Mid-Ulster English
| Mid-Ulster English | |
|---|---|
| Mid Ulsther English | |
| Native to | Ulster |
| Region | United Kingdom (County Tyrone, County Londonderry, County Fermanagh, County Armagh, County Antrim, and County Down), Ireland (County Donegal) |
Early forms | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| |
Mid-Ulster English, also spelled Mid Ulster English, (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), also called Standard Northern Irish, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) often abbreviated to MUE, is a subdialect of Ulster English. It is spoken in some parts of Northern Ireland and County Donegal.[1] The term Mid-Ulster English sometimes means English in Northern Ireland not derived from Scots.[2] Despite its name, Mid-Ulster English is spoken in most parts of Ulster. It is spoken in every county in Northern Ireland plus County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.
Classification
Mid-Ulster English is a dialect of Ulster English and is closely related to Ulster Scots English. South Ulster English is another dialect related to MUE, which is a transitional dialect between Southern Hiberno-English and MUE.
History
17th century and the Plantation of Ulster
During the Plantation of Ulster, many English-speaking Northern English people and Scots-speakers would move to Ulster, planting the west and east respectively.[3][4] Meanwhile, Ulster Irish remained in the more southern parts. With the influence of the three languages, the central dialect would become the 17th century Mid-Ulster dialect.[5][6][7]
Expansion
As the central dialect spread around with immigration, it eventually expanded to most of the Ulster region.[8] This expansion approximately went from the east of County Down, of Northern Ireland, all the way towards western County Donegal, of the Republic of Ireland.
Modern day
The local rural Belfast and Derry dialects come from this dialect. Warren Maguire, a senior lecturer in the English language, has studied the dialect, specifically his local Southwest Tyrone dialect.[9]
Phonology
The sounds of Mid-Ulster English are known to sound like a combination of Hiberno-English and Ulster Scots English.[10] As such, many features in Mid-Ulster English are combined, having influences from both varieties.[11] Its phonology is a bit different to other English dialects in the isles.[12] The phonology of Mid-Ulster English is shown to have many features from other languages, with various different vowels and other features absent in different varieties of English.[13] The symbols below are those of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
Consonants
- Rhoticity is present in the Mid-Ulster dialect, like in other Ulster dialects.[1]
- Mid-Ulster has g-dropping, which means the gerund or present participle -ing, pronounced /ɪŋ/ in verbs such as running is pronounced /ɪn/.
- The dialect also has lowering, which makes the speaker sound more low pitch.
- The phoneme /x/ as in ach is mostly realised as the uvular /χ/ instead of the velar /x/. This sound is only used in loanwords and place names.
- In between /ɑ/ or /ɛ/ after /k/ or /g/, a palatalised sound can be heard.[14]
- The dialect has a which-witch distinction, meaning that phoneme wh would be pronounced /ʍ/ instead of /w/.
- Before r or er, t and d would make interdental /t̪͆/ and /d̪͆/ sounds respectively, as in painter [pen.t̪͆əɹ].[15][16]
- Medial -pp-, -ck-, and -tt- are pronounced voiced instead of voiceless.[16]
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||
| Close | i | ʉ | ||
| Close mid | e | o | ||
| Mid | ə | |||
| Open mid | ɛ | ɜ | ɔ | |
| Open | a | ɑ | ɒ | |
| Diphthong | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| /aɪ/ | /aɪl/ | I'll |
| /ɔɪ/ | /bɔɪ/ | boy |
| /əɪ/ | /əɪl/ | I'll |
| /əʉ/ | /həʉ/ | how |
- The diphthong /ɑʊ/ in RP is pronounced more like /əʉ/.
- /ʊ/ in "food" and /u/ in "boot" are pronounced like /ʉ/.
- The epenthesis, or helping vowel, is used in some consonant clusters, for example film [fɜ.ləm].[17]
- /æ/ is lowered to /a/.[18]
- The diphthong /eɪ/ is often shortened to /e/ most of the time. Few realisations pronounce this as /ɪ/.
- The diphthongs /əɪ/ and /aɪ/ can be used interchangeably.
