Clemente Domínguez y Gómez

The term scouse (according to the International Phonetic Alphabet) is a word English being used to indicate the Accent specific to the inhabitants of Liverpool and the Merseyside, as well as a ragout containing potatoes, of salted meat and onions. Scouser is used to designate people having this accent or, in a more general way, any person coming from Liverpool.

Origin of the term

The term scouse would come from lobscouse , a word indicating a typical met of the sailors and working classes: simple a Ragoût makes containing Potato and of Oignon S, to which one can add salted meat (mainly of the Mouton, but can also be Bœuf or Porc) and red cabbage X marinaded in the vinegar. The meat is optional and, if it is absent, one will speak then about “blind scouse” (scouse blind man). According to the author Frank Shaw, who published in 1966 the first edition of the book with humorous savor Lern Yerself Scouse, How to talk proper in Liverpool (Learn yourself the scouse, how to speak correct in Liverpool), the word lobscouse could have a German origin and would be derived from Labskaus . The dish is thus not typically Liverpoolien, but indicates the importance of the Merchant navy and the working classes in the history and the folklore of the inhabitants of the city.

Origins of the accent

the Liverpool, a long time most important port of sea of the England, was opened with various influences and was known important a Immigration coming from the four corners of British Isles, its prosperous industry and its port activities attracting of many Welsh, Écossais and, especially, Irish fleeing the miséreuses living conditions of their region. All these linguistic influences, including some keys of French, German and Dutch, were grafted with the local accent of the Lancashire to form, during the centuries, a single and original mixture.

The inhabitants of Liverpool being proud of their accent, the scouse is maintained and even tended to be propagated, contrary to the world tendencies, whereas the majority of the languages know an increasing standardization and a gradual disappearance of the regionalism S, Accent S and Dialecte S.

Characteristics

The scouse is sometimes difficult to include/understand for the english-speaking living outside Merseyside. Its comprehension thus represents a major challenge for the foreigners controlling the British English standard, known as “of the sovereign”, because its pronunciation is, in some cases, radically different and its flow is fast.

It has some borrowed similarities sound of the Scottish accent, the Irish accent, the accent of Wales as well as that of Lancashire and the “Mancunian”, the accent of Manchester, while being completely distinct from those.

Here some specific characteristics:

• Diminutive ending in “there” : A characteristic of the scouse is to use the most possible diminutives to indicate the names of people and places, such as Ippy for Hippodrome , Filly for Philarmonic Hotel or Pivvy for Pavilion (house). This characteristic was propagated with all the British culture in the Sixties.

• the use of periphrases : Practice inherited the Welsh and the Irish to use humorous Periphrasis S with a certain musical quality to name the familiar places or objects. Example: Anfield Cemetery becomes De Anfield bone orcherd (the orchard of bone Anfield), VAT 69 Whiskey becomes De Pope' S Phone (the telephone of the pope), Wavertree (District of the city that one can translate by “undulating Tree”) becomes Shaky Bush (Bush trembling) or Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral becomes De Pope' S Funnel (the funnel of the pope, in reference to the shape of the building) or Paddy' S wigwam .

• picturesque Expressions : Use of Stylistic devices referring to local characteristics of the landscape or history to describe realities of the everyday life. For example: Ee' S gorran ED ace big ace Birkened (He' S got has Head ace big ace Birkenhead; its head is as large as the town of Birkenhead) for it is too on him , Once every Prestin Guild (ounce every Preston Guild; once at all the guilds of Preston, which is held at every twenty years) for really not very frequent or Ee lewks like of unchback has off Knotty Ash (He looks like the Hunchback Knotty Ash; It resembles uneven of Knotty Ash, a district of Liverpool) for It has a grotesque appearance .

• particular Vocabulary . Some examples:

• Ear: Lugole instead of ear
• Legs: Dollypegs instead of legacy
• Hands: Mitts instead of hands
• Face or stops: Gob instead of face or mouth
• Nose: Ooter instead of nose
• Thank you: Your instead of thanks
• Me: Uz instead of I and me
• You: Yer , Yis instead of you
• You: Yews instead of you
• Hospital: Ozzy" " instead of hospital"
• Goodbye: Tared instead of good bye
• cigarette: bifter
• blow of head: scouse KIS instead of headbut
• hairdresser: Ali instead of barbershop
• drink: bevy instead of drink (more often used for beer)

• the sound ing at the end them words tends to being replaced by in : falling is marked fallin

• the H aspired is not marked (as for the French-speaking people learning English): head is marked ED .

• the U , varying much from one word to another in English, is different. Will be pronounced, most of the time, or . Thus, to ridge (butter) will be pronounced and not.

• the T , so at the end of a word, becomes S : street is marked streece , feet becomes Feece .

• the phoneme K , an occlusive velar is often transformed into occlusive a Uvulaire or even a fricative Uvulaire (its basic of throat pointing out a spittle) normally absent from English. Thus bike is pronounced or even.

• the phoneme represented by HT or, quite difficult to pronounce for the French-speaking people, is replaced by T ( thing ) or by D ( the ).

• the R usual of the english-speaking, a spirante Alvéolaire noted into API will become a vibrating rolled Alvéolaire, noted, or Uvulaire, noted. All right ɹaɪt will be thus marked raɪt or Raɪt.