| M1055 |
Ehm I suppose we could start ehm
just by going around eh clockwise and asking who you are and
a bit of your background. Ehm, no-no- not an awful lot of information eh just [inhale] ehm |
| M1007 |
Too much information.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Too much information, it's a need to know basis!//
[inhale] Ehm,
you can tell me who you are now. |
| F1009 |
Iona [CENSORED: surname] from Dunvegan originally in Skye. |
| M1055 |
How far away is Dunvegan from Portree? |
| F1009 |
About twenty-two miles as the car travels. |
| M1055 |
And tell me, when you went to school did you have two languages? |
| F1009 |
[inhale] Really I only had the one um or possibly a bare one and a half.
[inhale] Eh we used English in the house because my father wasn't a Gaelic speaker, [inhale]
though my mother and grandmother would speak in Gaelic of course and there was a lot of Gaelic around us.
Ehm so I would have
a lot of eh words in Gaelic and a few phrases, ehm,
an a number of imperatives. [laugh]
I would say "stop that", "sit down", etcetera.
But really we were we were English speakers. |
| M1055 |
And eh in school you were taught English a- as a
I think f- for some of the children it would be a foreign language, wouldn't it, at that stage? |
| F1009 |
Well strangely enough on my class er, when we entered primary one we were all
er English speakers first, and Gaelic speakers second.
Er, though just a a couple of years above me
er there were quite a number of of people who had come into primary one with er the bare minimum of English, if, if any at all. |
| M1055 |
And moving round to your left there Iona, |
| M1007 |
Alastair [CENSORED: surname].
Born and brought up in Brogaig, in the north end of Skye.
Ehm Gaelic with my first language,
and went to school, I suppose, to learn English and try to learn some other things.
[inhale] Didn't succeed at much of it and eh enjoyed myself nevertheless once I got out of school. |
| M1055 |
A-and when you went to school Alastair,
were you immediately immersed in English, was it a totally English environment at the time? |
| M1007 |
Not really.
We were fortunate in having two Gaelic-speaking teachers in day school, which I attended.
And er, I think, ehm
that that probably helped and it helped me ah develop Gaelic, because I was er quite fond of Gaelic and particularly when I went to Staffin junior secondary school,
I was taken under the wing of a very good Gaelic teacher there.
And she took an interest in me and I was er, it was something that I fancied and developed quite a bit. |
| M1055 |
And next to you is another Alister,
Alister [CENSORED: surname] this time. |
| M1008 |
Yes, I was er brought up at Kingsburgh,
which is about nine miles from Portree.
Ehm, I was brought up in a Gaelic-speaking community and a Gaelic-speaking home,
but oddly enough I don't remember ever learning English ehm
er
I suspect it happened during the war, when my Glasgow relations, my cousins were staying with us.
So I acquired English painlessly without realising it.
And eh when I went to school I was definitely bilingual.
Eh, my first school was Glenhinnisdal.
And I was there a few years till it closed, and then we transfered to Kensaleyre.
[inhale]
Both my primary teachers ehm
would have had Gaelic because uh
I think they actually both came fro-, well one came from Staffin and one came from Kilmaluag.
But, we had no Gaelic at all.
I've never had a Gaelic lesson in my life.
And er my Gaelic has been, you know,
the acquired variety, but eh I had never had any formal training in Gaelic.
Eh interesting enough, Gaelic, was certainly the language,
in Glenhinnisdal of the playground,
and we played in Gaelic.
And so we did in Kensaleyre.
But before I left Kensaleyre, towards perhaps primary six, certainly primary seven,
[inhale]
we had people coming into the school who were English speakers only.
And of course that resulted in
English becoming the language of play.
And ehm I think that's, I always
personally regard that's a very good test of how successful Gaelic medium is, eh, if you hear children playing in Gaelic,
definitely working.
But if they come out of the classroom and they slip back into English [inhale] probably not as effective as it should be. |
| M1055 |
Now, you actually went on and did a degree in English, an ye taught English for many years.
//Many [laugh] years.// |
| M1008 |
//Many, many many years.// |
| M1055 |
Ehm you'd be in a reasonably good position, Alister to tell us about the way in which English is used in the Isle of Skye generally. |
| M1008 |
Yes. Well I think the first thing to say is that eh most speakers of English in Skye,
particularly those who also have a Gaelic background incidentally, ehm
probably speak a very standard form of English without the inclusion
of dialect words, or even
in tho- in the early days, not too many slang words when they were speaking formally.
But, ehm
as time has gone on, and certainly even while I was still teaching
one was aware of certain influences, television's a major influence,
and eh people eh you know
use things that they hear on television, whether they're catchphrases or [inhale] you know,
little expressions that ehm [throat] appeal to their sense of humour or whatever.
[inhale] And another thing [laugh] I have noticed in recent times, well there's two things.
One thi- there's three things
//[laugh] one is there,// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//Tell me both the three things then! [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//I was never that good at maths, I might say. [laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
As as you probably are aware I wasn't very good at
//math.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
The first one is the one I've just explained eh the influence of television, the second
and I've noticed this funnily enough, quite recently eh is the influence of
particularly the Glaswegian way of speaking,
I was in a restaurant eh in a hotel last summer with some people and we were having a meal,
and the waitress who I know was not Glaswegian came across, and she says "Are youse ready to order now?" |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
Now this plural of youse, which I call the George Galloway plural,
//because you remember,// |
| F1009 |
//[cough]// |
| M1008 |
when he was speaking to Saddam Hussein he got into awful trouble for using "You".
And he said if only he had used the Glasgow plural he would have been okay.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//And that funnily enough has infiltrated into, into Skye.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
And I've heard one or two people who are not much younger than myself
eh using it, as a kind of
convivial expression.
Are youse all
//doing well, you know that sort of thing, have you heard that Iona? Yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm oh yes.//
//Yes I did. [laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//More of your generation.//
And ehm the other thing,
eh that ehm
I, that I've noticed is not so much nowadays I might say but I noticed it
perhaps with people who are more confident in Gaelic than in English,
where perhaps they were thinking in Gaelic,
and the English expression would sound odd to people's ears
because what they were actually doing was transliterating the Gaelic into English. [inhale]
You know one very good example, and this was actually used by a primary teacher who probably
would have known, should have known better but ehm it came naturally to her
the expression [exhale]
eh building a house.
Now in Gaelic as you know 'togail' can mean to build, and it can mean to lift.
Now I heard this lady saying
"I hear they're lifting a new house." |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.//
//Yes, Yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Have you heard that before?// |
| M1007 |
//[inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
//And and lifting the dinner, yes togail an dinneir. Yes.// |
| M1055 |
Would that be common? |
| F1009 |
[inhale]
I've, I've heard it from a, a number of people, not in Skye but er
in a, a previous life I, I used to mix with o- people from a lot of the other islands and it there was a very Gaelic-based English.
Anoth- another favourite eh that I that I heard was ehm,
for the, the, act of being sick it was, eh 'putting out'.
//[laugh] Cuir a-mach!// |
| M1008 |
//Cuir a-mach yes.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//And I think too, I remember being eh in the company of Maggie [CENSORED: surname] one night and// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
disputing that totally with me, I had been speaking to Tony [CENSORED: surname] in Inverness.
And Maggie, I was saying to him how I thought quite often in in Gaelic before I said something.
And Maggie came on the scene and said "Rubbish!" She said "Nobody thinks in another language and says it in in, in yet another language.
And I said, "That's not right, Maggie," I said,
"I often think in Gaelic especially if I'm writing."
And eh it's quite interesting that some people, and she's a Gaelic speaker, |
| M1055 |
Course. |
| M1007 |
er that their perception of it is totally different from
//what us three here are putting across.// |
| M1008 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
An interesting phenomena as well I think and eh I'm aware of doing this occasionally myself and I'm sure you both are as well,
ehm if you're talking in English,
and you'll suddenly realise that you're s- groping for a word,
and you'll think of a much more expressive Gaelic word
//to use and you might use it.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm, yes.// |
| M1008 |
Now it's too bad if the person you are speaking to has no
//idea [laugh] what you are talking about!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
But particularly if the if the other person shares your ability to er, you know use, just jump from one to the other.
And I eh I don't know how common this is in other situations in other languages, but certainly Gaelic-English speakers do this. |
| M1007 |
But who was better at putting that across than Norman MacLean? |
| M1008 |
Yes.
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Brilliant.//
//He could use// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
Gaelic, English, Spanish,
//Italian,// |
| M1008 |
//Absolutely.//
//And Glaswegian.// |
| M1007 |
//and he could fit it in an//
an everybody understood what he was talking about because he was, he was so brilliant at encapsulating the whole thing. |
| M1055 |
This is Norman MacLean the comedian? |
| M1007 |
Not Cailean MacLean.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//No, no, no relation, no relation.//
//No relation// |
| M1007 |
//No that's right.// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
Going back to ehm what you've just said there, Alister [CENSORED: surname] ehm an example of
ehm of a Gaelic word you might use.
eh a Gaelic word that might be more effective.
//w- while you're speaking English than the English equivalent.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.//
Well uh, I'm trying to think of examples I've actually used.
Ehm, tut.
Eh You want to describe your
n- not always very organised you see you say I'm
[inhale] I'm in an awful bùrach today.
//[inhale]// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
Now, interestingly enough,
it's words like that which you can find
Scots equivalents of as well.
//The first// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
time I said that to somebody who didn't have Gaelic,
[inhale] this person said "What does that mean?"
Then I explained in English and he says "Oh I would say I'm in a guddle".
//[inhale]// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
Which I hadn't heard of at the time funnily enough.
Um things like that, ehm
[tut] ehm.
We, we sort of latch on we la-, we, we latch on to words occasionally, which we like the sound of.
Ehm I remember when I was a wee boy,
ehm [laugh] [laugh] it's jist a very strange example.
Eh
being given a poetry book at school,
and I really liked the sound of erm
some of the words in "Horatio at the Bridge",
which starts "Lars Porsena of Clunium,
To the nine gods he swore,
Great house of Tarquin should suffer wrong no more!
Now I had absolutely no idea who any of these people were!
//[laugh] but// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
I loved the sound of the words! |
| M1007 |
Aye. |
| M1008 |
And I think it's sound is quite eh quite
//important// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
//in language terms.// |
| F1009 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1055 |
Ce-certainly bùrach is eh a very eh expressive word eh, could you say onomatopoeic?
You're the English scholar. |
| M1008 |
Yes. Yes it is to a certain
//extent onomato-// |
| M1055 |
//Yes.//
//[cough]// |
| M1008 |
//where it kinda//
it eh
creates a visual effect as well as a sound effect.
//I think yeah.// |
| M1055 |
//Yes.//
Aye, there's another one that they often use in, in, English spoken in the Highlands which is a word that you probably hear yourself often, Alastair. |
| M1007 |
Well there's, y- you could reverse the the trend too and you could use the word,
tha mi knackered.
//That would be one that I would use! [laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[cough]// |
| M1007 |
//You know but,// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
which is a word that is quite often used in the Highlands, |
| M1008 |
//Lewis Gaelic.// |
| M1055 |
//[?]Yep[/?]//
//[inaudible]// |
| M1007 |
//Lewis Gaelic!//
//cause it's, it's always mixed up.// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//They can never tell right from wrong so however.//
//No disrespect to them [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//I was, I was,//
//I was thinking in this case of a of a Gaelic word which might// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
might be refer-, wh- which might be used, in your instance often bodach
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Bodach? Oh yes.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
My own instance yes.
