The NORTHERN IRISH ACCENT | Expressions, Pronunciation, History

[@MarcioSilva-ssiillvvaa]

Thank you for exposing us to such a rich variety Gideon! Big up for the Undertones track!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

cheers. A big fan of the Undertones.

[@БогданКостюченко-ц4о]

It was Van Morrison at the end of the video. His "Brown Eyed Girl", to be exact: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4uQh4ikfsqbn5osi=BQ_f6JoGEcQrQncb

[@gerardodwyer5908]

Northern Irish "lingo" has the musical quality and speech flow of a Western Norwegian speaking midlands Swedish.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

interesting

[@accaeffe8032]

As a Norwegian speaker from Hordaland, I completely agree. I've worked with Swedish people and most of them who have been living here (Belfast) for a while and got here relatively young, speak the local accent quite like the natives.

[@accaeffe8032]

I agree. I've been working with Swedish people for quite some time. If they've been living here for a few years and got here relatively young, they speak like the natives.

[@paulowens6004]

Funny I came upon this video. I'm a taxi driver and just three or four days ago I was talking to a young man from Norway which had only been living here in Northern Ireland less than a year. I couldn't believe it when he told me that. His accent reminded me of someone who had been living here 20 or thirty years. It was very similar to the local accent.

[@kida1244]

and often of Veneto Region in North East Italy

[@gaufrid1956]

I was born and lived up to age 60 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was common for people to say things like "Are youse comin' now?". I just thought it was poor knowledge of correct English, but likely it's due to the fact that there were many Irish immigrants to Australia. In fact, my maternal grandmother's family were of Irish descent. Dropping the final "g" in words ending with "ing" is extremely common. The other notable strange usage of words is to say "Yeah nah" to mean "no", and "nah yeah" to mean "yes". Also it's pretty common to seek affirmation by ending a sentence with "eh?". That's weird, eh?

[@isabelatence7035]

Hi Gideon! Bout ye, Firstly your style is cool, this series is super prime, you always bring lots of new things to your followers. The stories and expressions are very interesting. Brazilian students specializing in English are destined for Ireland, the country has incredible landscapes too, it's always a pleasure to watch their videos. Your way is fantastic, it always works. Thanks! To your guests, thanks!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Bout ye! I confess I've never been to Northern Ireland that's why I needed some help with this one so thanks to Alister. I'm glad you liked it, it's a very rich and beautiful accent.

[@isabelatence7035]

@@LetThemTalkTV I agree with you, Alister is necessary

[@meteoman7958]

@@LetThemTalkTV Your videos are always fantastic.

[@johnpowell9174]

When Gideon opened with ‘bout ye’ I thought he had said failte!

[@isabelatence7035]

@@johnpowell9174 Bout ye "how are you doing?" failte "welcome" 😉

[@gustavoabreu3097]

As a Brazilian I can relate to the "wee" term, we use -inho which is a diminutive, I think it just makes the phrase more friendly.

[@amherst88]

Wonderful as always Gideon and the Undertones too!!! ❤🧡💛

[@jerrychetty2524]

Loved watching this from south africa

[@auldfouter8661]

One accent that gets criminally ignored is the Galloway Irish accent found in Wigtownshire and the extreme south of Ayrshire. I've yet to see any reference to it in all these accent videos on KZbin. As a retired dairy farmer I was very familiar with it as this is a major area of dairy farming in Scotland.

[@deetvleet]

you should make a video if you want

[@ElderNames]

Baltic is a sea as well, which extends far north and is very cold at some times of the year.

[@scotbotvideos]

I can confirm that here in Scotland we oftentimes use the word 'wee' in the same way as Alister does. Also, 'houl yer whist' in Scots would be 'haud yer wheest' or just 'wheest' (for short).

[@myouatt5987]

Loved the vid! As a Southern English person, still coming to terms with, and thinking about, the use of Scots English in Inverness, it was fascinating to hear similar terms in this vid. Obviously people use 'aye', 'you/yous' and 'swalley' (the Ulster Scots bit in your video) ... 'Howd your wheesht' was good as I've heard that up here. The 'bout ye' bit was interesting, especially as people from the Black Isle (near Inverness) and others, sometimes use 'How's the day?' ... meanwhile, a local guy from Shetland would have a totally different interpretation about the word 'fry'! (= surplus fish left on the dock side from fishing vessels for people to help theselves to!😄). Cheers all/enjoy the diversity of English!

