Ulster English

Ulster English
Northern Hiberno-English Northern Irish English
Native to	Ireland, United Kingdom
Region	Ulster
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic North Sea Germanic Anglo-Frisian Anglic English Hiberno-English Ulster English
Writing system	Latin (English alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Approximate boundaries of the traditional Scots- and English-language areas in Ulster: Ulster Scots dialect, (Mid-)Ulster English, South-Ulster English (a transitional border variety), and Hiberno-English. Based on The Scotch-Irish Dialect Boundaries in Ulster (1972) by R. J. Gregg.

Pink represents Ulster counties within Northern Ireland; green within the Republic of Ireland.

Ulster English, also called Northern Hiberno-English or Northern Irish English, is the variety of English spoken mostly around the Irish province of Ulster and throughout Northern Ireland. The dialect has been influenced by the local Ulster dialect of the Scots language, brought over by Scottish settlers during the Plantation of Ulster and subsequent settlements throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. It also coexists alongside the Ulster dialect of the Irish (Gaelic) language, which also influenced the dialect.

The two major divisions of Ulster English are Mid-Ulster English, the most widespread variety, and Ulster Scots English, spoken in much of northern County Antrim along a continuum with the Scots language. South Ulster English is a geographically transitional dialect between Mid-Ulster English and English spoken south of Ulster, in the Republic of Ireland.

Phonology

In general, Ulster English speakers' declarative sentences (with typical grammatical structure, i.e. non-topicalized statements) end with a rise in pitch, which is often heard by speakers of non-Ulster English as a question-like intonation pattern.

The following phonetics are represented using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Vowels

In the following chart, "UE" refers to Ulster English, which includes Mid-Ulster English (which may incorporate older, more traditional Mid-Ulster English), as well as Ulster Scots (English). "SSIE" here refers to a mainstream, supraregional southern Hiberno-English, used in the chart for the sake of comparison.

English diaphoneme	UE	SSIE	Example words
/æ/	äˑ~a	æ~a	bath, trap, man
/ɑː/	ɑː~äˑ	aˑ~äˑ	blah, calm, father
conservative /ɒ/	ɒ~ɑ~ä	ä	bother, lot, top
divergent /ɒ/	ɒː (Mid-Ulster) ɔː (Ulster Scots) äː (traditional)	ɒː	cloth, loss, off
/ɔː/			all, bought, saw
/ɛ/	ɛ (Belfast: [ɛ̝ˑə])		dress, met, bread
/ə/	ə		about, syrup, arena
/ɪ/	ɪ̈~ë (Mid-Ulster) ə~ɘ (traditional) ɛ (Ulster Scots)	ɪ	hit, skim, tip
/iː/	iˑ (traditionally, [ɪi])	iˑ	beam, chic, fleet
/i/	e	i	happy, monkeys, sari
/ʌ/	ɞ~ʌ̈	ʊ~ʌ̈	bus, flood, young
/ʊ/	ʉ (Mid-Ulster) ʊ̈ (Ulster Scots)	ʊ	book, put, should
/uː/		uː	food, glue, new
/aɪ/	äˑe~ɜi	aɪ~äɪ~ɑɪ	eye, five, try
	ɐi~ɜi		bright, dice, site
/aʊ/	ɐʏ~ɜʉ	æʊ~ɛʊ	now, ouch, scout
/eɪ/	eː~ɪː (closed-syllabic [eˑə~ɪˑə])	eː	lame, rein, stain
/ɔɪ/	ɔɪ	ɒɪ	boy, choice, moist
/oʊ/	oː~oʊ	oʊ	goat, oh, show
R-coloured vowels
/ɑːr/	ɑˑɻ	ɑˑɹ~äˑɹ	barn, car, park
/ɪər/	iˑɚ	iˑɹ	fear, peer, tier
/ɛər/	ɛˑɚ (Belfast: [ɚˑ])	eˑɹ	bare, bear, there
/ɜːr/	ɚˑ~ɛˑɚ (Belfast: [ɚ]) Many rural accents have not undergone the merger of non-prevocalic historical /ɛr/ with /ɪr/ and /ʌr/ (though the latter two are always merged) that is found in most other varieties of English, so that words like earn and urn, for example, are not homophones.		fern, earn, serve
	ɚˑ		fur, urn, fir
/ər/	ɚ		doctor, martyr, parker
/ɔːr/	ɔˑɚ	ɒˑɹ	for, horse, war
	oˑɚ (rural: [ʉˑɚ])	oˑɹ	four, hoarse, wore
/ʊər/	øˑɚ	uˑɹ	moor, poor, tour

Other, less overarching features of some Ulster varieties include:

