NationMaster - Encyclopedia: East Midlands English

Traditionally, "East Midlands English" was spoken in those parts of Mercia lying East of Watling Street (the A5 London - Shrewsbury Road). Today this area is represented by the counties of the East Midlands of England, (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire (and Northamptonshire, see below). The general location of Mercia, along with the other peoples of Britain around the year 600. ... The modern Watling Street crossing the Medway at Rochester near the Roman and Celt crossings Watling Street is the name given to a British ancient trackway which was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. ... The East Midlands is one of the regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. ... Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. ... Leicestershire (IPA: , abbreviated Leics) is a landlocked county in central England. ... Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. ... Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ...

Like that of Yorkshire, the East Midlands dialect owes much of its grammar and vocabulary to Nordic influences, the region having been incorporated in the Norse controlled Danelaw in the late 9th century. For example, the East Midlands word scraight ('to cry') is thought to be derived from the Norse, skrike in modern Scandinavian, also meaning to cry.[1] Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Green: Danelaw The Danelaw (from the Old English Dena lagu, Danish: Danelagen ) is an 11th century name for an area of northern and eastern England under the administrative control of the Vikings (or Danes, or Norsemen) from the late 9th century. ...

Though spoken less commonly today, the dialect of the East Midlands has been investigated in notable texts such as the affectionately titled Ey Up Mi Duck[2] series of books (and an LP) by Richard Scollins and John Titford. "Ey Up" is a greeting of uncertain origin used widely throughout the North Midlands and South Yorkshire, and "Mi Duck" is thought to be derived from a respectful Anglo Saxon form of address, "Duka" (Literally "Duke"), and is unrelated to waterfowl. Non-natives of the East Midlands are often surprised to hear men greet each other as 'Mi Duck.' [3] The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ...

One interesting difference between accents in the East Midlands and those in the southern parts of Yorkshire is to do with the use of was and were. Midlanders tend to always use was, even when Standard English dictates were; Yorkshire folk tend to always use were, even when Standard English dictates was.

The romantic English novelist, and East Midlander, D. H. Lawrence who was from the Nottinghamshire town of Eastwood wrote in the dialect of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Coalfield in several dialect poems as well as in his more famous works such as Lady Chatterley's Lover and Sons and Lovers. [4] D.H. Lawrence at age 21 (1906) David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 â€“ 2 March 1930) was an important and controversial English writer of the 20th century, with his output spanning novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, paintings, translations, literary criticism and personal letters. ... Location within the British Isles Arms of the former Eastwood Urban District Council Eastwood is a town in Nottinghamshire, England, six miles west of Nottingham. ... Lady Chatterleys Lover is a novel by D. H. Lawrence written in 1928. ... Sons and Lovers is the third published novel of D.H. Lawrence, taken by many to be his earliest masterpiece. ...

Although in the East Midlands, Northamptonshire dialect is influenced by the dialects of East Anglia, the West Midlands and the South. Its dialect is perhaps best classed as East Anglian. In the northern part of the county, the dialect of Corbian is spoken. [5] Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... The West Midlands is a geographical term describing the western half of central England, known as the Midlands. ... A compass rose with South highlighted South is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ...

Dialect Words

In recent years, humorous texts such as Nottingham, As it is spoke[6] have combined phonetically spelt standard English words together in order to deliberately confuse non-natives to the region. However, there are many words in use in the traditional East Midlands Dialect which do not appear in standard English. The short list below is by no means exhaustive. More comprehensive 'dictionaries' exist within texts such as Ey Up Mi Duck by Richards Scollins and John Titford.

Two rolls Bread Rolls at a bakery Bread Rolls in a basket A bread roll is a piece of bread, usually small and round and is commonly considered a side dish. ... An Alley in Melbourne A gate to an alley in Annapolis, Maryland An alley or alleyway is a narrow, pedestrian lane found in urban areas which usually run between or behind buildings. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Bat ears come in different sizes and shapes The ear is the sense organ that detects sound. ...

Grammar

Those who speak traditional regional dialects are not trying to speak Standard English and failing. East Midlands English follows a series of distinct gramatical rules. Some examples follow below. A dialect (from the Greek word Î´Î¹Î¬Î»ÎµÎºÏ„Î¿Ï‚, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... Standard English is a general term for a form of written and spoken English that is considered the model for educated people by native English speakers. ...

Formal address

Up until the mid 20th century it was not uncommon to hear the use of informal forms of address, Thee and Thou, as compared to the more formal Yo or You. Use of the informal form of address is now uncommon in modern speech.

Personal pronouns

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are characterised by the replacement of Self with 'Sen' (From Middle English seluen)

Y'usen - Yourself, Mesen - Myself, Thisens - Themselves/Yourselves, Ussens - Ourselves

External links

East Midlands Dialect in Literature

Counties in which East Midlands English is Spoken

v • d • e

Dialects of English

Europe
British · East Anglian · English English · Estuary · Euro-English · Guernsey English · Hiberno-English (Ireland) · Highland · Llanito (Gibraltar) · Manx · Mid Ulster · Midlands · Northern · Received Pronunciation · Scottish · Welsh · West Country dialects Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. ... Leicestershire (IPA: , abbreviated Leics) is a landlocked county in central England. ... Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. ... Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ... Oakham Castle Rutland is traditionally Englands smallest county and is bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire, and southeast by Northamptonshire. ... This is a list of varieties of the English language. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... East Anglia - the easternmost area of England - was probably home to the first-ever form of language which can be called English. ... English English is a term that has been applied to the English language as spoken in England. ... Estuary English is a name given to the form of English widely spoken in South East England, especially along the river Thames and its estuary. ... Euro-English (also Euroenglish or Euro-Englisch) terms are English translations of European concepts that are not native to English-speaking countries. ... Guernsey English is the dialect of English spoken by natives of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, distinguished by the fact that it has considerable influence from DgÃ¨rnÃ©siais, the variety of Norman indigenous to Guernsey. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Highland English is the variety of Gaelic influenced Scottish English spoken in the Scottish Highlands. ... Llanito (IPA: ) or Yanito is an Andalusian Spanish based creole spoken in the British dependent territory of Gibraltar. ... Mid Ulster English (Ulster Anglo-Irish) is the dialect of most people in Ulster, including those in the two main cities. ... Midlands English is a group of dialects of the English language. ... Northern English is a group of dialects of the English language. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Scottish English is usually taken to mean the standard form of the English language used in Scotland, often termed Scottish Standard English. ... Welsh English, Anglo-Welsh, or Wenglish (see below) refer to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

