Scouse is the accent
and dialect of English found in the north-western English city of
Liverpool and in some adjoining urban areas of Merseyside. The
Scouse accent is highly distinctive and sounds wholly different from
the accents used in the neighbouring regions of Cheshire and rural
Lancashire. Inhabitants of Liverpool are called Liverpudlians, but
are more often described by the slang term Scousers.
The word Scouse was originally a variation of lobscouse
(probably from the north German sailor's dish Labskaus), the name of a
traditional dish of Scouse made with lamb stew mixed with hardtack eaten by
sailors. Alternate recipes have included beef and thickened with the gelatin
source found in cowheel or pig trotter in addition to various root vegetables.
Other sources suggest that "labskaus" is a Norwegian term, and considering the
number of Merseyside place-names ending in "-by" (Formby, Kirkby, Greasby,
Pensby, Roby), a Viking rather than German source must be considered. Various
spellings can still be traced, including "lobscows" from Wales, and some
families refer to this stew as "lobby" rather than scouse. The dish was
traditionally the fare of the poor people, using the cheapest cuts of meat
available, and indeed when no meat at all was available scouse was still made,
but this "vegetarian" version was known as "blind scouse".
The roots of the accent can be traced back to the large
numbers of immigrants into the Liverpool area in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries including those from the Isle of Man, Scotland and, most importantly,
Ireland. The influence of these different speech patterns became apparent in
Liverpool, distinguishing the accent of its people from those of the surrounding
Lancashire and Cheshire areas. It is only recently that Scouse has been treated
as a cohesive accent/dialect; for many years, Liverpool was simply seen as a
melting pot of different accents with no one to call its own. The Survey of
English Dialects ignored Liverpool completely, and the dialect researcher Ellis
said that Liverpool [and Birkenhead] had "no dialect proper".[1]
Features
Scouse is noted for a fast, highly accented manner of speech,
with a range of rising and falling tones not typical of most of northern
England. This has led to some people from the Midlands referring to Liverpool
people as "Sing-song Scousers".
Irish influences include the pronunciation of the letter 'h'
as 'haitch' and the plural of 'you' as 'youse'.
There are variations on the Scouse accent; with the south side
of the city adopting a softer, lyrical tone, and the north a rougher, more
gritty dialect. These differences between both the north side and the south side
of the city can be seen in the pronunciation of the vowels. The northern half of
the city more frequently pronounce the words book, cook, look and took, as in
the words boo, coo, loo and too, and then adding the k sound at the end. The
southern half of the city show a greater likeness to the more common
pronunciation of these words.
Comparison with recordings made since the 1960s support the
notion that the Scouse accent is ever-changing. From the mid-1980s it has
evolved into a more abrasive and less melodious form than it was in the 1960s.
A Flim is a £5 note i seem to remember, when i was a kid we used to play on the
olla, which was patch of rough ground where houses once stood.
(another name for waste ground when we were kids in the 60's was Bomie sites as
they where still many left after the bombing raids of the war.)
Just returned from Liverpool after 40 years! I was born
there in 1939 and lived there for my first 21 years. I worked for Cunard in the
Liver buildings and spent my days and nights travelling between the Pier Head,
the Liverpool Art School and the clubs - Cavern, Jacaranda etc., and the coffee
bars - the Majorca,etc. and then catching the bus home to the suburbs - first
Mossley Hill and later, Woolton Village. I was sent to elocution lessons so I
wouldn't (God Forbid) sound like a scouser! Well - I have been in the USA for
45 years - have a sort of mid-Atlantic accent BUT I still say "fur" for "fair"
and Long Island is Longgg Island. I am a speech pathologist and my American
tudents often correct me. The "sing-song" quality of scouse is music to my
ears. Well "de pool" has certainly been tarted up. Went to the Tate, Slavery
Museum, the Phil for the Lennon songbook, Crosby beach, El Crocodillo in Woolton
village which used to be "me Da's Pub" when it was called The Elephant. Oh and
let's not forget Alma de Cuba! Well it would be a lot more interesting to be
dragging around Liverpool in my late teens - early twenties today than in the
late 50's and early 60's. However, since I only had a spare ten bob each week
for entertainment in those days - what was available then was "de gear". A
short aside - the scousers and I had a hard time understanding one another!
Aaaah, de doo dow don't de dow!
How funny are we lid that was proper off its ed readin dat a couple i didn't
recognise though an i've lived in the pool all me 26 years and a joey is someone
you send on messages or to get somthing for you how about you dope on a rope or
you spazzie on a lazzie you could go on an on laterz!!
Thanks for the Scouse Dialect I left Liverpool in 1978 and some of these brought
back a lot of memories I will share theses with my American kids tonight.
Thanks. Terry S
twirlie was given to the elderly trying to board the the bus
before there bus pass was legal, say it was due to operate at 10am they would
get on at 9.45 and say amma twirlie or am I too early
ers one for ya la, JIGGER RABBIT,(CAT), loads
more but havent got the time, nice site great read, thanks Ken.T
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