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Is the Irish accent doomed?

2

Comments

  • #32
    Dionysus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,420 ✭✭✭Dionysus


    There is certainly much less linguistic distinctiveness now, and there's a lot of cultural wealth lost in the process. Anybody who appreciates a good turn of phrase will lament the rise of most forms of linguistic uniformity across the anglophone world.

    One of the more interesting things I've heard on the radio lately was Diarmaid Ó Muirithe talking about Irish-English/Hiberno-English and phrases and expressions which he went around Ireland recording. What a brilliant job to have.

    What have we got now but this seemingly incessant "like, you know, like" used by interviewees and professional interviewers on radio and television every day. Compare that to, say, P.W. Joyce's English as We Speak it in Ireland (1910; entire book available there) and you'll appreciate the rich turn of phrase which has been lost.


  • #33
    amacachi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23,315 ✭✭✭✭amacachi


    "Like" has been used in this area at the end of sentences or to avoid stuttering since my mam was a kid and my dad says it was always used up North when he was growing up. Know what I mean like?


  • #34
    bb1234567
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,513 ✭✭✭bb1234567


    yes i'd say so. once the i'd say around 18 year olds of this genration have died off the irish accent will be much less defined but not gone,well always sound atleast somehwat different ot the americans.my little brother and sister particularly my sister of 9 talks exactly like the people on the tv shows on disney channel and nickelodeon.she uses words like candy,soda,chips(crisps)cotton candy,mailman,gas,fries,jelly(jam) and other weird american words and pronounces some words like the americans on the shows...its kind of weird:p. she did it much more when she was younger but still does it just less noticeable, she definitely doesnt sound completely irish and im sure americans would believe us if we said she was american.


  • #35
    Fromthetrees
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,846 ✭✭✭Fromthetrees


    Dionysus wrote: »
    There is certainly much less linguistic distinctiveness now, and there's a lot of cultural wealth lost in the process. Anybody who appreciates a good turn of phrase will lament the rise of most forms of linguistic uniformity across the anglophone world.

    One of the more interesting things I've heard on the radio lately was Diarmaid Ó Muirithe talking about Irish-English/Hiberno-English and phrases and expressions which he went around Ireland recording. What a brilliant job to have.

    What have we got now but this seemingly incessant "like, you know, like" used by interviewees and professional interviewers on radio and television every day. Compare that to, say, P.W. Joyce's English as We Speak it in Ireland (1910; entire book available there) and you'll appreciate the rich turn of phrase which has been lost.

    Absolutely, I remember reading about Hiberno-English a good number of years ago and realising I do probably speak a bit like that, it's really very interesting, so do you think the further away we get from the last 'native' Irish speaker from our lineage, e.g. my great great grandparents and with this saturation in our culture of American tv, music, films, food and everything else do you think the Irish accent is doomed, say in a few generations? Words like blagard and gurrier I only ever heard my grandfather say (probably spelled them wrong) but as you pointed out these words have been destroyed by "standardisation".


  • #36
    Latchy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,190 ✭✭✭✭Latchy


    If we are to believe some statistics which suggest that because of immigrants marrying into the Irish gene pool there will in 50 years time , be less and less irish familys with Irish sounding surnames which also suggests a variation in the accents but maybe not enough to put it in the minority


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  • #37
    tonycascarino
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,373 ✭✭✭tonycascarino


    Honestly never heard any Irish person speaking in an American accent other than certain parts of Dublin. We're safe though, this latest fad won't catch on in the rest of the country.


  • #38
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,386 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Fromthetrees wrote: »
    Words like blagard and gurrier I only ever heard my grandfather say (probably spelled them wrong) but as you pointed out these words have been destroyed by "standardisation".
    Not by me, I try to keep using them. Just to confuse at times. :D I certainly use blagard and gurrier and use press instead of cupboard, shore instead of drain and even use bowler instead of dog on occasion. Among other local to me words. I like to hear people from all over the country with their local slang and finding out what they mean. It's like a fossil record of all our backgrounds and would be sad to lose IMHO.

    Many worry about Artificial Intelligence. I worry far more about Organic Idiocy.



  • #39
    Latchy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,190 ✭✭✭✭Latchy


    I still hear older Irish people say blagard and gurrier .

    I still prefer to say wireless over radio or Hi-Fi :D


  • #40
    Fromthetrees
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,846 ✭✭✭Fromthetrees


    I always ask for a 'tin' of coke. :)


  • #41
    aujopimur
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,952 ✭✭✭aujopimur


    David Norris and Rachel Allen, now there is two fine Irish accents.


