About the second part of your first question: could it just be a combination of "how comes you always drink so much?" and "why do you always drink so much
( ... )
Seriously, I'm always interested in studies about langauge and language usage BUT, in this case, I was really more interested in knowing about how/where these things are used because I'd not come across them before. So your answer was perfect!
Just to clarify, though, I wasn't actually assuming any ellipsis, I just used that as a way to explain that, semantically speaking, I don't have any trouble understanding its use in the first two examples. It really is that third one that I find curious because it's performing a completely different function.
Also, I'm not for a moment doubting that that's how it's used, I'm just interested in knowing why it happened. I'm curious like that
( ... )
Re: naedy, I've never heard it said compeltely without the middle syllable. In Glasgow you'll hear 'naebdy' ten times over for correct English 'nobody', but personally I've never encountered 'naedy'. Of course with the speed at which Glaswegians speak you might be quite right and they may indeed have dropped the b in this instance. As for 'how' replacing 'why', that's also extremely extremely common, so though I've never heard it used in the sense of your example, it makes sense, since how has become practically synonymous for why.
I'm Glaswegian myself so can't really comment on other parts of Scotland. Hope it helps! I love the idea of someone being interested in the way people speak here. Having said that, quite proud to hail from the city with, in the words of Lonely Planet, "the most difficult dialect to decipher in the English language."
What show was it you were watching, incidentally? Rab C Nesbitt?
That's so weird because I find Glaswegian Scottish really easy to understand! (a result of childhood practice with my Granny, perhaps!) Clearly, Lonely Planet staff are big whiny babies... ;D
I've only ever seen one or two episodes of Rab C Nesbitt (funny!) Actually, it was Takin' Over the Asylum that I was watching and I really enjoyed it - especially as someone who has worked in a psychiatric institution. I thought it achieved a good balance, in terms of representing the fact that institutions are often overzealous and/or under-resourced in their attempts to protect both society and patients but also the fact that sometimes people have really serious problems for which there are no easy solutions. Add to that the fact that the cast was compiled of excellent actors and that the programme was frequently hilarious and you've got a winner!
It also happened to be the first time I'd really noticed either of the above linguistic characteristics, which is what prompted meto ask about them here.
I don't recall hearing either of those Glaswegianisms (?) during my eight months in the Highlands. Though most of the Scottish people I spoke to regularly were actually from Aberdeen, so I couldn't say whether it is specifically Glaswegian or just something not used in Aberdeen.
But Scots and Scottish English are not the same thing. I didn't hear a lot of Scots while I lived in Scotland, since I was in the Highlands, but I did hear some. Scottish English, while it certainly had regional features such that I could tell who was from Aberdeen, who was from the Highlands, who was from Glasgow and who was from Edinburgh, was markedly different from Scots, as well as from English English.
All speech can be classified within a continuum, from Scottish Standard English to "Braid Scots" (something very rarely experienced outside some literature): e.g. the speech of someone speaking Standard Scottish English from Morningside in Edinburgh has Scots influence, but most likely not nearly as much as that of someone from Livingston.
...and even because many Scottish display competence in both SSE AND "Scots", each person's version of both will vary slightly.
There are those who want to call Scots a distinct language, but it's usually. only for nationalistic/soctial/political purposes
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Seriously, I'm always interested in studies about langauge and language usage BUT, in this case, I was really more interested in knowing about how/where these things are used because I'd not come across them before.
So your answer was perfect!
Just to clarify, though, I wasn't actually assuming any ellipsis, I just used that as a way to explain that, semantically speaking, I don't have any trouble understanding its use in the first two examples.
It really is that third one that I find curious because it's performing a completely different function.
Also, I'm not for a moment doubting that that's how it's used, I'm just interested in knowing why it happened. I'm curious like that ( ... )
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I'm Glaswegian myself so can't really comment on other parts of Scotland. Hope it helps! I love the idea of someone being interested in the way people speak here. Having said that, quite proud to hail from the city with, in the words of Lonely Planet, "the most difficult dialect to decipher in the English language."
What show was it you were watching, incidentally? Rab C Nesbitt?
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Clearly, Lonely Planet staff are big whiny babies... ;D
I've only ever seen one or two episodes of Rab C Nesbitt (funny!)
Actually, it was Takin' Over the Asylum that I was watching and I really enjoyed it - especially as someone who has worked in a psychiatric institution. I thought it achieved a good balance, in terms of representing the fact that institutions are often overzealous and/or under-resourced in their attempts to protect both society and patients but also the fact that sometimes people have really serious problems for which there are no easy solutions.
Add to that the fact that the cast was compiled of excellent actors and that the programme was frequently hilarious and you've got a winner!
It also happened to be the first time I'd really noticed either of the above linguistic characteristics, which is what prompted meto ask about them here.
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In fact, in many ways most Highlanders speak "better" English than most people in England (thought that's not saying much).
(keep in mind only about 2 generations ago people there were earning English as a second language)
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...and even because many Scottish display competence in both SSE AND "Scots", each person's version of both will vary slightly.
There are those who want to call Scots a distinct language, but it's usually. only for nationalistic/soctial/political purposes
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