forum How do I write accents?

Started January 17, 2018 by @I'mamuffin

tune

I am writing a character that has an Irish accent and I am a bit stuck on how to portray the accent. can anyone help?

Mention the accent in the description, or think about what word choices a person with that sort of accent will make. If it's thick and hard to understand, mention it. If it barely affects their speech, mention that instead.

(Just, please gods, don't transcribe it. That's so hard to get through and will most likely pull the reader out of the story.)

Simple, easy-to-read accents can be okay, but I would only include them if the character is not a main character and rather appears a few times throughout the novel. Writing heavy accents makes it difficult for readers to read. I would suggest noting it rather than writing it!

Most of my characters have really thick Irish or Scottish accents. Do an in-depth study of the dialect, listen to audio clips of people from that area speaking to give yourself a good idea of the syntax, etc. If you can't transcribe it (such is the case with Dundee accents :( ) give your readers a good description of what they sound like or sprinkle in slang to add to the image.

Also, if you have characters who are native Gaeilgeoir (Irish speakers) or Gàidhlig (Scots Gaelic) speakers, most tend to have a slight lilt to their voices that most people catch- in the case of Scots Gaelic speakers, the accent of the Highlands or Highland-and-Island English is notable in many ways (voiceless stops, the "Gaelic Gasp" and extra vowels) not to mention their grammar which is influenced by Gàidhlig syntax. Sometimes Gàidhlig speakers let slang slip into their English, an example being "Okay, ma-thà" which means "Okay, then." Due to the Gaelic influence in both areas many people mistake Highland English speakers as Irish- don't do this! Irish English is actually called Hiberno-English and has unique variants across Ireland and Northern Ireland. Case in point: do research!