Celia I am delighted to say that Matt Baker on Countryfile, is from County Durham, so a Wearsider rather than a Geordie. MUCH more refined ;-) So was my grandfather, and 80 years in Glasgow didn't mellow his Sunderland accent one bit! Having spent 35 years of my working life in London, and living in Surrey, I had to very quickly change my accent as no-one could understand me when I first moved south. It wasn't so much the strength of Glasgow accent, after all I was from Langside ;-) (that's Langside pronounced "Lengside"), but the baritone voice which made it sound much more guttural. I raised my voice an octave, slowed down a little and it mellowed by itself. I damaged my vocal chords doing this, so now that I'm approaching the time to hang my boots up, I am planning to drop my voice back to its normal octave. Enjoying the discussion - nice one Maisie. Edward On 14 January 2016 at 11:53, Celia Renshaw via <lanark@rootsweb.com> wrote: > Nivard, I think it's dialect rather than accent that usually causes > understanding issues. Here in my adopted county I love it when people > speak in one of the Derbyshire dialects but that wouldn't work for BBC > announcers or any other nationwide public service. I agree we need > clear understandable language for that, free of dialect that people > outside a particular location won't understand, but regional accents > with it are fine and dandy with me. My favourite is Geordie (eg. that > nice chap on Countryfile) - and I remember seeing the results of a > survey of call centre callers who voted for the accent they most liked > to hear when they rang up - and it was Geordie. > > Whereas someone speaking Geordie dialect... different matter. > Phrase-books and interpreters required. Judging by the fascinating > info posted here about Glasgow dialect, same applies with that, even > for me who had a Glasgow dad. But I feel sure the speakers of Geordie > and Glaswegian do nevertheless think they're speaking "properly" :) > > I don't watch the news these days so have no worries about desk or > no-desk - though I caught a few seconds of BBC news the other night, > and chap was behind a desk, like in olden times. > > Celia Renshaw > in Chesterfield, Derbyshire > > On 14 January 2016 at 10:29, Nivard Ovington via <lanark@rootsweb.com> > wrote: > > Hi Celia > > > > Light blue touch paper? > > > > Not at all, at least it wasn't my intention in any way, I mean speak > > properly in the accepted and general usage sense > > > > Meaning speak clearly with little or no accent so the majority of people > > can understand what that person is saying wherever that person is > > watching or listening from > > > > Apart from the left wing BBC and regional accents, in business if you > > were trying to get on and spoke with say a thick (meaning strong) > > Geordie accent you are *less* likely to get on than someone of similar > > ability who spoke without an accent > > (there will always be exceptions to the rule of course but in the main) > > > > Its just plain common sense > > > > I do not include myself in the "speaking proper" bracket as I have a > > Leicestershire accent, *I* don't think I do :-) but others certainly do > > > > I have no problem with speaking to others day to day in whatever accent > > or dialect they may have but for some things plain understandable speech > > is preferred, at least by me anyway > > > > I don't particularly mind regional accents for reading the news in the > > region they are from etc but prefer plain clear speech and I do wish > > they would put newsreaders back behind a desk, I hate them wandering all > > over the studio, they always look uncomfortable reporting whilst > > standing there > > > > Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > > > On 14/01/2016 09:28, Celia Renshaw via wrote: > >> "Speak properly" Nivard? Is that a deliberate lighting of the blue > touch-paper? > >> > >> I've been very happy in recent years to hear 'regional' accents on the > >> BBC - the programme announcers, local news journalists and so forth - > >> so if the BBC is anything to go by, as it always was (we used to talk > >> of BBC English), then regional accents ARE speaking properly these > >> days :) > >> > >> Celia Renshaw > >> Chesterfield, Derbyshire > > > > --- > > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > > > WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier > message. Be sure the reply to address shows as LANARK@Rootsweb.com. > > > > You may contact the List Admin at lanark-admin@rootsweb.com or click on > the following link to the list information page online: > > http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LANARK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ------------------------------- > > WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier > message. Be sure the reply to address shows as LANARK@Rootsweb.com. > > You may contact the List Admin at lanark-admin@rootsweb.com or click on > the following link to the list information page online: > http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LANARK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- *Edward*
