"Close Encounters with English Dialects"

The glow I feel upon returning from a fifteen day trip to Europe surrounds me as I reflect on the people, sights, and memories that are still hovering in my mind.  Four days in London, England, staying with a longtime friend, five days on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, in a hotel with an ocean view, one too short day and night in Inverness, Scotland, and three nights in downtown Dublin, Ireland. What I especially enjoyed was the opportunity to hear the English language spoken in a variety of ways.

The term "dialect" for many people has a negative connotation as in, "I speak proper English; he speaks a dialect."  But for linguists, dialects are merely alternate forms of a language.  They all communicate meaning to their speakers equally well.  I was fortunate enough to hear the English language as spoken by the English, the Scots and the Irish.  Naturally, within these dialects, many variations exist, depending on factors such as region, socioeconomic status, education, and age of speakers.  I listened very closely for choices in pronunciation, grammar usage, and word selection that differed from my own dialect of English, which is West Texan.

Iconic London phone booth

The first time I visited London many years ago, I found myself embarrassed by my Texas accent.  It seemed to me that everyone in Britain sounded much more sophisticated than I did. I am pretty much over that neurosis, although I did notice that some speakers express themselves more formally than I do, and at greater length.  I also found myself wishing some of the English had a volume button that I could turn up.  Texans, in contrast, generally speak rather loudly!  And, yes, the English really do use "whilst"  (pronounced with a long "i" ) for our American "while."

I picked up several expressions in London that I intend to add to my vocabulary.  One is the very useful phrase "off the boil" which describes the optimum point of boiling water for making tea or coffee.  (My husband Wayne and I had been burning our coffee for years until we realized that we should not allow the kettle to reach full steam.) I heard the word "rubbish" used frequently to make a negative statement about something, as in "You sure do watch a lot of rubbish on the tele."  I found the phrase 'bin it" to mean "throw it away" short and useful.  And I loved buying a "concessionaire" ticket instead of a "senior ."  So much more dignified!    

Harbor at Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland

The next stop on the journey, the Highlands of Scotland, was a delight in so many ways, language being only one of them.  Twice I gave my breakfast order as "oatmeal" instead of "porridge," even though I knew better.  I loved what several speakers did to the "r" sound in "Granny."  It wasn't an American "r," nor a Spanish rolled "r," but more of a tap sound.  I was asked by a kind church lady, "When are you going away?"  I was taken a bit aback until I realized that she was just asking how long I would be staying on Skye.  An American couple at a B&B confided that they had taken a great tour of the Highlands and had understood about 60% of what their guide had said. Wayne congratulated them on that high percentage!  The beautiful Scottish dialect is still playing in my head.

Guinness Brewery, Dublin, Ireland

I was very excited to arrive in Dublin, Ireland, where Irish is an official language, because I have been studying Irish (Gaelic) on Duolingo for about a year.  All signs were in both Irish and English, which was a good thing, because I understood very little Irish!  Irish is a Celtic language and differs considerably from English and Latin-based languages, such as French and Spanish.  A shopkeeper gave me some interesting information about Irish. She said that she had studied Irish in school, but that each class had been given by a teacher with a different Irish dialect, so she never achieved any proficiency. The English dialect spoken by the Irish has what I might describe as a soft lilt, which may be the influence of the lyrical Irish language.

Experiencing English language dialects spoken in three different countries was a language aficionado's dream come true.  I feel fortunate to be a native speaker of a language that can accommodate different spoken accents, varying grammar usages, and a wealth of individual vocabulary while still allowing its speakers to communicate (well, usually!).