Bout Ye?
Hello, how are you? The standard Northern Irish informal greeting, contracted from 'what about ye?'. Not a question that expects an answer beyond a returned 'bout ye?' or 'grand, yourself?'. The greeting is the whole exchange.
Etymology
A contraction of 'what about ye?', which functioned as a greeting in older Ulster English before being shortened. The 'ye' is the Scots and Hiberno-English second-person form that standard English replaced with 'you'. The shortening dropped 'what' first, then settled at 'bout ye?' as a complete greeting in itself. Documented in BBC Voices archive recordings of Ulster English.
In a sentence
"Bout ye? Haven't seen you since the wedding." "Grand, yourself?"
Historical notes
Bout ye? is the Belfast greeting that travels furthest as a marker of Northern Irish speech. It does the same social work as 'how's it going?', 'alright?', or 'hi', but with the Ulster vowel and the contracted form making it instantly placeable to anyone with an ear for Irish speech. The greeting is also unusually unisex and class-portable - heard from teenagers, taxi drivers, politicians, and grandmothers without changing shape.
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Ulster English' (vocabulary section, citing BBC Voices recordings). · other
- BBC Voices archive recordings of Ulster English (cited via Wikipedia UE). · academic