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  • #42
    Latchy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,190 ✭✭✭✭Latchy


    aujopimur wrote: »
    David Norris and Rachel Allen, now there is two fine Irish accents.
    His might be defined as an Anglo - Irish accent .


  • #43
    Latchy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,190 ✭✭✭✭Latchy


    Wibbs wrote: »
    Not by me, I try to keep using them. Just to confuse at times. :D I certainly use blagard and gurrier and use press instead of cupboard, shore instead of drain and even use bowler instead of dog on occasion. Among other local to me words. I like to hear people from all over the country with their local slang and finding out what they mean. It's like a fossil record of all our backgrounds and would be sad to lose IMHO.
    Living in England , if I refer to my dog as bowler or Madra (which I sometimes do) I get funny looks from neighbours :D


  • #44
    Badgermonkey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,018 ✭✭✭Badgermonkey


    I often chuckled at my Grans richly descriptive and oft-surreal turn of phrase and do lament how quickly and how easily much of that folk vernacular which set us apart has been lost.

    She'd often speak of her youth and the local characters she'd encounter. There was an itinerant man with a cart 'the Jennet McGuinness', a portly shopkeeper 'Puddin'head Rafter' and a generic nickname for any poor unfortunate with a limp 'Come leg or I'll drag yeh'.

    There were so many more subtle Hiberno-English quirks and flourishes which she'd use in her pattern of speech which I should get my Dad to transcribe.

    Not long before she passed away, she remarked on Brian Cowens head staring out from the screen one evening "Ah, would ye look at the slutherpooch on him".


  • #45
    IcedOut
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 221 ✭✭IcedOut


    Fromthetrees wrote: »
    I don't think a thread has been done on this before.
    I don't know if it's just made up in my head or it's common knowledge or what but will the Irish accent turn into a generic American accent in say 40 years time? My cousin from out the country has this really strong American twang to her accent, she also loves Jedward, another example, the one on 3e has an American/Irish accent but she might actually be American, Miriam O'Callaghan has a bit of one. I'm asking is anyone under the age of 20 just being brainwashed by Miley Cyrus and co instead of in my day (I'm not that old) we had the basic 'poverty channels' and I and many others my age were brainwashed by Zig and Zag and Bosco and all that sh1te but at least it was Irish sh1te.

    Any thoughts....

    I'm guessing you've never been to Kerry


  • #46
    ICANN
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 350 ✭✭ICANN


    Languages and accents are things which evolve over time and never stop. That's why if we were to read something written in Irish or English a few hundred years ago we would have trouble understanding it completely. Meanings of words change and accents change. If you listen to peoples accents (Irish, English and American are ones I've heard) from the first half of the 20th century they are very different to now (eg. Radio broadcasts from the war in England, old American films and Irish storytellers).

    I do hate the spread of the D4 accent around the country though!!!


  • #47
    Arianna_26
    Closed Accounts Posts: 304 ✭✭Arianna_26


    Fromthetrees wrote: »
    I don't think a thread has been done on this before.
    I don't know if it's just made up in my head or it's common knowledge or what but will the Irish accent turn into a generic American accent in say 40 years time? My cousin from out the country has this really strong American twang to her accent, she also loves Jedward, another example, the one on 3e has an American/Irish accent but she might actually be American, Miriam O'Callaghan has a bit of one. I'm asking is anyone under the age of 20 just being brainwashed by Miley Cyrus and co instead of in my day (I'm not that old) we had the basic 'poverty channels' and I and many others my age were brainwashed by Zig and Zag and Bosco and all that sh1te but at least it was Irish sh1te.

    Any thoughts....

    We'll always have Irish accents.


  • #48
    landsleaving
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,345 ✭✭✭landsleaving


    Temptamperu wrote: »
    My American girlfriend is teaching me to say my th's correctly, i sometimes get confused and say im going to make thea :pac:

    Thempthamperu?


  • #49
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,485 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    ICANN wrote: »
    Languages and accents are things which evolve over time and never stop. That's why if we were to read something written in Irish or English a few hundred years ago we would have trouble understanding it completely. Meanings of words change and accents change. If you listen to peoples accents (Irish, English and American are ones I've heard) from the first half of the 20th century they are very different to now (eg. Radio broadcasts from the war in England, old American films and Irish storytellers).