//I'm getting older right enough,// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
as the day go- days go by. |
| M1055 |
A, a bodach is an old man
//in Gaelic and// |
| M1007 |
//I'm not an old man.// |
| M1055 |
often used people to talk about bod-bodach,
//that old// |
| M1007 |
//That's right.// |
| M1055 |
bodach over there.
//in [inaudible]// |
| M1008 |
//That's right.//
//And quite often husbands// |
| M1007 |
//Yep.// |
| M1008 |
erm I can say this safely not being married
//myself,// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//eh//
husbands refer to their wives, she could only be twenty-nine but she would be the cailleach,
//you know?// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Which means, which means?//
//The old lady.// |
| M1008 |
//Old lady.//
Now and likewise I'd I remember being intrigued by this actually
I think I must have been still in primary school and we were at a sale of work in Kensaleyre,
and a girl who was at school with me
and her brother were looking through some ties.
And she said,
ehm in Gaelic er she said ehm
"We'll er We'll er buy one of these for the bodach",
right enough she was talking about her father who at that time would be perhaps
//fifty? Something like that if, if// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//that, you know? And I thought//
"That's funny, I never called my father
//a bodach at that age." [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
Galair would be one of my favourites, ehm
I think galair er suffering from a |
| M1008 |
Yes. |
| F1009 |
a, a bug.
//I suppose a virus whatever a galair is eh// |
| M1007 |
//Aye, galair [inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
it's much more expressive.
//But eh yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Oh it sounds much more serious.//
//[inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
//Oh it does yes, yes!// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//You should be in your bed if you have a galair eh//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//I'm not crackin, I've got a touch of the cold! [laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//You'll get a doctor's line//
//for that one probably. [laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Yes that's right [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
B- but would you use that in English as well? |
| F1009 |
Oh yes, yes, I would use it in English, I'd, in fact I don't think I knew what the English for galair
//was, until I was probably about fifteen.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
W- would this, would this be something that other folk would do in Gaelic or is it just a personal thing with you? |
| F1009 |
It was certainly a family thing that that was how we described being unwell, suffering from whatever particular illness was going around was we had the galair, where, and that is how we describe it we had the galair,
eh whichever one was, was going around at the time whether it was
chickenpox or
//a cold mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm yeah.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
That's G- Gaelic for disease isn't
//it, aye?// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
G.A.L.A.I.R.? |
| F1009 |
A.I.R., yeah. |
| M1055 |
G.A.L.A.I.R. a a galair. |
| M1007 |
Two L's is it? |
| F1009 |
//One, one I think.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//Uh I think he was// |
| M1007 |
//I wanted to put that right.// |
| F1009 |
//Much worse with//
//two L's!// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh] Oh it is!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//You're thinking, you're thinking,//
//about something else Alastair.// |
| M1007 |
//Oh I was.//
You're very sick with two
//L's in it I would say.// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//It's an epidemic proportion.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Oh I would say! [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
Mm.
So ehm
can you no think of any other, any other ehm words that come in, come in to Highland English, island English, from Gaelic? |
| F1009 |
I, I notice a lot of people putting at the bottom of their emails to me, 'slàinte',
which you know the English 'cheers',
um but to me a slàinte really doesn't go without a drink.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//No, exactly.// |
| F1009 |
I think it's quite, quite inappropriate, I think that they think because I work in
in Gaelic that they ought to put cheers in
//in Gaelic as well.// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
and er
I have to say it really just irritates me, [laugh] rather than anything else. |
| M1007 |
I think dùrachd is another one that's eh that's used quite
qui- quite a lot now, particularly in emails,
le deagh dùrachd. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
Ah and eh I see that, well I used to see that at lot at work,
and even from people who
who just picked it up as we managed to ehm
er train them in, what eh was probably their first language anyway. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
So they started using le deagh dùrachd. |
| M1055 |
Which means, Alastair? |
| M1007 |
With good, with kind regards or, whatever.
It's something like that, isn't it? |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//I, I think so yes. [cough]// |
| M1007 |
//Of that ilk// |
| F1009 |
//Yes, with good wishes.//
//Yes// |
| M1008 |
//With good wishes.// |
| M1055 |
//With good wishes.//
I know. [inhale] |
| M1008 |
It's very often little expressions like that, that eh you know,
are not, almost as if they're incidental to the conversation, |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
eh when you're talking to somebody and perhaps let's say I was talking to you and our conversation was coming to an end and I might say something like [inhale]
Glè mhath. |
| M1007 |
Aye. |
| M1008 |
Which would, which literally means very good,
but ehm the other person might not even understand what that means but it is a kind of punctuation mark that you're using, automatically
//just uh// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
you know, as some people spray their conversation with you knows and things like that. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm |
| M1008 |
And it's a kind of er,
it's a kind of means of showing that
you've concluded what you're going to say,
and eh that, that perhaps that segment of the conversation is at an end,
[inhale] and you're quite pleased with the way it's gone. |
| M1007 |
Yes. |
| M1008 |
math dha rìreabh,
//glé mhath.// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm yes.// |
| M1008 |
Very good, they're both, they're very similar in meaning. |
| M1055 |
The other one of of th- that type of of eh expression that I I I'm increasingly hearing is 'ma tha'. |
| M1008 |
Ma tha. |
| F1009 |
I I was just about to mention that th- there's a
particular BBC presenter
who [laugh] who uses, uses the word a- a lot, erm I wouldn't say ad nauseum but er
rather over uses the, the phrase and sometimes not always in the right eh place either. [inhale]
er ma tha is fine when you are saying 'right ma tha',
you once, just right, right that's it.
//er let's go sort of thing.// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah.//
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//It's that, that's fine but//
to, to pepper one's conversation with it is
it's just a little excessive. |
| M1008 |
It's somethin that's used in that situation, I think by people who don't have Gaelic themselves, but have acquired
//little phrases,// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
which gives their erm,
I don't know, the credibility perhaps to their knowledge of Gaeldom. |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
Er I know who you mean. |
| F1009 |
Yes.
[laugh] |
| M1055 |
B- but there are a lot of people living locally who would use ma tha
in English. |
| F1009 |
Oh yes
//but, but they would// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| F1009 |
tend to use it er just when, when required, rather than forcibly ehm put it into every second sentence. |
| M1055 |
And what does it mean actually? |
| F1009 |
Then, I I believe.
'Well then'. 'Right ma tha'. 'Right then'. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
Seo, seo is another word that is used a lot,
er and you can use it to
to, and, and in English conversation seo.
That's giving something to somebody and
//[inhale] it can,// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
people understand what you're doing.
I think it's a very simple word an
and one that eh
that a lot of people use, if you're using it to them quite often. |
| M1055 |
Seo being?
//Here, giving it, take?// |
| M1007 |
//Give, [inaudible].//
//There you are, yeah.// |
| M1055 |
//Eh there, there you are, there you are.// |
| M1007 |
//That's right.// |
| M1008 |
//There you are.//
It's funny I can think of one person, perhaps more than one person,
who, [throat] frequently uses a little expression,
ehm,
uist, |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
which literally means be quiet, hush.
Not in a in the, not at all intended to be offensive or to be aggressive at all.
Eh she might be offering you a biscuit and you say "Oh no I couldn't take one", "Uist!
//You'll have one," you know, that sort of thing.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye right! [laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//That's right yeah.// |
| M1008 |
//As if she, she//
//she's dismissed your feeble protestations [laugh] so she has.// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//And er you know there are little phrases like that, 'uist'// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//is one of them, well.// |
| M1055 |
//Aye.//
Which is kind of equivalent to the 'wheest' in, in Scots. |
| M1008 |
//Yes I suppose so, or, or// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
'be quiet', and you don't take that literally.
//They don't expect you to stop talking or anything.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
It's eh sometimes an expression of
//surprise, you would tell me something and say;// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
"Be quiet!"
//You know,// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Get away!//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aye!// |
| M1008 |
//get away!// |
| M1055 |
[inhale]
//Is uist, uist// |
| M1008 |
//Can't believe that.//
//Uist.// |
| M1055 |
//uist ehm//
and that would be, how would that be spelt in Gaelic? |
| F1009 |
I would spell it U.I.S.T.
//er yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Uist.// |
| M1055 |
//Uist,//
//uist yes,// |
| F1009 |
//Uist.// |
| M1055 |
yes.
Ehm |
| M1007 |
Any [inaudible] will be looking at the dictionary when they get oot o here. |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Dwelly's is going to get a hammering.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
today,
some new words coming out here.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
We're eh
we've got a list of words that we're going to have a look at now, so, we'll do that now. Ma tha! |
| M1008 |
//The influences// |
| F1009 |
//[cough]// |
| M1008 |
ehm when I was teaching it was certainly perhaps more irritating than it is now.
They're perhaps spreading, and that's what I meant by the Glaswegian influence, the spreading of the glottal stop. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
You know two areas like our own when really there is no place for it,
somehow.
The glottal stop is a kind of ehm
curious sound that affects usually the letter T,
or double T, a word like ehm water.
and eh a Glaswegian would probably say 'wa'er'.
So they do something to their wind pipe apparently, you're you're,
you're closing the windpipe and bringing out another sound, and I understand
in certain languages and Arabic is one of them
eh it's quite important to be able to do that to get certain sounds.
[inhale]
But ehm
I've found it always slightly irritating when, I don't mind people using the [laugh] glottal stop in
//Glasgow, I mean they've// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
been doing it for centuries,
//[laugh] but// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
er when eh you know they try to do it in Skye,
eror when it sort of infiltrates into into the conversation and eh you're talking about 'burr'
'burr' |
| F1009 |
[laugh] |
| M1008 |
you know?
//And,// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
Interesting you should say that about the Arabs because George Galloway seems to have gotten on very well with them.
//[wheeze] [inaudible]// |
| M1008 |
//[inaudible]//
//the glottal stop.// |
| M1007 |
//[wheeze] [laugh] Aye.//
//wheeze// |
| M1055 |
//Ehm//
//ehm the glottal stop ehm// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
in, in a normal Highland and island accent the- these Ts that are missed out with the glottal stop would nor- normally have been stressed,
//so we, water.// |
| M1008 |
//Absolutely we would say water,//
or butter |
| M1007 |
Aye. |
| M1008 |
or anything er I mean the, I think the effect o- of
erm [tut] knowledge of Gaelic on the English speaker [inhale] is that you tend to speak
every element of the word fairly fairly clearly as well. |
| M1007 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
And eh you don't, you don't tend to
you know cut off any part of it, and certainly the glottal stop wouldn't normally be ehm heard.
Although with perhaps younger speakers
//influenced by,// |
| M1055 |
//Mm.// |
| M1008 |
I don't know what, television, footballers, pop stars, you
//name it eh,// |
| F1009 |
//Mm.// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
perhaps mates from Glasgow, being in Glasgow on a holiday,
ehm
but eh interesting enough, Highland people who live in Glasgow,
and who perhaps came out of a Gaelic background [throat] don't have the glottal stop, normally. |
| M1055 |
I've n- noticed that, yes. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
So ehm
we'll just check eh since Iona's probably the youngest person among us here
//eh [inaudible]// |
| M1008 |
//There is no doubt about that.// |
| F1009 |
By a long chalk!
