Some of the language used in this book reflects the charming and unique way Scots employ English, and some of it is specifically Glaswegian (or Weegie). Accents and pronunciation can vary greatly in regions of Scotland, and even though Glasgow and Edinburgh are less than fifty miles apart, their accents are quite distinct. The East End London accent is sometimes incomprehensible to Americans, so to give you an idea, folks from the East End of London sometimes find Glaswegians incomprehensible. I remember when Kimberly and I visited Glasgow and got a cab from the airport to our hotel. We felt absolutely terrible that we had to ask the driver to repeat himself several times, even though we were supposedly speaking the same language. We got the hang of it after a few days—you do get used to the vowel shifts and so on—but it can be disorienting at first.
The written version of it can be disorienting too, so I want to provide a quick guide here. I didn’t try to be exhaustively accurate in representing the spoken language but rather wanted to give a general idea of its flavor. The narration and texted conversations will largely conform to standard spelling rules, but the dialogue will contain the words listed below, and I’m providing some pronunciations so that you can more easily hear it in your head.
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Ye is pronounced like yuh, or with a schwa sound, almost never yee. It’s used in place of you, with two exceptions: You is employed and pronounced as yoo for emphasis, but ya is used whenever calling someone a name, as in ya steaming gobshite or ya tiresome tit.
Daein’ is usually pronounced with two syllables that rhymes with payin’, but when folks are excited or in a hurry a syllable gets lost and it sounds like dane, and this is in lieu of doing.
Tae is pronounced like tee and is used instead of to in spoken language.
Gonnay is just like gonna in informal English, but it is pronounced with a long a sound at the end, and yes, Weegies really do pronounce it that way. I’m spelling it thusly to make the difference in pronunciation clear.
There seems to be a general aversion to saying the word not out loud, so there are several ways that Scots avoid that. All verb constructions like would not or did not become contractions and not is replaced at the end with nae, pronounced like knee. So she didnae say anything, or she wouldnae do that, or she cannae afford a yacht. Sometimes on social media you will see these spelled as didny, wouldny, or canny, which saves a character, but I’m using the older spelling that’s in wider use. In other constructions where the contraction cannae be made, the t will be dropped off the end of not, and thus you will see phrases like she’ll no ever come back or I’m no paying for ma drink or I’m no gonnay get in the van with ye, ya spooky serial killin’ bastard. Which means that ye will no see the word won’t very often, but curiously you’ll see don’t. (There are always exceptions to rules, eh?) Perhaps to make up for the extra nos inserted into their language in place of nots, the Scots often say naw instead of no when answering a question. And sometimes nae is used in place of no, as in the phrase nae bother.
The th in the middle of something is eliminated entirely in the speech of many Weegies, and as a result the word is spelled and pronounced like sumhin.
The English contractions ain’t, isn’t, and sometimes aren’t are written and pronounced like in’t.
Sometimes in spoken language the word my is replaced with ma, more accurately reflecting its pronunciation.
The word what in Weegie pronunciation often sounds like whit, so in dialogue you will occasionally see it spelled as whit. Wot is obviously a different vowel sound and a more familiar variation of what to many readers, and that is also used in places by certain characters.
Head is pronounced like heed in spoken language and sometimes even in thoughts, but this is spelled as heid throughout to avoid confusion with the actual word heed. Likewise, dead is pronounced like deed but spelled as deid, so watch out: It’s the first word of the book.
Police is spelled the regular way in written language and on the back of official vests and so on, but Weegies pronounce it like polis, sort of rhyming with bolus, and often spell it that way in spoken language and in their more colorful graffiti messages that encourage all passersby to FUCK THE POLIS!
And in Scotland, a dog is often called a dug. Regardless of how it’s spelled, they are all good dugs.
The surname of our hero contains a Gaelic spelling, so the Bh is pronounced like a v, and the i before the final s means it’s pronounced with a sh sound at the end. So MacBharrais is pronounced as mac VARE ish, emphasis on the middle syllable.
Likewise, the Gaelic bean sídhe is going to be pronounced as ban shee (shortened and anglicized to banshee in some cases).
A couple of Scottish slang terms for you:
Rammy is a noun that means fracas or brouhaha.
Gallus is an adjective that means stylish and impressive.
You’ll also see the phrase and that in place of and such or and so on, as in “Angus had eggs, sausage and that for breakfast.”
And in case you missed it or were unaware, the protagonist of this series, Al MacBharrais, did appear in the Iron Druid Chronicles in Besieged, in a short story called “Cuddle Dungeon.” I don’t recommend sharing that particular story with the kids, though.
Enjoy!
—From a flat and frozen landscape in Canada that looks not unlike the rest of this page
