The Blood is Strong Documentary

**creagdhubh** · 19th June 13, 05:30 AM

I shall never say "Badenock," always Badenoch!

Creag Dhubh Clann Chatain!

**Nathan** · 19th June 13, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by neloon

I think that's true, Bren, i.e. more "English". This has been going on for a long time, of course, and, in the eighteenth century, books were published on how to rid oneself of Scotticisms and Scottish accents so as to be acceptable in English society. Recent most noticeable changes are the loss of the "ch" so that "Pitlochry" becomes "Pitlockry" and the loss of the "wh" so that "what, where, why, when" become "wat, ware, wy, wen" etc. This is even found with BBC Scotland presenters so it will probably become fixed.
Alan

Language is an ever-evolving thing generationally. For example, the older generation where I grew up pronounces:

Graham as "Grey um"
Film as "Fill um"
Schedule as "shed-yule"
Sofa as "chesterfield"

Whereas younger folks tend to say:

Graham as "gram"
Film as "film"
Schedule as "sked jewell"

There was also some pressure in the education system to drop the Atlantic Canadian accent and to speak more non-regional North American. E.g. Don't say "haitch" for this letter "H", don't call people b'y etc...

But Bren is onto something. I know a man from Campbelltown, Scotland who speaks almost like a Canadian. Not necessarily recieved English, but more like a Canadian with a slight roll on his "r" sometimes.

**Jock Scot** · 19th June 13, 07:16 AM

I have no idea how true it was, but it used to be said------I have not heard it said recently----- that the purest English spoken in Britain was in Inverness. I have no idea how "pure" was defined though.

**Nathan** · 19th June 13, 07:20 AM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

I have no idea how true it was, but it used to be said------I have not heard it said recently----- that the purest English spoken in Britain was in Inverness. I have no idea how "pure" was defined though.

As a student of linguistics, I'd be very curious to know how one would define "purest English".

Jock: Your edit anticipated my comment!

**Psynister** · 19th June 13, 07:23 AM

Just me, or do the links to parts 1 & 2 no longer work?

**Jock Scot** · 19th June 13, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by Nathan

As a student of linguistics, I'd be very curious to know how one would define "purest English".

Jock: Your edit anticipated my comment!

Worry not my dear chap, you are just "quicker on the draw" than I am!

**creagdhubh** · 19th June 13, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by Psynister

Just me, or do the links to parts 1 & 2 no longer work?

It's not just you, mate.

**TheOfficialBren** · 19th June 13, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

I have no idea how true it was, but it used to be said------I have not heard it said recently----- that the purest English spoken in Britain was in Inverness. I have no idea how "pure" was defined though.

A while ago, speaking of accents, it was said that the American accent is closer to the historical "English" (yes, I am well-aware that I am lumping there--bear with me) accents spoken from about the Elizabethan period. I never have bought that one...too may ways to diverge linguistically (in the colonies/US) for that to be the case.

I believe, Jock and Nathan, that they may be referring to the Inverness tongue retaining a lot of older inflection and pronunciation.

I present another point to consider:
Non-regional diction can (ironically) vary. For example, RP is synonymous with England and a burl behind the "r's" is readily identifiable as Scottish, while (for example) hard rhotic speech is easily identifiable as American, and a twangy drawl is instantly recognisable as a Southern US accent.

Consider the big picture here: our accents are dying.

In a thousand years no one will speak English the way we recognise it nor will they sound like an Australian or an Canadian or a Welshman or any other Anglophone that we can distinguish today. Language and accents evolve over time.

What sets it apart now is that we are witnessing it at a much faster pace than was the historical norm, in my opinion.

Any thoughts?

**Aibhlinn** · 20th June 13, 01:00 PM

I've been doing some further research on The Blood Is Strong during the last couple of days. The titles of the Episodes were changed slightly for the video releases becoming "It Is No Joy Without Clan Donald", "The Gaelic Scots Abroad" & "A Stirring In The Hebrides". I've also been able to source all three original videos and have got them on order, but there was also a Scottish Heritage Complete Trilogy box set exported as NTSC videos (with the original titles for each episode) and there are a few copies on Amazon.com via the following link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

**creagdhubh** · 20th June 13, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by Aibhlinn

I've been doing some further research on The Blood Is Strong during the last couple of days. The titles of the Episodes were changed slightly for the video releases becoming "It Is No Joy Without Clan Donald", "The Gaelic Scots Abroad" & "A Stirring In The Hebrides". I've also been able to source all three original videos and have got them on order, but there was also a Scottish Heritage Complete Trilogy box set exported as NTSC videos (with the original titles for each episode) and there are a few copies on Amazon.com via the following link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

Good on ya, mate!