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//yeah mm.//
//So// |
| M1007 |
//We're all three young.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[throat] I'm just gonna check whether//
//Iona has developed the glottal stop.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
I can't accuse Iona
//of it.// |
| F1009 |
//No, never.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
Iona, we're we're working round clockwise,
//eh eh which is// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
appropriate in the Gaelic Gaelic ehm
//circles, deiseal,// |
| F1009 |
//deiseal [?]is gabh ri[/?]// |
| M1055 |
ehm from ehm
child's soft shoes worn for P.E.? |
| F1009 |
Well I had sandshoes for that,
eh but I also asked some of my colleagues what what they would say and er
I had jimmies, plimsoles, trainers, and pumps.
But sandshoes is what I, I would say and what we always
wore for gym. |
| M1008 |
Would you find, would you find these others though in er
in Skye. Have you ever heard them used in Skye? |
| F1009 |
Plimsoles, if, if we were going to the shop to buy
//them we might ask for plimsoles.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes uh-huh.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes but er//
//Sandshoes would be more// |
| M1007 |
//Sand-// |
| M1008 |
Yes. |
| F1009 |
more likely. |
| M1007 |
Sandshoes for me too. |
| M1055 |
When did you buy your first pair of sandshoes?
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
I don't think I ever bought a pair of sandshoes [inhale] eh,
probably because I wasn't eh
hadn't a need to wear them, we hadn't got much sand in Staffin so
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh] Ehm//
I will, go we'll move back from Alister's, trousers, Alister. |
| M1008 |
Right, well, I, I don't think I ever call them anything except trousers when I was young.
Nowadays you might perhaps differentiate with different kinds of trousers like jeans or something like that because people wear them so often,
apart from trousers and jeans I can't think of anything else. |
| M1007 |
Trousers or briogais that was all. |
| M1055 |
Briogais is Gaelic, |
| M1007 |
Yes. |
| M1055 |
which gives us the breeks of course. |
| M1007 |
//That's right.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.//
I had breeks as well but er a- another family word that we used at home er or my father would use was winners,
[inhale]
because he was Glaswegian and used er a type of Glaswegian rhyming slang,
so winners and losers were yer troosers. [laugh]
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]//
//No I'd never heard that one.// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[inaudible]// |
| M1007 |
//No neither had I!// |
| F1009 |
//Yes, I I used to be asked to// |
| M1055 |
//Ehm hm.// |
| F1009 |
press his winners
//on occasion, yes. [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
Ehm but that eh that, that would only be at the [CENSORED: surname] household in
//Dunvegan.// |
| M1007 |
//Ah.// |
| F1009 |
Only in the [CENSORED: surname] household in Dunvegan but I'm sure in many many houses er in er in the Knightswood area.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[inaudible]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
Ehm clothes in general, clothes? |
| F1009 |
Ooh clothes I, I didn't really have anything that eh that leapt to mind, but eh perhaps togs or threads if, if we were talking in slang about them.
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
Yeah, that's about all we would use as
//well.// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah, clothes.// |
| M1007 |
Yeah, clothes was, |
| M1055 |
Ehm pleased? |
| M1008 |
Well, degrees of being pleased I suppose,
deli- delighted, very happy, over the moon, |
| M1055 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
if you're being slangy perhaps chuffed, |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
but that's about it. |
| M1055 |
Hm. |
| M1007 |
The same, yeah, pleased was what, delighted I would add.
//[inaudible]// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
Yes all, all the ones that, that Alastair said and also 'made up'.
I was made up
//about it, but i- it's// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah, mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
//No.// |
| F1009 |
//not something I would necessarily//
//use myself.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
Ah my father had a relation who lived down in Midlothian in Penicuik,
and she used to come on holiday with us and I discovered she used the word
very ordinary word to us, in a very different way from us, the word, high,
//which equals,// |
| F1009 |
//Hm.// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah, yeah.// |
| M1008 |
//pleased, very pleased.//
She's, she had been in Skye and she went back with a gift for her neighbour and says "She was awfae high about it". |
| M1007 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
And to her 'high' equals pleased and it could also mean a bit snooty,
//you know somebody being high and a nose in the air,// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
which were not
forms of, well not parts of the meaning that we would normally use at all. [inhale]
But the context as context tend to do ehm
explained what she was trying to say.
She was awfae high aboot it. |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Awfy high.//
But that [cough] that was a Midlothian word rather than a Skye
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//That wasn't a Skye word at all.// |
| M1007 |
//It could be cool could it?// |
| M1055 |
//It,// |
| M1008 |
Yes. |
| M1007 |
Cool could be |
| M1055 |
Och yer showing yer age Alastair.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Have ye got another one?// |
| M1055 |
//Th-th- there's// |
| M1007 |
[inaudible] |
| M1055 |
[pages turning] the-ther- there's a there's a word here,
tired ehm presumably there'll be [pages turning]
words that you'll [pages turning] you would have come up with. |
| M1008 |
Well again degrees of tiredness like exhausted,
to worn out, you get people saying I'm worn out, I'm tired but eh we would used tired normally as the basic word, er yes. |
| M1007 |
I would use a favourite 'knackered'.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Alright I've got shattered but//
a friend of mine from Helmsdale says
[?]fiann[/?] which I think comes from the Gaelic
//fann for// |
| M1007 |
//Gaelic yes.//
//Fann, fann.// |
| M1008 |
//Fann yes.// |
| F1009 |
//for weak, tired.//
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
//Oh right that's interesting.// |
| M1055 |
//[?]Fiann[/?]// |
| M1007 |
//Och well.// |
| F1009 |
//But she, she didn't//
realise she was speaking
//Gaelic when when she used the word.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
[?]Fiann[/?] hmm, |
| F1009 |
[?]Fiann[/?]. |
| M1055 |
for er tired? |
| F1009 |
For tired. |
| M1055 |
But not Skye; that's ehm
//that's a-// |
| F1009 |
//Well she lives in Skye.//
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//She lives in Skye? Yes, sorry.//
Unwell, Iona? |
| F1009 |
Erm sick, eh got a b- got a galair,
ehm somewhere between unwell and tired might be wabbit,
which is a ehm word that my mother occasionally uses,
//ehm.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Wabbit.// |
| M1055 |
//I think that's a Scots word,//
//Isn't it?// |
| F1009 |
//Probably.//
//Yes// |
| M1007 |
//It is, yes.// |
| M1055 |
I m- my mother
perhaps it's something that mothers talk eh use with regard to children.
A wee bit ehm off-colour,
//just listless,// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.//
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
//Washed out.// |
| M1007 |
//[inaudible]// |
| M1055 |
//lacking in energy,//
//wabbit, wabbit.// |
| F1009 |
//Wabbit mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
Alastair? |
| M1007 |
Poorly.
Poorly would be a word we would use,
//when, but, mm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm// |
| M1007 |
mainly
to describe anything like that we'd be talking in the Gaelic anyway when we were younger so.
Now it would be poorly I would say
//[inaudible]// |
| M1008 |
//[inaudible]// |
| M1055 |
//Wou- would that be//
for
yes, ehm
unwell?
//Yeah, I wrote that.// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1055 |
Yeah.
Alister? |
| M1008 |
Just eh what's been said, unwell, sick, |
| M1055 |
Uh-huh. |
| M1008 |
poorly you might, yes. |
| F1009 |
Under the weather. |
| M1008 |
Under the weather, yes.
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
Hot? |
| M1008 |
Hot? Well, again I find I'm sort of using words giving you degrees of hot,
ehm tsk
burning, sweltering, too warm. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
That would suit me too. |
| F1009 |
Roasting, melting, |
| M1008 |
Yeah. |
| F1009 |
but,
//the-the- they're all as you said [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Degrees,//
//it's all degrees, degrees of yes.// |
| F1009 |
//degrees of being hot yes.// |
| M1055 |
And cold. |
| F1009 |
Well funnily enough I didn't write anything down for cold and you would think there would be a million and one words in this part of the world.
I suppose freezing uh-huh to be emphatic about it,
//mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1007 |
Chilly, I would have for cold. |
| M1008 |
Aye, nippy. |
| M1007 |
Nippy yeah. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
Yes, they're all ones I would used too, yes. |
| M1055 |
Annoyed, Alister? |
| M1008 |
Annoyed.
Ehm, well I would certainly use annoyed as the basic word, |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
ehm
if you wanted again to emphasise it, probably colloquial you would say mad,
was really mad about that.
She hit the roof,
ehm
one I heard recently in fact [laugh] describing a mother giving, her boy had done something wrong an
the other brother reported it to a friend that she went ballistic.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//I wish more of them would go ballistic!// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
Distressed,
//probably would be another one.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm probably aye.// |
| M1007 |
//Might.// |
| F1009 |
//Eh ah//
one that I had was, it's a Glasgow word ehm, I'm convinced it is, bilin.
I was bilin about it but eh again, it's not something we would necessarily use
//in the house unless we were being// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//amusing.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
//Boiling.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
Biling.
//Is it boiling?// |
| M1055 |
//Aye.//
//I should imagine it// |
| F1009 |
//Is that where it comes from?//
//Boiling, mm yes.// |
| M1007 |
//[inaudible]// |
| M1008 |
//I'm sure it would [inaudible]//
vocallex desc="mmhm" />. |
| M1055 |
Ehm [inhale] ehm and there's 'what you do'.
What yous do.
//Ehm// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
to throw? |
| F1009 |
To throw, er chuck, fling, fire.
but generally I would, I would throw it. [laugh] |
| M1007 |
Cast.
Cast, you could throw something out,
//to cast// |
| M1008 |
//A fisherman.//
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye cast, yes so.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
That's another one I had. |
| M1008 |
I haven't got anything new, I would throw or chuck or, fling, yes. |
| M1055 |
Now being a, [cough] a retired school master er you might have something to offer us on this next one 'to play truant'? |
| M1008 |
To play truant, [inhale]
erm
dogging school I think is what people locally used to call it.
Erm don't think I ever did it myself
even as a teacher.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Would that be// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
another word for dodging school? |
| M1008 |
I think it might be yes.
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//So dodging,// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
Dogging. |
| M1007 |
ehm run away, would be
//playing truant// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
and I suppose you run away from school. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
So these that was the only thing I was thinking of. |
| M1008 |
We tended to use the expression truanting and eh |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
but eh kids in their own language I think would probably talk, did you hear that Iona [CENSORED: surname] dogged school
//yesterday, you know? [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[cough]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//She never did!//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aw.// |
| M1055 |
//an-an- and when//
//and when you were dogging school Iona, what was it you were doing?// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
Eh I would have been skiving,
//had I ever// |
| M1007 |
//Skiving,// |
| M1008 |
//That's it.// |
| M1007 |
//yes.// |
| F1009 |
//yes, done anything like that.//
//Erm// |
| M1008 |
//That's right.// |
| F1009 |
but yes dogging,
//ehm bunking,// |
| M1008 |
//You liked skiving school?//
//We both like that.// |
| F1009 |
//skiving school yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm// |
| F1009 |
Er
th- certainly in the seventies one one would have skived.
//[laugh] rather than dogged.// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
but bunking off as well, and another one I hadn't heard ehm until I mentioned it to to colleagues was wagging.
Wagging school,
//but.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.//
//I'd never heard that nope.// |
| F1009 |
//I'd never heard that before.// |
| M1008 |
Nope. |
| M1055 |
Sleeping.
//To sleep.// |
| F1009 |
//[inaudible]//
Mm sleep,
//generally just ehm to sleep.// |
| M1055 |
//[throat]// |
| F1009 |
But out for the count, kip, doss,
all of them, I think kip and doss are probably Scots.
