Figure 1.-- |
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English dialects are in general divided into Nothern, Midlands and Southern. Further diversity is provided by the Celtic-based Welsh and Cornish to the West. This corrspons to rhe Anglo-Saxon settlement pattern Northumbrian, Mercia, West Saxon, and Kentish, along with the Celtic Fringe (Cornwall and Wales). [McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil, p. 63.] As late as the early 20th century, the British people spoke an amazing mix of English dialects. Americans may remember Professor Higgins complaining about Eliza's Cockney dialect in London. There were, however, many more regional based accents. Some English speakers such as in Yorkshire, Scotland, Lancashire, and Somerset were very difficult for Americans and some English people to understand.
The Northern dialect areas correspond roughly to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Northumbria was a Angle Kingdom. It was also heavily settled by the Vikings and within the Dane Law so Old Norse was another influence. A Lancashire reader writes, "Tha's rote a reht gradely page aboot istoory ov th Inglish language. This is my my best attempt to express in the Lancashire dialect about this page being a very good one." A British reader writes, "An American couple I once had the pleasure to have dinner with commented thus, 'We have been to France and understood the French people when we spoke in English but we meet an Englishman and can't fully understand what you say. When I was 12. I went to Brighton in Sussex. I met relations who had lived there all their lives.It was two days before I became used to their accent and could fully understand them. Even so there are some words spoken in Tajikistan that are similar sounding to Lancashire dialect words and they mean the same too. One is 'nay' meaning no. 'Nay lad tha can't have a toffee.' ( No son you can't have a candy.)" Another reader writes, "In lessons story's about northern people were read such as Bill Nauton's 'Goal Keeper's Revenge.' The pupils enjoyed the story best when the reader was from the North of England. The strangest experience is that people in the South of England like to copy a Northern accent and will spoke with you in this way. Such is the impact of the Northern Dialect. It is fun to listen too when Hollywood gives it a try. They get it wrong and have a Northern people speaking with a cockney accent. There are lots of jokes about teachers from London coming to a Northern town. One joke has the London teacher asking, 'Where's the bin?' This person is asking for the waste paper bin. However Northern folk ask it to find out ' Where a person has been.' This misunderstanding is the joke.'"
The southern area corresponds to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex, Sussex and Kent. These were areas settled by the Saxons. And they successfully resisted the Viking invasions, unlike the Anglo-Saxon kingsoms in the north and midlands. An English reader writes, "As a Southerner, born and bred, I have never known us to 'like to imitate a northern accent'. We would only do that (possibly) to annoy a Northerner in fun, but we usually leave the North/South divide alone, unlike the Northerners, who have a bit of a chip on their shoulders about it. Not long ago, I was on holiday talking to someone who I hadn't consciously 'registered' as a Northerner and casually mentioned that I fried my eggs in butter and he immediately asked, "Is that a Southern 'thing' then?" It took me a moment or two to realise what he had asked. I then replied that it was my own personal thing, of necessity, because I didn't keep any other kind of oil/fat in my home."
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