East Midlands English
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In the East Midlands of England, (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire) a dialect is spoken which is often mistaken for the Yorkshire or Tyke dialect, due to similarities with accents in the southern parts of Yorkshire. Traditionally it is spoken in those parts of Mercia lying East of Watling Street (the A5 London - Shrewsbury Road). 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" is thought to be derived from the Norse, "gråte" (Both words meaning To Cry).
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" 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.' (It is interesting to note that there is an area of Nottinghamshire near the town of Worksop called The Dukeries).
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 novellist, and East Midlander, DH 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.
Dialect Words
In recent years, humorous texts such as 'Nottingham, As it is spoke,' 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.
Ey up/Ay up – a common greeting, Gleg – to look, Larup – to cover with, Nesh – A weak person, or one who feels the cold, Puther – to pour out uncontrollably, Rammel – rubbish / waste, Scraight – to cry, Snap – lunch/food, Snidered – covered, Twitchel - Alley, Tabs - Ears, Yorp /Yawp – To shout
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.
Formal address
Up until the mid 20th century it was not uncommon to hear the use of formal and informal forms of address, 'Thee' and 'Thou', as compared to the less formal Yo or You. Use of the formal form of address is now uncommon in modern speech
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns differ from standard english as follows;
Yorn - Yours, Mine - Mine, Theirn - Theirs, Ourn - Ours.
Example "It eent theirn it's ourn!" (It isn't theirs, it's ours!)
Reflexive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are characterised by the replacement of Self with 'Sen' (From Middle English seluen)
Y'usen - Yourself, Mesen - Myself, Thisens - Themselves, Ussens - Ourselves
Example "We s'll ay to do it ussens." (We shall have to do it ourselves)
External Links
East Midlands Dialect in Literature
[The Dialect Poems of DH Lawrence][Dialect Poems from the English regions]
Counties in which East Midlands English is Spoken
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