Scots origin. |
| M1007 |
Yes, snooze.
With yer, between sleeping and wakening with yersel.
Still resting
//so it's// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
some form of sleep. |
| M1008 |
Yeah, I am sleep, dozing, having a nap,
//That's the// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| M1008 |
only ones I can add to what's been said. |
| M1055 |
And to play a game, Alister. [cough] |
| M1008 |
Well you know this, I could only think of play. |
| F1009 |
Yes. |
| M1008 |
He plays football.
She plays tennis. |
| M1007 |
Participate in a game?
I'm thinking maybe that's too big a |
| M1008 |
//A bit formal for that.// |
| M1055 |
//Too highfaluting// |
| M1007 |
Too highfaluting, too formal
//for Skye.// |
| M1008 |
//It's a bit formal.//
//Yes for or- for ordinary conversa-// |
| M1007 |
//Aye it is yeah, yeah.//
that's the only one I could think
//of other than just like,// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//S-s- so fo-//
folk playing shinty is simply play shinty? |
| M1007 |
//Play shinty yes, aye play football.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes, yes.// |
| M1007 |
Mmhm yep. |
| F1009 |
Yes, I, I tried to think of another word for for playing as well and I couldn't
//yeah.// |
| M1007 |
//No.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm,//
//I think we just use the// |
| F1009 |
//Just play.// |
| M1008 |
standard word for that. |
| M1007 |
Yes mmhm. |
| M1055 |
And to hit hard. |
| F1009 |
To belt, to slap, to hammer, to ram,
to knock. |
| M1007 |
Hammer was the only one I put down for that.
But then I didn't have much time for this.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//You're a pacifist are you?// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Absolutely!// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
[inhale] Yep! |
| M1008 |
The only two I can add to Iona's, to smash, to thump. |
| M1055 |
Did anyone? Did you ever hear the word skelp?
Did you use that one in
//Skye?// |
| M1007 |
//Oh yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Oh yes skelp.// |
| F1009 |
//Oh yes.//
//That, that wouldn't have been to// |
| M1008 |
//Sgleoc.// |
| F1009 |
to hit hard though,
//to skelp.// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Uh-huh.//
//It would be a,// |
| F1009 |
//That would have been a,//
a wee slap.
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
Y- you used the word there Alister [CENSORED: surname], eh sgleoc,
//which is// |
| M1008 |
//Sgleoc.// |
| F1009 |
//[cough]// |
| M1055 |
which often you often hear that in
//eh in English, yes.// |
| M1008 |
//In English, yes.//
It is the Gaelic really for a, a skelp. |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
Yeah, a sgleoc.
"Don't do that," you know, a mother might say
"Don't do that or I may sgleoc [?]dhut[/?], I'll give you a
[inhale]
//[laugh] a sma-// |
| M1055 |
//mmhm// |
| M1008 |
a small [laugh]
//discouraging pat on the head."// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
So is it not quite hitting
//hard? But it's still// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//it still it// |
| M1008 |
Not too abusive. |
| F1009 |
//[cough]// |
| M1055 |
//eh a Gaelic word that's used//
//often in English is sgleoc.// |
| M1007 |
//That's right, aye, that's right.// |
| F1009 |
[throat] |
| M1007 |
It's used quite often in English
//now.// |
| M1008 |
//Sgleoc.//
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
And it's very effective in English too,
and in Gaelic. |
| M1055 |
Yeah.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Depends who is administering the//
//the sgleoc.// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]//
Not so much, not so good on the receiving end.
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
How would you spell that?
//[throat]// |
| F1009 |
//[inhale]//
I would spell it S.G.L.E.O.C.
//Yes it's// |
| M1055 |
//Sgleoc?// |
| F1009 |
sgleoc but it sounds much sorer than a skelp
//but I think, yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes, yes it's//
it's onomatopoeic
//definitely that one.// |
| F1009 |
//Mm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
[cough] |
| M1055 |
Ehm, |
| M1008 |
And possibly so is what
//receiver will// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[cough]// |
| M1008 |
//yelp out.//
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh] Yes.//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
Ehm 'left-handed', Alister? |
| M1008 |
[tut]
That's the only expression I think I I've ever heard used in normal English anyway.
[inhale] There are Scots words for left-handed |
| M1055 |
Yep. |
| M1008 |
but, n- not used in this part of the world I don't think. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm.
//[throat]// |
| M1007 |
//No.// |
| F1009 |
Well, I had cearrach which of course is the Gaelic
//for a, for a left-handed person.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye [inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
And I, I do tend to use that in English, but eh I've heard my sister quite often saying that her children are corrie-fisted,
//they're, they're left-handed mm.// |
| M1007 |
//[inaudible]//
Yeah, I've, I've heard that
//but it's// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
but again that's Scotchs. |
| M1008 |
//That's Scots yes yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Scots word [inaudible] uh-huh// |
| M1055 |
A-alth- although I think corrie might have a relation, it might be
//related to// |
| F1009 |
//Cearrach//
//mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//cearrach.// |
| M1008 |
Yes
//yes it// |
| F1009 |
//Yes I think// |
| M1008 |
probably
//is.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
Uh-huh. |
| M1055 |
The, the Kerrs apparently were tended to be left-handed the the people called Kerr
tended
//they did and// |
| F1009 |
//Oh really?// |
| M1055 |
eh Kerr of course
//is it eh comes from ceàrr?// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| M1055 |
//Which is//
for left,
//for left-handed?// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
//And it means wrong.// |
| M1055 |
//Wrong.// |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
//Yes, yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Yup.//
//Sinister.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes. [inaudible]//
//Sinister this one is// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aye!// |
| M1008 |
//[?]ridiculous at it's best[/?] [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
[laugh] |
| M1055 |
[inhale] Ehm unattractive? |
| F1009 |
Mm well I had, I had difficulty really with with unattractive because w- we don't have an awful lot of words for unattractive er here I don't think
but I did manage to get, to get a couple,
ugly,
plain, ehm a face only a mother could love, but,
but there wasn't really a a word that
leapt to, leapt to mind as being
//something I would// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
I would use for unattractive. |
| M1007 |
I just had ugly as well, |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
seems to be quite universal round here. |
| M1008 |
Yeah, again I agree.
Ugly is the only one really that I could think of that would [inhale] be normally used in formal
//English anyway, there might be slang words// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
you know. |
| M1007 |
We would never be bold enough to use it. |
| M1008 |
I wouldn't dare
//even// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//suggest. [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//But we might think it.// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
[laugh] |
| M1055 |
Ehm
n- not eh not a phenone-, a phenomenon that you would recognise yourself Alastair, lacking money, but did you have a
//word for it?// |
| F1009 |
//[cough]// |
| M1007 |
Oh yes, broke!
//[wheeze] Aye. [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
That's eh that's the only one I had down but ehm
I think it describes it very well.
If you're broke you've no money. |
| M1008 |
Yes the- they would use that here certainly and [inhale] they would probably also import the erm
tsk I think it's a Scots word, skint, |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mm.// |
| M1008 |
and eh
perhaps, the more formal English word short.
//I'm short// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Caught short.// |
| M1008 |
//this month.//
Well not quite. |
| F1009 |
Yes
//I, I had// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
poor, skint, short,
ehm strapped?
Strapped
//for cash yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Strapped for cash yes.// |
| F1009 |
And borassic, course again going back to the rhyming
//s- slang.// |
| M1008 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| F1009 |
Borassic lint, skint.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
That's from Glasgow is it?
//Oh right.// |
| F1009 |
//That, that probably [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
It's going back a long way that one. |
| F1009 |
[laugh] |
| M1055 |
And eh again something you've
we will not recognise in this company, drunk. |
| F1009 |
Oh I didn't have any words for that
//at all. [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//Mm.// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//No I'm lying.//
Erm eh
tiddly, pissed, steaming, stotious, jaked,
er, plastered, mortal, [laugh] eh I could go on.
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//Why don't you? [laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//I didn't have room to write any more down actually.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
[laugh]
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Alastair's draw- jaw's dropping further and further towards the floor!// |
| M1007 |
//Oh aye it's bringing back memories.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1007 |
Well shot
that's one that would be used in in the Highlands
//that. You've heard that one?// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.//
Yes |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
//Well shot.// |
| M1008 |
//[inhale]//
We- I've heard all the ones
//that// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
Iona has
recalled but ehm smashed I think is the only
//other one.// |
| F1009 |
//Aye smashed.//
//Smashed yeah.// |
| M1007 |
//Smashed yes.// |
| M1008 |
formally, under the influence
//of course but that'd be very// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aye that's right!// |
| M1008 |
//formal, probably in a court appearance!// |
| M1055 |
There, there, there's one that er I used to hear, I think
possibly as a result of eh
eh the influence of people like Billy Connolly and things like that eh m- miraculous. |
| M1007 |
//Oh aye.// |
| M1008 |
//Oh aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Oh yes.//
//Yeah.// |
| M1055 |
//Did you use that?// |
| F1009 |
I, no but eh I, I like it.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Yes// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
I've heard it used. |
| M1055 |
Here? |
| M1007 |
Not here, in, actually in Ullapool I've heard it used.
A few miraculous people around there.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah.//
//I can't honest say I've heard it here, but yes I would recognise it if somebody used// |
| M1007 |
//[wheeze]// |
| M1008 |
//it.// |
| M1055 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
[inhale] Ehm Drunk?
Oh we- we've done that,
//sorry.// |
| M1008 |
//That was it.// |
| M1055 |
S- sorry [inaudible] sorry. Er pregnant? |
| M1008 |
Pregnant? Well, pregnant itself obviously, expecting. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
That's about the only two I can think of. |
| M1007 |
On the way,
would be another description.
That's the one I've got here. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| F1009 |
Yes, expecting is probably what I would
//use but// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
also
in the club or bun in the oven. |
| M1007 |
Mmhm. |
| F1009 |
Up the duff was [laugh] a rather coarse term for it.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aye that's right, yeah.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
In Skye? |
| F1009 |
Oh yes! Even in
//Skye, yes.// |
| M1007 |
//[inaudible]//
//[inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
//I've I've heard it in//
//in Skye.// |
| M1008 |
//Probably//
//acquired from other areas// |
| F1009 |
//Yes//
//of course.// |
| M1007 |
//Of course.// |
| M1008 |
//of course.//
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//It's come in//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Billy Connolly again.// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
Ow, and attractive, Alister? |
| M1008 |
[microphone taps]
Bonny?
Tsk attractive itself, nice looking, ehm glamorous even, something like that, yeah. |
| M1007 |
//Yep.// |
| M1055 |
//Alastair [CENSORED: surname]?// |
| M1007 |
I would use these as well, and good-looking would be
just the
ones,
and the ones that Alister has used already. |
| M1055 |
And we'll now talk to the most
//attractive [inaudible] [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Absolutely!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
Well I'll just describe myself, cracker aye.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
[inhale]
But again my my sister also has a a term that she uses for, uses for an attractive male which is a T.M.,
which is a tricky man. |
| M1007 |
Mmhm.
//Ooh aye tricky never heard of that.// |
| F1009 |
//Tricky man, yes.//
Which she's she's used since her days in university in Glasgow, [laugh].
//[laugh] which// |
| M1007 |
//Oh aye.// |
| F1009 |
probably the last time she saw
//one. [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
[laugh] |
| F1009 |
[laugh]
//[inhale]// |
| M1055 |
//A T.M.// |
| F1009 |
A T.M.
