Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: An Irish acquaintance of mine...

I met some weeks ago an Irish woman who teaches English to Italian students 
at my university. I have talked to her several times now and I wondered 
whether her way of speaking / accent shows some tipical Irish traits. 
Actually, she is half-Irish and half Scottish, she grew up in Northern 
Ireland, she spent some ten years or so in the US and finally she moved to 
Italy some years ago and married an Italian.
This is what i noticed:
1) All Rs are always pronounced regardless of their position (as AmEn). I 
think this is the most striking difference compared to RP English.
2) I'd say that vowels sounds are essentially British, for example the "o" 
in God is like the British one, not the American.
3) Some words are pronounced in a non-RP way, and often in the American way:
schedule /skedUl/ not /Sedju:l/
either, neither with /i:/ and not /aI/
can't is /kAnt/ not /ka:nt/
"were" is pronounced like "where"
Are these traits common among Irishmen?
Regards, Lorenzo 

 "were" is pronounced like "where"
This is fine in RP, according to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
(which only represents words as pronounced in RP, doesn't it?), though
[w3:] is *way* commoner in my experience.
[...]
On BBC4 there are lots of interviews. You might want to listen to Irish
poet Seamus Heaney and Irish writer Roddy Doyle.
Bye, FB
-- 
"Are you sure an embryo parson should have a plane?"
"Everyone should have a plane!"
(Cold Comfort Farm, the film)

 poet Seamus Heaney and Irish writer Roddy Doyle.
Here:
http://snipurl.com/cibh
http://snipurl.com/cibk
Bye, FB
-- 
"Suppose I say I'm not interested."
"Does five hundred dollars interest you?"
"Very much."
"Then bring it: it's an expensive restaurant".
(The Cheap Detective)


As the son of a woman from Galway and a man from Cork, I can tell you
that the varieties of speech among the Irish vary from county to
county.
My mother's speech was very hurried, which made my father's speech
seem very slow in comparison. My friends had difficulty understanding
my mother.
One thing I have noticed about the speech of people from Northern
Ireland is that it is often lilting, with a tendency to end sentences
with a rising intonation, almost as if each sentence were a question.
This is also true in some places in the South.
In New York City, there are many Irish immigrants, and whenever I meet
an Irish person, I always ask them where they are from. I recently
spoke to a woman from County Louth, who had a very pleasing accent.
I don't think that you can generalize about Irish accents, since they
are very varied. Just like my own American English accent, which is
probably unique to me, having spent nearly ten years outside the
United States, in Europe and Asia, and having lived in the South and
Midwest for a number of years. This means that my Northeast accent is
not a typical accent of my region, but is unique to me.
The same could be said of my Italian accent, since I spent 2 years in
Polentonia, and 3 years in Pummarolia. :>)
Streaming TV from Ireland
http://www.irelandlivetelevision.tv/
Joe from Massachusetts

Giò
A man has dreams of walking with giants,
to carve his niche in the edifice of time.
Before the mortar of his zeal
has a chance to congeal
the cup is dashed from his lips,
the flame is snuffed aborning.

poet Seamus Heaney and Irish writer Roddy Doyle.
You might want to download Sinead O'Connor's Molly Malone.
Or Cranberries song, for that way.


typical (although the use of the word "typical" is dangerous)
So typical of your kind, to twist the truth to cloud the mind with
unholy thoughts. Well, no matter.
(Sorry, I couldn't help it)


 far from this "provincial" way of talking.
Seamus Heaney, who says "dòz" for "does", for example, teaches, or taught,
at Oxford...
[...]
Bye, FB
-- 
Io ho deciso di rifiutarmi di vederlo: Ettore con la faccia di Eric Banana
mi fa venire i conati.
(commento sul film "Troy" apparso su it.fan.scrittori.tolkien)

at Oxford...
What does ( or did) she teaches? Maybe not English.


 What does ( or did) she teaches? Maybe not English.
Poetry, I think: he's a poet. David Lodge, who did teach English, at
Birmingham, also doesn't speak perfect RP.
Bye, FB
-- 
"I saw something nasty in the woodshed!"


Giņ


 So they say...
So George Bernard Shaw said, and, er, listen to him:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/shawg1.shtml
Bye, FB
-- 
Nasalization is just a part of life.
(Joey DoWop Dee on it.cultura.linguistica.inglese)

Giň



I don't think that a song would be of much use to me; usually, I am unable
to tell whether a singer is British, American or whatever...


what are you waiting for, then? Plug in your mike and give this NG a good
taste of your own accent, both in English and in Italian! FB will be pleased
too, I'm sure :-)
thanks again
Lorenzo

Giņ


 too, I'm sure :-)
Sure. We've heard Joey [1], who comes from New England but lives in New
York; now we want to hear Joe, who comes from New York but lives in New
England.
[1] Has Ketzl played some other trick on him? I can't help picturing him in
the fridge at the morgue, knocking and swearing (WhadamIdoinhee?
Getmeouddahee!!)!!
Bye, FB
-- 
"Che cos'è un fallo da tergo? E non stiamo parlando della tua vita
privata."
(Intervista della Gialappa's Band a Elisabetta Canalis)

 Getmeouddahee!!)!!
[1] I really think it has something to do with his geographical
location, very close to the US Headquarters of that secretive group
which has recently received bad publicity from the book, "The Da Vinci
Code". As you may recall, at one time we were all able to view him
cavorting merrily with his cat on the balcony, thanks to the North
Webcam on the Empire State Building. Also visible was a small piece of
the above-mentioned building. And after we had discussed his proximity
to that building, suddenly the North Webcam ceased functioning,
depriving us of our view of the famous high-rise building. That Webcam
has been mysteriously out of service for months now. I am not
paranoid, but......  :>(
Joe from Massachusetts


credo che Bon Jovi parli in un modo che non è tipico il americano. Direi che
è americano solo per esclusione...
che cce devo fa', so' de coccio...

Giò


 Sì, ma loro sono proprio inglesi di lì. Basta vedere Robin Williams.
You mean Robbie, don't you?
Ciao,
Anna

Giň


 wrote in message
news:1PRNd.33549$2h5....@tornado.fastwebnet.it...

If he were from York and not Stoke, maybe you could have said "You
mean the Dork from York, not Mork from Ork".  :>).

 ma non si chiama Robin, per gli amici Robbie?
No, č nato Robert, ma il suo nome d'arte č Robbie.
-- 
Mary

Giň


Giò



What's a "nano-nano"? A nano "nanoo-nanoo".  :>)
Joe from Massachusetts

Giņ
