England's Dying languages

[Wallace]

After Boon Mee's excellent Robert Burns thread, I wanted to start something that pays homage to the huge range of dying dialects that you can find throughout England. As I'm from Lancashire, I thought I'd bring you all some wonderful gems from that part of the world. My grandparents were able to talk to each other using the Lancastrian dialect. There aren't many left who can use the language properly, so here you go. Most of these are just northern pronunciations of normal English. However, some of the words are only found in the north west of England, e.g. 'gob' for mouth, and 'sup' for drink. A dialect is very different from an accent. London, Birmingham and Liverpool have strong accents, but no dialects.

These expressions are based on normal English, but the pronunciation is quite different, and there are a few weird words thrown in:


1.Thammun gerrit thisen. You must get it yourself.(as in find it yourself)
2.Initot? Isn/t it hot?
3.Giuzit. Give me it. (give it to me)
4.Gerritetten. Get it eaten. (told to eat your food)(as in children instructions)
5.Gerofit. Get off it..(leave it alone)(or step down from)
6.Supitup. Drink it up.( consume your drink)
7.Azzee getniteer? Did he get it here?(buying or finding something)
8.Eez gooinwom. He is going home.
9.Ast getnit reet? Have you got it right?( as in understanding)
10.Isit thi mam? Is it(she, this, her,) your mother.
11.Purrimineer. Put him in here.(ie:-animal to kennal)
12.Eessezitintis burra berritis. He say’s it isn’t his but it is.
13.Thalaft gerra newun. You will have to get a new one.(replace an old object)
14.Lerrus gerrus answasht. Lets wash our hands or Let us get our hands washed.
15.Summonusul afert gerrof. Some of us will have to get off. (ie:- off the bus)
16.Wi afert gerrus imbooks. We have to get our Hymn Books.(in church)
17.Thamun gerrit lernt. You must get it learned or you must learn it.(as in advised)
18.Shut thigob. Shut your mouth.(as a threat)
19.Owzeenow? How is he now? (as in health enquiry)

Here are some real Lancashire words that have survived (just) from mainly Anglo-Saxon and Middle English times:

Brid (bird) - Anglo-Saxon
Clough (wooded vale) - Middle English
Deg (to sprinkle) - Icelandic
Fain (glad) - Anglo-Saxon
Flit (to move) - Middle English
Lake (to play) - Anglo-Saxon
Mun (must) - Icelandic
Thrutch (to push) - Anglo-Saxon

In Lancashire you can also find the following plurals of normal English words:

eye, normal English 'eyes', Lancastrian 'een'
shoe, normal English 'shoes', Lancastrian 'shoon'.

And last but not least, let's pay homage to that most wonderful of Lancastrian words - GRADELY.

My grandparents used to use this a lot. It means 'grand, good, excellent, honest, and decent.' Originally it's a Norse word meaning straight-forward. It is often heard used by older people about a young person who is a 'good lad'.

"Eh, he's a reet gradely lad."

Does anyone else come from a region of England where some very old English words are still used, but not found anywhere else?

[Marmite the Dog]

However, some of the words are only found in the north west of England, e.g. 'gob' for mouth, and 'sup' for drink.

Strangely, we've always used those words in Bedfordshire, too. But, that's probably due to TV spreading words around.

There's nothing that I can think of from where I come from, but I suppose that's because I speak generally 'correct' 'British' English.

Apparently, Shakespeare was the first major uniting influence on the English language. Luckily, future events prevented everyone from sounding like they come from the Black Country.

[ChiangMai noon]

but I suppose that's because I speak generally 'correct' 'British' English.

pfffff.

you do make I laugh sometimes marmers.

[stroller]

I might get flamed for this, but it reads pretty similar to some of the Yorkshire dialects to me as an outsider.
The White Roses claim their dialect is derived from the 'original' English spoken while York was the capital.

[ChiangMai noon]

Melvin Bragg did a wonderful radio series about the routes of the English language and its accents and dialects.
The Queen's English was a bit of a latecomer to the game and has bugger all to do with proper English as far as I'm concerned.

[Thetyim]

The Queen's English was a bit of a latecomer to the game and has bugger all to do with proper English as far as I'm concerned.

It's called the 'queens english' because she is the only one who can understand it.
She told the population she had a "anus horribilis" once.
Most thought she had piles

[Marmite the Dog]

you do make I laugh sometimes marmers.

I try my bestest.

Anyway, what I mean't was that my accent is what is generally known a British English, despite the fact that most of Britain doesn't actually speak it like that. It would be better labelled Southern English English.