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
//I, I, I//
I don't know that one
//obviously but eh// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
can't say I've ever heard that one. |
| M1007 |
Nope. |
| M1055 |
It's certainly not been applied to me
//anyway. [laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[inaudible]// |
| M1055 |
//Erm.//
I eh one, one I used to hear ehm in the eh further west was a bramair. |
| M1007 |
//Yeah, Bramair aye.// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah, bramair.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Did you//
have you c- come across that? |
| F1009 |
Yes I I thought that was a Glasgow word particularly a bramair. |
| M1008 |
I thought that was a Lewis word actually the, the Lewis talk, Lewis people use it.
//[inaudible]// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Ah.// |
| M1008 |
Bramair. |
| M1007 |
Aye.
Is it not from the Gaelic? |
| M1055 |
[laugh] What Gaelic?
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//I think that's a Gaelic word!//
//The Leòdhas' have used.// |
| M1055 |
//Mm.// |
| M1008 |
And it u- it's used,
//you sound surprised that they occasionally use a Gaelic word.// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
Ehm eh
[laugh] |
| M1007 |
I hope this doesn't go out.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
The erm
tha- it could only be used of a woman though,
//bramair.// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.//
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.//
I don't know is, there is no male equivalent is there?
[inaudible]. |
| M1007 |
//Coinneach Mhor.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
I'm too young. |
| M1007 |
//Aye// |
| M1008 |
//Aye.// |
| M1007 |
Morag, Morag
calls Coinneach Mhor a bramair sometimes.
//Mmhm aye.// |
| M1008 |
//Does she?//
Oh I didn't know that
//aye.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye// |
| F1009 |
I I always thought the the erm Gaelic word meant more of a, a boyfriend, girlfriend,
erm rather than just a an, an attractive person that it was somebody with
with whom you would be having a a relationship. |
| M1007 |
Not necessarily. |
| F1009 |
No?
//Right.// |
| M1007 |
//No not necessarily.//
//[inaudible] Lewis// |
| M1008 |
//I, I wouldn't have thought//
so I, I would have eh
I think ehm
I would recognise being used just as a general term "oh look at
//the bramair [inaudible]// |
| M1007 |
//Aye that's right.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
look at these very nice looking young females".
//Do you know?// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| F1009 |
//mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
That's right. |
| M1055 |
But would you, would you hear it in Eng- in English
ever?
Would people use
//it?// |
| M1008 |
//Bramair.// |
| M1055 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
They might insert it into an English
//sentence if// |
| M1055 |
//yes, Mm.// |
| M1008 |
two Gaelic speakers were talking, you know, they might say oh |
| M1007 |
But they certainly use it in Lewis. |
| M1008 |
yes. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
Yeah, and in English, speaking in English they would use bramair. |
| M1008 |
Bramair. |
| M1007 |
Aye. |
| M1055 |
But not, but not Skye? That's not |
| M1008 |
Not normally. |
| M1055 |
not Skye. [inhale]
Insane? |
| F1009 |
Eh again I had a number er, for this one, er there was mad, nuts,
looby, cuckoo, crackers, and eh
an expression I heard from again one of my
colleagues which was 'there's wiser eating grass'.
//Which I, [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Is that an imported one?// |
| F1009 |
//I quite like,//
//yes! [laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh] He's from Inverness originally.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
[laugh] |
| M1008 |
//Oh dear.// |
| F1009 |
//[cough]//
I thought it was quite a nice
//expression.// |
| M1008 |
//[cough]// |
| M1007 |
//Oh yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Uh uh-huh.// |
| M1007 |
Good one, off yer head.
It's a it's another one, another way to put it.
I'm glad I didn't do much work here
//because you two seem to have done// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm, mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
an awful
//lot. [laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
Ehm, well all the ones eh Iona used right enough,
plus another Glaswegian one I think is 'not the full shilling'. |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
And I heard a
it's a longer expression but it's the same idea that the lift doesn't go all the way
//to the top floor! [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aye that's right!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
Which is a very unkind
//statement.// |
| M1007 |
//Och I know.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
The full, the full shilling is, is
//you know, oh aye,// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
//oh well,//
you've got to make allowances he's not the full shilling.
//you know?// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//Well// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
working in traditional music as I, as I
//do// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| F1009 |
somebody came up with the expression, one song short of a cèilidh.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Quite nice. [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
One I, I really liked was the eh there's a gentleman ehm in the west of Skye who lives in a, a big building eh ehma big edifice, ehm
and he at one point was trying to sell a part of Skye for a lot of money, |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
and he was described by local worthy here Tommy Mackenzie as being
a a couple of turrets short of a castle.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Oh yes.// |
| M1055 |
//[inhale] [laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//Good.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//But I think//
I think, that, that was just a Tommyism I
//I don't// |
| M1007 |
//Hi-hi- highlanders are// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
pretty quick at
//writing things.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//ehm// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah, that one's pretty good.// |
| F1009 |
//[cough]// |
| M1055 |
[click] Moody? |
| F1009 |
[Um] I had gurney
and having a boose on
but again I think that's a
//a Scoticism.// |
| M1008 |
//definitely Gaelic, mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Really? Is it//
//more, more Gaelic?// |
| M1007 |
//Gaelic.// |
| M1008 |
//Gaelic.// |
| M1007 |
//Oh yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm 'bus'.//
bus, of
//course, yes,// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
yes.
//And I-// |
| M1055 |
//These are things you would use though?// |
| F1009 |
yes, oh yes eh I, I would use them in English yeah.
//[inaudible]// |
| M1055 |
//And people would understand you quite, quite easily?// |
| F1009 |
I hope so.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
They've never said
//that they didn't [inaudible].// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
[laugh] |
| M1007 |
I suppose droll maybe that would be strange rather than moody,
//but eh.// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1055 |
That's what's the one we often hear in, in, in English
//in in in in, eh// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
in, in the, in the islands, droll.
//Yes?// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
Eh bu- but, but more unusual, more strange,
//isn't it?// |
| M1007 |
//That's//
right, yeah, but eh
moody, I suppose you could call it deep, somebody's
not communicative
erm that's the only thing I could think of. |
| M1008 |
Well the only other one I can think of is up and down, you know somebody whose [inhale] moods are unpredictable really.
//You'd say "Oh// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| M1008 |
he's up and
//down".// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm mm.//
//Mm.// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah.//
Eh and to, to rain lightly |
| M1008 |
Drizzle?
Ehm,
spitting sometimes,
that's about it mmhm. |
| M1007 |
Yes, that's all I've got as well.
Drizzle is all I've got. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm well I had damp
//I suppose mm// |
| M1055 |
//mm// |
| F1009 |
just eh
describing the sort of day we normally have
//in// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
Skye. It would still be raining lightly
not as heavily as it might.
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
I [laugh] remember eh coming off the, the ferry ateh Tarbert it was, and it was one of these days
[inhale] eh rain was coming horizontally being
//eh// |
| F1009 |
//[cough]// |
| M1055 |
propelled by a force ten gale from the north west and this fellow whose coat was just black
//with,// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| M1055 |
it had been turned black because of the rain, he sort of nodded a
a sort of a a friendly greeting at me and said
"Tha damp".
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aye.// |
| M1055 |
//It's damp. [laugh]//
[inhale] That was an
//understatement.// |
| M1007 |
//That's a favourite!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//But eh I think that Gaels//
would use damp, |
| M1008 |
Yes. |
| M1055 |
for something more than
eh
they what, the-the-the- wha-wha- what the word means in English. |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
They use it in a sarcastic way too, |
| M1055 |
Yes. |
| M1007 |
//you know?// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Oh it's when it's chuckin it down they say "[?]he[/?] damp",//
//when you// |
| M1008 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye yes.// |
| M1008 |
//And that's your friend in [?]Tarbet[/?]?//
//Yes, yes.// |
| M1007 |
//That's right.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes, yes.// |
| M1007 |
They're laughing at the weather in fact. |
| F1009 |
What else can you do?
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//That's right.//
There a number of ehm English words that are used in Gaelic that have a slightly different, slightly different meaning
ehm
what do they say?
English words used in Gaelic which have a slightly different word from the English usage.
You know for example if you described a a man,
a com- a comic
//you know, he's// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| M1008 |
//Mm.// |
| M1055 |
he's not he is not comic
//he's something else isn't it?// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Alastair?//
Wha- what |
| M1007 |
Well he could be
he could be quite a comedian, he could be somebody who walks funny,
//he could be// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
somebody who is ehm
[click]
quick witted,
//there's many ways you could describe// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
somebody like that being comic. |
| M1008 |
Yes I think I know what Cailean means though he, you mean, he, he has
all these things
//are absolutely true,// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
but er
slight extension of meaning that he's sort of, not abnormal but
//unusual in some way,// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
//Eccentric, eccentric, yes eh.// |
| M1008 |
//eh comic, eccentric yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
And fancy
//is another word eh you would see you'd r- well I've// |
| M1008 |
//Word yes.// |
| M1055 |
heard people saying
//in using it in, Eng- in Gaelic// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah.//
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah, I fancy//
//Aye, it's just// |
| M1007 |
//That's right// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.//
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//kind of unusual.//
And the other one which is eh what we're talking about,
English words being used in
//Gaelic is eh// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
clever. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
You know the the the word
ehm
you would say 'tha clever'.
Eh you know it's it's quick rather than being clever, |
| M1007 |
Yes. |
| M1055 |
but apparently, Alister you'll know this,
eh the original, originally, clever was used |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
ehm for something that was quick |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
rather than something that was
//br- bright.// |
| M1008 |
//that was//
//that's right yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
Oh yes it's always interesting to, to go back to the origin of words an try and find out why
you know take an example like ehm
let me think
silly,
which nowadays has this eh
idea of not being wise |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
but if you,
if you think about it why would they, why would they have called the Scilly Isles, the Scilly Isles?
They wouldn't have called them the Scilly Isles for being daft
and silly originally meant happy,
//blessed,// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh//
//yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
and
eh the way the meaning has changed is that
somebody who was perhaps not the full shilling as we
//were talking about earlier,// |
| F1009 |
//[cough]// |
| M1055 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| M1008 |
might be going around unnaturally happy.
//We can all think of people in// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm yes, yes.// |
| M1008 |
//our own environment who// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
//might that,// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
erm could be described like that. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
So gradually silly acquired happy but not quite, you know fully, normal, being slightly short of one or two cells,
//[inhale]// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
And it then be- silly moved from being happy
to being foolish. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
And eh the modern
version has, has stuck at that. Another good example is the word villain,
//which today// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
we know villain means somebody who is capable of doing pretty awful things.
And yet the original meaning of villain was quite a neutral word meaning a farm labourer. |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
And the reason
that word took on a slightly more sinister meaning was that at the time of the agricultural revolution
lots of people lost the ability to work on the land, they've came into the city in hordes and were looked on as suspicious, liable to the way perhaps some people might look on gypsies
//nowadays, liable to// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
either threaten them, or steal some of their possessions so grad- villain from being simply a ehm person who worked on the land, became a person who had to be watched
//because he was capable of doing something.// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
So the way words change their meaning
//is really very interesting.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
Mmhm.
So er getting back
//to [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//Getting back to what we're supposed to be doing!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[cough]// |
| M1055 |
//[throat] what's a guy who//
any, any words for digression?
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
Somebody once asked, D.R. you know proving that of course modern Gaelic doesn't have a lot of good words for, ter- technical terms.
