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

As a born and bred Glaswegian I can be pretty sure that nobody would add an r at the end (or anywhere in fact). Interesting that is what you hear.

From this thread I can believe people say it with the magical r in their own accent but it definitely doesn’t have one when a Glaswegian accent says it

Glaz go.

Yet people in Scotland pronounce Russian Moscow as "Moss-co" and a lot of them find it irritating Americans pronounce Glasgow as "glass-cow" too.

Here's a pic.

Glaswegians I’ve met pronounce it Glaz-gore (to my ears anyway!)

Glarz-go

It's Glaz-go for me. I'm from there so don't know if that helps.

All sound the same to me. The example of bot and boat, yes they sound different. But boarder and border are the same.

I don't understand putting "r" in a word that doesn't have an "r?"
It's not an r. As discussed. A lot.

It's a non-rhotic accented person's way of distinguishing between a long and short a. It is better expressed as ah which takes out the confusion. ----

I’m confused by that too.

In phonics you’d say “oo” but reading the alphabet it’s “oh” to me, regardless of the case.

Is anyone else now saying to.themselves "border broader border broader" and failing to see how they sound different?

There's a village in Ayrshire called Moscow pronounced 'Mosscow'
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow,_East_Ayrshire

I think Americans are likely to pronounce the first part as glass rather than glaz in the same way that they pronounce less-lee rather than lez-lee.

that accent thing is different to pronouncing the second syllable as gow rather than go. And, I’d say, falls into the same category of willful mispronunciation as Edinbor-oh. You get Americans who live in Edinburgh for years, attend the university, and never learn how to pronounce the name of the city properly. That would be like me moving to Arkansas for years and years and insisting on pronouncing it ar-kan-sas despite hearing the correct pronunciation all the bloody time.

A lot of Americans pronounce it as "glass-gow" instead of "glass-go". Many do the same with Moscow "moss-cow".

I do, but I'm American.

I don't understand putting "r" in a word that doesn't have an "r?"

@EmmaGrundyForPM ''Whitehorsegirl · Today 09:26
I would pronounce it the way the locals do. It is their city, they know best...
But that isn't how it works. If I pronounced Glasgow as locals do I would sound as if I was taking the piss. Similarly with Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, Paris, Barcelona etc. It sounds ridiculous or pretentious, depending on your original accent and the place you're talking about. Imagine saying something like "my daughter is hoping to go to University, she's considering Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle" with each of those places pronounced as the locals would.''

I mean seriously. How many ways can there be to pronounce Bristol, Liverpool or Manchester? pretty straightforward I would say.

I am in London. Are you suggesting the rest of the country is struggling with how to pronounce that? Good grief...

You are also confusing accent and pronunciation.

Overthinking it I would say...

''@Wouldloveanother · Today 09:44
''Whitehorsegirl · Today 09:26
I would pronounce it the way the locals do. It is their city, they know best...''
Do you say Paree rather than Pariss?''

Actually I do, since I am French (and British).

Okay, I'm really confused now. I'm afraid it's not clear at all to me...
I do say borders and boarders differently.

Clearly not...imagine "aw" and "oh".

How to distinguish between saying the lower case and the capital letter o? Never mind getting your borders mixed up with boarders!

Irish isn't a British accent. Northern Irish is which isn't the same as Irish at all.

Anyway, I pronounce it as "glass" and "go". I don't know anyone who does not in Scotland, Northern Ireland or south west England.

Not suggesting this is the 'correct' way by the way. I'm aware my Scottish family find it weird! But in my RP accent that is how it is.

Glars-gow...rhymes with Mars

I am a Glaswegian, have heard it said in many accents but never with an R, how odd.

Or when reading out letters from the alphabet, how you say lower case "o" and upper case "O"?

Aren't these the same @AchatAVendre?

Yes!

Its the difference between "bot" and "boat". Border and boarder. Broth and both. I didn't even know people did this until someone on here pointed it out to me! You know most European languages distinguish 3 (at least) sounds for "o"? Usually "o", "oa" and "oo"? Bot, boat and boot. Or when reading out letters from the alphabet, how you say lower case "o" and upper case "O"?

I think non-rhotic accents are a choice not to pronounce "r"s. Or at least it was once a choice to differentiate a particular way of speech which is now considered standard. Most Old Norse descended dialects are rhotic so at some point, certain English dialect speakers made the choice to speak in a non-Rhotic way (I'm not saying that all English dialects are ON influenced!)

Non-stress or pronunciation of certain letters are quite common in European languages. The Dutch don't pronounce a lot of their "n"s. The Danes don't pronounce many of their letters at all and just use them to influence what comes next A few letters in Scots are silent - the "z" comes to mind, the "t" is often a type of glottal stop...