Phonetics and phonology1

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the distinctive phonological systems of accent types found in Northern Ireland and outlines the characteristics of Mid Ulster English, South Ulster English and Ulster Scots. The analysis is based on recent recordings of word list, reading passage and interview data from a range of informants representing different regional and social backgrounds. There is a considerable body of scholarship on the phonetics/phonology/prosody of these varieties and we are fortunate that several large-scale phonological surveys have been conducted on them (often using sophisticated sociolinguistic/dialectological methodologies and frameworks of interpretation). However, these largely reflect urban Belfast and other urban/rural varieties of the 1970s and 1980s. The new materials presented here extend our knowledge of innovations that have happened subsequently and change in progress.