• Vowels have phonemic vowel length, with one set of lexically long and one of lexically short phonemes. This may be variously influenced by the Scots system. It is considerably less phonemic than Received Pronunciation, and in vernacular Belfast speech vowel length may vary depending on stress.
• /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ distinction in cot and body versus caught and bawdy is mostly preserved, except in Ulster Scots (which here follows Scottish speech) and traditional varieties.
• /e/ may occur in such words as beat, decent, leave, Jesus, etc., though this feature is recessive.
• Lagan Valley /ɛ/ before /k/ in take and make, etc.
• /ɛ/ before velars, as in sack, bag, and bang, etc.
• Merger of /a/–/aː/ in all monosyllables, e.g. Sam and psalm [ˈsaːm ~ ˈsɑːm] (the phonetic quality varies).
• /ʉ/ is possible in rural speech before /r/ in FORCE words like floor, whore, door, board, etc.
• Vowels are short before /p, t, tʃ, k/.
• Ulster Lengthening, which refers to the use of long allophones of /e, ɛ, a, ɔ/ in any single syllable word that is closed by a consonant other than /p, t, tʃ, k/.
• /uː/ is [yː] after /j/

Consonants

• Rhoticity, that is, retention of /r/ in all positions.
• /r/ is typically realised as a voiced retroflex approximant [ɻ]. Some rural speakers may allophonically use an alveolar tap [ɾ] when preceded by /t/, as in train.
• Palatalisation of /k, ɡ/ before /a/ is a recessive feature of rural speakers or older Catholic speakers in Belfast.
• /l/ is not vocalised, except historically; usually "clear" as in Southern Hiberno-English, with some exceptions.
• Unaspirated /p/, /k/ between vowels in words such as pepper and packet.
• Tapped [ɾ] for /t/ and /d/ between vowels in words such as butter and city. This is similar to North American and Australian English.
• Dental [t̪] and [d̪] for /t/ and /d/ before /r/ in words such as butter or dry. Dental realisations of /n, l/ may occur as well, e.g. dinner, pillar. This feature, shared with Southern Hiberno-English, has its origins in English and Scots.
• /ʍ/–/w/ contrast in which–witch. This feature is recessive, particularly in vernacular Belfast speech.
• Elision of /d/ in hand [ˈhɑːn], candle [ˈkanl] and old [ˈəʉl], etc.
• Elision of /b, ɡ/ in sing [ˈsɪŋ], thimble, finger etc.
• /θ/ and /ð/ for th.
• /x/ for gh is retained in proper names and a few dialect words or pronunciations, e.g. lough, trough and sheugh.

Grammar derived from Irish or Scottish Gaelic

The morphology and syntax of Irish is quite different from that of English, and it has influenced both Northern and Southern Hiberno-English to some degree.

Irish has separate forms for the second person singular (tú) and the second person plural (sibh), ("thou" and "ye" respectively in archaic and some intimate, informal English). Ulster English mirrors Irish in that the singular "you" is distinguished from the plural "you". This is normally done by using the words yous, yousuns or yis. For example:

• "Are yous not finished yet?"
• "Did yousuns all go to see it?"
• "What are yis up to?"

Irish lacks words that directly translate as "yes" or "no", and instead repeats the verb in a question (positively or negatively) to answer. As such, Northern and Southern Hiberno-English use "yes" and "no" less frequently than other English dialects. For example:

• "Are you coming home soon?" "I am"
• "Is your computer working?" "It's not"

This is not necessarily true in Ulster English where "Aye" for yes and "Naw" for no are used, probably a Scottish influence.

The absence of the verb "have" in Irish has influenced some grammar. The concept of "have" is expressed in Irish by the construction ag ("at") mé ("me") to create agam ("at me"). Hence, Ulster English speakers sometimes use the verb "have" followed by "with me/on me". For example:

• "Do you have the book with you?" "I have it with me"
• "Do you have money for the bus on you?" "I have none on me"

Vocabulary

Much non-standard vocabulary found in Ulster English and many meanings of Standard English words peculiar to the dialect come from Scots and Irish. Some examples are shown in the table below. Many of these are also used in Southern Hiberno-English, especially in the northern half of the island.

