Laura Esposito
SCOTLAND
EDINBURGH
PEOPLE
Where Are We?
Scotland is a Western European country in the United Kingdom located directly above England. Though its land mass amounts to 1/3rd of the UK, it is home to only 8% of the population. In addition to British Sign Language, Scotland recognizes three official languages: English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic. Scottish Gaelic inhabits a linguistic space entirely distinct from English, but Scots is a sister language of modern English and many words and phrases find their way into the everyday speech of Scottish people and are part of the local culture. There also exist speech systems described as regional dialects. One of these is Doric, a dialect of Scots spoken in the North East, and will be mentioned briefly in the material below. This accent breakdown is intended to be an exploration of the sounds of the capital city of Edinburgh and will lean toward something that has traditionally been referred to as Standard Scottish English.
Three Official Spoken Languages of Scotland
Who Are We?
One thing Scots would like to set straight is that the name of their capital city is pronounced /ɛdɪnbə̆ɾə/, not /ɛdɪnbɛ˞ɹ̈oʊ̯/. Edinburgh is a city on a hill built around an ancient castle that has existed in some form or other since the 11th century. Though Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish government, Scottish parliament, and high courts. Many Scots agree that the accents most associated with overt prestige can be found in Edinburgh. Unlike other "regional" accents of the UK, the accent typically known as Standard Scottish English can be regarded on a social par with RP throughout Great Britain.
Scotland is quite a rural country with beautiful hilly landscapes, waterfalls, and glorious rock formations created by the last ice age. Because it gets a lot of rainfall, Scotland is incredibly green and mossy. Being quite far north, summer days are long and winter days are very short with the sun beginning to set at 3:30 pm around the summer solstice. Scotland's primary industries are agriculture and oil and it is renowned for woolen textiles, whiskey, and salmon.
For quite a long time, the Scottish people maintained their independence and successfully held off invaders. Try though they might, the Romans failed to conquer Scotland and instead built Hadrian's Wall along the northern border of England and called it a day. In 1707, after centuries of resistance, the British absorbed Scotland under their government. Under British rule, the Scottish people were stripped of their symbols of identity, and forbidden to speak Gaelic or to wear tartan. This cultural robbery led to the demise of the Scottish clan system and way of life. Many Scots today still yearn for Scottish independence and it remains a political issue that divides the population into "leavers" and "remainers."
When outsiders imagine Scotland, visions of bagpipes, highland dancers, golf courses and castles spring to mind. Indeed all of these things can be found in Scotland today. It is a land rich in cultural history and replete with beauty. I do hope you'll have a chance to visit someday.
Red Hair!
Like the Irish, many Scots have red hair. About 13% of the population has this trait which exceeds other countries where the percentage of redheads is around 2-3%. Like those with any observable physical difference, redheads find themselves the victims of many forms of discrimination and have historically suffered a significant amount of persecution for this genetic feature. See discrimination against people with red hair.
The Global Majority in Scotland
The population of Scotland is 96% white. However, that is not to say that members of the global majority do not live in Scotland and speak with authentic Scottish accents. One should not marvel at a non-white person who happens to sound Scottish. It should also be noted that Humza Yousaf, the First Minister of Scotland (as of March 29th, 2023), is a Muslim of Pakistani descent and a fierce proponent of Scottish Independence.
Meet our Accent Donors
Hazel Cromarty
Hazel is a 47-year-old white cisgender female. She was raised on a farm in the small rural town of Echt about 13 miles outside of the city of Aberdeen. Hazel holds an advanced degree and works as an HR manager in the oil industry. After leaving home, she lived for a short time in Canada and then spent 15 years living and working in financial services in Edinburgh. By her own testimony, "people in Edinburgh probably think I sound normal" while people in her hometown of Echt "think I sound posh." In addition to being one of our esteemed accent donors, she is also one of my best friends. Thank you so much, Hazel!
Robert Aldridge
On May 26th, 2022 Robert Aldridge became the first openly gay Lord Provost of Edinburgh. He is the 258th person to hold the position.
Scotland 6
The Scotland 6 sound sample comes from the International Dialects of English Archive. The speaker is a caucasian female in her 20s from Duddingston, Edinburgh. She has lived in Edinburgh her entire life and cites no other influences upon her accent.
