Liverpool plans to celebrate its proud Scouse accent

Mar 18 2008

IT IS ONE of the most distinctive accents in the country, and Liverpool is set to celebrate it.

Celebrating Scouse is organised by the University of Liverpool to explore the region’s unique accent.

Language experts from Liverpool, Edinburgh and Lancaster Universi- ties will discuss the history and development of the accent, and its place in popular culture.

Liverpool composer John McHugh will play extracts from his composi- tion The Big Voice, an original piece of music based on Merseyside speech.

John interviewed and filmed more than 100 people on Merseyside, including school- children, football fans and pensioners, and set their speech patterns to music in a 40-minute film.

He will discuss whether this has produced music with a distinctive flavour of Merseyside.

“Research into the accent is just begin- ning to take off,” says Dr Andrew Hamer from the University of Liverpool. “Ten years ago there was no academic interest in it.”

Dr Hamer will discuss the work of local novelists Joan Jonker (correct) and Katie Flynn, and look at how they make fictional characters sound authentically Scouse.

The conference will look at the difficulty in describing the accent linguistically and at the problems in trying to trace its origins.

The Scouse accent was not identi- fied until the late 19th Century, but has grown stronger ever since. Its distinctive sound is the result of multiple accents, particularly Welsh, Irish, Scottish and Lancashire com- ing together in the city. Liverpool’s position as a port played an impor- tant role in bringing people with different dialects and vocabularies to the city.

The term ‘Scouse’ is derived from a dish of boiled meat and potatoes brought to the city by European sailors. It was originally called Lobscouse (correct) and over time this was shortened to scouse. Those who normally ate scouse were sailors, so they became known as Scousers. Eventually the name included everyone who lived in Liverpool.

The pronunciation of the letter K, P and TH are the most important characteristics of the accent, and Liverpudlians have continued to coin their own sayings.

Dr Hamer said: “We will also be discussing issues of identity. Mersey- siders claim that different areas of the region have slightly different Scouse accents, and they can identify where someone comes from based on their accent. The fascinating variety of Scouse accents offers a challenge to linguists attempting to describe Merseyside speech”

Between each talk the audience will be split into groups to discuss the topics raised.

Dr Hamer added: “We want people to celebrate and enjoy Scouse.”