Topic: What is life without dialect?

[tim]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/photo04/geordie.jpg

[busy_lizzie]

I am Geordie, Tim, but even I don't understand some of these. I think they come more from the older generation, though a lot of the  old mining areas like Ashington and Bedlington still have their own special dialect, and the fishing areas as well.  The Wearside accent has a different twang to it too.  One of the lovely things my Mother used to say, which I always used to love hearing, was someone was, "a canny hinny"  Canny being "loveable", "sweet"or  "nice", being the closest definition, but still a word hard to explain, and the "hinny" which  is a loving title that she always called the children, could be honey, I suppose.   Agree with you it would be very sad to see them all go. busy_lizzie

[CotswoldLass]

Wonderful piece Tim!

Interesting that 'in fine fettle' and 'out of kilter' are phrases that have surely been absorbed into the wider repertoire...or am I just that bit older?

Dialects and local customs are part of heritage and should be preserved, part of history and colour.

CLx

[tim]

But the other side of the coin is that that many Americans speak purer English than we do.  And that they get their 'funny way of talking' from our dialects??

[Glyn]

And that they get their 'funny way of talking' from our dialects??

I think so too Tim. Especially from the southern counties of "Devon & Cornwall."
Plus the Dutch, Scots, Irish, Welsh, German, etc.
Is it any wonder they have a 'funny way of talking'
It's the nasal "twang" that gets me..it's gotta be down to "pronunciation, aliens, or bad sinus's" ;D
;D ;D ;D ;D

[Amazin]

BL, I wonder if the Geordie 'hinny' is connected to the Scottish 'hen' in origin. Hen's a word used like 'love' or 'dear', but only to a female.

[CotswoldLass]

Become rather afraid of offending anyone on this aite ...but 'hinny' is well known term for 'mule'......

CLx

[redimp]

I love dialects and accents - it is another layer of our cultural diversity that should be preserved.  I have a few in my classroom and I encourage the children to be proud of their accents and their heritage and to try and keep as much of thier dialect as they grow up as possible.  I like to think that I still have quite a bit of Lincs in the way I speak.

[Amazin]

A mule? Offended? Me?

Neeeeiiiiggghhh, lass!!

 ;D ;D ;D

[Glyn]

I like to think that I still have quite a bit of Lincs in the way I speak.

I've still got the Kidderminster/Worcestershire twang.
People over here think I'm Scottish and call me Glen...
I answer to both. ;D
;D ;D ;D ;D

[telboy]

Went into a local garden centre the other day - paid the bill & said " Thank you petal"

The assistant replied " Don't say that"

"Why not?" I replied.

My name's 'Plant'.

[tim]

Was that a whinny you did, Amazin??

[Heldi]

This has given me a smile. Sometimes when I'm posting I have to really think of another word for what I mean because I've been queried a few times when I've used words that I've grown up with.

Moving up from Newcastle to Northumberland the dialect is different and the accent is softer.  I used to hear the kids in the street shouting "Noah!"  Wondered who Noah was until I watched them one day,they were actually saying "No!"

I think dialects are becoming mixed up partly due to the fact that people travel about more. Universities are a good example. 

I find myself saying things that I have picked up from a flatmate who hailed from Liverpool and went to university in Newcastle.Three years in the same flat has to rub off doesn't it.  I bet he calls his ears his "lugs" now as well.

[froglets]

I love the range of accents & dialects in the UK.  Sadly my own dialect is disappearing thanks to tv ( Border Scots) and people moving away.  My old uni flatmate used to fall about laughing at my accent, especially when on the phone to my mum.  Now in a twist, she & her partner ( both poshly educated) are running a hotel in the Borders and are picking up the language.  She rang me a few weeks ago with delight to inform me she was now using phrases such as "having my buckets uplifted" ( refuse collection) "dinna fash" ( don't worry) & "gein it laldy" ( wellying something)

Sometimes it takes the "incomers" to remind us of what we're losing.

[beejay]

I too love dialect & accents & think it is sad that they are gradually seeming to disappear or at least being "dumbed down" for want of a better phrase. Although we no longer hear the plummy tones on TV & radio that there used to be, the regional accents that we do hear now tend to be very watered down & with people moving around the country for education & jobs it's not really surprising. For instance I am Cumbrian, spent 6 years in S Wales & now live in London. All I really have now is a very vague northern accent which I am quite sad about.

BTW hinny is also used in N Cumbria.

[Carol]

I do like listening to all the dialects from throughout the U.K.  I am Border Scots but having lived in other parts of the country throughout my life I have also picked up other words.  I like to keep the old words alive and often get strange looks from young family members as to what I am saying.  We don't say 'hinny' up here but 'hen' is used.  (I hate that expression).  My Dad used to call me hen but it was OK from him!   Its a complete language really and I am sure if anyone heard me talking on the phone they would not know a word I said because of the dialect.  Keep it alive, keep talking your dialect before it dies.

[CotswoldLass]

Tim, agree absolutely with your comment on our friends from 'over the pond'. I have many friends in the Washington DC area, none of whom would dream of saying 'Can I?' when they mean 'May I?'.

When I was working in London years ago a colleague used to often say, as an expression of surprise, 'Well I'll go the foot of our stairs'. Loved that one! Think he was a Lincolnshire lad. Maybe someone could enlighten me?

CLx

[keef]

I've got a West Berkshire / South Oxfordshire accent. Which basically if means if I speak to a cockney they think i'm from Bristol, and if i speak to a Bristolian they think i'm a cockney  ???

We have a few weird sayings, like if i bought somthing from a shopping channel, i would say "I bought it off of the telly", and we call everyone "Mate" and say "Cheers"  instead of thankyou.

[petemason]

I love dialects and accents - it is another layer of our cultural diversity that should be preserved.  I have a few in my classroom and I encourage the children to be proud of their accents and their heritage and to try and keep as much of thier dialect as they grow up as possible.  I like to think that I still have quite a bit of Lincs in the way I speak.

I've lived in the same City as RC for 12 years and it has certainly helped water down my Lancashire accent. However, I was given a sharp reminder of how differently I must sound to people when I asked where the scones were in Asda the other day. I was met with a completely blank look until I attempted to pronounce it like my wife does. Scoans sounded perfectly OK to me!

PS. Although my children don't sound anything like me, they do say Ay yup Chuck to my mother which tickles her.

[jaggythistle]

Aye Carol Hen....n if the fowk in here wis ti see us yak oan msn a word thi
  widnea ken  ;D ;D