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Brattle

Dialect
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A loud clatter or rattling noise; also a sudden rush or scamper.

Detailed Definition
"Brattle" is gloriously onomatopoeic, its hard consonants and short vowel mimicking the percussive crash it names. Burns uses it memorably in "Tam o' Shanter" to describe thunder. In poetry it contributes sonic energy, bringing storms, hooves, and sudden movement vividly to life. The word exemplifies how Scots vocabulary can make a single term do the work of an entire phrase, packing physical sensation into a compact, resonant sound.
Example
Example in poetry:
"Brattle" means a sudden clatter or rattling noise, often of hooves or thunder; Burns uses it in "Tam o' Shanter": "Wi' mony a brattle" describing the horse's pace; A poet might write: "The brattle of the mare's hooves rang / across the cobbles as she sprang." for kinetic energy; "A brattle of thunder split the sky / and sent the curlews screaming by." sets a dramatic scene; "The cart came doun wi' sic a brattle / the hens flew up like frightened cattle." uses sound for comic effect; "He heard the brattle of the chase / and kent he'd lost the race." builds tension with auditory alarm; "The brattle woke her from her dream — / the world was louder than it seemed." bridges sleep and waking
Additional Notes
Brattle captures sound with wonderful precision — the crash and clatter of sudden, energetic noise. Burns uses it memorably in "Halloween" and other poems where rural life erupts in noise and movement. Its onomatopoeic quality is one of Scots poetry's great strengths: the word sounds like what it means. Students studying sound effects in verse (cacophony, onomatopoeia) will find "brattle" a fine example of how Scots lexicon can achieve in a single word what English might need a phrase to accomplish. Related sound words in Scots include "skirl" (high piercing sound), "dirl" (vibrate/tingle), and "clatter" (which Scots shares with English but uses with particular relish).
Also Known As
Clatter Rattle Hurry
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