[@kevanhubbard9673]

The Donegal accent is very similar although some years ago i met a girl from Donegal and originally i thought that she was a Geordie!

[@keithdavies52]

This runs over. I grew up a fair bit in the Southern US, seemingly a lot of Scottish and Irish heritage. Often "yes" and "no" , when I was young, weren't used as often as phrases like " I do believe" for yes, or "I don't reckon so" for no, and many other variations for the affirmative or negative. Simple "yes" or "no" wasn't common, in my recollection. But to correct someone would often sound like " naw, son". I still have it, to some extent, though I lost the accent a long time ago. I still rarely use yes and no to answer a question. Habit of speech

[@jamesoneill2933]

Yes that distinctive North Antrim twang is clearly evident in some of the southernmost states ,as well as turns of phrase , not only that but it's a perhaps a lesser known fact that , the boy in the banjo scene ,in the 70's movie 'Deliverance' was in reality, believed to be the secret lovechild of the late Rev , Ian Kyle Paisley and Iris (younguns) Robinson.

[@cillianennis9921]

If you come from the Hillbilly areas of the US then its likely that heritage is mostly Ulster Scots which is the group of Scottish people who came to northern Ireland. The term Hill billy comes from the fact that the people lived up in the mountains of that coast & the billy comes from the connection of Ulster to William of orange or King billy. Red Neck also comes from Irish people due to the burnt necks from being in the fields in sunny days.

[@keithdavies52]

@@cillianennis9921 I have actually heard a just as plausible origin of the term "redneck". It was field workers, but it was the wet red bandanas they tied around their necks. Din't matter if it was Irish or African-American, or whomever. Both plausible, but not arguing one or the other.

[@jamesoneill2933]

@@keithdavies52 @cillianennis9921 The demographic to which you refer, who subsequently became, Hillbillies , had not , came , from Britain, but rather were , expelled, under the orders of James I or VI , these people were a nomadic demographic, and neither considered themselves Scottish nor English as we would understand either. Their, largely lawless lifestyle , necessitated extended forays either side of Hadrian's wall and , as livestock rustling was punishable by summary hanging, many of those who evaded justice or deportation to Ireland took to the high seas as ,pirates, in what was essentially a forerunner of the Royal navy , and conditional to sharing their booty with the Crown , were pardoned, (buccaneers) eventually. While their landlocked counterparts in Ireland applied their criminal bent upon the native Irish, where the very same surnames Adair , Moore , Ogile etc are to be found , plying their entrepreneurial diversities ( Drugs) to this very day.

[@OceanChild75]

Great video, as always! ❤️ I love the fact it was filmed in 3 gos (goes)? It shows how dedicated you are. Scousers always say "it’s Baltic", I thought said it all across the UK but it may just be something they got from the Irish community

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks I'm glad you liked the video. Yes, I made 3 videos in one. That's why it took so long since the last one. FYI we don't say "Baltic" in London because the weather is always warm and sunny there so no need for such a word.

[@OceanChild75]

@@LetThemTalkTV haha!! I love saying that Northerners carry the sun in their heart 😉

[@22poopoo]

Me too actually. I call cold weather baltic and I'm from Hampshire! Maybe I picked it up from coronation Street?! But it's deffo used elsewhere in Britain too.

[@danyalee777]

Thank you, teacher!

[@SJ-ov8bv]

Beezer!

[@zaynababbas99]

Thank you very much you’ve taught me a lot about the cockney accent. Please I need more of the cockney videos 🙋🏻‍♀️🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@LetThemTalkTV]

blimey!

[@yahouallavoix4512]

Thanks for all of these very interesting insights.🚀

[@auldfouter8661]

There was an Irishman called George Huggard who used to come to our farm at weekends ( he was a miner through the week ) to dig drains. He was a human mole who could dig amazing lengths of drains in all weathers and I would go in the car with my Dad when he ran George home in the evening. George would often pepper his conversation with the phrase " a wee little ".

