Manx English
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Manx English, or more commonly Anglo-Manx, is the dialect of English which was formerly spoken by the people of the Isle of Man. It has many borrowings from the original Manx language, a Goidelic language, and it differs widely from any other English, including other Celtic-derived dialects such as Welsh English and Hiberno-English.
Early strata of Anglo-Manx contain much of Gaelic and Norse origin, but more recent Anglo-Manx displays heavy influence from Liverpool and Lancashire in North West England.
The best known recorder of the Anglo-Manx dialect was the poet, T.E. Brown.
In recent years, the Anglo-Manx dialect has almost disappeared in the face of increasing immigration and cultural influence from the United Kingdom. A few words remain in general use, but apart from the Manx accent, little remains of this dialect and it is seldom heard on the island in its original form today.
Sources such as A.W. Moore's "A Vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx Dialect" (Oxford University Press, 1924) and W.W. Gill's "Manx Dialect Words and Phrases" (J.W. Arrowsmith, 1934) document the dialect in the last stages before its decline from common use - few of the words noted are still in common parlance today.
Modern Anglo-Manx lexicon
Some of the following terms surviving from the original Anglo-Manx dialect are still in occasional use today :
- Across - The UK, i.e. across the water
- Aye - yes
- Bon - a stick, usually of gorse
- Boy - very common address from one male to another (of any age)
- Coalie - a coal fish
- Comeover - a non-Manx person living in the Isle of Man
- Deemster - a judge from "doom" in its old sense of judgement (cf "Doomsday" - day of judgment)
- Fell - hill, from Scandinavian
- Fella - a man/mate (fellow), common to other dialects, but much more frequent in Anglo-Manx
- Four and Twenty - the House of Keys
- Herrin - herring
- Kirk - Church, used in parish names, of Scandinavian origin
- Manxie - a Manx person or a Manx cat
- Middlin' - all right/OK - an equivalent of the Manx "castreycair"
- Sowel - another form of address to a male person
- Themselves - fairies
- Twenty Four - the House of Keys
- Up is used for going south, down for going north, out for going west
- Yessir - form of address to a male person, from the "Ussey" (ussa) form of "you" in Manx Gaelic
Manx loanwords
Words of Manx Gaelic origin:
- Bollan Bane - mugwort
- Bonnag - a flat loaf of bread
- Broogh - a riverbank
- Callig - pollack fish
- Cammag - a Manx form of hurling or shinty
- Chymlee - the actual Manx word for chimney
- Claddagh - floodplain
- Cronk - hill
- Cruinnaght - cultural gathering
- Curragh - an area of willow carr (swamp/bog)
- Cushag - ragwort
- Dub - a small hollow, damp area or pool
- Ellan Vannin - Isle of Man
- Fastyr mie - good afternoon
- Garee - wasteland (sometimes spelt 'garey' which confusingly means 'garden')
- Glen - wooded valley from Manx 'glion'. Similar to Scottish use as a valley.
- Gobbag pronounced "govag", literally a dogfish, but used to mean someone from the city of Peel
- Hop-tu-Naa - Hallowe'en, possibly cognate with Hogmanay
- Jarrood - from the Manx for "forget", people will speak of being "a bit jarrood"
- Jinney/Ginney/Jinny/Ginny - a stinging nettle
- Jough - a drink
- Keck - shit and derivative Keckin
- Keeill - a small church or chapel
- Keys - the Four and Twenty, part of Tynwald
- Mannin - Manx for Isle of Man
- Mhelliah - a festival or party to celebrate harvest
- Moal - literally "slow", but used to mean "ill"
- Moaney - peat-land
- Moghrey mie - good morning
- Mollag - a herring gull chick or dogskin fishing float
- Mooinjer Veggey - little people or fairies
- Oie vie - good night
- Purt le Moirrey - Manx name for Port St. Mary but used in Manx-English
- Sally/Sallie - a willow tree, where the placename Ballasalla derives
- Skeet - news, gossip, possibly cognate with "skite" in English dialect, also to pry / explore.
- Slaynt - health, cheers
- Tholtan - an abandoned farm
- Tramman tree - an elder tree
- Tynwald - the Manx parliament, from Norse 'Thingvollr'
- Ushtey - water
Superstitions and word replacement
Because of the unpredictable nature of weather in the Irish sea, fishing could be a dangerous business - sailors were consequently very superstitious and it was considered taboo to use certain words or behaviours (using the word "conney" for rabbit, or whistling, for example) whilst on board ship. Some names were substituted for others - "rat" became "long-tailed fella".
This has evolved into a modern superstition where the word "rat" (roddan in Manx) is considered unlucky, even when not used aboard ship. This may have originally been used in a jokey fashion, but seems to have been adopted in modern times by those who wish to make themselves sound "more manx" by adopting this mannerism & indeed is often quoted as typical manx behaviour even though the old manx had few qualms about using the word. In reality this is a rather warped version of the original superstition.
Alternate words for rat in neo-manx dialect :
- Iron fella
- Joey
- Longtail
- Queerfella
- Ringie
- r-a-t - a more recent expression, owing to increased immigration, note that for 'an', in stead of 'a' is used as the indefinite article
Anglo-Manx dialect sayings / phrases
A few have survived to be common parlance, amongst these :
- Traa dy Liooar - Manx for "time enough"
- Lhiam-Lhiat - An inconsistent person who changes sides easily - from Manx Gaelic for "with me - with you"
- Bock Yuan Fannee - "John the Flayer's Pony" - on foot
References
- An Anglo-Manx Vocabulary published by Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh
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