I remember er somebody asking D.R. in the staffroom, "D.R.
what's the Gaelic for television?"
//And D.R.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
said
"What's the English for
//television?" [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
And he was right
//Aye absolutely.// |
| M1008 |
//He was right!// |
| F1009 |
//Right.// |
| M1055 |
Ehm some- somebody, somebody gave me a good Gaelic for television but ah this is another digression, it was dealbh oisean. |
| M1008 |
//Dealbh oisean.// |
| F1009 |
//Dealbh oisean.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes, yes,// |
| M1055 |
//Not bad, not bad aye.// |
| M1008 |
box in the corner. |
| M1055 |
Yes, the the picture the picture's in the corner.
Ehm the main room of the house with a T.V. |
| M1008 |
[inhale]
Well I suppose the living room, the lounge some people would say, I think I would still say living room, lounge has a slightly more ehm
//[inhale]// |
| M1007 |
//Upmarket.// |
| M1008 |
yes a slightly sn- hmm posher sound to it somehow. |
| M1055 |
Do you, have a livi-a lounge up in Bowmore, do you, Alastair? |
| M1007 |
No.
Jist a guddle.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
Sitting room we would call it. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
Sitting room and eh
in the old days we didn't have a sitting room we just had the kitchen where everybody
//sat// |
| M1008 |
//Where everybody//
//[inaudible]// |
| M1007 |
//round the fire, round the open fire so//
its changed from a sit- from a kitchen to a sitting room. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
That's what you used to
//call it?// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.//
Sitting room w- I would say as well. That's what
//that's what we would have at home.// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh yeah.// |
| M1008 |
We had, when I was a boy we had a
exactly the same as yourselves, the kitchen and everything happened in the kitchen.
But there was 'the room' which nobody ever used, of course, expect the minister when he came for tea, and when I was a wee boy I I simply called it 'Rium a' Mhinistear',
//'the minister's room' [laugh] it didn't belong to us we never used [laugh] it.// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
We didn't have that luxury though.
//We had eh// |
| M1008 |
//[snigger]//
This sounds like the Monty Python
//sketch about the wooden boxes [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
We had a thatched house
//and there was only two rooms, three rooms in it, in total,// |
| M1008 |
//That's right, that's right.//
//That's// |
| M1007 |
//and the//
kitchen was used
//for everything,// |
| M1008 |
//Of course.// |
| M1007 |
for for eating an
relaxing in, and
//eh// |
| M1008 |
//Yes. That's right.// |
| M1007 |
and warming yerself at the fire. |
| M1008 |
The hub of the house. |
| M1007 |
The hub of the house! [paper rustling]
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.//
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
Alastair, you're making a hell of a noise with that paper! [laugh]
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//That's because you're not going fast enough!// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//I've got all my words written down and you haven't done a thing about it!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
Anything to, to add on, on the lounge thing, did you have a lounge? [laugh] |
| F1009 |
No we didn't have a lounge, eh I, I've never had a lounge, always a always a sitting room.
My grandmother had a front room again where |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| F1009 |
where one would entertain and it was opened at New Year and that sort of thing but
the television was in the kitchen,
//yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Did it smell of//
furniture polish? |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Yes//
//yes that's right and and damp,// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//and geraniums.//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| M1055 |
Er running water smaller than a river. |
| F1009 |
Stream, burn,
erm are the, the two words I would normally use, yeah. |
| M1007 |
I just use the one, burn. |
| M1055 |
Burn? You wouldn't use a stream? |
| M1007 |
No. |
| M1008 |
Yes, burn I've got and stream I would agree with too, yes, yes. |
| M1007 |
I would use the same but burn more I think. |
| M1055 |
So, so burn seems to be the one that's
//used here.// |
| M1008 |
//Burn yes.// |
| M1055 |
Ehm,
eh a long, the long soft seat in the main room? |
| M1008 |
Sofa,
coach, but, couch perhaps, but sofa is the one I would use
//yeah.// |
| M1055 |
//Mm.// |
| M1007 |
Bench?
//That's// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
another one that used to be the old style,
//a bench.// |
| M1008 |
//That would be the wooden one.// |
| M1007 |
Wooden bench yeah.
A seise as we called it. |
| M1008 |
//Seise aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
Aye. |
| M1055 |
That wouldn't be necessarily soft would it? Or |
| M1008 |
Soft an |
| M1007 |
No but then we were ehm quite well padded |
| F1009 |
[laugh] |
| M1007 |
so we were quite comfortable on it. |
| M1008 |
Hm.
//Brought your own cushions to the// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Absolutely [laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//cèilidh.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
I, I would say a couch, er but my grandmother certainly had a seise that
probably went back, back to the nineteen-thirties yes. |
| M1055 |
A- and describe the seise. |
| F1009 |
Oh a seise, a seise to me was actually a couch er because it did have padding
er not a great deal and I think the horse that was originally used to
ehm to pack it was [laugh]
//still very much in evidence.// |
| M1055 |
//[exhale] [laugh].//
//Mm. [inhale]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh].// |
| M1055 |
But that, that wouldn't be a word that's used in, colloquially nowadays, seise. |
| F1009 |
Seise, erm well it it would be amongst my own family and er I think any Gaelic speaker would
would probably think of a a seise before they thought of a couch or a sofa mmhm. |
| M1007 |
Interesting where that word came from now, the seise, would that have come from the chaise longue? |
| M1008 |
//Could be actually,// |
| F1009 |
//Oh yes.//
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//I, I don't know I jist// |
| M1008 |
//I hadn't thought about that.// |
| M1055 |
//[?]Do you think it is?[/?]// |
| M1007 |
//I was wondering because eh// |
| M1008 |
//hadn't thought about that, yes seise.// |
| M1007 |
it is, it is a word that was very common in the Highlands at that
//time and I just wondered was it related to the,// |
| M1008 |
//Yes, yes.// |
| M1007 |
cause that's French, isn't it? |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
The longue, |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
//literally the long// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Long// |
| M1008 |
//chair.//
//[inaudible]// |
| M1007 |
//chair, yeah.//
So the the the one we had was eh a wooden
//bench// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
with two ends on it
//and eh.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.//
//We had one of those too.// |
| M1007 |
//you could sit there// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
Was it the the bengie?
Was that the way you called it
//at home? No?// |
| M1008 |
//No.//
//Seise.// |
| M1007 |
//Seise.// |
| F1009 |
//Seise.// |
| M1055 |
Do you call a seise
//th- the// |
| M1007 |
//Seise.// |
| M1055 |
the the wooden bench? |
| M1007 |
//I've been trying to tell you that for the last five// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//minutes.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[throat]// |
| M1007 |
[laugh]
//[laugh] yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes, well I agree with him about that,// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
perhaps that was the North Skye way of
//doing it. [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Probably was [laugh] aye!//
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
Anyway you don't use s- often in English it's
//it's a it's a Gaelic word yeah.// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm ah.// |
| M1008 |
It would be a bench in English. |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Like a bench.// |
| F1009 |
A settle.
//Wooden, a wooden one yes,// |
| M1007 |
//Yep, another word yes.// |
| M1008 |
//A settle?//
//Yes exactly.// |
| F1009 |
//a wooden one//
//[inaudible] mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
//Nowadays you'd only find it as//
garden furniture or somethin. |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
Mmhm.
The narrow walkway between or alongside buildings? |
| M1008 |
Wasn't quite sure what that meant er pavement, path,
something like that. |
| M1007 |
I put lane in, I don't know if that's relevant or not.
//In// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
between two
//buildings you could have a lane.// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah, I wasn't//
//quite sure what was being asked// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//No.// |
| M1008 |
//for that to be perfectly honest.// |
| F1009 |
I had alley,
and that was what I was thinking of.
//The// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
narrow |
| M1007 |
Mmhm. |
| F1009 |
it whi-which is a na- narrow walkway or
//drive in between.// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah,//
th-th- the one that I thought about immediately there was close.
Did you did you did you use close
//at all?// |
| F1009 |
//I//
I had thought of close but to me a a close would be covered
and I I didn't get the impression that this was a a covered walkway at all
//I thought it was just a an open one.// |
| M1008 |
//That goes back to your Edinburgh days?// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Then you could you could use gangway as well,// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
as something going between two buildings. |
| M1055 |
A gangway? |
| M1007 |
Yes you could do. |
| M1008 |
Mm. |
| M1007 |
Eh although it's used more in er airports an shipping terminals you could use the,
//you could use gangway as well.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
W-w- was that the original? |
| M1007 |
I don't know but eh it is a word that you could use here.
Eh depending on what context this is in,
//aye.// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah.//
But er not often heard in Skye, gangway?
For that?
In fact there aren't too many narrow walkways between
//buildings anyway.// |
| M1007 |
//No//
//but you could use it in the likes of a, of a harbour.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
You could have a gangway going between two buildings if it was over water.
But you can have it. |
| M1055 |
Alister er [CENSORED: surname], ehm toilet? |
| M1008 |
Yeah, I was thinking about this, toilet I think is probably the commonest one in use today,
but in earlier years going back to my own boyhood they would probably talk about the lavatory,
which I believe is the
the U way
//if you were eh// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
if i-, if it was very important for to you use the correct
//terms, you know, if you were the duke of// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
Devonshire or something like that, you would never talk about the toilet.
That's very common,
//not that you would say common!// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//Ehm//
well I'd have to be use bathroom I
//suppose.// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh.//
//Closet?// |
| M1008 |
//People// |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
a clòsaid! |
| M1007 |
//Aye!// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm//
//Mm. [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Aye taigh beag, aye!// |
| M1008 |
//Taigh beag,// |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| F1009 |
[inhale] |
| M1007 |
Yeah.
But the closet was a word that was
//used// |
| M1008 |
//Perfect.//
//The water// |
| M1007 |
//yeah.//
//Water// |
| M1008 |
//closet.//
//Yes, yeah.// |
| M1007 |
//closet yeah.// |
| M1055 |
In in in, in English?
//Eh erm// |
| M1007 |
//In English yes.// |
| M1008 |
//[inaudible]// |
| M1055 |
the closet? |
| M1008 |
The closet. [inhale]
Although I think that would be perhaps a bit dated even in, in my own day. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
Ehm
but eh you then go into the field of slang
//of course which Iona's// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
the expert on.
//[laugh] You talk, you// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//about important things like, mm [laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
the bog,
//the cludge [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[?]Why not![/?]//
//Aye! [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
Like the winners.
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Winners.// |
| M1055 |
//The winners yes,//
//Okay,// |
| F1009 |
//Yes//
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//given that cue, let's move over to Iona.// |
| F1009 |
Well I do have eh loo, eh bog,
john, dunny,
ehm it's a number of my colleagues are from, from outwith the area.
Loo would probably be what I'd
//normally say myself but,// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm mmhm.//
//That seems to have taken// |
| F1009 |
//bathroom.// |
| M1008 |
over from the others actually, you know,
loo is becoming universal
//now and I think that's the influence of T.V.// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.//
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
I wonder why that is? Is it Waterloo? |
| M1008 |
//It's, yes, yes,// |
| F1009 |
//It comes from the Fre- yes from the French//
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1055 |
//Is it?//
Right. |
| F1009 |
Gardyloo. |
| M1055 |
Oh right, right yes.
//Gardyloo.// |
| M1008 |
//It's the water connection.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//The water connection yes.//
//Ehm// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//You// |
| M1055 |
//there's something//
//so, [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//made that one up very quickly.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh] so//
something that we, we're not
too used to in in Skye, raining heavily. |
| M1008 |
Pouring?