POSTURE
The Hesitation Sound
eːĭ̯m, eːm
What Does it Feel Like?
INSIDE THE CAVE
The tongue should be high in the front of the mouth and somewhat bunched. At the same time allow the middle of the dorsum to cup as though you were holding a (perhaps smallish) golf ball in the middle of your mouth. The velum is quite low, the tongue root retracts, and the jaw maintains a high position throughout. Because the tongue root tends to pull backward and the tip of the tongue often flicks forward to articulate the tapped /r/ on the alveolar ridge, the movement of this oral posture will feel more horizontal (backward and forward) than vertical (up and down). With the exception of the tapped /r/, alveolar consonants will be made with the lamina on the alveolar ridge.
THE LOVELY LIPS
In the flow of speech, you will notice a significant amount of forward and back lip action. For rounded sounds, the lip corners travel forward with a good deal of trumpeting of the outer orbicularis oris and some pursing in the inner orbicularis oris. Conversely, more spread sounds like [i] in the word "wee", engage the risorius and pull the lip corners straight back. This can be seen clearly in the images below.
GO WITH THE FLOW
The larynx is typically held relatively high, which shortens the vocal tract and may feel like a raise in pitch.
What Does it Look Like?
Observe Oral Posture in Flow
...and kids are adorable
Put it Together with a Magic Phrase
[ ə‿ɫ̻ɔ̹̽ʔ əv hɪ̝z po̝ːtʰɹi sɜʉ̯nz̥ kwɐ̝ĭ̯t˺‿do̟ɾɪk ]
a lot of his poetry sounds quite Doric
PROSODY
The Music!
Short vowels and tapped /r/'s give this accent a staccato feel. It moves along with alacrity and a strong rhythm and pace which remains steady throughout. Some Scots may speak so quickly that it is hard for "sassenachs" to understand them. But the demographic represented by the accent analyzed here has reported to value being understood by those outside their immediate speech system and therefore may try to reign in the pace of their speech. The pitch jumps up slightly for emphasis, questions, or at the end of a thought, but the range of pitch is somewhat narrow. In terms of tune, there's a sense that this accent is in a minor rather than a major key. For a wonderful tour of Scottish prosodic patterns, watch the Outlander video under "Scottish English" at the top of the webpage.
Some Prosodic Patterns
The Quick High Plateau
Rolling Through the Highlands
High Rising Terminal with a Hard Landing
PRONUNCIATION
1. THE VOWELS
The vowels in this accent tend to pull toward the center and shift upward. Many sounds are short monophthongs, contributing to the characteristic clipped brisk Scottish rhythm. Vowel length is applied sparingly but significantly in very specific instances. When diphthongs do occur, there is quite a distance to travel between the two stages causing the vowel to really stand out among its monothongal brothers and sisters. The insertion of a short schwa before /l/ and /r/ will also create diphthongs where they otherwise wouldn't exist. There is notable trumpeting on rounded vowels and vowels of /r/ tend to be realized as a non-rhotic monophthong followed by an allophone of the /r/ consonant.
FLEECE ➝ [i]
The [i] sound in FLEECE is quite close and forward, probably approacing the cardinal realization.
moved around a wee bit
there's a lot of hills and green around
happY ➝ [ɪ̝]
it sounds wonderful when someone speaks it properly
"y" endings tend to be short and land somewhere between [ɪ] and [i].
a happy and prosperous new year
KIT ➝ [ɪ],[e̽]
the good thing about it is that there's a great community spirit so...
The KIT set favors [ɪ] but sometimes becomes a mid-centralized cardinal 2 [e̽]. While this set is definitely inconsistent, stay away from cardinal 3 [ɛ] for this accent.
it is amazing it's huge and it's really interesting
DRESS ➝ [e̽ː],[e̽ɪ̯̆]
I think people from Edinburgh probably think I sound normal
The DRESS vowel, like the KIT vowel, can be heard as a mid-centralized cardinal 2 [e̽]. However, it tends to be lengthened, while the KIT vowel is always quite short. It may also take on a slight diphthongal quality, resolving in a short [ɪ] so as to become [e̽ɪ̯̆].
