Origin of Irish accents

markomuscle · 22-06-2013 12:50PM

Madam wrote: »

My parents(both from Donegal)he was from the North East(Raphoe) she from just a few miles down the road(just outside Letterkenny) but their accents were completly different - he more NI(Ulster Scots in some of his chat) she with a softer accent.

I always think the letterkenny accent sounds like NI as well, i couldnt tell the difference between a north county derry accent and some donegal accents,

dd972 · 22-06-2013 12:50PM

As far as the English influence in Dublin is concerned, there is an accent which is as close to English as possible while still being an Irish accent, it's different to the generic D4 / SoCoDu accents and it's usually spoken by pin striped Barristers with double chins, Shane Ross or UK public school educated folk who reside in castle's in Kildare or Meath to paint a picture of it's speakers.

WanabeOlympian · 22-06-2013 12:58PM

Sometimes when I hear the north side dublin accent, if I block out the words and just zone in on the sound/rhythm/intonation...it reminds me a bit of vikings/scandinavians.

Madam · 22-06-2013 12:59PM

markomuscle wrote: »

I always think the letterkenny accent sounds like NI as well, i couldnt tell the difference between a north county derry accent and some donegal accents,

There's not a lot of difference in some ways but you honestly couldn't tell the difference between Daniel O'Donnell's accent and Frank McBrearty? Derry wans would have a softer but fast way of talking much like someone from Muff would speak;)

Sea Sharp · 22-06-2013 01:09PM

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

Outside of D4 there is no discernible English accent in Dublin.

Well then the Dublin accent (outside D4) is the culchie accent and the English accent's mongrel child.

1000 years ago did someone from Munster still have that distinctive accent when speaking irish?

Probably not. accents like language, change over time.

johnr1 · 22-06-2013 01:16PM

TheComeUp wrote: »

The Kerry accent was traded for a mule back in 1746.

Which one of the four or five versions do you mean?

Kerry accents that is,- not mules.....

pagete2 · 22-06-2013 01:18PM

I find the Dundalk accent very tough to understand! I love the Donegal accent, it's very soft and lilting! hate hate hate the D4 accent, it's completely made up, no one over 50 sounds like that!

COYW · 22-06-2013 01:28PM

I used to live in Cork and found the strong Cork accent extremely difficult to understand, even after living there.

bb1234567 · 22-06-2013 01:33PM

I live in Rathgar and I have an american accent ffs

bb1234567 · 22-06-2013 01:34PM

WanabeOlympian wrote: »

Sometimes when I hear the north side dublin accent, if I block out the words and just zone in on the sound/rhythm/intonation...it reminds me a bit of vikings/scandinavians.

I always mistake the north dublin accent, for a french accent when Im not listening to the words properly. Im not good at telling accents apart, as you can tell.

pragmatic1 · 22-06-2013 01:38PM

markomuscle wrote: »

The Irish and Scots in Ulster always have been largely segregated so it's strange that they ended up with the same accent, I would have had a mostly Scottish accent if I was born a few miles away, a few relatives actually do. we use words such as Aye which is Scottish, this is actually common in northern England as well.

It comes from the Ulster dialect of gaelic. Its very similar to the gaelic that's spoken in parts of Scotland. What's weird is when these gaelic speaking Scots speak English, a lot of them sound strangely similar to people from west Donegal.

pragmatic1 · 22-06-2013 01:40PM

markomuscle wrote: »

I always think the letterkenny accent sounds like NI as well, i couldnt tell the difference between a north county derry accent and some donegal accents,

Letterkenny and Derry accents are practically identical.

goose2005 · 22-06-2013 02:08PM

The reason for the nasal Dublin accent is that for decades north Dubliners breathed smog all day, blocking up their sinuses. Same goes for nasal accents in Liverpool and many other industrial cities. With cleaner air the nasality recedes.

Madam · 22-06-2013 02:33PM

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Letterkenny and Derry accents are practically identical.

In your world maybe:rolleyes:

Similar but different:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6frdzIQc_Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rqsixnzurc

markomuscle · 22-06-2013 02:52PM

Madam wrote: »

In your world maybe:rolleyes:

Similar but different:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6frdzIQc_Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rqsixnzurc

that's derry city though, that letterkenny accent is very similar to the accents further down derry county, I can't think of any famous people to give an example though, maybe joe brolly though he's quite posh

RikkFlair · 22-06-2013 04:38PM

What's really cool is how the Irish accent heavily influenced the Jamaican accent.

