Page 4 | If your accent is RP English, how do you pronounce “Glasgow”?

Wigeon · 2022-07-31T19:19:33+00:00

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).

randomsabreuse · 31/07/2022 21:03

RP speaker now living near Glasgow - short A, no "r". Might lengthen the "a" to longer than the northern "bath" but definitely no hint of an "r" in it.

That said I've definitely had some of the length of my "as" and some invisible "rs" disappear since I moved ... so not as pure RP as I used to be!

yikesanotherbooboo · 31/07/2022 21:04

Glahs go
Epitome of RP here

3peassuit · 31/07/2022 21:05

Glars (rhymes with scars ) goe (rhymes with toe).

Legomania · 31/07/2022 21:06

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

Southern accent here - I pronounce a place in the local accent rather than my own I feel like I'm taking the piss. My only real exception is Doncaster (which logically in my accent would be Don-cahster, but obviously I'm aware it sounds stupid)
I do say Glahsgow though, a short a sounds really hammy in RP(ish)

Namerchangerextraordinaire · 31/07/2022 21:06

It's more like Glahhs goe when I say it.
I'm told I have a full on RP accent.

There is no r in the sound, it's more ahh & no w sound on the end.

MrsGhastlyCrumb · 31/07/2022 21:08

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.

Definitely this. One of my parents had an RP/standard English accent and it's not the same as the kind of posh English accent which sounds like a month full of marbles. Most confusing to me are words like protest- "pray-test" or Hugo- "he-gay". My dad always said the point of standard English was that it was 'neutral' and so easy to understand. (He was forced to learn the accent by his mum, who was a cockney- I think a lot of that generation almost learned it as second language to 'get on'...

MrsGhastlyCrumb · 31/07/2022 21:09

Gah. Mouth full of marbles: damn you, autocorrect!

Forestgate · 31/07/2022 21:09

Glaaa s go

sheepandcaravan · 31/07/2022 21:12

Scottish here.pronouncing wise

Glaz go

Friends there

Glaz gay

Watermelonsugarhighlove · 31/07/2022 21:15

sheepandcaravan · 31/07/2022 21:12

Scottish here.pronouncing wise

Glaz go

Friends there

Glaz gay

Glaswegian ,this

Babdoc · 31/07/2022 21:16

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”.

Scots sound the r and roll it, so are puzzled by PPs saying Glarsgow!

watcherintherye · 31/07/2022 21:19

Igotjelly · 31/07/2022 20:34

DH is Glaswegian and it’s Glazga or Glazgy depending on how drunk he is 😂

🎵 Aye bee-long tae Glazgy, dear auld Glazgy toon 🎵🍺🥃

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PuppyMonkey · 31/07/2022 21:28

How does Queenie pronounce Glastonbury?

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.

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."

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.

KittyCatsby · 31/07/2022 21:31

Also Glazgo

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 !

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.

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.