and then I moved to the other side of Edinburgh Leiths
TRAP = ASK ➝ [æ̞̈],[ɐ]
a guy that works off shore with us who comes from Glasgow or just outside Glasgow
TRAP and ASK merge and are usually realized as a more open, centralized [æ̞̈]. Generally, this sound does not merge with the PALM set and a clear distinction is made between the TRAP/ASK vowel [æ̞̈] and the PALM vowel [ɐ]. Some speakers may be heard to open the vowel to [ɐ] which would create a merger with PALM, and a three-way merger does occur in other versions of the Scottish accent, but this is not the standard practice for the accent described here.
we've got a performance of Mulan coming up
completely discovered by accident about six years ago
CHARACTER (TRAP + /r/) ➝ [æ̞̈.ɾ]
flocks of trembling sparrows
When the TRAP sound is followed by (/r/+ a vowel) as in the word "character," it is tempting for Americans to conceptualize it as a SQUARE word and shift the vowel to [e̽ɹ]. However, this should be resisted in favor of the TRAP vowel remaining open pure before /r/.
its two ends apparently beyond the horizon
STRUT ➝ [ɜ]
quite stubborn and set in thier ways
The STRUT sound is the open-mid central ungrounded vowel [ɜ] just below schwa.
CURRY (STRUT plus /r/) ➝ [ɜ.ɾ]
my courage fails
When a STRUT word is followed by (/r/+ a vowel) as in the word "curry", it is tempting for Americans to conceptualize it as a NURSE word and attach rhoticity to it. However, this should be resisted in favor of the STRUT vowel remaining pure before /r/.
GOOSE = FOOT ➝ [ʉ̞ː]
GOOSE and FOOT merge to a slightly lowered cardinal 18 with some length. When done properly there will be some trumpeting and lip-corner pinning. Note that the GOOSE set will behave slightly differently before /l/ (see below) and /r/ (see CURE).
GOOSE
but there's not that many people now that do
and then the third thing you should definitely do is go on a ghost tour
FOOT
easily understood and clear and
people look but no one ever finds it
GOOSE + /l/ ➝ [ʉ̞ːə̆ɫ]
the school that I went to there was a really small school
The GOOSE vowel becomes a diphthong when followed by the consonant /l/. Words like fool, pool, and school will sound almost like they have two distinct syllables. As a result full and fool do not rhyme and the same holds true for pull and pool.
LOT = CLOTH = THOUGHT ➝ [ɔ̹̽]
This is the text of the sentence being played above...
These 3 sets merge and are sounded as cardinal 6, again with mid-centralization. This vowel is usually quite short. The lip corners coming forward and the cupping in the center of the dorsum that occurs with this vowel produces the postural feeling of "having a golf ball in the middle of the mouth." Because 3 sets merge to the same vowel, this sound occurs quite frequently and is a reliable anchor sound for the accent.
LOT
em yeah eh not not a lot, well yes a lot
CLOTH
only Edinburgh does eh chippy sauce
THOUGHT
second thought when I learned what was in it
PALM/FATHER ➝ [ɐ]
father is mad as hell
The PALM set does not merge with the [æ̞̈] of TRAP/ASK but is the more open, central [ɐ].
FACE ➝ [e̝]
my neighbor across the road
The FACE vowel is reminiscent of the DRESS vowel but is higher and likely to be short, while the DRESS sound is more often lengthened.
thai chi to lantern making
PRICE ➝ [ɐ̝i̯]
I did find them quite narrow minded
In the PRICE set, the diphthong begins in the center of the mouth and resolves into cardinal 1 [i]. Note that the personal pronoun "I" is sometimes pronounced [ɐː].
the rainbow is a division of white light
GOAT ➝ [o̟ː]
he had he had a nice photo
The GOAT vowel is a somewhat advanced cardinal 7 with length.
it's quite new it just opened about a year ago
MOUTH ➝ [ɜʉ̯]
and probably how that's developed is is the difference between how I speak now and how my sister speaks
The MOUTH set begins with the open mid-central unrounded vowel [ɜ] and resolves into the close central rounded vowel [ʉ]. The relatively high starting point for this set is reflective of the high jaw of the vocal posture. It's important that the MOUTH vowel remains a diphthong and doesn't become the monophthong [u] as it may in other Scottish accents.
one point five billion people around the world
2. RHOTICITY... is alive and well and living in Scotland
Rhoticity is a significant feature of Scottish accents of English. There are a number of ways a consonant /r/ can be realized which will be discussed later under "Allophones of /r/." In the case of vowels of /r/, the preconsonantal vowel will sometimes incorporate rhoticity, but in most instances the vowel preceding /r/ will remain pure and be followed by a strongly articulated tapped, alveolar, or molar /r/ consonant. For simplicity's sake, I will represent consonant /r/ in vowels of /r/ with the symbol [ɹ], but in reality it may be any of the "Allophones of /r/" which operate in this accent.
