Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Understand the pronunciation
• Method 2 of 3: Playing with vowels and consonants
• Method 3 of 3: Use spoken language
• Tips
• Warnings

The Scottish accent is a fun, but hard to copy. However, with a little practice and confidence you can mimic your favorite Scottish accents!

To step

Method 1 of 3: Understand the pronunciation

1. Understand the different Scottish dialects. Like American, Canadian, and English accents, Scottish accents vary greatly by region. If you want to speak with a Scottish accent, chances are you are thinking about the kind of Scottish accent you hear in movies and on television. These accents usually come from the Lowlands and Midlands.
   • A "generic" Scottish accent is difficult to define because there are so many types. But you can learn to speak with a common accent that non-Scottish people might identify as Scottish.
   • Most of the Scottish accents you hear come from the Lowland and Midland areas. These are the more densely populated regions with major cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Galloway. But even the accents of these densely populated regions will differ. Located in the southwest, Galloway sounds slightly closer to Irish as it is close to Northern Ireland. In addition, there is a difference in the accents of Glasgow and Edinburgh, just as a New York and Boston accent differ from each other.
2. Sets your mouth position. Mouth pose, or vocal cord pose, is the way you position your jaw, lips, tongue, teeth, and even vocal cords to speak a certain way. There are some basic techniques you can use when positioning your articulators (lips, teeth, tongue, hard and soft palate, etc.) to speak with a Scottish accent.
   • Place the tip of your tongue far back in your mouth. When you speak, pull your tongue back to your throat. Doing this will give you the harder guttural sounds associated with Scottish accents.
   • When you speak, your lips and jaw must keep moving. Keep your lips out and open your mouth as if you want to bend your lips around every sound and word. Since you're pulling your tongue back, you may be tempted to close or tighten your lips. To counter this, you need to focus on letting go and loosening your jaw.
3. Pronounce similar words the same way, concatenate syllables and omit the "g" as the last letter. Unlike American English where "pull" has a slightly different pronunciation from "pool", both words sound like "pole" in a Scottish accent.
   • When trying a Scottish accent, think of the sound of a "u" as an "oo".
   • If there are two short words together, pronounce the two as one word. "Did not" often becomes "didnae" or "dinnae." Don't speak too quickly, though.
   • Omit the "g" sound in words ending in "g". For example, say "evenin" instead of "evening". "Sewing" becomes "sewin".
4. Replace "o's" with "ae" sounds. The "ae" sound, known officially as the "Near-Open Front Unrounded Vowel", is an "ah" sound with more emphasis on the "a" and less on the "h". You hear this sound when you pronounce words like "have" and "that" in American Standard English. Try to make the "ah" sound in words like "not" sound like "nae". Words ending in "oe" sounds are also given more of an "ae" sound.
   • "To" is pronounced "tae". "Do" becomes "dae". In addition, "no" gets a bit of an "aw" sound at the end, making it sound like "naw" or "nae".
   • Another example of changing the way you pronounce words is in the sentence "I am going to the shops over there." With a Scottish accent, this is pronounced "Am gan tae the shoaps oor air".

Method 2 of 3: Playing with vowels and consonants

1. Play with the glottal stop. The glottal stop is made when you shut off the air flow in your throat during a word to say your "t". Think of it as an absence of sound.
   • For example, if you were to say "glottal stop" with a Scottish accent, you would say "global stop".
   • The glottal stop is not used for every "t" sound with a Scottish accent. If you have a "t" at the beginning of a word, it will still be spoken. For example, "that" would sound like "tha". And then at the end of the word, narrow your throat to stop the airflow.
2. Learn to let your "r" roll. Roll your "r" only once. Do this especially after a "d", "t" or a "g".
   • Words like "draw", "trip" and "grand" all have a rolling "r".
   • Words like "where" can get a bit of a rolling "r", but with the tip of your tongue you hit the roof of your mouth after the "r". This action forms a kind of "de" sound. So "where" becomes more of a "wherde". This is also called tapping your "r".
3. Follow Aitken's law. Aitken's law specifies how different Scottish vowels are formed. Before you learn each specific vowel pronunciation, you can generalize the vowel pronunciation to help you get a feel for speaking with a Scottish accent.
   • In general, vowels followed by consonants are pronounced short.
   • Short vowels appear in words such as "bead" pronounced "pray". In a Scottish accent, the word "mood" rhymes with "good" because you don't stretch the "oo" in "mood".
   • Long vowels occur when a word ends in another vowel. For example, you would pronounce a word like "key" as "kee". The same goes for a word like "done". Here it would sound more like the word "dome" but with an "n".
   • The vowels are most important in a true Scottish accent. In general, the vowels are less loud with a Scottish accent. Vowels can be short or long, but you pronounce the vowel with a more open mouth. Don't forget to keep your jaws loose and don't clench.

Method 3 of 3: Use spoken language

1. Learn slang. If you want to pass for a Scotsman, you must learn to speak like a Scotsman. Familiarize yourself with the lingo of the Scots. Part of using colloquialisms is to follow the rules of vowels and consonants. Certain words are also simply pronounced differently. "Yes" often becomes "yae".
   • Instead of saying "go away" you can say "oan yer bike pal". Please note, a bicycle does not have to be present. But this is an expression you might hear in the Midlands or Lowlands.
   • While you can say "I don't know" or even "I dunno" as you might be used to, this sounds very different in a Scottish accent. In that case, say, "I dinnae ken" or simply, "I dinnae". The word "ken" is used only in Midland dialects.
   • Instead of "hello" you can greet someone with "awright ya?"
   • Often times, instead of saying "yes" or asking "yeah?" You can just say "eh?"
2. Shorten and change certain words. It is difficult to master every feature of the colloquial language, but many Scottish terms change American, Canadian and English words simply through the use of vowels and consonants.
   • For example, instead of "everybody" you can also say "aabdy". Here you compress the five-syllable word to about two. "I am not" then becomes "am no". Here "am" serves the same purpose as "I'm".
3. Listen to the people who have the accent. The best way to develop a Scottish accent is to listen to it. Get to know Scots that you might know a bit better, watch Scottish films or perhaps go to Scotland.
   • Television series such as Doctor Who often feature Scottish actors speaking with his or her natural accent. Karen Gillan, David Tennant and Peter Capaldi are all Scottish. Hear how these actors speak compared to the English actors in the series.
   • James McAvoy and Gerard Butler are two other Scottish actors to listen to. Look at interviews of these actors as a good way to analyze their accent.
   • Both the movie and the book "Trainspotting" are also good ways to get used to the Scottish accent. The book is written phonetically, so reading it out loud forces you to speak with an accent.
   • In "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End" from the Pirates Of The Caribbean film series, you can hear Bill Nighy speaking as Davy Jones with a heavy Scottish accent.

Tips

• Other colloquialisms include "dead bored" or "pure fuming".
• Roll or tap your r's.
• Watch movies such as "Trainspotting" or Disney's "Brave" to familiarize yourself with the accent. By listening to Scottish actors speaking with their own accent, you get a good sound image of how sentences are put together and how they sound.

Warnings

• As with all accents, don't make fun of a Scottish accent, and never try to imitate a Scottish accent in front of someone who is actually Scottish.