Glasgow patter

Glaswegian or The Glasgow Patter is a Scots dialect spoken in and around Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to local West Mid Scots, the dialect has Highland English and Hiberno-English influences,^[1] owing to the speech of Highlanders and Irish people, who migrated in large numbers to the Glasgow area in the 19th and early 20th centuries.^[2]

The Patter is used widely in everyday speech in Glasgow, and even occasionally in broadcasting and print. It is constantly evolving and being updated with new euphemisms as well as nicknames for well-known local figures and buildings.

In the media

Michael Munro wrote a guide to Glasgow Patter entitled The Patter, first published in 1985. With illustrations by David Neilson, and later by the Paisley-born artist and playwright John Byrne, the book became very popular in Glasgow. It was followed by The Patter - Another Blast in 1988, with The Complete Patter, an updated compendium of the first and second books, being published in 1996.

In the 1970s, the Glasgow-born comedian Stanley Baxter parodied the patter on his television sketch show. "Parliamo Glasgow" was a spoof programme in which Baxter played a language coach and various scenarios using Glaswegian dialogue were played out for laughs.

Jamie Stuart, a Church of Scotland elder from the High Carntyne Church, produced "A Glasgow Bible" in 1997, relating some biblical tales in the Glaswegian vernacular.

Popular Scottish television comedies such as Rab C. Nesbitt, Chewin' the Fat, Still Game and Limmy's Show also provide reference material, and have themselves contributed popular new expressions to The Patter.

Influence from Cockney

Studies have indicated that working-class adolescents in areas such as Glasgow have begun to use certain aspects of Cockney and other Anglicisms in their speech,^[3] infiltrating the traditional Glasgow patter.^[4] For example, th-fronting is commonly found, and typical Scottish features such as the post-vocalic /r/ are reduced,^[5] although this last feature is more likely to be a development of Central Belt Scots origin, unrelated to Anglo-English nonrhoticity.^[6] Researches suggest the use of English speech characteristics is likely to be consequential on the influence of London and South East England accents which feature prominently on television.^{[7][8][9][10]}

References

External links

• Glesca Glossary, fairly thorough online dictionary
• Glasgow Dialect
• A series of articles on the Glasgow dialect on the Scots Language Centre website
• Lexicon Planet, featuring excerpts from The Patter
• The Online Scots Dictionary