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Original poster

If your accent is RP English, how do you pronounce “Glasgow”?

388 replies

Wigeon · 31/07/2022 20:19

Settle an argument between DH and me:

YANBU: Glasgow in an RP English accent is pronounced “Glarsgow” with a long “arr” or “arh” in the middle. Like the “a” in “car” (in an RP accent).

YABU: Glasgow in an RP English accent is pronounced “Gl-ah-sgow”, with a short “ah”, like the “a” in “cat” (in an RP accent).

OP posts:
SynchOrSwim · 31/07/2022 21:49

I'm from the south east and say a long a in bath, castle etc but I say glaz-go. I had a relative who spent a long time living there who pronounced it that way so that may be why.

StoneofDestiny · 31/07/2022 21:47

........and I'm Glaswegian.

bloodyplanes · 31/07/2022 21:47

The second one

StoneofDestiny · 31/07/2022 21:46

What the hell - where are the 'r' s coming from? Like Barth (instead of Bath).

Its Glaz - go.

takeitandleaveit · 31/07/2022 21:46

Wigeon · 31/07/2022 20:30

But is that glass as in “glars” with a long “A” or (RP) or “glas” with a short “A” (northern accent)?!

Show quote history

Home counties - Glars-go.

('A' as in car, and not as in cat)

manlyago · 31/07/2022 21:44

Sorry @MrsMoastyToasty that wasn’t meant to be directed to you personally! Just a general comment.

manlyago · 31/07/2022 21:43

Why would you put an r in there? There isn’t one!

I’m Scottish (East not West) and lived in Glasgow for 10years. To me it’s Glaaaazgo. But the z is soft, just slightly stronger than an ssss. The difference between my “a” and a stronger accented Glaswegian is that I say more “ah” and they would pronounce it more “eh”. But any Glaswegians reading correct me if I’m wrong!

MrsMoastyToasty · 31/07/2022 21:41

DH is from Wishaw (pronounced Wishy by locals) near Glasgow. He would say Glasgae to other locals and Glarz-gow to non locals
We live in Keynsham (pronounced Cane-shum) near Bath and Glastonbury. Locals pronounce them Barf and Glaston-bree.

oviraptor21 · 31/07/2022 21:40

Ireland and island is an interesting one. They are different although as an RP speaker the r is not rhotic.
Island = eye-lund
Ireland = more like igher-lund (with igher rhyming with higher)

Rovinonmars · 31/07/2022 21:40

Short a, glASgow.

georgarina · 31/07/2022 21:36

Glars-go

Piglet89 · 31/07/2022 21:36

Voice coach with a Masters in voice here. My husband and I live in London and he’s from near Glasgow so we hear the word a lot. He’s even started saying it the RP way, for which I mercilessly take the piss.

In answer to your question: YANBU.

oviraptor21 · 31/07/2022 21:35

PuppyMonkey · 31/07/2022 21:19

Glahhhzgo is incorrect imho don’t care whether you think your accent is Received Pronunciation or not. Same principle as Glastonbury. It sounds wrong Glaaaahhhstonbury.

But Glastonbury is Glastonberry (short a) in RP. Glasgow is not a short a.
And no I'm not going to say Newcastle (short a) just because the locals say it like that because I'd sound weird. Just as a northerner would sound weird pronouncing Bath correctly.

LouisRenault · 31/07/2022 21:33

The “r” is causing confusion between southerners and Scots. Southerners have a silent r - which is why they weirdly pronounce Ireland the same as “Island”, and iron as “ion”.

I'm a southerner and I don't pronounce Ireland the same as island.

I say Glahsgow. No r.

DoNaeWrong · 31/07/2022 21:33

There is no guessing.

Look up the phonetic pronunciation: /ˈɡlɑːz.ɡəʊ/

The correct form is therefore the first one.

Glarsgow with the "ar" as in car.

Some posters may not like or be familar with the correct pronunciation, but it IS correct.

Clearly, with a standard modern Scots accent, Glasgow (as in the short a) is correct. Correct as in correct for THAT accent.

There is no subjective interpretation on this one.

ladygindiva · 31/07/2022 21:32

I say the second one but I've lived in Cornwall for 40 ish years, since I was 8 so that may have affected my accent !

KittyCatsby · 31/07/2022 21:31

Also Glazgo

Widmerpool · 31/07/2022 21:30

I think the right pronunciation is somewhere between Glaaaahsgow and the very short ‘a’ sound that many English accents give it. My Dad is from Glasgow and he definitely lengthens that first vowel out a bit.

SenecaFallsRedux · 31/07/2022 21:29

DappledThings · 31/07/2022 20:46

Glahsgo.

Ignore the r! Yet another thread which makes no sense because it takes no account of rhotic/non-rhotic accents.

If you use "ah" to demonstrate the long a sound it makes for much better comprehension than using "ar". To me ah and ar are the same but for rhotic accents it makes no sense.

As a rhotic speaker, I was really confused when I first came on MN and encountered the "r" used to lengthen/broaden the "a."

Primatrying · 31/07/2022 21:28

Neither really. Somewhere in the middle. I don't say Glaz-go but nor do I make a big thing about the "ars" in Glarsgow. It's not as long as your first option, nor as short as the second.

PuppyMonkey · 31/07/2022 21:28

How does Queenie pronounce Glastonbury?

DuesToTheDirt · 31/07/2022 21:26

TeacupDrama · 31/07/2022 20:51

even in RP place names are pronounced how they are pronounced in the area maybe in 1950's people said glarsgo but it is incorrect and bad manners to not pronounce it in the way the locals do as if you are correcting them on not knowing how to pronounce their own location, it has smattering of snobbery and colonialism too but Glasgow has never ever been pronounced as Glarsgo in Scotland so it is incorrect. Loch Ness is not pronounced Lock Ness wherever you are from.
Not every single "A" in RP is prounonced as "AR" there is a difference in RP between cat and cart
I also don't mean shortened versions such as Brum instead of Birmingham

This is really not true.

Loch is generally pronounced as Lock outside Scotland. Non-Scots don't have /x/ in their phoneme set and will substitute with the nearest sound, i.e. /k/.

Likewise, most Northern English people don't distinguish between the 'u' in 'put' and in 'hut' - so they won't say Sudbury like a local, and why should they?

Bath is pronounced like 'bath', i.e. Northerners will pronounce it differently from Southerners, and what the locals in Bath (Bathians? I have no idea!) say is irrelevant.

And non-rhotic speakers aren't suddenly going to become rhotic and pronounce the /r/ in Ayr or Muirhead.

If there are any Glaswegians offended by people saying 'Glahsgow' with a Southern /a/ sound I'd be very surprised.

Kokapetl · 31/07/2022 21:25

RP speaker here and I would normally say Glarsgo, as would most people round here (South West). But if talking to someone from there, I'd probably fudge it as far towards Glazzgo as I could without sounding as if I was putting on an accent! The same happens with Newcastle. As I go further north, carsle becomes cassle.

oviraptor21 · 31/07/2022 21:24

Anyone who votes YABU doesn't understand what RP is. Presumably they're just voting what they say.
But YANBU is the correct answer.

Teddeh · 31/07/2022 21:22

The Queen says it here at about 00:17. Sounds like GLAWS-go to me, with the first syllable almost rhyming with claws. No r.

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