Northern Ireland 9

Listen to Northern Ireland 9, a 43-year-old man from Ardboe, Northern Ireland, UK. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 43

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/03/1979

PLACE OF BIRTH: Ardboe, Northern Ireland, UK

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Irish/Caucasian

OCCUPATION: university professor

EDUCATION: Ph.D

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The speaker has lived all his life in the north of the island of Ireland.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The speaker, Professor Malachy O’Neill, is a linguist who lectures internationally and is, therefore, self-aware of his speaking style. He is a champion of the Irish language and very proud of his heritage, which may have reinforced his pronunciation of English in the Irish manner.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 22/01/2023

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH:

[A narrow phonetic transcription of the opening sentence of Comma Gets a Cure, as spoken by Professor O’Neill]:
ˈwɛl | ˈ hɪə˞z ə stɔ̜ɹi̞ fɔ˞ jɨ | ˈsɛɹə ˌpʰɛɹi̞ wəz ə ˈvɛʔn̩ɹi̞ ˌnɜ˞s | hɨ həd bəin ˈwɜ˞kɪn ˈdeli aɾn̩ ˈʔold ˌzɨ |ɪn ə dɪˈzɜ˞ɾɪˈdɪstɹɪkt |ˌɒv̥ ð̥ə ˈtʰɛɹətʰɔɹi̞ | so ˈʃi wɐz̥ |ˈvɛɹəi̞ ˌhapʰɪ tʰə sta˞ɾə ˈnjɨ ˌd͡ʒɒb | aɾə sɨˈpʰɜ˞b ˈpʰɹɛɪvət̚ ˈpʰɹak̚tɪ̈s | ʔɪn ˈnɔ˞θ skwɛ̈˞ |ˌni˞ ðə ˈd͡ʒɨk̚ stɹəɪt̚ ˌtʰa˞ː

TRANSCRIBED BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 31/01/2023

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I was born, eh, on the shores of, of Lough Neagh in, in County Tyrone, in the, in the, the north of Ireland, em, and, eh, what was, um, er, formerly a monastic settlement, em, em, known as Ardboe, or the the Height of the Cow, em, and, er, in Irish, em, and I therefore always had an interest in, in all things related to the Irish language and, and how it pertains in the, the nomenclature of our our, our places and indeed our people, eh, in this part of the world to this day.

An extract from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, Irish translation:

Harry Potter agus an Órchloch by Máire Nic Mhaoláin
Caibidil 1 – An Gasúr a Tháinig Slán
Bhí cónaí ar mhuintir Dursley in uimhir a ceathair Privet Drive, agus é le maíomh acu go raibh siad an-normálta go deo, agus iad breá sásta de. Ba iad an dream deireanach iad a samhlófá rud ar bith ait ná aduain leo, mar ní raibh luí ar bith acu le hamaidí den sórt sin. Bhí Mr Dursley ina stiúrthóir ar chomhlacht Grunnings, comhlacht déanta druilirí. Fear mór féitheogach feolmhar a bhí ann, gan muinéal ar bith ab fhiú, ach croiméal mór millteach air. Bhí Mrs Dursley beag tanaí, gruaig fhionn uirthi, agus dóthain beirte de mhuineál uirthi, agus gnó aici de agus í chomh minic sin ag breathnú thar bharr claíocha ag spiaireacht ar na comharsana. Bhí maicín beag acu darbh ainm Dudley agus é, dar leo, ar ghasúr chomh breá is a bhí ar dhroim an domhain.

[English translation:
Chapter 1 – The Boy Who Lived
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be in- volved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense. Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

This brief extract is quoted here under the copyright doctrine of fair use.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 30/01/2023

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

The speaker, Professor Malachy O’Neill, who has waived his right to anonymity, demonstrates most of the “signature sounds” of the Northern Ireland dialect, as described in my book, The Northern Ireland Dialect, available here. O’Neill was also my guest for the February 2023 episode of my In a Manner of Speaking podcast, in which we discuss the history of the Irish language.

COMMENTARY BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 31/01/2023

The archive provides:

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• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.

• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.

• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.