Scotland 16

Listen to Scotland 16, a 24-year-old woman from Edinburgh, Scotland, and also England. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

Both as a courtesy and to comply with copyright law, please remember to credit IDEA for direct or indirect use of samples.  IDEA is a free resource;  please consider supporting us.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 24

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 1983

PLACE OF BIRTH: Edinburgh, Scotland

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Caucasian

OCCUPATION: actress, writer, and television subtitler

EDUCATION: bachelor of arts degree

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

The subject spent three years living in Cambridge while studying for her degree and has lived in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, for a further two years.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject notes that her dialect became more Anglicized while at Cambridge but feels it has returned to its more natural form since moving to London.

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

RECORDED BY: Marina Tyndall

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/03/2007

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I was born in Edinburgh. Erm, I then went and studied at Cambridge, erm, erm, when I was 18. But I lived in Edinburgh all my life after, er, after being born there. I come from quite a kind of middle-class, er, part of Edinburgh, em, so, I think in Edinburgh peoples maybe speak in a slightly more Anglicized way than they do in the rest of Scotland. Erm, I have a couple of times played parts, erm, where I’ve, er, played people from the Highlands, and I wonder if I’ve maybe kept that slightly in my accent, em, uh-b-which makes it kind of a bit more lilting than it might otherwise be. I had a trumpet teacher that I really admired when I was about 10, erm, and she s-was from, I dunno where she was from but she said, “Now, now,” instead of “Nehw,” and I think I’ve maybe kept a bit of that in my accent as well, em, for no real good reason. And then erm, yeah I went to Cambridge. I think probably whilst I was at Cambridge I anglicized my accent further, erm, and then moved to London. And I think since I’ve come to London I’ve actually probably returned to something which is more like my original accent, um, again for for no very good reason. But my boyfriend is from London. So, erm, I imagine that my accent changes around, erm, when I’m with him, so that I maybe have a bit more kind of, er, uh- it’s not as, as sort of soft, and, I’m just blethering now. I, I really don’t know what I’m saying [laughs]. Oh OK, erm, my parents were from Stirling, and my grandparents were from Stirling. Erm, but I think my parents both have basically Edinburgh accents now, whatever that really means.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Marina Tyndall

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/03/2007

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

The subject often uses a mid-open front hesitation sound, heading towards Primary Cardinal 3. The following features can also be heard: short front unrounded GOOSE vowel; raised onset for SQUARE; raised centralized STRUT vowel; half-long DRESS vowel; fronted BATH and PALM vowels; raised PRICE onset; usually a dark / l/ in all positions; close FLEECE vowel; LOT vowel close to Primary Cardinal 7; and a slightly retracted TRAP vowel.

COMMENTARY BY: Marina Tyndall

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/03/2007

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.
• 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).

 

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.