NURSE spelled "er" ➝ [e̽ɹ]
NURSE spelled "ur, ir, or" ➝ [ɜ˞ɹ]
The NURSE set contains a significant split (some Scottish accents split 4 ways in this set, but that is not the case here). NURSE words spelled "er" or "ear" will be sounded as the pure vowel [e̽] followed by /r/. In all other cases, NURSE words are realized as [ɜ˞ɹ] with the rhoticity applied to the vowel. Therefore "certain, verse, jerk" do not align with "hurt, bird, attorney."
[e̽ɹ] "er, ear" spelling
when the earth turns cold
over which the gods passed from earth to their home in the sky
[ɜ˞ɹ] "ur, ir, or" spelling
it's not useful in the world
lettER ➝ [ɜ˞ɹ]
human resources manager
Rhoticity is applied to the vowel and "er" endings align with the "ur, ir, or" NURSE sounds.
NEAR ➝ [iɹ]
sheep shearing competitions, Highland dancing competitions
The FLEECE vowel plus consonant /r/.
SQUARE ➝ [e̽ɹ]
and to be understood properly there I had to speak clearly
The DRESS vowel plus consonant /r/. Aligns with "er, ear" NURSE words.
CURE ➝ [ʉ̞ɹ],[ʉ̞ə̯̆ɹ]
em so I was unsure of whether I was in a dangerous situation or not
The first stage of this sound aligns with GOOSE/FOOT. Like "GOOSE + /l/," it is sometimes followed by a schwa leading into the /r/ creating a diphthongal effect.
START ➝ [ɐɹ]
they definitely think we all walk around in kilts and have tartan hats on our heads
The START vowel is the PALM sound plus /r/.
3. CONSONANT FEATURES
While the velarized [ɫ] and voiceless [ʍ] are consistent and reliable consonant anchors, an easy way to fall into a caricature of a Scottish accent would be to ignore the consistent inconsistencies in the consonants /r/ and /t/. The actor must vary their use of these sounds to sound authentic. Words from the Scots language will undoubtedly find their way into the speech of all Scottish people if for no other reason than many locations, towns, and villages, have Scots names. When the spelling "ch" occurs in a Scots word, as in "Loch Ness," it requires the voiceless velar fricative [x]. Like many accents of the British Isles, we will encounter yod palatalization (which may also lead to yod coalescence for some speakers) in words like "tune" and "duty."
Allophones of /r/ ➝ [ɾ],[ɹ],[ɹ̈]
tapped [ɾ]
he's got a very very glaswegian accent
Consonant /r/ can be realized in several different ways. While /r/ should always be sounded in some fashion, it is not advisable to tap every /r/ that occurs, and a full trill is rarely, if ever, heard. The tapped /r/ can be articulated aggressively or so lightly that it almost takes on a fricative quality; a gesture toward a tap rather than a full tap. In other instances, it may be more convenient in the flow of speech to use an alveolar [ɹ] or molar [ɹ̈]. All are correct as long as the tap is employed to some extent, as omitting the tapped /r/ entirely would rob the accent of one of its defining features.
alveolar [ɹ]
but it's not a deliberate thing it's just it's kind of just what my life has required me
molar [ɹ̈]
she thought that people should sound like her or they weren't scottish
Allophones of /t/ ➝ [tʰ],[t˺],[ɾ],[ʔ]
The /t/ phoneme is wildly inconsistent and it's the actor's task to decide which /t/ to use when. These are his/her/their options:
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In the initial position, we always hear [tʰ].
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Medially between two vowels, we'll hear an aspirated [tʰ], a tapped [ɾ], or even the glottal plosive [ʔ].
