England 18

Listen to England 18, a 31-year-old woman from Liverpool, Merseyside, in northwest England. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 31

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 1969

PLACE OF BIRTH: Liverpool, Merseyside

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: white

OCCUPATION: actor/teacher

EDUCATION: university

AREA(S) OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject was educated in Cardiff, Wales, for three years.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject’s entire family is also from Liverpool.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Lise Olson

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 24/06/2000

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH:

[wel hɪəz ə ˈstoːɾɪ fo jə | ˈseːɾə wəz ə neːs u əp̚ bɨn ˈweːkx͡ɪn ɨn̪ðə ˈnjʉːəst̆ ˈeːɾɪəɾ əv də ˈʦʰeːɹɨ̝tɹɪ ‖ ʃɨ wəz ˈveɾɪ ˈhapɪ ʦə̆stɑ*əˈnoðə*jʉ*ʤɒb | d̪ɪs̆ tʰɑɘm ɪn nɔːθ skweː nɪə̆ðə ʤjʉk stɹit̚ ˈtʰawɐ ‖ ɔn e feːs ˈmoːnɘn ʃɨ wɒʃt e feɪs pʰʊɾ ɒn ə pʰleːɪn waɪt̚ dɹɛs an ə fliːs ˈʤʱak͡xɨs | pʰɨɡt ʊp e kɘs an ˈhɛdɨv fo weːɣ ‖ wen ʃɨ ɡɔt̪̚ ðɛː d̪ĕwəz ə ˈwomən w̆ ɨð ə ɡʉːs ˈweɪʔ̆ɱ̩ fɔːɾ ɐ ‖ d̪ə ˈwomən ɡeɪv ˈseːɾəɾ ə ˈlɛʦə fɱ̩ ðə vɛʦ̆‖ d̪ə ˈlɛʦəɾ ɪmˈplɑɪd̪ðaʔ ði ˈanɘməɫ kʰup̚ bi ˈsʊfɹɨ̝ɱ fɹɔ̝ m ə ɹʷ̝ eː foːm ɔ fʊʔ̆ m̩ maʊθ dɨˈziːz | wɨʧ wəs səˈpɹaːɨzɨm bɨˈkʰoz ˈnoːməl̆ɪ jʉ wʉd ˈɞʉnɪ̯ɛxsˈpɛk̤͡x tə sɨ ɨɾ ɨn ɘ ɡɞʉs ‖ ˈseːɾə wəs ˌsɛnʦəˈmɛntˡl̩sɞʉ ðɨs meɪd ə fɨl ˈsɒɾi fə ðə beːʣ ‖ ðə ɡʉːs bɨˈɡan ʦə̆ stɹʊ̝ ʦ əˈɹa̝ ʊn̪d̪ðɨ ˈɒfɨs laɪk ə ˈlʉːnətɨx̞| wɨʧ meɪd ən onˈsanət̆ɹɪ mɛs̤ ‖ d̪ə ˈɡʉːsəz̆ ˈɞʉnə ˈmeːɾɪ ˈhaɾəs̆n̩ kʰɛp̚ ˈkʰoːlɘn ˈkʰɒmə ˈkʰɒmə | wɨʧ ˈseːɾə ðoːʔ wəz ən ɔd ʧɔɪs fəɾ ə neɪm̥ ‖ ˈkʰɒmə wəs stɹɔŋɡ ən hjʉːʤ səw̆ ɨ tʰʊk soɱ foːs ʦə tɹap eː | bʊt̚ ˈseːɾə ˈmanɨʤ baɪ ˈʤɛnʔɪ ˈstɹɵʉxɪn̪ðə ˈɡʉːsəz̆ ˈlɐwə bax wɪd̪e pʰɑːm | an ˈsɨŋɡɘn ˈtʊw ɜ ‖ eɾ ˈefəts we nɔf̚ ˈfjʉːʦʰaɘl̆ | ˈvɛɾɪ sʉːn ˈkʰɒmə bɪˈɣan ʦə ˈʦʰaɪə | an ˈseːɾə ɡeɪv əɾ̆ ə ɹɪ̝ˈlaks̤ ɨm bʱaθ̚ | wɒʃt eː | an leɪd eɾ ɒn ə klɔθ fə̆daɪəɡ̆ ˈnɞʉsɨs ‖ ˈoɫmɞʉst ɪ’miːʤəʔlɪ ˈseɾə ɾɨˈmɛmbəd ən əˈfɛktɨv ˈtɹiʔmənʔ ðəʔ ɾɪˈkwaəd ə ʦə ˈmɛʒəɾ aʊs ə lɔs əv ˈmɛdəs̆n̩ ‖ d̪ə ˈtɹiʔmənʔ wəz ˈvɛɾɪ ɛksˈpɛnsɨv | bʊʔ ˈmɨsəs̆ ˈhaɾəs̆n̩ | ˈmɪljəneː ˈlɔjɐ | ðɔt ɘʔ̆ wəz ə feː pɹaɪs fɔɾ ə kjʊː] * = recording error

TRANSCRIBED BY: Santiago Rodriguez

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 02/12/2007

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Liverpool’s a city that attracts a lot of attention. *It, its people tend to be quite outgoing. Um, and they also tend to have quite a lot of get-up-and-go. It’s also a city that’s been through a lot of, of difficulties over the last thirty years. And before, really, um but in particular the last thirty years. Very high unemployment, and because of that a lot of Liverpudlians have travelled to other parts of the country to find work. There’s also been a lot of bad press about the city. Um, people have an image, that is perpetuated by the media really, of, of the way that the people of Liverpool are and who they are. Um, one of the biggest stereotypes, I would say, is of the comedian or, like, the chirpy chappy that kind of comes along and entertains. And you find like when you travel away, as I did when I first moved away, people kind of want to stick you in a cage and prod you with a stick so you’ll entertain them, with jokes or whatever. Um, one of the things that like feeds into that is the different expressions that we have. Um, we do have a lot of different ways of saying things, um, that people find odd or find amusing. Um, we don’t say things straightforwardly really. We tend to find *an image for it, a metaphor, or whatever. Um, somebody who’s on their own is “on the Bill” or is a “Billy-no-mates.” Somebody who, I dunno, lots of things, those, all those sort of things.
[* = vocalic pause]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Kevin Flynn

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 31/08/2007

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

This 31-year-old is an excellent example of a “Scouse” female. Although educated in Cardiff, Wales, this actress and teacher has retained her Liverpudlian sounds. The subject has some of the major sounds of Liverpool that lend themselves to the stereotypical “Scouser” sound.

COMMENTARY BY: Lise Olson

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 24/06/2000

The archive provides:

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• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.
• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.
• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

 

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