A boss look at the origin of key Scouse terms

SCOUSE is a unique accent and dialect associated with the city of Liverpool and its people.

- BY LIAM THORP

But while Scouse is a legendary way of speaking, there is a lot of debate about where the city's accent and language originated from and how it came to be what it is today.

Professor Tony Crowley is something of an expert in Scouse - or as he prefers to call it, Liverpool English.

Speaking to the Advertiser previously, Tony, who was born in Dingle to a Liverpool Irish family, said the common view that the city's accent and dialect was derived largely from the arrival of Irish immigrants is not true.

He believes it is much more likely to have been formed from a wider amalgam of accents and dialects, brought to the city during its time as a major international port.

As part of his research into his native dialect, Professor Crowley created the Liverpool English Dictionary, which contains more than 2,000 local words and phrases linked to Liverpool and Scousers.

Published by Liverpool University Press, the dictionary purports to be the first scholarly record of Liverpool's unique language and dialect and the first to do this based on real respect for the city and its culture. Carefully crafted in accordance with the same methods that underpin all modern historical dictionaries, the Liverpool English Dictionary provides a hugely detailed and fascinating look at the many words used every day by Scousers and where they may have come from.