central belt for years and try to fit in the best they can by the time they can go home the regional tounge is a thing of the past
its a sad thing to speak to someone who is more or less trapped in a town or city they dont want to live
and as for tv here its all from london mainly yea we do get some stuff from our own region but its few and far between

sorry for this wee rant but this is whats happening in scotland and there is not a thing anyone can do about it while london pulls the reigns on the power horse of scotland