Kilkenny Accent?

gunner11

rights guys, this is something that needs to be cleared up - does kk have a distinct accent? like im not able to tell if someones from carlow, tipp, laois or kk. obviously the blahs are a different story!

road_high

Definitely not like the Tipp one at all. That is a Munster accent
Kilkenny is flat; not that distinctive from Carlow/Laois/even south Kildare. Some of the Kilkenny accents are cringe inducing but sure that's the way

South Kilkenny is very like the Waterford accent.

Cabaal

Most of Kilkenny doesn't really have any sort of strong accents, Waterford on the other hand appears to have several...in the city along it seems to from my experience.

Threadhead

I had the funny misfortune to have the Killkenny accent (my Kilkenny accent) analysed by a phonetics teacher in front of a room full of people.

Here's the few things that get brought up:

Pronounciation of th's become d's (this apparently really singles out a Kilkenny accent).
T's at the end of a word aren't usually voiced ie. wha', tha', etc.
Our mouths are usually held in quite a tight, restrictive position and that's why words can be often rolled together in a Kilkenny accent.
It's also apparently why we speak faster than any other south eastern counties. We just don't pronounce things very much.
With a really thick Kilkenny accent the vowels get elongated too, which is why most local scumbags have that charming, distinctive 'Waaaaaahhhh' sound to their voices.

But all in all, I can't imagine Kilkenny accents being too strong. I doubt I'd tell much of a difference between it and Carlow or Tipperary.

Cabaal

Its neutral enough thh, certainly never going to be up there with Cork, Kerry or Dublin :pac:

fricatus

There is definitely a distinctive KK accent, and this is what I've noticed:

- The number 1 is pronounced "wan".
- The word "no" is lengthend and pronounced like a nasal "noooo".
- A word like "choice" comes out as "chice"
- "TH" sounds like D or T, e.g. "dem tree over dere", although this is a feature of most Irish accents outside of Ulster.
- The letter R at the end of a word is strongly pronounced, almost like the English West Country accent.
- The letter T between vowels disappears or is replaced by a H: "be-or" for "better" or "compu-er/compuher" for "computer".

jiggajt

Threadhead wrote: »

Here's the few things that get brought up:

Pronounciation of th's become d's (this apparently really singles out a Kilkenny accent).
T's at the end of a word aren't usually voiced ie. wha', tha', etc.
Our mouths are usually held in quite a tight, restrictive position and that's why words can be often rolled together in a Kilkenny accent.
It's also apparently why we speak faster than any other south eastern counties. We just don't pronounce things very much.
With a really thick Kilkenny accent the vowels get elongated too, which is why most local scumbags have that charming, distinctive 'Waaaaaahhhh' sound to their voices.

As a Kilkenny blow in i can say that closed mouth thing is totally true particularly for scumbags when they say things like, " Tha's pure class man" or "Tha rave in wahurfur was pure class boy"

Then againm i cant talk, im originally from cavan which probably has the worst accent in the country!

MsFifers

The Kilkenny accent basically drops the ends of as many words as possible. I realised this the day after I moved to Kilkenny when I was walking down the street, and a kid was blocking my path. He friend dragged him to the side saying "Wi'ya geh ouh a da way". I think its cos Kilkenny people are lazy.

fabbydabby

The worst is the people with faux Dublin 4 accents. I remember meeting a bimbo at a house party party, who spoke thusly. Loike ew moy gaowd loike I was sew waysted loike!

Funniest thing about it was she was born bred and buttered in Castlecomer, of all places. I desisted from any further social interaction with her at that point because that accent fills me with fury, and her head was filled with air and I wasn't enjoying the conversation.

I love accents, and trying to spot where people are from by listening to theirs.

I have a kilkenny accent I'd say. Another thing I have been told (non D4 wannabe) Kilkenny people do is really accentuate the 'ay' sound in words such as plate, great, eight (becomes Plaaaaate, etc).

gunner11

well all i can vouch for so far is that there is definite north-south divide in kk accents, i think its the culchie thing down the mullinavat to piltown direction! (im also concerned by the amount of times scumbag & kk was mentioned above!! ) someone told me one time i had a fierce city accent - didnt know there was such a thing.

JohnC.

Had a bit of a surprise once when a French man, in France, identified my family as being from south Kilkenny just from us talking.

Supra lover 87

fricatus wrote: »

There is definitely a distinctive KK accent, and this is what I've noticed:

- The number 1 is pronounced "wan".
- The word "no" is lengthend and pronounced like a nasal "noooo".
- A word like "choice" comes out as "chice"
- "TH" sounds like D or T, e.g. "dem tree over dere", although this is a feature of most Irish accents outside of Ulster.
- The letter R at the end of a word is strongly pronounced, almost like the English West Country accent.
- The letter T between vowels disappears or is replaced by a H: "be-or" for "better" or "compu-er/compuher" for "computer".

