http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/the-history-of-the-glasgow-accent-explained-1-4013218 This is not a very good article to explain the whys and wherefores of how the Glasgow speech pattern came about. There was the notion right after the Great Famine (Gorta Mor 1845-49) when a huge influx of Irish descended on Glasgow that such would change the Glasgow way of speaking, and it did to some degree. There are certain regions in Lanarkshire, where many Irish came to work in the coal and steel industry who have left their linguistic mark. Youse is used commonly in some sections of Glasgow/Lanarkshire and in such as NYC and NJ, where there was a huge influx of Irish after the Great Famine and afterwards. Whether the influence of the Irish is to blame or not, there is also a strong tendency among some Glaswegians to drop the ‘t’ in words such as bottle---bo’le, and Saturday--- Sa’urday. Linguistically it is referred to as a glottal stop, but in Glasgow such ‘talkers’ would have been accused of swallying (pronounced as in dallying) their lazy tongues! London Cockneys omit the middle t in button, as another example, whereas most American speakers ‘glide over’ many middle consonants, but not quite a glottal stop: Connecticut sounds like Conne’ticut and Maryland is Marilyn, as examples. The word youse, as in the plural for you, is considered by some to be from Old English, borrowed from the French vous. This plural form of you didn’t catch on in the American South where y’all is the preferred usage. More than a few Ulster Irish have been influenced by the Central Belt region, especially Glasgow/Lanarkshire. We hear it on the Scottish side of the North Channel as being a distinctively Irish way of speaking, but to most Irish Ulstermen are easily recognised as having their tongue brought over from ‘across the watter!” Some in Wigtown, almost across the border from England via the Solway Firth, oddly enough have a strong Irish inflection, harking back to the influence of Dal Riata and the busy comings and goings of both Irish and Scots. It’s been an ongoing linguistic journey, but no matter what the academics write, “Glasgow Belongs to Me” and so does its patter! Maisie

What great information! I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the '50s and learned that Pittsburgers had their own slang, called Pittsburghese. They (I was never permitted to use the slang) said *youse* and *yuns*. I had it explained to me that *youse* was singular and* yuns* was plural. Now I can imagine the origin of the word. There were many Irish immigrants in the Pittsburgh area, my Mum's family being some of them. Thanks Maisie. Jeannette On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 2:13 PM, Maisie Egger via <lanark@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/the-history-of-the-glasgow-accent-explained-1-4013218 > > This is not a very good article to explain the whys and wherefores of how > the Glasgow speech pattern came about. > > There was the notion right after the Great Famine (Gorta Mor 1845-49) when > a huge influx of Irish descended on Glasgow that such would change the > Glasgow way of speaking, and it did to some degree. There are certain > regions in Lanarkshire, where many Irish came to work in the coal and steel > industry who have left their linguistic mark. > > Youse is used commonly in some sections of Glasgow/Lanarkshire and in such > as NYC and NJ, where there was a huge influx of Irish after the Great > Famine and afterwards. Whether the influence of the Irish is to blame or > not, there is also a strong tendency among some Glaswegians to drop the ‘t’ > in words such as bottle---bo’le, and Saturday--- Sa’urday. Linguistically > it is referred to as a glottal stop, but in Glasgow such ‘talkers’ would > have been accused of swallying (pronounced as in dallying) their lazy > tongues! London Cockneys omit the middle t in button, as another example, > whereas most American speakers ‘glide over’ many middle consonants, but not > quite a glottal stop: Connecticut sounds like Conne’ticut and Maryland is > Marilyn, as examples. > > The word youse, as in the plural for you, is considered by some to be from > Old English, borrowed from the French vous. This plural form of you > didn’t catch on in the American South where y’all is the preferred usage. > > More than a few Ulster Irish have been influenced by the Central Belt > region, especially Glasgow/Lanarkshire. We hear it on the Scottish side of > the North Channel as being a distinctively Irish way of speaking, but to > most Irish Ulstermen are easily recognised as having their tongue brought > over from ‘across the watter!” Some in Wigtown, almost across the border > from England via the Solway Firth, oddly enough have a strong Irish > inflection, harking back to the influence of Dal Riata and the busy comings > and goings of both Irish and Scots. > > It’s been an ongoing linguistic journey, but no matter what the academics > write, “Glasgow Belongs to Me” and so does its patter! > > Maisie > > ------------------------------- > > 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