[@erkkinho]

Diminutive carries an affective meaning in Spanish and Portuguese.

[@erkkinho]

In Portuguese they normally repeat they use the affirmative the same way. "falas português? - falo"

[@garymacdonald7165]

Irish Gaelic is basically the same as Scottish gaelic (Ireland brought it over) with plenty of changes over the years!

[@auldfouter8661]

My grandmother ( from Falkirk , central Scotland ) once offered a man the use of a magnifying glass and got the reply " Ah can dae better wantin it "

[@yahouallavoix4512]

😂

[@katrinstoetzel1873]

Very interesting, but would have loved an actual mention of Belfast musician Van Morrison (even if there's a bit of his music in the clip).

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Did you watch all the way through?

[@katrinstoetzel1873]

@@LetThemTalkTV yes. 🙂

[@elsmerdinsmore6018]

You can be scundered with the cold when the weather's baltic

[@akucbol]

Very helpful, insightful and informative! Cheers from London :)

[@blindknitter]

I love that you hear the blue lights in Belfast. That's how you know it's authentic.

[@massmanute]

One of my great grandmothers was born in approximately 1840 in a location that is located in what is now Northern Ireland. He surname was not typical of Ireland, and probably originated in England. However, it is my understanding that she self-identified as Irish, although she lived most of her adult life in the US.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you.

[@rockII1954]

We say yinz in Pittsburgh/western Pennsylvania for you plural. (Pennsyltucky). My Grandma saw the Titanic launched. Her teacher took the class

[@elberethvarda3611]

Lived in Northern Ireland in the late 1990s, but I sure can't remember "beezer" or "melter"! Never heard of these words. What I can remember was the ocals were called "culchies" in Fermanagh! Wee was used allt he times ans people wouldn't say 'Bout ye" but "How's about ye". This video prove sone thing: the English language, wherever you are, is changing very quickly, compared to French, f.ex. Nice video from both of yous.

[@FreakShop]

Feels like a good few of these are more related to Belfast or the Belfast area. I'm from the north west and there's quite a few differences.

[@stuartriddell2461]

I'm just outside Belfast, and I've never heard some of those expressions before.

[@erikadeslauriers3403]

Thanks

[@CricoKiss]

I lived in England for 3 years, and now I live in Norn Iron. No problems with the accent here so far. Today when I was asked my name, I swear I heard they saying: "Can I have your wee name?" It sounded funny (in the most respectful way) and friendly. Even in non-English contexts, it's normal to ask for things such as a "little bag", which in NI it would be a "wee bag". But I had no idea it could be used for literally anything: names, phone numbers, cards etc.

[@blindknitter]

It's affectionate or trying to be friendly. I've heard 'can I have yer wee name' at the doctor's surgery - they're trying to be friendly. 😊

[@blindknitter]

In Northern Ireland (or general Hiberno English) it would sound rude to just say bluntly 'yes' or 'no.' If you repeat back the verb your conversational partner at least knows you were listening.

[@rickebuschcatherine2729]

In Chinese, we used just a verbe for yes or negation + verb for no !

[@BeteBlanc]

I've noticed this vowel thing in a number of accents. Southern US accent and Irish both appear to do it. The pronunciation appears to be a morph of mashing or quickly moving from the short sound of the first vowel to second. In the US you get a word like oil, and if you listen and try to copy it, it sounds like a short o and a short i. When I've heard irish use a word like flour, I seem to her a quick transition from a short o to a short u. If I'm tryjng to mimic the accents, I've found it easier to do this. On the other hand there are some accents that appear to have grown from mashing the long versions of the vowels.

[@SteveOhw594]

The proper response to was the Titanic built in Belfast is "Aye it was so it was."