Thats the perfect way of describing it.

My girlfriend is from louth and she says it the i drag my ooos the whole time to a point she just wants to hear me say noo she slags me ha ha

we do kinda have a lazy accent and speak real fast to the point we have to repeat ourselfs to people from other countys ha ha

Firetrap

There's a certain tone to it too. I can't explain it any better than that really.

Captain Havoc

The thing with accents is, you never realise how much of one you have until you go away. I've completely lost mine after been away for eight years and I tend to pick them up easily, so right now I've got this horrible mix of accents but slowly getting my Kilkenny one back. I did notice the Kilkenny accent when I came home and I'd pick up on it now. There's a certain lilt I can't describe. +1 one the faux D4 accent, I hate it with a passion, if you don't like your own county (and it's the best one) then p**s off to Ballsbridge!

Stephen

I've only noticed that I have much of a Kilkenny accent after moving to America, because people tell me they can't understand me and ask me to speak slower :pac:

kizzabel

ah lads we arent too bad off....
waterford accents are fairly bad..
and the wexford accent. serious slurring of ther er's and a's and vowels in general. laaaaaaaaaad im from weexfurd, comin down the prem'yer fer sum chips?? then theres new ross with its bad scumbag accents. thank god we hold no claims to that charming place

we do have sangwichs and babbies too though....

Captain Havoc

Stephen wrote: »

I've only noticed that I have much of a Kilkenny accent after moving to America, because people tell me they can't understand me and ask me to speak slower :pac:

When I was living on the mainland the amount of yanks that used to say to me "hey, you got really good English". Even after three years of it I never got sick of it. Could never understand how come every other English speaker picked up that I was a native English speaker because I don't think yanks are stupid. Although, I remember one instance when after helping an Irish woman for 30mins or so she asked me if I learned my English in Ireland but it was clear I was not Irish.

kizzabel

lol jersyeire thats gas.

yanks are beyond credible,
was in said ever so slightly patronisingly?

Nightwish

My Kilkenny accent was mistaken for a Canadian accent and an Ulster accent, when I lived in Edinburgh. I thought that at least those across the water could figure out where I was from.

Captain Havoc

@kizzabel, I don't know why but I love the Wexford accent, also Kerry.

kizzabel

isnt the Kerry accent such a jolly accent. Kerry people sound happy even when miserable, i think its the out look though too.

we met a nice old man in dingle a few years back while standing in a doorway out of the rain but instead of bemoaning the weather he just laughed at the yanks getting drownded out on the street and shouted out "Welcome to the Kingdom" and under his breath... "suckers"

Such a nice laid back place to be

Purry Cat

Evanne N Chuillin on RTE. Lovely girl and great at her job. Echt-Kilkenny accent, though!

gunner11

Purry Cat wrote: »

Evanne N Chuillin on RTE. Lovely girl and great at her job. Echt-Kilkenny accent, though!

whats wrong with Evanne's accent!

granturismo

jerseyeire wrote: »

When I was living on the mainland .

Kilkenny is on the mainland or do you mean the continent. Surely not the UK.

road_high

kizzabel wrote: »

then theres new ross with its bad scumbag accents. thank god we hold no claims to that charming place
....

But we do...some of the port and the town is in Co. Kilkenny, he he

Captain Havoc

granturismo wrote: »

Kilkenny is on the mainland or do you mean the continent. Surely not the UK.

Yes continental Europe, no I would regard the UK as GB+NI.

kizzabel

mfitzy wrote: »

But we do...some of the port and the town is in Co. Kilkenny, he he

nope tis rosbercon hehehe
that i dont mind!
iv a few friends from ross and there nice normal people. but theres an awful lot a shams in the town.. eeeeeeeh seeee you, ill bait d head off ya... it aint clever! who respects that intimidation sh1te

road_high

kizzabel wrote: »

nope tis rosbercon hehehe
that i dont mind!
iv a few friends from ross and there nice normal people. but theres an awful lot a shams in the town.. eeeeeeeh seeee you, ill bait d head off ya... it aint clever! who respects that intimidation sh1te

Ross is just a kind of depressed town to me. High unemployment and a history of it. The hinterland though is relatively well off though.

kizzabel

oh yeah but if you notice the affluent people who live on the outskirts of ross dont claim to be from ross either!

fair play to them.

i reckon portovino was opened just for them. its quite nice, unlike the ship (pronounced kip) across the road.