Ulster English	Standard English	Type	Notes
ach!, och!, ack!	annoyance, regret, etc.	interjection	Pronounced akh or okh. Usually used to replace "ah!" and "oh!". Ach is Irish for "but", and can be used in the same context. Och is Irish and Scottish Gaelic for "alas", and again can be used in the same context. Cf. German, Dutch, Frisian ach and English agh, German and Dutch have both ach and och.
aul, oul	old	adjective	Pronounced owl. From auld, an archaic form of old that is still used in Scots and Northern English dialects.
aye, auy	yes	adverb	Used throughout northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England. General Scots and dialect/archaic English, first attested 1575.
bake	mouth or face	noun	A different pronunciation and extended meaning of beak. Dutch bek or bakkes are used as rude words for mouth, too.
banjax	to break/ruin/destroy, a mess	verb noun	Used throughout Ireland; origin unknown.
bine, feg	cigarette	noun	Possibly from Woodbine (cigarette).
blade	girl	noun	Mainly used in Tyrone with different meanings depending on usage, but always refers to a female. "Look at thon blade" – "Look at that girl"; "Our blade" – "My sister/cousin" (Can also be used as a term of endearment in this form)
boak, boke	to retch/vomit, vomit	verb noun	From Scots bowk.
bog	wetland/toilet	noun	From Irish and Scottish Gaelic bogach meaning "wetland".
boggin/bogging	disgusting, ugly or otherwise generally unappealing.	adjective	Probably derived from bog (see above)
boreen	a narrow road/lane/track	noun	From Irish bóithrín meaning "small road".
bout ye?	how are you?	greeting	From the longer version "What about ye?" ("What about you?"), which is also used.
bru	unemployment benefits	noun	Pronounced broo. Shortened from welfare bureau.
cat-melodeon	awful	adjective	Probably a combination of cat and melodeon, referencing the sound of a screeching cat and badly-played melodeon tunes. The second part is pronounced mə-LOH-jin.
caul, coul	cold	adjective	Pronounced kowl. From Scots cauld meaning "cold".
carlin'	old woman	noun	From Norse kerling meaning "woman" (especially an old woman).
carnaptious	quarrelsome/irritable	adjective	From Scots.
claggerd	covered with something adhesive (usually dirt)	adjective	From Scots claggert meaning "besmeared".
cowp	to tip over/to fall over	verb	From Scots.
crack, craic	banter/fun/gossip/news (e.g. "What's the crack?)	noun	Crack is originally a Scots/Northern English word meaning something like "news", "gossip" or "fun". Originally spelt crack but the Gaelicized spelling craic started in the 1960s and is now common.
craitur, craytur	a term of endearment (e.g. "The poor craitur")	noun	From the Hiberno-English pronunciation of creature where ea is realised /e/ (see above) and -ture as archaic /tər/ rather than the standard affricate /tʃər/.
culchie	farmer/rural dweller	noun	Origin uncertain—either from Irish coillte meaning "woods"; from Irish cúl a' tí meaning "back of the house" (for it was common practise for country people to go in the back door of the house they were visiting); or from the -culture in "agriculture".
dander	walk	noun/verb	From Scots or Northern English.
dead-on	okay/no problem	interjection adjective	Origin uncertain.
drawk, drawky	to soak/drench, wet/showery	verb adjective	From Irish droch-aimsir meaning "bad weather" or "wet weather" or the less likely Scots draik/drawk.
eejit	idiot	noun	From the Hiberno-English and Scottish English pronunciation of idiot. Popularised in England to some extent by Terry Wogan.
feck	a mild form of fuck	interjection	Gained popularity following its frequent use in the 1990s comedy TV series Father Ted, and is more commonly found in Hiberno-English.
fella	man	noun	From English fellow; ultimately from Norse felagi.
footer, futer	fidget/waste time	verb	Via Scots fouter from Old French foutre. Perhaps from Irish fútar.
fernenst/forninst/fornenst	in front of/facing/against/opposite/beside	adjective	From Scots or Northern English.
founder, foundered	cold, to be cold	noun adjective	From Scots foundert/foondert/fundert which can mean "(to be) chilled".
geg, geggin'	joke, joking	noun/verb	From English gag.
glen	valley	noun	From Irish gleann.
gob, gub	mouth	noun	From Irish gob, which can mean "mouth".
grub	food
gutties, guddies	running shoes	noun	From Scots, in which it is used to mean anything made of rubber. Note also the phrase "Give her the guttie" meaning "Step on it (accelerate)". Derived from Gutta-percha, a material which was widely used in the production of shoes from the 18th century.
hai, hey	an exclamation to call attention or to express pleasure, surprise, bewilderment, etc.	exclamation	Filler word used at the end of a sentence.
hallion	a good-for-nothing	noun	From Scots hallion meaning "rascal".
hesp	a scolding old woman	noun	Perhaps from Irish easpan. Cf. Scots hesper: a hard thing to do; a difficult person to get on with.
hoak, hoke	to search for/to forage (e.g. "Have a hoak for it")	verb	From Scots howk.
hooley	party	noun	Origin unknown; perhaps a variant of Irish céilí.
houl	hold	verb	Pronounced howl. From Scots/Northern English.
jap	to splatter; to splash; (of a frying pan) emit tiny 'sparks' of hot fat	verb	From Scots jaup.
jouk, juke	to dodge/to go	verb	From Scots jouk meaning "to dodge".