- RP /ɪ/ is often realised as /ɛ̈/, /ɜ/, or /ə/.
- /ʌ/ is instead realised as centralised /ɔ̈/.
Vocabulary
| MUE | Standard English | Type | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| aye, ay | yes | adverb | From Scots aye |
| betther | better | adjective | From standard English better |
| cowl | cold | adjective | From Scots cauld |
| eejit | idiot | noun | From standard English idiot |
| jist | just | adverb | From standard English just |
| niver | never | adverb | From Scots nivver |
| oul | old | adjective | From Scots auld |
| wee | a generic diminutive | adjective | From Scots wee |
| wean | child | noun | From wee + Scots ane |
| wumman | woman | noun | From Scots wumman |
Sample text
This sample text is the poem John the Liar by Rev. William Forbes Marshall.
- Well, it was freezin' hard.
- An' bitther cowl; an' min' ye I had play,
- (Yon mare's the deil for gettin' on hir en:)
- But there wos John, he had his two han's up, Scared like an peghin, with no hat or coat;
- A man's unaisy when he sees the like.
- "The Lord bliss me, sez I, 'what's wrong?' Sez he,
- 'Be gomentays, I went an' killed two pigs, Ye niver seen the like of them two pigs, Throth they wor tarra; jist the five months oul".
- "The deil a hair I care, sez I, 'ye killed A score of pigs; stan' out the road!'
See also
Bibliography
- Maguire, Warren (2020-09-21). Language and Dialect Contact in Ireland: The Phonological Origins of Mid-Ulster English. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-5293-9. Search this book on
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Trudgill, Peter (1984-05-17). Language in the British Isles. CUP Archive. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-0-521-24057-4. Search this book on
- ↑ Hickey, Raymond (2002-01-01). A Source Book for Irish English. John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-90-272-3753-8. Search this book on
- ↑ "IV. The Scots in Ulster". Turnbull Clan. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ↑ "Plantation of Ulster | Discover Ulster-Scots". Discover Ulster-Scots. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ↑ Hickey, Raymond (2012-12-06). Areal Features of the Anglophone World. Walter de Gruyter. p. 69. ISBN 978-3-11-027942-9. Search this book on
- ↑ "BBC - History - Wars and Conflicts - Plantation of Ulster - Ulster Scots". BBC. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- ↑ Maguire (2020), p. 10
- ↑ Г, Ніколенко А. Лексикологія англійської мови – теорія і практика. [англ.].: Навчальний посібник для ВНЗ. Нова Книга. pp. 362–363. ISBN 978-966-382-076-7. Search this book on
- ↑ Maguire, Warren. "Southwest Tyrone English". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ↑ Trudgill, Peter (1984-05-17). Language in the British Isles. CUP Archive. pp. 129–130. ISBN 978-0-521-24057-4. Search this book on
- ↑ Hogg, Richard M.; Blake, Norman Francis; Burchfield, Robert; Lass, Roger; Romaine, Suzanne (1992). The Cambridge History of the English Language. Cambridge University Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-521-26478-5. Search this book on
- ↑ Maguire (2020), p. 15
- ↑ Hickey, Raymond (2024-01-05). The Oxford Handbook of Irish English. Oxford University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-19-885615-3. Search this book on
- ↑ Wells, John (1982). Accents of English. 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 442. Search this book on
- ↑ Adams, G. Brendan (1964). Ulster Dialects. An Introductory Symposium. Cultra: Ulster Folk Museum. p. 2. Search this book on
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Macafee, C.I. (1996). Concise Ulster Dictionary. Oxford University Press. pp. xi. Search this book on
- ↑ Hickey, Raymond (2004). Irish English: Phonology. 1. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter. p. 81. Search this book on
- ↑ Patrick, Peter L. (1999-01-01). Urban Jamaican Creole: Variation in the Mesolect. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-4875-6. Search this book on
External links
- Mid Ulster English Society Facebook page
- A til Azed – a glossary of Mid-Ulster vocabulary at BBC Northern Ireland
- South West Tyrone Dialect, South West Tyrone Dialect
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