[@cillianennis9921]

Ulster English has like 8 main dialects Belfast, North down (bangor), South down, Derry, mid-ulster, North coast, south ulster, & Ballymena. You get multiple sub-dialects coming from how rural the person is adding to it so culty vs Towny then you add in Ulster scots & sometimes a bit of Irish influence. Northern Irish is tiny but somehow we have quite a large amount of accents. Edit: I'd like to add that its pretty hard to tell if someone if from certain parts of the country. Only Belfast, Ballymena & the rest of the country have it being easier to tell apart. Belfast accent sounds like someone holding their nose & if you say I'm from Belfast whilst holding yer nose it sounds pretty close. Also Ballymena because it sounds really welsh like. other than that most are pretty hard to tell apart maybe the North down one as it sounds more English & Portivogie area because its really ulster scots but most are hard to tell apart. Bar use of different terms.

[@nederlanditis8154]

Noteworthy might be that in Dutch the suffix "tje" is actually a diminutive. But with its frequent use it's fair to say it functions just like wee. One of your examples: Zou jij mij eventjes een handje kunnen lenen/ helpen? = Could you lend me/ give me a helping hand?

[@danielvanr.8681]

To add to the hilarity; while Afrikaans has the similar -tjie, it's always pronounced /ki/. Meaning that Afrikaans _kaartjie_ (ticket) sounds just like English _car key._ 😂

[@dobroplayer7]

I'm from the USA, but married to a Belfast girl. It's funny this vid reminded me of stuff I've forgotten. Funny thing, our kid can speak in both our accents. To me he'll say "dad ya wanna go downtown..." To his mum he'd say "mumma we goin daintain or wha" :) I'm to used to it all now, but funny to hear it explained in such detail! Thanks and good job!

[@HPPrinter-ux9tt]

Norn Iron

[@SJ-ov8bv]

Yeeoooooooo!

[@xMastJedi]

AAAAAA Finally! I know where BALTIC sea take a name! :) 17-18 Celsius degree in full summer time... :) Definetelly baltic :)

[@elementus2857]

Outside of Belfast scundered means bored/tired/annoy/fed up, only Belfast people use it to mean embarrassed.

[@Erik_Swiger]

Apparently, you say, "Baltic!" the same way Blackadder says, "Baldrick!"

[@PolygoneNative]

Colloquial NI English is probably like Sicilian Vs Italian. It's spoken amongst friends or family informally. In day to day life the English doesn't meaningfully differ from "standard English". The accent differential aside people from Northern Ireland wouldn't struggle to speak with or understand someone from England, Scotland, Wales , USA, Canada, Australia etc . The Northern Irish dialect was shaped by waves of movement between Western Scotland and what is present day northern Ireland starting in the early ads onwards.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

What happened to Zeitgeist banana channel ? Has it gone tits up? 🤔

[@LetThemTalkTV]

well...ehm...

[@andreasdavid2404]

As a German i would say that the irish accent influenced the american english very much, so for example the"werr" sound at the end of words in american english like power, twister with the er ending. Or for example "work", its like pronouncing like "wö" like the german "ö" sound, and then roll your tongue back and speak the "k". Like "betterw", its so typicsl for an american native speaker, in Germany we say "they are talking with a hot potato in their mouth". And the other thing is that the irish drop the "g" at the endings with "ing". Its like in anerican with givin', lookin', doin'. Its quite impressive but pretty understandable because the americans don't got their language from the indians, they got it from the british and the immigrants😅

[@smorrow]

Nope; all English was rhotic at that time

[@vwgolf1991]

Most American (and Canadian) English, is influenced by Lowland Scots and Ulster-Scots via the Borderers/Scots-Irish, along with the Pilgrims/Quakers from the Midlands (a lot of Danish influence) and Puritans from East Anglia (still very Anglo-Saxon/Germanic). All of these accents at the time were heavily rhotic, very rural ways of speaking. Non-rhotic speech can be heard mostly within the descendants of Cavaliers in Virginia (Anglo-Normans who's families originally came from Northern France) and throughout the deep south, but not in Appalachia or the Ozarks, where Scots-Irish rhoticity is still in effect. The true, Hibero-English accent of the Irish didn't influence Amero-Canadian accents much, since they came so much later, with the core ethno-linguistic groups already firmly in place, but the influence of the Scots-Irish, for good or ill, cannot be overestimated.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

The lesson was quite long that it made you grow a BEARD in the end 😃😃😀 Thanks ever so much Gideon your time, as well as your beezer lessons. I always find them rather interesting. As ever, pleasure to be here and seeing you as fit as a FLEA 😉 I have to see a man about a dog, so I am afraid I must love you and leave you. Stay mellow Gramarian! Ciao for now 👋 Greetings from Casablanca ❤

[@LetThemTalkTV]

cheers, it's always a pleasure...

