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I'm even more bored, but oh well.
Note : I have been told that I'm hard to understand. Perhaps this will help. I am a specialised source in Scottish pronunciation, and have a PhD on the topic, so there is no way I can be wrong.
So, the Scottish alphabet is quite similar to the English one, but with a couple of changes.
Let's analyse them all! (This guide is for pronunciation; not spelling)
a - pronounced "ah", like in cat, and "aw", like in "ball"
æ - sometimes wrote "ae" instead, this is our letter for "a", like in "base".
b - not much to be said here. B is b.
c - pronounced like "k" or "ç", like in French
d - pronounced "d".
e - very important. It's a very Scottish thing to emphasise heavily on the letter "e" sometimes, which is why some letters also have "e" sounds. Take the word "prefer". The first "e" sounds like "get" (normal), the second one emphasies on the E, and goes like EH", so "prefer", which sounds like "prefur", in American, turns into "prefEhr"! Sometimes disappears altogether, like in "the", it turns to "th"
f - "f", "ph", rarely "b". (sometimes Fuck/Feck turns into Buck/Beck)
g - if it's at the end of "ing", we drop it: unless, it's at the end of ing, but also precedes another ing. For example, "hugging" turns into "huggin", but singing turns into "singin'". Otherwise, it is "g", like in "goal", more often than not, but sometime it's j, like in "George".
h - Sometimes dropped, sometimes pronounced. Depends on the word and there's no real rule.
i - "i" like in "mine" or "ih", like in "bit". It also sounds like "e", like in "trek", in some situations. For example, "girl", has the "i" turn into an "e" AND, when there is an "i" (like the e), before an r, before an "l", there is an extra syllable. So, "girl" (one syllable), turns into "ger-ul" (two syllables). "I" (myself) turns to "Ah"
j - almost always a hard j; barely ever soft
k - always hard "k" like in "koala"
l - always just "l", like in "like"
m - simple again: just "m", like in "mum"
n - generally a harder n, because it very rarely goes into the "ng" compound. So it's usually "N" like in "night".
o - Sometimes it's pronounced "oh", like in "box", but (this is a very Scottish thing, it's hard to explain), a lot of the time it is pronounced "e", like in "trek". It's very word-specific (like, the word "word", turns into "werd"). In the word "to" and other short words like that (like, so, go, etc.) it turns to "æ". to = tæ, so = sæ, go = gæ.
p - Just "p"
q - "K" or, if followed by "U", then "kw"
r - ALWAYS A HARD R. Like in a car engine "VRRRROOM". "Hair", which English people say "Hehh", turns into "HaiRR".
s - Usually quite soft. Sometimes makes a "sh" sound, randomly.
t - if it is at the beginning of words it is pronounced, at the end, or middle (other than in certain situations) we use a "glot-stop" (there is a glot-stop in "glot-stop"!). This is when we stop the air from coming into our lungs for half a second to make a "uh" noise. So, "forget", turns into (with the e/o thing as well) "ferge' ", with the apostraphe being the "t, obviously. But, when "t" precedes an "h", we drop the t, so "thing", turns into "hing".
u Also goes into an "e" sometimes (patterns here!). Like in "turn", it goes into "tehrn", for no real reason.
v Just "v", sometimes "b"
w Just "w"
x "ks" or "z"
y "y", "i", or "e", like "my" turns into "me"
z "z"
th - not a letter, lol, but it sometimes disappears, like in "with" (it completely disappears there, it goes to "wi")
There are weird things with letters appearing before and after each other, but it's really inconsistent and varies from word to word, and I will do those when I can care. (Too many)
So, say this phrase:
"Right, off to the shop I prefer, with my girl!"
Pronounce that correctly and I'll give you a gold star :)
Any feedback appreciated =)
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