BBC Voices

Conversation in St. Andrews about accent, dialect and attitudes to language.

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  • Type

    sound

  • Duration

    01:01:19

  • Shelf mark

    C1190/43/31

  • Recording date

    2004-11-04

  • Is part of (Collection)

    BBC Voices Recordings

  • Recording locations

    St. Andrews, Fife

  • Interviewees

    Drysdale, Nicola, (speaker, female, secretary), Lorimer, Mary, (speaker, female, MacDonald, Angela, (speaker, female, McLaren, Lorna, (speaker, female, Woolston, Margaret Edith, (speaker, female, cleaner)

  • Interviewers

    White, Claire, 1978 Jan. 29- (speaker, female)

  • Producers

    Radio Scotland

  • Abstract

    [00:00:00] Speakers introduce themselves, mention where they have lived. Discussion of words used to describe PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES. Anecdotes about left-handed people being made to use right hand. Discussion about using insults as terms of endearment, meaning of minger and mink, how their children speak. Anecdote about friends from Manchester having difficulty understanding her speech.[00:14:00] Discussion about how speech varies in different parts of Scotland, attitudes towards people from Fife, jokes made about Fifers. Changing speech in different situations/when talking to different people, how their speech changes when they talk to people from the area in which they grew up, attitudes towards people from different areas of Scotland.[00:20:44] Discussion about their own speech, people encouraging their children to speak with mainstream accent, possible reasons for this, other peoples reactions to their accents.[00:23:06] Continuation of discussion of words used to describe PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES.[00:24:22] Discussion of words used to describe PEOPLE AND THINGS. Remark on speakers different pronunciations of clarty meaning dirty.[00:32:05] Discussion of words used to describe CLOTHING. Discussion about words used for various items of clothing/rooms of house.[00:37:35] Discussion of words used to describe EMOTIONS.[00:42:28] Discussion of words used to describe ACTIONS. Mention ticky woman who caught children playing truant or ticking from school. Description of what has influenced her accent, remark on similarity between Irish and Scottish Gaelic.[00:47:00] Discussion of words used to describe WEATHER AND SURROUNDINGS. Mention local words relating to wet weather. Anecdote about English colleague not knowing meaning of scheme and close.[00:56:25] Mention words used to mean unattractive/lacking money. Discussion about their speech, other people having difficulty understanding them. Mention local phrase often not understood by people from elsewhere. Remark that her auntie in Ireland doesnt understand her speech. Speakers re-introduce themselves.

  • Description

    Recording made for BBC Voices project of a conversation guided by a BBC interviewer. The conversation follows a loose structure based on eliciting opinions about accents, dialects, the words we use and people's attitude to language. The five interviewees all work at the University of St. Andrews.

  • Texts

    Linguistic description of this item

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