In the years before he died, my Dad's Scots accent came more and more to the fore. He'd left his SW Scotland home in his 20s, gone to uni, joined the Merchant Navy, the Air Force then the Manchester Police Force and his lovely accent had been mellowed somewhat. Lovely then, in his last few years, to hear his home language return. Kathryn -----Original Message----- From: lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of edward paxton via Sent: Friday, 15 January 2016 4:38 AM To: Celia Renshaw; <LANARK@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [Lanark] Glasgow sound has stayed the same Celia I am delighted to say that Matt Baker on Countryfile, is from County Durham, so a Wearsider rather than a Geordie. MUCH more refined ;-) So was my grandfather, and 80 years in Glasgow didn't mellow his Sunderland accent one bit! Having spent 35 years of my working life in London, and living in Surrey, I had to very quickly change my accent as no-one could understand me when I first moved south. It wasn't so much the strength of Glasgow accent, after all I was from Langside ;-) (that's Langside pronounced "Lengside"), but the baritone voice which made it sound much more guttural. I raised my voice an octave, slowed down a little and it mellowed by itself. I damaged my vocal chords doing this, so now that I'm approaching the time to hang my boots up, I am planning to drop my voice back to its normal octave. Enjoying the discussion - nice one Maisie. Edward On 14 January 2016 at 11:53, Celia Renshaw via <lanark@rootsweb.com> wrote: > Nivard, I think it's dialect rather than accent that usually causes > understanding issues. Here in my adopted county I love it when people > speak in one of the Derbyshire dialects but that wouldn't work for BBC > announcers or any other nationwide public service. I agree we need > clear understandable language for that, free of dialect that people > outside a particular location won't understand, but regional accents > with it are fine and dandy with me. My favourite is Geordie (eg. that > nice chap on Countryfile) - and I remember seeing the results of a > survey of call centre callers who voted for the accent they most liked > to hear when they rang up - and it was Geordie. > > Whereas someone speaking Geordie dialect... different matter. > Phrase-books and interpreters required. Judging by the fascinating > info posted here about Glasgow dialect, same applies with that, even > for me who had a Glasgow dad. But I feel sure the speakers of Geordie > and Glaswegian do nevertheless think they're speaking "properly" :) > > I don't watch the news these days so have no worries about desk or > no-desk - though I caught a few seconds of BBC news the other night, > and chap was behind a desk, like in olden times. > > Celia Renshaw > in Chesterfield, Derbyshire > > On 14 January 2016 at 10:29, Nivard Ovington via <lanark@rootsweb.com> > wrote: > > Hi Celia > > > > Light blue touch paper? > > > > Not at all, at least it wasn't my intention in any way, I mean speak > > properly in the accepted and general usage sense > > > > Meaning speak clearly with little or no accent so the majority of > > people can understand what that person is saying wherever that > > person is watching or listening from > > > > Apart from the left wing BBC and regional accents, in business if > > you were trying to get on and spoke with say a thick (meaning > > strong) Geordie accent you are *less* likely to get on than someone > > of similar ability who spoke without an accent (there will always be > > exceptions to the rule of course but in the main) > > > > Its just plain common sense > > > > I do not include myself in the "speaking proper" bracket as I have a > > Leicestershire accent, *I* don't think I do :-) but others certainly > > do > > > > I have no problem with speaking to others day to day in whatever > > accent or dialect they may have but for some things plain > > understandable speech is preferred, at least by me anyway > > > > I don't particularly mind regional accents for reading the news in > > the region they are from etc but prefer plain clear speech and I do > > wish they would put newsreaders back behind a desk, I hate them > > wandering all over the studio, they always look uncomfortable > > reporting whilst standing there > > > > Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > > > On 14/01/2016 09:28, Celia Renshaw via wrote: > >> "Speak properly" Nivard? Is that a deliberate lighting of the blue > touch-paper? > >> > >> I've been very happy in recent years to hear 'regional' accents on > >> the BBC - the programme announcers, local news journalists and so > >> forth - so if the BBC is anything to go by, as it always was (we > >> used to talk of BBC English), then regional accents ARE speaking > >> properly these days :) > >> > >> Celia Renshaw > >> Chesterfield, Derbyshire > > > > --- > > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > > > WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier > message. Be sure the reply to address shows as LANARK@Rootsweb.com. > > > > You may contact the List Admin at lanark-admin@rootsweb.com or click > > on > the following link to the list information page online: > > http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LANARK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ------------------------------- > > WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier > message. Be sure the reply to address shows as LANARK@Rootsweb.com. > > You may contact the List Admin at lanark-admin@rootsweb.com or click > on the following link to the list information page online: > http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LANARK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- *Edward* ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as LANARK@Rootsweb.com. You may contact the List Admin at lanark-admin@rootsweb.com or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LANARK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message