Scouse:
Scouse is more of an accent rather than a dialect. The
accent is highly distinctive and doesn’t sound anything similar to the
neighbouring regions around Liverpool. Scouse accents tend not to use many
non-standard words in their vocabulary but there are still some. For example,
scousers commonly use ‘rob’ as an alternative to saying ‘steal’ and they often
say the phrase ‘ I lent it off him’ rather than the more standard English way
of saying ‘I borrowed it off of him’. There are also a few non-standard grammar
constructions In their speech, for instance they use multiple negation by
saying ‘I haven’t been nowhere’ or ‘I haven’t seen nothing’ but this way of
speaking is not peculiar to the Liverpool regions.
Scouse are known for their fast talking and high/ low rising
tones in their speech which has led to their nickname ‘sing-song scouse’.
The Liverpool accent has two main influences of the way they
pronounce their words. Years ago,
Liverpool took their immigrants from Lancashire, Ireland and the North West. It
is said that the features of Irish English, Gaelic and Lancashire speech
assorted together built the foundations for the scouse accent and dialect. Irish influences include the
pronunciation of the letter 'h' as 'haitch' and the plural of 'you' as 'youse'.
The London accent is also a big influence for the way in
which Liverpool speaking people talk. In London, there is a frequent use of the
sounds ‘f’ ‘th’ or ‘v’ in certain words, For instance ‘fink’ instead of ‘think’
which are blending into the vocabulary of the Liverpool speakers more now. The
youngsters of the Liverpool accents are more commonly saying things like ‘Fick’
instead of ‘Thick’ and ‘bruvver’ or ‘brudder’ instead of ‘brother’. Although,
the London accent is said that it won’t take over the scouse accent completely
because some people will embrace the new influence and some will obviously
reject it.
Scouse uses their accents as a badge to represent exactly
who the scouse are and show others where they belong. However, it doesn’t
matter which sex, what age or how identical someone may look to someone else,
it’s still possible that they can have different sounding accents because of their
difference in where in Liverpool they were brought up.
It is said In a survey that most people associate football
and friendliness as the best things about the Liverpool accent.
In Lancashire, places like the Isle of Man, St Helens,
Ormskirk and the North Wales coast it can be noticed that the Liverpool accent
is rubbing up against them. On the east side, there is a strong Liverpool
influence compared to the west side which is less strong.
People’s attitudes to scouse are more often negative than
not. For example, the influence of comedians in the media who are not from the
area themselves associate the accent of scouse with thieves, scoundrels,
loafers and wasters much more than having the positivity to associate them with
brain surgeons, test pilots or other well skilled job.