[Thetyim]

There's nothing that I can think of from where I come from

If you have learnt a word and used it for all your life then you never realise that it is a local dialect.
I am sure that we both have loads of them.

How about 'Plonk' for wine ?
Does everyone in UK understand that ?

[stroller]

I always wondered what exactly a "plonker" is, been called this many times, but the tone didn't sound too friendly.

[DrB0b]

I always wondered what exactly a "plonker" is, been called this many times, but the tone didn't sound too friendly.

Means somebody stupid. Not sure how long it's been around but it was popularised in the TV series "Only fools and Horses".

[DrB0b]

However, some of the words are only found in the north west of England, e.g. 'gob' for mouth, and 'sup' for drink.

We use them in Ireland, as in "shut yer gob", and "gobshite", and "can I have a sup of yer pint" but we're geographically close so they could have spread from northwest England.

Apparently, Shakespeare was the first major uniting influence on the English language. Luckily, future events prevented everyone from sounding like they come from the Black Country.

I'd have thought it was Caxton, he settled on (I think) the Kent dialect for his books.

[NickA]

snicket - yorkshirish for a little alley i dink
nesh - nottinghamish for can't take the cold
titwidget - cheshirian for welsh man's cock

[DrB0b]

When I was a kid we had to learn English dialect poems in school. Bloody awful it was, all oo-arrs and zummer and zoider stuff. Burns is about the the only dialect poet from the British Isles I can stomach.

Poem by somebody who is not Burns.
I woonce, a child, wer father-fed,
An' I've a-vound my childern bread;
My earm, a sister's trusty crook,
Is now a faithvul wife's own hook;
An' I've agone where vo'k did zend,
An' gone upon my own free mind,
An' of'en at my own wits' end.
A-led o' God while I were blind.
No; I could boast if others can,
I'm vull a man, ooo-arrr!

[blackpanther]

We use them in Ireland, as in "shut yer gob"

gob is an irish word too meaning bill or beak. ya feckin' gobsheen!

gob - Wiktionary

[DrB0b]

gob is an irish word too meaning bill or beak. ya feckin' gobsheen!

gob - Wiktionary

I'm trying to decide if you're a gobdaw or a spalpeen, while you're waiting for my decision have you seen this site?

PRINT-Everyday English and Slang in Ireland

I'm sure that people who make dialect and slang dictionaries just make half the stuff up.

[Thetyim]

I think 'gob' is understood all over UK.

Gobsmacked and gobstoppers (a large round sweet) spring to mind

[blackpanther]

I'm trying to decide if you're a gobdaw or a spalpeen

halfway between amadan and eejit i is

[danbo]

Melvin Bragg did a wonderful radio series about the routes of the English language and its accents and dialects.

Melv (as I call him) also produced a book based on the series, "The Adventure of English" which was that rare thing, educational, and entertaining. Bill Bryson also has a book "Mother Tongue" which is worth a read if you are interested in the history of the English language....If you haven't the time to read these tomes I'll summarise them both by saying that 'we' nicked most of the words from elsewhere.

[mad_dog]

Gob is common me thinks.. gobstopper = some kind of big sweet

shut your fucking gob= often heard on Friday nights in crappy English slums.

It is quite interesting the way the immigrants have changed English. I always thought "innit" was an abreviation of "is not it" but apparently the entymology of the word is Hindi.
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | It's Hinglish, innit?

[stroller]

Ah neh, dat dat dat daf, het kleh! -as my granny used to say, disgusted by modern child-rearing leniency.

[in4zip]

...
There aren't many left who can use the language properly, so here you go.
...

yo! brotha Wallace, nuttin to fret aboot nigga

ya got plenty of imported brethren
(and not ... take Ali G for example,
and lets not forget the all new tribes of Chaves
that the fair Isles now harbor)

they's all doing a grand job replacing
the ole lingo with the new speak, chill dog!

[danbo]

I sometimes wonder that if we travelled back in time to say the 1600s whether we would understand or be understood (if this was the Captain's Lounge I'd make a joke about 1600 being 4 o'clock, but as this is Issues....). Language evolves, that's its nature. Every year there are list of new words that has been selected for the OED. There's also a list of words removed, for example this year the word 'gullible' was removed.

I've just come across this list of new words for the OED, e.g. 'hoody'

AskOxford: New Words

[in4zip]

just took a quick browse through OED new words.
hoodie? crunk? bahookie? What-the-fuck!

a few years from now TD will be a purist language repository for the classical English savants

[stroller]

Yeah, if you live in Thailand long enough, you may believe TEFLers and English Language Consultants know how to speak and spell.

[danbo]

Most near everyone knows how to speak, but precious few know what to say.