21 March 2024 , 10:18
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A British regional accent is apparently the hardest in the world to master, according to language experts.
Scotland is known for its various accents that have left many tourists from England and beyond bewildered over the years. From Glasgow to the Highlands, every area of the country has its own unique dialect.
As revealed by a new study conducted by researchers at online language learning marketplace Preply, the Shetland accent is the most difficult in the world to perfect. According to the experts, even professionals struggle to master the archipelago's distinct twang, reports the Daily Record.
Many people will be familiar with the accent through the popular BBC series Shetland. Viewers from the archipelago have noted that Steven Robertson, who was born and raised in Shetland and plays Sandy Wilson, is the only cast member with a Shetland accent of true accuracy.
One Shetland viewer took to social media platform X to write: "Of the actors in the BBC series Shetland, there's really only one who has a local accent, everyone else sounds Glasgow-ish or English."
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Many will be aware of the accent through the acclaimed BBC series Shetland (Jamie Simpson/BBC/PA Wire)Preply teamed up with Ashley Howard, a respected dialect coach with more than 15 years of experience in the field, to take a deep dive into the complex world of accents. Identifying it as the one that his clients struggle with the most, he explained that many actors have difficulty picking up the Shetland dialect's intricacies.
Howard commented: "One accent that a lot of actors find hard to impersonate is a Shetland accent of Scotland. What with its rich dialect, distinctive rhythm and unexpected vowel distribution."
"The rhythm of these accents has more of a gliding quality to it and the pitch pattern is more major than minor, giving it a warm quality. The Shetland accent can catch out even experienced actors, who tend to observe the typical characteristics of an Edinburgh accent".
Explaining what differentiates the Shetland accent from other Scots accents, he continued: "Shetland belongs to a collection of accents thought of as Scottish Highlands and Islands. Compared to Lowlands Scotts, these accents have a lighter and brighter quality to them; almost feather-like. L's are light, not dark."
"The LOT, THOUGHT and sometimes even FACE vowels are pronounced more like // in 'cat' rather than // and /e/ respectively. You might hear the MOUTH vowel pronounced more like // as in GOOSE."
For more details about the study, please click here.