    I do hate the spread of the D4 accent around the country though!!!
    The D4 accent didn't evolve as it's a false accent they didn't always talk that way ;) They believe it makes them sound more important, in my opinion it makes them sound like idiots.


  • #50
    Paulor94
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 111 ✭✭Paulor94


    I'm 17 so i would think i apply to this. I don't sound american (according to family and friends) cause no one ever told me i do. I use alot of local slang :) and dont use american words. I do listen to some american music and tv shows but i mostly listen to english music etc.... and i have a speech disorder yet my accent is strong. I must sound like a blender cause, cork accent + speech disorder :(


  • #51
    Stinicker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,098 ✭✭✭Stinicker


    I'm from Kerry and I can say there is a difference between peoples accents in as little as 20 miles apart. I have cousins who seem to have the twang, one of them I thought was a real yank a few years ago, however he dropped his balls entered puberty and sounded like a broken record for a while and now he's as Kerry as the rest of us!

    One of my favourite sayings which really confuses people is the word "peg" instead of "throw", peg me over the car keys there would ya! really confuses americans.


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  • #52
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    There are some regions of Ireland that all the American accents in the world couldn't penetrate :pac:


  • #53
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 31,828 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Latchy wrote: »
    I do remember meeting this girl in Liverpool a few years ago and on hearing her accent asked how long was she over here now and would she ever go back to Dublin ? She replied '' Oh I'm not from Dublin ,I'm from Liverpool but worked over in Dublin in a bank for 4 years '' ( celtic tiger years ) :eek:

    I couldn't believe it because her accent suggested she was from some place like south Dublin .
    Liverpool aka East Dublin, back in the day, Liverpool was the first part of England that many Irish emigrants saw and quite a few just stayed there.


  • #54
    Latchy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,190 ✭✭✭✭Latchy


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Liverpool aka East Dublin, back in the day, Liverpool was the first part of England that many Irish emigrants saw and quite a few just stayed there.
    I know this to well ... which is why many Liverpudlians , some of who would have little or no conncection with Ireland , still to this day refer to Liverpool as the Capital of Ireland because of those first famine ship emigrants who arrived , many of whom later moved out and byond the suburbs of Merseyside into Cheshire and Manchester . There is also a cemetary in Liverpool which holds the graves of about a 1000 such emigrants who fell to illness and disease and it's a recognised historical place and a part of the history of Liverpool .


  • #55
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    A lot of Dublin and Welsh in the Liverpool accent.


  • #56
    Doc Ruby
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,956 ✭✭✭Doc Ruby


    Terrontress wrote: »
    There is already a strong American twang throughout young peoples' accent.
    I think you mean there's a strong Irish twang to many American accents.


  • #57
    tempura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 604 ✭✭✭tempura


    If someone builds a big wall around Dundrum Shopping centre we should be safe enough !


  • #58
    Latchy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,190 ✭✭✭✭Latchy


    Dudess wrote: »
    A lot of Dublin and Welsh in the Liverpool accent.
    And Lancashire to .


  • #59
    amacachi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23,315 ✭✭✭✭amacachi


    Latchy wrote: »
    And Lancashire to .

    Sure the whole feckin Northwest of England is Irish! :pac:


  • #60
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,485 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    Dudess wrote: »
    There are some regions of Ireland that all the American accents in the world couldn't penetrate :pac:
    So you are saying that you got penetrated :eek:


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  • #61
    cson
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,664 ✭✭✭✭cson


    Latchy wrote: »
    I have noticed over the last year or so, more and more Irish people with regional irish accents, popping up as local tv reporters or as programme presenters on regional british tv like Granada and also on Sky/C5 news which at one time you would only see on mainstream BBC/ITV ie, Terry Wogan /Louis Walsh . I don't mean with just Dublin accents but mainstream south /west/ midlands accents so this trend suggests more Irish career motivated people , in the absence of similar jobs back home in Ireland are moving into the british market at a growing rate .

    Noticed this too; your one from Sky Sports News for instance [http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/rw30121020101231135643.jpg/sr=1] having said that RTE have imported some reporters too - I doubt Bethan Kilfoyle's accent is native to any county in this country.

    Personally I have a phone/interview voice that is a million miles away from my native accent; in other words its neutral and professional-ish.

    But listen to me this Stephens night when I'm in the pub catching up with the lads and you'd hardly think it was the same person! The east galway comes out big schtyle.


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