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I find accents fascinating and it's a little sad to see that some regional accents are in decline in the younger generations. Particularly rhotic speakers that emphasis the R in words in some northern regions/the South West.
Interesting in another way, as I assumed American accent dominated YouTube etc would have the opposite effect on younger generations if anything.
'Strong r' in danger of disappearing across North of England, study finds
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-67832377
It's interesting. I'm from Bolton, my wife, Blackburn (although we met in Edinburgh). I said she didn't sound like she was from Blackburn as she didn't roll her rs as in carrrrr parrrrk like I was familiar with people from Blackburn doing. She thought I was talking bollox, but I think it was because she went to school in Samlesbury and Preston so wasn't exposed to the full fat Blackburn/Accrington soundscape.
Which is how I imagine @Cougar speaking.
It’s ok, southerners are doing their bit to keep it alive, in words such as ‘bath’
And when they mow their grarrrse
I think they’ve been shipped the short distance from East Lancs to Manchester where they’re being used for r kids
as she didn’t roll her rs as in carrrrr parrrrk like I was familiar with people from Blackburn doing
It’s a very specific Blackburn thing that you don’t seem to get anywhere else in East Lancs, to pronounce certain specific words like they’re from Bristol
We always like to play the 'Where in the Northwest?' accent game listening to folk on the telly - trying to unpick all the blended accents circling Manchester and stretching over the Pennines towards Yorkshire. It's interesting to spot the accents which have stayed more distinctive because their communities are self-contained and people aren't mixing so much with nearby areas. Wigan and Bolton in particular.
The Burnley/Blackburn split mentioned above too. If there is a rivalry between two close towns, the accent won't get as corrupted by mixing.
Err nerr!
Don't worry, we've got Rs where the Os should be.
This is going to turn into a two Ronnie's sketch isn't it?
kormoran
Free Member
This is going to turn into a two Ronnie’s sketch isn’t it?
Given time, it'll turn into an argument if anything. Lol
That's not my intention I should add!😃
Love regional accents and dialects. I particularly like the fact that very small distances can see distinctly different accents.
I grew up in Chester but have family from Wrexham about 12 miles away. The two accents couldn't be any different. A fierce rivalry between the two and an 'international' border are probably factors. The Chester accent is much more influenced by Liverpool which is twice the distance away.
I now live in South Shropshire which has a very different accent than the nearby West Midlands and Black Country. It's more akin to a South Western accent to my ear.
I think Nelson to Burnley is 4 miles
There was a marked difference in accents when I was a kid
not to mention 'she a gate' - anyone from that area care to translate for the others
And I do recall realtives from Blackburn with the rrrrrrr thing and also Buzzes rather than Buses
wasn’t exposed to the full fat Blackburn/Accrington soundscape.
Which is how I imagine @Cougar speaking.
Not a million miles off.
But I'll be schooled when southerners can manage "th" and the hard "g." "Nuffink" makes you sound like an idiot. 😁
Mention of calling a bus a buzz above took me back. That was certainly a thing in Chester when I was a kid. Also people saying 'chimley' instead of 'chimney'.
Buzzes rather than Buses
Boltonians say that too. I cringe when I recall it.
I'm just jealous I can't compete with a Hull accent.
joshvegas Free Member
I love the concept of Yorkshire and Lancashire being northern.They’re Midlands at best.
I've seen folk from Newcastle abusing those from Gateshead for being Southern - and folk from Inverness giving a colleague from Fort William similar treatment.
Maconie's book - Pies and Prejudice never quite changed the landscape
from Bristol
Ah, I mean Arrrgh! the famous Pirates of Blackburn.
Ah, I mean Arrrgh! the famous Pirates of Blackburrrrrn.
If you’ve not read it, this is a fantastic, unromanticised book which has a lot on why regional dialects in Northern places close together are so different and also a lot on the rabid regional rivalries you get between places like Burnley and Blackburn
That bill Bryson book, Mother Tongue, is a good read if you are interested in English and all it's myriad variations both at home and abroad
Lots of old words that have disappeared or reappeared, perfect for a forum discussion sorry squabble
I worked in bacup for a year, shared an office with a guy from waterfoot and a girl from oswaldtwistle...they had to get someone from rawtenstall in to translate and mediate from time to time. Wasn't just the accent, they had clear ideas about pies that were incompatible.
And obviously, Big Barm has an interest in keeping our communities divided.
Those are (mostly) all different things.
It’s ok, southerners are doing their bit to keep it alive, in words such as ‘bath’<br />
its Baff, not Barf 😁
........the rabid regional rivalries you get between places like Burnley and Blackburn.......
There is no rivalry.
Burnley is a proud, litter free rural paradise populated by pleasant, friendly folk.
Blackburn is a shithole of a slum disguised as a one way system, populated by neanderthals who wouldn't know how to use a bin even if they could be taught how to spell it.
It’s ok, southerners are doing their bit to keep it alive, in words such as ‘bath’
No - that is a non-rhotic R sound. The article is about the disappearance of the rhotic R which you will recognise mostly from a west country accent.
My rs has been non-erotic for years.
Technically correct pronunciation comes from the people who live there. Since most people in Bath are from the Home Counties, I think you'll find it's pronounced 'Barth'.
@plumber- he or she 'a gait' means he or she says or said. I still know a couple of people who use that. It appears to be specific to Nelson and Colne. Danish. Probably. There are quite a few phrases and words you don't hear anywhere else but Pendle, or maybe West Yorkshire. One of my Grandmas spoke with a real Lancashire accent and dialect, she was born in Burnley but lived most of her life in Nelson. She left school at 12 to work in t'mill in the 1890s.
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94920 "Clogs" a poem by a chap called Harvey Kershaw.
Barth would be pronounced differently in different parts of the UK (which is what this thread is about). I'd probably go with Baath, but this is why we have a phonetic alphabet. The three options listed in the OED are bɑːθ, baθ and bæθ.
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/bath_n1?tab=pronunciation#26237523
That map omits breadcake which seems to be the preferred term in sheff.
Also, Birmingham.
I’m still a bap man.
No, that was Bruce Wayne.
he or she ‘a gait’ means he or she says or said.
It also means going somewhere or doing something in a broader sense. "Weez tah getten agait?" - "ah's bin t'pitchers."
It's surprising how the accents differ so much within, say a 10 mile radius in Lancashire.
Blackburn, Bolton, Preston all have distinctive accents of their own.
Burnley (Or Bonleh) as the locals say it, well, that's just a small, shitty town, with a crap football team.
At a Ramsbottom v Burnley cricket match, I heard Rammy supporters taking the mick out of the Burnley accent. Which is about 10 miles up the road.
Widnes and Runcorn had a similar "tradition" with the added amusement that each side referred to the bridge over the Mersey between the two towns as "theirs".
The Widnes Bridge / the Runcorn Bridge.
I think Nelson to Burnley is 4 miles
There was a marked difference in accents when I was a kid
Same with Sheffield and Barnsley when I was a student in Sheffield. Also marked change going south to Derbyshire too. It's all about Isogloths. Great radio programme by Ian McMillan from some years ago - The 'arse that Jack built One of the experts is a bloke I used to run into now and then. A broad Yorkshire linguist!
All these towns are way down south 🙂
*awaits posts from highlanders*
Do you still get rrrray guns in Burnley?
It also means going somewhere or doing something in a broader sense. “Weez tah getten agait?” – “ah’s bin t’pitchers.”
My Father and his late Father, both originally from New Bury 😳 near Bolton, use the phrase ‘let’s get agait’ to mean get going.