Lashing down,
that's the only two I could think. |
| M1007 |
Oh aye,
indeed, that's enough to suggest it's coming down quite heavily I would say,
//yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.//
I've bucketing, torrential, stair-rods |
| M1008 |
Mmhm |
| F1009 |
mm er
cats and dogs,
//it's raining cats and dogs.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye [inaudible].// |
| F1009 |
//Bucketing [?]when we were out.[/?]// |
| M1007 |
I've got a weather station, and when it rains heavily a ticker tape comes across the bottom,
"it's now raining cats and dogs". |
| F1009 |
[laugh] |
| M1007 |
And when the wind comes up it starts saying [laugh]
"hold on to your hats!"
//[laugh] Aye!// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//That's enough// |
| M1008 |
//Is that right?// |
| M1007 |
oh a proper weather station
//yeah,// |
| M1008 |
//Yes, yes// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//comes up with this message [laugh]//
so there you go. |
| M1008 |
//I used to// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Aye.// |
| M1008 |
use that expression teaching metaphor, raining cats and
//dogs yeah.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
[laugh]
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1055 |
Baby? |
| F1009 |
Ehm wee one,
bab,
nipper, sprog, wean, bairn,
wee one, ehm [throat], baby, baby is the most common one
//that I would use.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
Baby is one we would use as well because I think it's the correct correct way to describe a wee one, and a bit more respectful
//than all these// |
| M1055 |
//But// |
| M1007 |
//eh fancy// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
words that are being used. [laugh] |
| M1055 |
[laugh] |
| M1008 |
Child?
Mmhm.
//[inhale]// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
Interestin enough I think wee one is another good example of a direct translation from Gaelic. |
| M1007 |
Mmhm maybe.
//[?]Tè bheag, tè bheag air[/?].// |
| M1008 |
//Tè bheag.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
They were, aye.
I hea-, I heard quite recently in fact,er just I overheard a conversation between two men,
and obviously one asked do you know how's the family and he, he said.
And they were talking English and they said "Oh Joan and the wee ones are away, |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
//they're in//
Glasgow at her mother's" or something
//like that,// |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
and eh but that's definitely one we do use ehm
I don't know how much that's used in other parts of the country, wee ones for children. |
| M1055 |
Uh-huh. I suppose weans is wee ones. |
| M1007 |
//Same I think yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Weans, yes, yes.//
Weans, I I would think of a
Glaswegian
//English for// |
| M1008 |
//Pretty much.// |
| M1007 |
//[?]Yes.[/?]// |
| F1009 |
//for wean//
certainly but eh
eh
aga- it's something I would, I would use again in
in jest really,
//I wouldn't// |
| M1008 |
//mm [inaudible].// |
| F1009 |
I wouldn't use it
in a serious conversation, but wee ones would be my
one of my
//favourites.// |
| M1008 |
//[inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
Yeah.
And eh [cough] a young person in cheap trendy clothes and jewellery.
Cheap trendy clothes? |
| F1009 |
I hadn't a clue what to write down for that ehm I was never a
eh I never wore cheap trendy clothes or jewellery. [laugh]
[inhale] I was never a teenager erm but I, I had to ask a friend of mine who does have teenagers [inhale]
and she had ned and scaff and I've
a, a ned to me wouldn't
//be// |
| M1008 |
//No.// |
| F1009 |
necessarily a young person
//eh// |
| M1007 |
//A bit of a villain, eh?//
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
//Could be yes, yes.// |
| F1009 |
//in that sort of style ehm//
a, a ned would be a, mm probably
a young person just on the
slightly on the wrong side of the law
//ehm.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1055 |
And a scaff? |
| F1009 |
Scaff, I have no idea where that comes from.
Scaff? |
| M1055 |
Wo-wo- is that used in
//Skye?// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm [inhale]//
Well apparently it's used in Portree High School.
Yes. [laugh]
Now it certainly wasn't in in my day
//[?]we never[/?]// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.//
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//not in in Alister's but// |
| M1007 |
Completely at a loss with this one. |
| M1008 |
Well, if I were [throat] I can't think of a noun at all, young person in cheap, trendy, |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
I mean, I can think of adjectives like trendy or wee phrases like, f- in the fashion, fashionable or something but I cannot honestly think of a word which eh |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
equates to, to Iona's scaff, that's new on me too, you know. |
| M1055 |
Female partner? |
| M1008 |
Female partner?
Eh well, wife.
Partner,
Woman, lady, other half, better half, girlfriend,
all these I've heard. |
| M1007 |
Yep, I've heard them all but I don't know which one would be
right, my own case it was just the wife. |
| M1008 |
The wife, yes. |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Mm.// |
| M1007 |
//Or the old, the old lady.// |
| M1008 |
//Or as Terry Wo-//
//or as Terry Wogan would say, the present Mrs [CENSORED: surname].// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
That's [?]it[/?], when asked! [laugh]
//why does he always talk about the present Mrs Wogan, he says// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
to keep her on her
//toes! [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]Aye!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh] Yeah.// |
| M1055 |
Ehm,
And you you ju- just call the wife?
The wife. |
| M1007 |
The wife or the old lady,
//I suppose if you're// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
speaking to somebody else about her, yeah. [laugh] |
| M1055 |
Was it |
| M1007 |
He's a lot younger than I am.
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Good.//
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
I, I would tend to use wife whether or not they were actually married, it doesn't say that they're you know they're necessarily living together. |
| M1055 |
True. |
| F1009 |
This, this female partner that ehm
one I've heard a lot again from
er my Glasgow friends
is bidie in. |
| M1008 |
Oh aye?
//That's a very special close match.// |
| F1009 |
//That's where somebody who he lives in the//
//Yes. [laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
Precise.
//[inaudible]// |
| M1007 |
//[inaudible] bidie.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
b-b-b- [laugh]
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Hm.// |
| F1009 |
[inhale] b- before eh you know,
//living// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm// |
| F1009 |
together was an acceptable |
| M1008 |
Yes. |
| F1009 |
erm social custom
//er it was the bidie// |
| M1008 |
//The bidie in.// |
| F1009 |
in's quite a derogatory term |
| M1007 |
That's right. |
| F1009 |
for er for the partner living in the house with somebody else. |
| M1055 |
Is that a word that you'd hear in Skye and would be understood in Skye? |
| M1008 |
Oh yeah, I think it would be understood in Skye, I doubt if it would be heard in Skye, it wouldn't be used in that sense in Skye.
Ehm.
I don't think there is an equivalent one in Skye that eh |
| M1055 |
It never happened. |
| F1009 |
No. [laugh]
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//I, I heard it for the first time in Aberdeen actually,//
//bidie in// |
| M1008 |
//Uh-huh bidie in.// |
| M1055 |
and well, they certainly used
bide for living |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
so it did, it did make
//yeah,// |
| M1008 |
//Bide a while.//
//Bide a wee they would say.// |
| M1055 |
//makes sense.//
//bide a wee.// |
| M1007 |
//Aye it was//
well known in Ayrshire anyway
//cause Helen// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
uses it quite freely. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
cause that's eh she was down in Ayrshire for a while so
that's where she picked it up. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1055 |
Bidie in
//for partner.// |
| M1007 |
//Bidie in.// |
| M1008 |
Quite a handy term
//actually if// |
| M1007 |
//Oh//
//if you've got to// |
| M1008 |
//if you're, if you're//
yes, yes it is. |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//If you're not quite sure what the relationship//
//is.[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Aye! [laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//A kit of tools.// |
| M1007 |
Tool kit that's [cough]
that's all I
//Tool bag.// |
| M1008 |
//Absolutely,//
tool kit is the only thing I've
//got here.// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
Tool bag, tool kit nothing else. |
| F1009 |
Yes, I've got tool bag and work box as well, that's
//all I could think of.// |
| M1008 |
//[inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1055 |
//[inaudible]// |
| F1009 |
Work box to me sounds a bit more feminine perhaps than than a kit of tools that a
//a builder might use.// |
| M1007 |
//It's what you put the pieces in.// |
| F1009 |
Yes.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//Your briefcase?//
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
You put the Beano in that by the way.
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
//That was all I could think of for// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
for kit of
//tools. Mm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
So a word for something whose name you've forgotten. |
| F1009 |
Well I I do have a a fairly dodgy memory these days and I came up with
thingummy, thingummyjug, jig, er what-d'ya-ma-call-it, a do-da and a who-d'ya-come-flip. |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
[laugh]
//Well// |
| M1008 |
//And the last one?// |
| F1009 |
who-d'ya-come-flip,
//who-d'ya-come-flip// |
| M1008 |
//Oh right.// |
| F1009 |
//I// |
| M1055 |
//Is that word//
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//I didn't know how to spell any of them. [laugh]// |
| M1055 |
Tell me the who-d'ya-come-flip, is that something that came came through your father's line?
[laugh] |
| F1009 |
I seem to think it was more my mother that came up with the who-d'ya-come-flip,
//yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
I think that more than exhausts my
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
my thingummyjigs.
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
Yes, I, I agree the, the what-d'ya-call it thing and the thingummyjig I've got and ehm what's it's name.
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
Yes. |
| M1055 |
Grandfather? |
| F1009 |
Ah I never met any of my own grandfathers but ehm grandad, seanair
jen my Barra friends call their grandfather,
j-e-n, eh papa, gammy, granpie,
that was all I could. |
| M1055 |
Seanair, why seanair? |
| F1009 |
Seanair, grandfather for er, eh Gaelic for grandfather,
and jen of course is er contraction of of that as well. |
| M1007 |
Yep, that's again adequate and grandpa would be and seanair would be the ones that
we would use as well. |
| M1055 |
Sean- seanair seems to be quite common eh in quite common usage, it's the Gaelic for
//grandfather.// |
| M1008 |
//I think it has// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
found
a sort of acceptability among non-Gaelic speakers as well.
//They// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
they've heard it and liked the sound of
//it and eh// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
ah sometimes use it, yes, seanair.
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
How, how is it how is that spelt Alister? |
| M1008 |
Oh I've no idea S.E.A.N.
//two N's?// |
| F1009 |
//A.I.R.?//
//One N.// |
| M1008 |
//Yeah.//
//One N?// |
| M1007 |
//One N.//
//Seanair.// |
| M1008 |
//A.I.R.//
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//A.I.R. yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Seanair.// |
| F1009 |
Seanair. |
| M1055 |
S.E.A.N.A.I.R.
//for gr-// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm seanair.// |
| F1009 |
//[inaudible]// |
| M1055 |
//for gr grandfather//
//Certainly.// |
| M1008 |
//Seanair.//
An old man really. |
| M1007 |
//That's right.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
You're not a grandfather yet Alastair, no? |
| M1007 |
Not yet, and I don't want to be for a while. |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Mm.//
Ehm certainly my my own father he he was by his eh grandchildren he's always called seanair. |
| M1008 |
Yes
//mmhm// |
| M1055 |
//And eh//
ehm
he
and also some of my bro- mother's brothers, they're all, they're all called seanair. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm mmhm. |
| M1055 |
Ah hmm.
