“Colin Morgan”
In this video, we’re analysing the Northern Irish accent of Colin Morgan.
He’s an actor from the city of Armagh, probably best known for his title-role in the popular
BBC show Merlin.
Colin won the National Television Awards for Best Drama in 2012 and it’s from his Awards
Speech that we’re going to take our five clips.
First up, notice how Colin says this word:
“...and I just wanna thank you all for voting for me and for your support.”
It’s best to start with the easiest part of the Armagh (and indeed any Northern Irish)
accent to master.
For this one, control of the position of your tongue is absolutely critical.
Forward in Northern Ireland - /ɪn/ /ɪn/ - backwards in most other accents - /ɪŋ/
/ɪŋ/.
/ɪn/ /ɪŋ/ /ɪn/ /ɪŋ/
VOTIN’ VOTING VOTIN’ VOTING
Secondly, check out how this word is pronounced:
“...that’s why I have this award right now.”
After what is viewed as the simplest feature of the Armagh accent here follows the most
fiendishly difficult.
In nearly every accent outside Northern Ireland this word - NOW - is pronounced with what
is called a diphthong - the /aʊ/ diphthong - NOW.
Diphthongs are two vowel sounds combined so in these accents your mouth naturally has
to move, and it’s usually described as doing so in a rounded fashion - /aʊ/, /aʊ/, NOW,
NOW.
However, in Armagh, and across Northern Ireland we tend not to bother with diphthongs.
We shorten the sound so that it’s either clipped or swallowed - [ow], [ow] - NOW, NOW.
Say these phrases and feel the changes in your mouth.
HOW NOW BROWN COW HOW NOW BROWN COW
AN HOUR IN THE POWER SHOWER AN HOUR IN THE POWER SHOWER
Next, listen to the /r/ in the highlighted word:
“First of all, I’d just like to thank everyone who voted for me because...”
You will have noticed the extremely clear pronunciation of the letter /r/ in this word.
This is called rhoticity, the pronunciation of /r/ in all contexts.
In most accents the word FOR has a strong form and a weak form, depending on its position
within a sentence.
For example, in ‘standard’ British English the strong form is - FOR, FOR, whereas the
weak form is - /fə/, /fə/.
We’ll need to look at two sentences to further showcase the point.
What did you do that FOR?
I did it /fə/ the money.
Now, in the Armagh accent and in any Northern Irish accent, the /r/ is preserved in all
contexts.
It is pronounced every time.
There’s no real discrepancy between this strong form and weak form.
Have a listen.
Check out the difference, weak form first, then fully rhoticised:
WHO VOTED /fə/ ME, WHO VOTED FOR ME, WHO VOTED /fə/ ME, WHO VOTED FOR ME
For a more in depth look at this phoneme, as with all the characteristics referred to
in this video, check out the playlist somewhere up here.
Right, here’s another diphthong to look out for:
“Just wanna say it’s also an honour to be in the same category as...
Again, in most accents - due to the combination of two short monophthongs, your mouth here
should move - /eɪ/ /eɪ/ - SAME SAME
However, in Armagh, this phoneme is once more shortened.
SAME SAME SAME SAME
For which other Northern Irish people would you like me to do an accent analysis?
Comment below.
Now, two short clips for our most important feature, as it is perhaps one way to distinguish
between an Armagh accent, and say, a typical Belfast accent.
Listen carefully.
“...to all the cast…”
“Just wanna say it’s also an honour to be in the same category as Benedict, Daniel
& Matt”
This word - CAST - has so many variations across the English speaking world.
CAST in Belfast, often C /j/ AST in Armagh, it’s as if there’s a little extra /j/
sound in there.
CAST C /j/ AST CAST C /j/ AST
It’s the same in this word too.
CATEGORY C /j/ ATEGORY CATEGORY C /j/ ATEGORY
Now, to watch an analysis of other famous Northern Irish accents head over here.
Thanks so much for watching and I look forward to seeing you next time.