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

PLEASURE is all mine! Catch you in the next one, hopefully SOON

[@ElderNames]

Accent should just be how you say phonemes. Accent plus idioms, grammar and vocabulary is dialect.

[@massexy]

That's correct according to linguistics. But for regular people it may be confusing as all those features are commonly considered to be characteristics of an accent

[@cillianennis9921]

I think the word wee is used more In Northern Irish English to less the impact of something. Like seeing You bitch is a pretty harsh insult but add wee it becomes kinda less insulting. You wee bitch. It also can mean cute like look at the wee dog. Even if its not really small. It basically has kinda context dependant meaning which really means its used to imply something based on context.

[@micheladonofrio2285]

You should know that it is not called Gaelic. It is either Irish or Gaeilge. Gaelic in Scotland (sounds like "gallic").

[@scotbotvideos]

Ghaidhlig.

[@micheladonofrio2285]

@@scotbotvideos Isn't it Gàidhlig and pronounced as I suggested?

[@scotbotvideos]

@@micheladonofrio2285 Yes and yes,

[@davidpryle3935]

@@micheladonofrio2285 So what about the GAA, Gaelic athletic association 🤔

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

Ah ! Look what the cat dragged in ! Good to see you again gaffer.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Good to see you too.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

You can't see me but I can see YOU ! I am your ghost student 👻

[@Ian8008]

This isn't "Northern Irish" so much as "Belfast". Belfast is a different country to the West of the province - some of those terms I've never heard of. When speaking to a person from Belfast I would struggle a little to understand him - different words and accent.

[@zhubajie6940]

Eastern Ohio uses youunz. W Penn. uses yinz.

[@Kfwki-ep6np]

Beezer

[@colincampbell4261]

Wee means tody.

[@tommytimtomtom]

The unabbreviated expression is "what about ye"

[@jeffreyhoward6319]

There are many similarities with Appalachian english.

[@colincampbell4261]

Bout ye - alright.

[@rickebuschcatherine2729]

It's the say in Chinese no yes or no word !

[@ProTantoQuid]

Only idiots think there is a "Northern Ireland" acceent. There is more than 1 accent in Belfast. Donegal accent is like the Derry accent, which is different to the Belfast accent.

[@SJ-ov8bv]

Could you kindly elaborate for the idiots then? What are the variations within Belfast? How is the Derry / Donegal accent different. Thank you for your assistance.

[@scotbotvideos]

Mid-Ulster: am I a joke to you?

[@accaeffe8032]

As far as I remember from my studies, Northern Irish English is a dialect and the Belfast, Ballymena etc. are accents of the Northern Irish dialect.

[@oisin_o_boyle]

Quite a difference between Donegal and Derry

[@brolol3136]

*come out ye black and tans* 😎

[@SJ-ov8bv]

We can't hear you behind your mask.

[@brolol3136]

@@SJ-ov8bv That's cool 😎

[@Bobical_iscool]

Soo funny 🤣🤣🤣

[@113prema]

You're talking heel ball's ointment. I.e. nonsense.

[@criostoirodriscoll5472]

Nothing complicated about it.

[@gertvil]

Northern Ireland is lreland.

[@SJ-ov8bv]

Viewers might be more likely to accept your suggestion if the spelling was correct.

[@Bobical_iscool]

I don't think this is a politics video buddy....

[@colincampbell4261]

Away wi ya.

[@Snuclear]

Bit misleading, theres no such thing as a language called ulster scots lol - its a dialect

[@ailishicks7426]

Nah it’s part of Ireland 🇮🇪 stolen by the British