Aye. |
| M1008 |
There seem to be fewer words you see I think this is one of the reasons, fewer words for a grandpa. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
Plenty words for a grandma,
//like eh// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
nana,
//and various other// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
versions,
//grandma and things.// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
There would seem to be fewer words for grandpas or seanair possibly
//as// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
a useful addition to the |
| F1009 |
//Mm.// |
| M1055 |
//Uh-huh// |
| M1008 |
to the possibilities. |
| M1007 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
I- interestingly enough the
female equivalent of seanair is
rarely if ever used in English. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
Would you agree, Alister?
//Se-// |
| M1008 |
//Ehm// |
| M1055 |
seanmhair? |
| M1008 |
Seanmhair? |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
I think so, I don't think I've ever heard it used by non-Gaelic
//people, no, seanmhair.// |
| F1009 |
//No.// |
| M1055 |
//Nope, no.// |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1055 |
Friend? Alister, Alister [CENSORED: surname]. |
| M1008 |
Right ehm,
well, friend mostly, pal,
mate, ehm these are the ones I would would think of from my own younger days. |
| M1007 |
Yes very much the same.
Ehm I think friend would be the one that we use
//much as, much as any, yeah.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
Mmhm, pal I would tend to use myself but also mate, chum,
cronie I think is a word that my father would have used
and er mucker and buddy are probably imports from
//elsewhere mm.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes, yes.//
It's interesting actually ehm, you know, looking at my
younger relatives, cousins, children, things like that,
say student age, that sort of thing,
ehm they have a nice dis- they make a nice distinction between, you know,
boys who have girlfriends, and boys who have female friends who are not romantically
//attached to them at all.// |
| M1007 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
They they distinguish between ehm a girlfriend and a mate |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
and er you can have female mates,
//you know, might be a flatmate or something// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
//like that,//
who ehm with whom you have no romantic entanglements, but is a good friend. |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
And whereas the the girlfriend is a
//different breed altogether, you know, that sort of thing, you know.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
But I I find that interesting that they make that distinction
//because somebody,// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.// |
| M1008 |
I I actually heard one of them saying somebody,
in fact it was mother more or less asking me you know
is
sh-
is Sheila your girlfriend? No, no she's just a mate. |
| M1007 |
//Aye.// |
| F1009 |
//Mm Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
Not as hot-blooded as we were. |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]//
They were all girlfriends?
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Oh absolutely! [laugh]//
//[laugh] No mates.// |
| M1008 |
//There were no mates. [laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
But mate of course also normally means erm you know traditionally meant somebody that you were linked with.
//You'd say here you go this is my mate. Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Yes. that's right.// |
| M1055 |
I I would always assume a mate to be masculine.
//Yeah.// |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//But I noticed that with my, with my own// |
| F1009 |
//Mm.// |
| M1008 |
Yes. |
| M1007 |
kids, they're
they're not kids now but they're
//[?]got[/?] referred to them as mates.// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.//
//Yes that's right either sex.// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah?// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.//
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Either sex yeah, very much// |
| M1008 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| M1055 |
That's right. |
| M1007 |
and they share flats with them
//and they don't care.// |
| M1008 |
//Yes, that's right, that's right.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//Whereas,// |
| M1055 |
//Without being bidie-ins?//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Oh absolutely!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Absolutely, that's the wonderful thing about it.// |
| M1008 |
//Absolutely yes.//
Yes. |
| M1007 |
It takes, took a while for me to
//[?]put the wrenches away[/?]// |
| M1008 |
//Get your head round it.//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//absolutely, great!// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
[laugh]
Which is that Cailean? |
| M1055 |
That's it.
Ehm grandmother?
Alister? |
| M1008 |
Well grandmother, eh granny, gran, nana,
which is not one I used when I was
at that age myself,
eh but gran I think is a,
well I don't remember calling my grandma anything because she was
very elderly when I was very young.
Eh and I never met my other grandma, but I think I'd just refer to her as grandma.
//Seanmhair in Gaelic,// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
I really can't remember. |
| M1007 |
Granny we always, we were very young too when my granny died, both grannies.
So it was always granny. |
| F1009 |
I'd certainly refer to both my grannies as granny, and er
my nieces, some of them call their other granny, er nana, |
| M1008 |
Yes. |
| F1009 |
but eh it's
//mm, it's not as common.// |
| M1008 |
//I think, I think//
no but I think wha- what happens I know from one family of my own cousins, that ehm one grandma is called nana,
//and the other one is called gran.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
//So that they know who they're talking about.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.//
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Yes, yes.// |
| M1008 |
And eh this is quite a convenient way
//of doing it actually.// |
| M1007 |
//Yes, uh-huh.// |
| M1008 |
I don't know if there's any [inhale] eh seniority
//than, the, nomenclature at all or// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
you know? |
| M1007 |
//Depends on how much they give out.// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]//
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//How how you achieve the status of gran or nana,// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
who is more affectionately called I don't know.
//I wo- wouldn't dare look into that.// |
| F1009 |
//Yes.//
My my other n- nieces, well niece and two nephews call their respective erm grandmothers eh Granny Morag and Granny Claris
//so they get equal// |
| M1008 |
//Yes mmhm yes.// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm yes.// |
| M1007 |
//Yes.// |
| F1009 |
//er equal shouts//
//yes. [laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//That's sounds a good way of doing it.// |
| M1007 |
//That's right.// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
And mother? |
| F1009 |
Mum ehm is what I call my own mother,
ehm mummy when I was younger, mm. |
| M1007 |
Yeah.
Very much the same and ehm màthair in Gaelic obviously
er but that would be all, it would be mum or mammy. |
| M1055 |
Mammy? |
| M1007 |
Yeah, mammy. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm.
I think, I yeah I agree entirely, I think when I remember saying mummy when I was very
//young,// |
| M1007 |
//Yeah.// |
| M1008 |
but then as you sort of
got older you felt a bit ehm tsk you know this sounds
//a bit childish,// |
| M1007 |
//Embarrassed,// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
//aye that's right.// |
| M1008 |
//so you then//
[inaudible]
probably again the influence of |
| M1007 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
well in my case radio rather than anything else or perhaps other people
using the word mum. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
But, oh yes I like the sound of that
//and and it became// |
| M1055 |
//Aye.// |
| M1008 |
mum. |
| M1007 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
Ehm, |
| M1055 |
[?]See there[/?], one one w-w- word that eh I often heard in, where I was brought up in South Uist, they they they they wouldn't say mummy they'd say mammy.
//Mammy.// |
| M1008 |
//Mammy yes.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
That's what we would use too.
//And you would say tha mi// |
| M1008 |
//Uh-huh.// |
| M1007 |
[?]doill-se air[/?] er
tha mi [?]doicheall bha[/?] mammy, I'm going to tell my mammy about
//you,// |
| M1008 |
//That's right.// |
| M1007 |
if you were getting somebody who is giving you a hiding. |
| M1008 |
Yes. |
| M1055 |
A- and that would, in English it would be mammy as well. |
| M1007 |
//Mammy yes// |
| M1008 |
//Yes.// |
| M1007 |
yeah, very much so. |
| M1008 |
I think that's probably the case with myself as well, it was mam,
mammy. |
| M1007 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| F1009 |
Mm I I remember
the day I changed from calling my mother mummy to the day I decided to try mum for a change.
And i- it went erm, well
unremarked, I don't know if it went unnoticed.
//But I// |
| M1008 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
felt it was a bit of a a rite of passage.
//[laugh] I'd suddenly become// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
a a teenager.
//Uh yes.// |
| M1008 |
//How old were you then?// |
| F1009 |
//Mm I think I was twelve,// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//Were ye aye, yeah.// |
| F1009 |
//yes, yes.//
//I thought I would I would risk it. [laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//Yes. [inaudible]// |
| M1055 |
I think that's us gone through through all the words that were there. Erm. |
| F1009 |
There's male. |
| M1055 |
It's just been pointed out to me that we didn't do male partner. Iona? |
| F1009 |
I would tend to use husband er again whether or not
eh there was an actual marriage, eh, boyfriend I suppose. |
| M1007 |
Bodach grànnda maybe?
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
Yes, husband or partner would would suffice for me as well. |
| M1055 |
Bodach grànnda is never used.
//It means// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
a horrible old man.
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
Yes I agreed eh man,
partner possibly if it was such, boyfriend,
which sometimes equals partner as well.
Ehm
man, partner, boyfriend, yes that's it. |
| M1007 |
In Dwelly it was that the the emphasis has always been on, on good English
and where it was taught it was good plain English that we were taught.
And it very much carried on throughout our lifetimes. |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
Took a while to teach us the English but then when they did teach us the English we [inhale]we seemed to have grasped it and eh the accent has always been quite quite straightforward and I think when you've,
when I find that particularly [inhale] eh pointed is when you meet some foreigners
[inhale] and you start talking to them they say that our our ehm speech is much slower than that of people in the central belt and they can understand us a lot eh more clearly than they can |
| M1008 |
Mmhm. |
| M1007 |
eh in the rest of Scotland.
An I, an I've often found that quite interesting. |
| M1008 |
Mm. |
| M1007 |
An I've spoken to many people from all over the [inhale] all over Europe,
and when you're starting to when you're trying to discuss something with them and they haven't got a lot of English
it's very easy I think for them to understand what we're saying,
because we tend to speak rather slowly. |
| F1009 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
Yes.
Yes I agree entirely with that, I've had the same experience with [inhale] you know, you might give a,
hitch-hikers a lift or something like that [inhale]
and eh they often make that point that eh they find you much easier to understand than eh
eh people either in England or in anywhere else in the rest of Scotland.
[inhale]
And ah I think it is for the reasons that that Alastair eh stated that ehm
tsk er
particularly the older generation among
[laugh] whom I class myself of course, ehm
you know we had fewer influences to to influence our
//pronunciation,// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1008 |
and eh the only influence I can think of that influenced my pronunciation if it did,
would be radio, we didn't even have a television.
I mean I was about twelve I think when we got our first radio set, eleven or twelve. |
| M1055 |
Uh-huh. |
| M1008 |
And you didn't hear any voices except those within your own community,
and eh the main English speakers you heard were either in school, |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
or in church. |
| M1007 |
Yeah. |
| M1008 |
And ehm both these would be speaking standard English |
| M1055 |
Mmhm. |
| M1008 |
and ehm
for that reason I suppose we, we we have fewer
non-standard expressions you might get in other parts of the world.
But I think the influences now
eh on young people, on young people in this part of the world,
and the other thing you have to remember of course is that erm there's been a huge ehm
tsk number of er people from other areas of the UK coming into
//like.// |
| F1009 |
//Mmhm.// |
| M1055 |
Okay this is a story from Falkirk apparently |
| F1009 |
[inhale]
Well it's a story from Dunvegan really, but eh we used to have some friends from the Falkirk area who used to come up and stay with us,
every year er in the summertime and
they had a very very strong accent, very strong central Scots accent and Sandy had been playing outside and came running in, very windy day,
came running in and he said to my mother
"Yer streetchers fa'in doon - yer claes in the grun."
And we all looked at the poor boy blankly, and he repeated himself again
//"Yer streetchers fa'in doon - yer claes in the grun."// |
| M1055 |
//Mmhm.// |
| F1009 |
[inhale]
And we were still making absolutely nothing of it we had to say, right slow it down Sandy and
"Yer, streetchers fa'in doon,
an yer claes are on the grun."
Oh right we've got it now, it meant your clothes pole has fallen down and your clothes
//are on the ground. [laugh] And he just// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| F1009 |
stomped his foot and looked so put out and said
"Youse are aw too polite."
//[laugh]// |
| M1007 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1008 |
//[laugh]// |
| M1055 |
//[laugh]// |
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