North America
United States · African American Vernacular · Appalachian · Baltimorese · Boston · California · Chicano · Cajun · General American · Maine-New Hampshire · New Jersey · New York City · North American · North Central American · Inland Northern American · Pacific Northwest · Philadelphia · Pittsburgh · Southern American · Utah · Yooper | Canadian · West/Central Canadian · Maritimer · Newfoundland · Quebec World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also called African American English, Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular (BEV), or Black Vernacular English (BVE), is a type variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of the American English language. ... Appalachian English is a common name for the Southern Midland dialect of American English. ... Baltimorese, sometimes phonetically written Bawlmerese or Ballimerese, is a dialect of American English which originated among the white blue-collar residents of working class South and Southeast Baltimore. ... The Boston accent is the English dialect not only of the city of Boston, Massachusetts itself, but more generally of all of eastern New England; some form of it can be heard commonly in an area stretching throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, southern Maine, and eastern Connecticut. ... California English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the U.S. state of California. ... Chicano English is a dialect of American English used by Chicanos (persons of Mexican descent in America). ... Acadiana, the tradtitional Cajun homeland and the stronghold of both the Cajun French and English dialects. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Maine-New Hampshire English refers to the speech patterns found mainly in the northern New England states of New Hampshire and Maine. ... For a small state, New Jersey is dialectally quite diverse, with two regions of the state overlapping with other dialect areas, New York and Philadelphia, and several autochthonous dialects. ... The New York dialect of the English language is spoken by most European Americans in New York City and much of its metropolitan area including Westchester and Rockland counties, the western half of Long Island, and a few cities in northeastern New Jersey. ... North American English is a collective term used for the varieties of the English language that are spoken in the United States and Canada. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Inland North Dialect of American English is the standard Midwestern speech that was the basis for General American in the mid-20th Century, though it has been recently modified by the northern cities vowel shift. ... Pacific Northwest English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the Pacific Northwest. ... The Philadelphia accent is the accent of English spoken in Philadelphia and extending into Philadelphias suburbs in the Delaware Valley and southern New Jersey. ... Many of the features found in the speech of Pittsburghers are popularly thought to be unique to the city, as is reflected in the term Pittsburghese, the putative sum of these features in the form of a dialect. ... The Southern United States Red states show the core of the American South. ... Utah English, sometimes humorously referred to as Utahnics, is a dialect of the English language spoken in the U.S. state of Utah. ... Yooper is a form of North Central American English mostly spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which gives the dialect its name (from UP for Upper Peninsula). ... The West/Central Canadian English dialect is one of the largest and the most homogenous dialect area in North America. ... Maritimer English quirks include the removal of pre-consonantal sounds, and a faster speech tempo. ... Newfoundland English is a name for several dialects of English specific to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, distinct from Canadian English. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Caribbean
Bermudian · Bahamian · Caribbean · Jamaican World map depicting Caribbean : West Indies redirects here. ... Caribbean English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the Caribbean. ...

Oceania | Asia
Australian · New Zealand · Australian Aboriginal · Hawaiian Pidgin | Burmese · Hong Kong · Indian · Manglish · Philippine · Singlish · Sri Lankan For the fictional superstate in George Orwells novel, see Oceania (Nineteen Eighty-Four). ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... New Zealand English is the English spoken in New Zealand. ... Australian Aboriginal English (AAE) is a term referring to the various varieties of the English language used by Indigenous Australians. ... HawaiÊ»i Pidgin English, HawaiÊ»i Creole English, HCE, or simply Pidgin, is a creole language based in part on English used by some residents of HawaiÊ»i (Hawaiian Pidgin English is considered an inaccurate label). ... For more background on this topic, see languages of Hong Kong. ... It has been suggested that British and Malaysian English differences be merged into this article or section. ... Singlish is an English-based creole language native to Singapore. ... Sri Lankan English (SLE) is the English language as spoken in Sri Lanka. ...

Africa
Liberian · Malawian · South African A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... South African English is a dialect of English spoken in South Africa and in neighbouring countries with a large number of Anglo-Africans living in them, such as Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. ...

Miscellaneous
Basic · Commonwealth · Globish · International · Mid-Atlantic · Plain · Simplified · Special · Standard The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Look up Appendix:Basic English word list in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Globish is a portmanteau neologism of the words Global and English. ... International English is the concept of the English language as a global means of communication in numerous dialects, and the movement towards an international standard for the language. ... For the region within the United States, see: Mid-Atlantic States Mid-Atlantic English describes a version of the English language which is neither predominantly American or British in usage. ... Plain English focuses on being a flexible and efficient writing style that readers can understand in one reading. ... Simplified English is a controlled language originally developed for aerospace industry maintenance manuals. ... Special English is a simplified version of the English language used by the United States broadcasting service Voice of America in daily broadcasts. ... Standard English is a general term for a form of written and spoken English that is considered the model for educated people by native English speakers. ...

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