Dialect/social representation

in Trainspotting

Kau Vargas
Mariana Schulz

Purpose
motivation of the author to explore such an interesting and
complex language resource as the one used in the book;
scope: first chapter named The Skag Boys, Jean-Claude Van
Damme and Mother Superior;
The novel is written entirely in a form of colloquial
Scottish English, employing both phonetic spellings of words
for an accented effect, as well as Scottish slang
(MANKOFF, 2015)

The book n the author

The book was written in 1993 by the Scottish author Irvine
Welsh. It depicts the life of Rents, Sick Boy, Tommy, Matty,
Spud e Begbie, who spend their time basically going to
pubs, getting high, watching football matches and getting
into trouble;
Features of the book related to the authors life;

The book n the author

Irvine Welsh himself has been involved with heroin and
arrested, which helped him create such a verisimilar world

Trainspotting was his first book and the most intense one

Survey on lexicon items

Survey on lexicon items

words which are written differently from the standard
form are essentially prepositions, pronouns, very
common verbs and some slang;
dialect-switchers x style-drifters (AITKEN, 1979).

Sample ay the text

The sweat wis lashing oafay Sick Boy; he wis trembling.
Ah wis jist sitting thair, focusing oan the telly, tryin no tae
notice the cunt. He wis bringing me doon. Ah tried tae keep
ma attention oan the Jean-Claude Van Damme video.
As happens in such movies, they started oaf wi an obligatory
dramatic opening. Then the next phase ay the picture
involved building up the tension through introducing the
dastardly villain and sticking the weak plot thegither. Any
minute now though, auld Jean-Claude's ready tae git doon
tae some serious swedgin (WELSH, p. 3)

Sample ay the text

"Ah'll huv tae stoap sayin' 'ken' sae
much. These dudes might think ah'm a
sortay pleb." (WELSH, 2013, p. 87).

Survey lexicon items

Total of words (chapter 1) - 3554 words (SE - 2582; SC 972);

Survey lexicon items

Examples of words that
are registered/produced
in both codes (Standard
English and Scots) in
Chapter 1.

old

auld

SE

SC

got

goat

one

yin

get

git

what

whit

would

wid

home

hame

you

ye

together

thegither

there

thir, thair

down

doon

their

thir

my

ma

always

eywis

Survey lexicon items

McClures perspective;

Conclusion...
The use of dialect is related to the social aspects depicted
in the book: the addiction to drugs is stigmatized, as well
as the path they chose.

References
Aitken, A. (1979). Scottish speech: A historical view with special reference to the Standard English of Scotland. In: Aitken, A.
(1979). Languages of Scotland (p. 85-118). Edinburgh: W & R Chambers.
Aitkenhead, D. (2012). Irvine Welsh: 'I'm the same kind of writer as I am a drinker. I'm a binger'. [online] the Guardian. Available
at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/15/irvine-welsh-writer-trainspotting-skagboys [Accessed 20 May 2015].
Bagno, M. (1999). Preconceito lingu stico. Sao Paulo, SP: Edicoes Loyola.
Cliffsnotes.com, (2015). About The Color Purple. [online] Available at: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-colorpurple/about-the-color-purple [Accessed 21 Jun. 2015].
Douglas. F. English in Scotland. In: Kachru, B., Kachru, Y. and Nelson, C. (2009). The handbook of world Englishes. Malden,
MA: Blackwell Pub.
LEZARD, N. (1993). BOOK REVIEW / Junk and the big trigger: 'Trainspotting' - Irvine Welsh: Secker, 8.99. [online] The
Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/book-review--junk-and-the-big-triggertrainspotting--irvine-welsh-secker-899-1464158.html [Accessed 20 May 2015].
Lokotopia.com.br, (2015). Resenha Trainspotting. [online] Available at: http://lokotopia.com.br/resenha-trainspotting/ [Accessed
20 May 2015].

References
Lopatiuk, T. (2014). Resenha: Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh). [online] Elvis Costello Gritou Meu Nome. Available at: http://www.
elviscostellogritoumeunome.com.br/resenha-trainspotting-irvine-welsh/ [Accessed 20 May 2015].
Mankoff, S. (2015). Wankers, Burds, and Skag: Heteroglossia in Trainspotting. [online] Empty Mirror. Available at: http://www.
emptymirrorbooks.com/features/literature/wankers-burds-and-skag-heteroglossia-in-trainspotting.html [Accessed 21 May
2015].
McClure, J. (1979). Scots: Its range of uses. In A. Aitken & T. McArthur (Eds.), Languages of Scotland (pp. 26-48). Edinburgh: W
& R Chambers.
Pt.wikipedia.org, (2015). Trainspotting. [online] Available at: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trainspotting [Accessed 19 May 2015].
Trainspotting. (1996). [film] United Kingdom: Danny Boyle.
Welsh, I. (2013). Trainspotting. London, UK: Vintage.
Wikipedia, (2015). Irvine Welsh. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irvine_Welsh [Accessed 19 May 2015].
Wikipedia, (2015). Trainspotting (film). [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trainspotting_(film) [Accessed 19 May
2015].

References
Wood, V. (2015). Trainspotting for Filth: Irvine Welshs Portrayals of Contemporary Scotland. [online] Theculturetrip.com.
Available at: http://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/articles/trainspotting-for-filth-irvine-welsh-sportrayals-of-contemporary-scotland/ [Accessed 21 May 2015].
Zikmundov, M. (2014). The Language of Trainspotting. Masaryk University. Available at: http://is.muni.cz/th/399446/ff_b/?
lang=en;id=259506 [Acessed 12 May 2015]