Houl
Hold. The Ulster Scots pronunciation, written 'houl' to mark the dropped 'd' and the distinctive vowel. Used in imperatives ('houl on a minute', 'houl yer bake') and in narrative ('she houl'd the rope tight').
Etymology
From standard English 'hold', via the Scots and Ulster Scots pronunciation that drops the final 'd' and rounds the vowel. The Scots form 'haud' is the closer cousin; 'houl' is the Ulster Scots variant. Same root, different vowel-paths. The dropped final 'd' is consistent with broader Ulster Scots phonology - similar to 'aul' for 'old', 'caul' for 'cold'.
In a sentence
"Houl on there a minute - I'm not finished telling you yet."
Historical notes
Houl is one of the workhorse Ulster Scots verb-pronunciations. The fixed phrases 'houl yer bake' (= be quiet), 'houl yer wheesht' (= same), and 'houl on a minute' (= wait a moment) are all everyday Ulster speech. Writers represent the local pronunciation by spelling it 'houl' or 'howl'; speakers naturally use the form. In rapid speech the word often shortens further to 'hou'' or 'how'.
Alternate spellings
howl · haud
Sources
- Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL), entry HAUD / HOUL. · dictionary
- Macafee, Caroline. A Concise Ulster Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 1996. · dictionary