WesternZulu · 22-06-2013 04:52PM

RikkFlair wrote: »

What's really cool is how the Irish accent heavily influenced the Jamaican accent.

There was a documentary on rte player from the 70's where they went to some island in the carribean and they sounded like they were from Cork!

I forget the connection but there was definitely a very strong Cork tone to their accent...they could have definitely passed for langers!

Bigus · 22-06-2013 04:56PM

I was up in glencar in the isolated Kerry uplands and I couldn't believe how similar the local accent is To the mayo/Sligo typical "wesht" accent.
not like the usual Kerry lilt, overly done for the tourists

Precious flower · 22-06-2013 05:26PM

WesternZulu wrote: »

There was a documentary on rte player from the 70's where they went to some island in the carribean and they sounded like they were from Cork!

I forget the connection but there was definitely a very strong Cork tone to their accent...they could have definitely passed for langers!

Think this is what you're thinking of?:)

dodderangler · 22-06-2013 05:32PM

Precious flower wrote: »

Think this is what you're thinking of?:)

Boll0x you got there before me

havetoquit · 15-05-2016 09:37PM

I love the variety of accents, not only of our own country, but the regional accents of many others.
The only thing that really grates on me is when unbelievably bad grammar is used as well, making some people sound almost as though English grammar is alien to them, although one would assume it's correct usage is taught in all Irish schools, from primary level upwards.

Quite often, even news reporters and our national newspapers make surprising grammatical errors and use incorrect pronunciation, even though we assume they would be well educated.

I wonder if this stems from bad teaching in some instances, or some people's dislike of the language and a lack of interest in perfecting it. Whatever the case may be, it's sad to hear others laughing at them behind their backs and making jokes.

Some accents can be pleasing to the ear, but those without accents, who use incorrect grammar are also not great to listen to and that includes some of our government ministers.

Sam Kade · 15-05-2016 09:46PM

havetoquit wrote: »

I love the variety of accents, not only of our own country, but the regional accents of many others.
The only thing that really grates on me is when unbelievably bad grammar is used as well, making some people sound almost as though English grammar is alien to them, although one would assume it's correct usage is taught in all Irish schools, from primary level upwards.

Quite often, even news reporters and our national newspapers make surprising grammatical errors and use incorrect pronunciation, even though we assume they would be well educated.

I wonder if this stems from bad teaching, or some people's dislike of the language and a lack of interest in studying English at school. Whatever the case may be, it's sad to hear others laughing at them behind their backs and making jokes.

Do you speak the Queens English in a very posh British accent?

havetoquit · 15-05-2016 10:09PM

��No, I'm Irish and no, I don't speak, or have any wish to speak the Queen's English�� I was simply making a point about very bad grammar and it was just a personal observation, as part of the discussion on accents.

I hope it was taken in good spirit.��

Spanish Eyes · 15-05-2016 10:13PM

Doesn't matter anymore, tons of kids have an American twang now anyway.

It completely amazes me sometimes, until I remember what they watch and listen to all the time.

Is that only Dublin kids/teenagers though, as that is where I live, and I wouldn't know about the rest of ya.

The Backwards Man · 15-05-2016 10:15PM

Our wains chat the same way as the rest a us

Spanish Eyes · 15-05-2016 10:16PM

The real North Co Dublin accent is great.

And as for rural Wexford, well that often sounds like a soft North Dublin accent to me anyway, and slightly Ulster too. Maybe it's the Yola influence I dunno.

havetoquit · 15-05-2016 10:52PM

At the end of the day, it's all down to personal preference and it is not all that important in the scheme of things.
It's been a fun discussion and offended nobody we hope.

I did put smilies in my post, in an effort to indicate that my comments were not intended to come across as overly serious or critical, but they have been deleted fo some reason. Shame.

failinis · 15-05-2016 11:10PM

Madam wrote: »

There's not a lot of difference in some ways but you honestly couldn't tell the difference between Daniel O'Donnell's accent and Frank McBrearty? Derry wans would have a softer but fast way of talking much like someone from Muff would speak;)

I would not call a Derry accent "soft" by a long shot, I always thought most of Donegal was quite soft, and closer you got to Derry the more jagged and sharp it got.

feargale · 16-05-2016 12:08AM

What about the Cork county councillor who likened the planning authority to an octopus spreading its testicles allover the county?

havetoquit · 16-05-2016 12:33AM

Brilliant! Nice one.

Origin of Irish accents

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