Ləhcə

OK, this is definitely my word of the week. For a long time now I have used the word tələffüz to refer to the way someone sounds. Strictly speaking it means pronunciation, but I don't think it means accent. A better word that I have just discovered is ləhcə, which is usually translated as dialect. However, I think this is the correct word to describe how a person pronounces words because of where they are from. I am from Canada, my husband is from Ireland, so our accents are different. Although I would say my husband's accent is clearer, many Azerbaijanis say they find my accent easier to understand.

So, on the subject of accents...

I was recently given a lovely muğam CD by a fellow Canadian who is studying music in Baku. His name is Qoçaq Əskərov. Anyway, he has a beautiful voice. I really love his rendition of Küçələrə su səpmişəm. However, I did notice something. He pronounces samovar like simovar. I asked my taxi driver about this and he said it was a regional accent thing - Bakuvians would say the former, people from Sumgayıt and other places the latter. For some reason I like the sound of simovar better in the song. It seems to me that Bülbül pronounces it this way as well. Strangely enough, I was asking him about srağagün (yes, this difficult-to-pronounce word is used) and then thought of its opposite - birisigün. This word as well has a Baku pronunciation and a regional one, though for the life of me I can't remember what that was now. I will ask again and update you.