Irish dialogue

[MFHunter]

Hi!

I'd like some advice on how to write dialogue for Irish characters. I'm trying to edit/finish an unfinished story by another user here and she set the story in Ireland. I do not have any experience with Irish accents or their slang, and (apparently) neither did this author. Should I try to spell out the words the way they're pronounced? What are little quirks of speech of the Irish? Should I let someone more qualified do the job?

When I first read the story, I thought it had potential. Since no one else has done anything about it, I thought I might give finishing it a try, but I then hit this roadblock. For now, I've been filling in the characters' dialogue with Canadian (North American?) English...

Bye!

 

[PennLady]

I'm sure you could google some Irish slang. It would probably be easier not to try to reproduce the exact pronunciation. It's likely enough to note that the character is speaking in an Irish accent, or with an Irish brogue, especially if the story is set in Ireland.

 

[sr71plt]

You'd only want a "put them in the mood" smattering of it, but it's one that should be spot on because so many try it that it's become cliché and a bit of a "sort of fake" dialect--a lot like Scottish.

The best would be to get someone who is Irish to take a look at it.

 

[robertreams]

If you don't know how to write Irish dialect, why in the world would you set the story in Ireland? Is there a dialect you do know how to write? Set it there! Howcum y'all wudden set yore storey rat jere in Jawja, huh?

 

[sr71plt]

The case here, I think, is an editor receiving the jargon in a story to be edited and trying to figure out how to proceed with that.

 

[DeYaKen]

Hi!

I'd like some advice on how to write dialogue for Irish characters. I'm trying to edit/finish an unfinished story by another user here and she set the story in Ireland. I do not have any experience with Irish accents or their slang, and (apparently) neither did this author. Should I try to spell out the words the way they're pronounced? What are little quirks of speech of the Irish? Should I let someone more qualified do the job?

When I first read the story, I thought it had potential. Since no one else has done anything about it, I thought I might give finishing it a try, but I then hit this roadblock. For now, I've been filling in the characters' dialogue with Canadian (North American?) English...

Bye!

I'm having a similar problem writing a character from Newcastle. I'm trying to make him sound Geordie while still making it readable. It's not easy. I can use "Ah'm" instead of "I'm" and "danna" instead of "don't" but if I wrote all his dialogue in phonetic Geordie, reading would become very difficult.

I was once told that everything in life is a trade off, and I think that applies here. I'm going to try to throw in enough Geordie to give a flavour and then stick to English. The important thing is that the reader is able to enjoy the story, and I would say that overrides authenticity.

I can tell you to avoid Begorrah and Be jaesus. They are rarely used. "Top of the morning to you" is still used as a greeting, to which the reply should be "and the rest of the day to yourself"

 

[sr71plt]

"Top of the morning to you" is still used as a greeting, to which the reply should be "and the rest of the day to yourself"

That's a great combination. I hadn't heard the response before.

 

[ishtat]

Complications

It's worth remembering that an American, an Englishman, or an Australian can identify an Irish accent, but an Irishman can pick the difference between a whole host of regional accents. The Dublin accent is different for example, to say Cork and certainly Kerry, where when they speak in English it still is difficult to comprehend.

Most particularly don't locate your story in Belfast where the accent is very harsh and quite untypical. As previously suggested - just a smattering.

 

[Gunter99]

I am from Ireland - I would love to help out