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Terminally or Medially before a consonant, the /t/ may be fully aspirated [tʰ], unreleased [t˺], or glottalized [ʔ].
aspirated [tʰ]
that fluffy little kitten slashed the cotton sofa apart
unreleased [t˺]
and probably that's something to do with fitting in
alveolar tap [ɾ]
if they know what it means it's Scots, if they don't it's Doric
glottal plosive [ʔ]
it's not useful in the world
/l/ ➝ [ɫ̻]
I think I'm probably definitley scottish I think people
The /l/ phoneme is not only velarized but probably laminalized as well. The effect is that the tongue feels quite thick and bunched in the middle of the mouth.
"wh" Words ➝ [ʍ]
not sure what I told you before I'm not always a hundred percent truthful when people ask me that question
Except when the "wh" spelling indicates an /h/ sound as in "who, whose, whom," "wh" words will be sounded with the unvoiced labial-velar fricative [ʍ]. Though this is a very consistent feature, it will sometimes be hard to detect in the flow of rapid speech. In the sentence below, we can hear a clear [ʍ] on the word "what" and less so on the following "wh" word, "when." However, the intention to articulate this sound is always present.
Yod Palatalization
he knew his duty
Yod palatalization or "the liquid u" is a common feature of the British Isles and Scotland is no exception. To achieve this, insert a small [j] sound between the consonant and vowel so that "tune' sounds like [tjʉːn] and "duty" sounds like [djʉːtɪ̝].
"ch" in Scottish Words ➝ [x]
it's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht (its a lovely, bright, moonlit night tonight)
In Scots, "ch" indicates a voiceless velar fricative [x]. When Scottish people articulate Scots words, such as "loch," they always use this sound. Though some Scots might, this is not a group of speakers that would transfer this sound onto English words. The recording below is a phrase from the North East Scots dialect, Doric, and is an excellent example of this feature.
4. SOME FLUENCY STRATEGIES
Devoicing of Terminal Voiced Consonants /d/,/v/,/z/,/ð/➝ [d̥],[v̥],[z̥],[ð̥]
how was it's fate decided
Particularly at the end words, there is a tendency for the voiced consonants /d/,/v/,/z/, and /ð/ to lose voice and sound more like their voiceless counterparts /t/,/f/,/s/, and /θ/.
"t" Glottalization /t/ ➝ [ʔ]
I guess speaking the way that I used to when I was brought up in Aberdeenshire
Though used more by some than others, the intervocalic glottalization of /t/ is a characteristic feature and can be heard to some degree in most of the accents of Scotland. This group of speakers would be unlikely to use it in the most operative words in a thought, but it certainly has its place in the flow of speech and contributes to the staccato rhythm of the accent.
"ing" endings ➝ [ɪŋ],[ən]
"ing" → [ɪŋ]
I don't think it's necessarily a country city thing I think it's more of a class or profession thing really
The tendency is to pronounce "ing" endings [ɪŋ], but occasionally they will be reduced to [ən].
"ing" → [ɪn]
picking up or people picking up in me
MORE FEATURES TO CONSIDER
As I continue to explore this accent, these are some of the features I would like to explore and add to this breakdown:
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A closer analysis of prosodic features and pitch patterns
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more sound samples from my second and third accent donors
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The lexical sets CHOICE, NORTH, and FORCE
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Linking /r/ and intrusive /r/
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The tendency to insert schwa between (/l/ and /m/) and (/r/ and /m/) as in "film" and "farm."
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"ury, ary, ory" endings
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"ile" endings
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Devoicing of [ð] as in the word "father"
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Yod coalescence
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The slight velarization of [h], moving toward a weakly articulated [x]
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The use of typical Scottish contractions such as "didnae" and "cannae"
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Collapsable text with practice words and phrases for each phonetic description
Some Scottish Words and Phrases
Aye - yes
Bonnie - pretty
Lassie - girl
Laddie - boy
Wee - little
Kirk - church
Braw - brave or fine
Ken - know
Bairn - baby or child
Haggis - a savory pudding cooked in a sheep's stomach!
SOURCES
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Accents of English 2 (The British Isles) - J.C. Wells
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Scots for Actors - Gillian Lane-Plescia
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Accent and Dialects for Stage and Screen - Paul Meier
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Accents: A Manual for Actors - Robert Blumenfeld
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Stage Dialects - Jerry Blunt
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Wikipedia