British English - and the languages of the UK

It isn't always easy these days to distinguish between people from different parts of Britain. That's because British people move about the country more than they used to. Northerners come and live in the south. Southerners and East Anglians go to the north, and lots of Scots, Welsh and Irish come and live in England. More people settle in London and the south than in any other region. That is why many Southerners do not really have a special accent—except the Cockneys from the East End of London.

Still, many Northerners think that Southerners have their own accent. They sometimes make fun of the 'southern accent': 'I say, thanks orfully, old chap! It's vair nice of you...'¹ Very few people speak like that today. In fact, it is a form of upper class dialect.

The North still has a character of its own, and Southerners who settle in the North usually take on the Northern way of life. Their children soon pick up the accent from their school friends. The first thing visitors notice is the way Northerners pronounce 'mother', 'much', 'southern', 'done'. In the North these words are pronounced like the standard English 'pull'. Northerners pronounce 'dance', 'chance', 'France' like the 'a' in 'man' - as the Americans do, but when they say 'can't' they pronounce it in the Southern English way, like the 'a' in 'far'. Sometimes Northerners leave out the article, 'the', and also the possessive adjectives, 'my', 'your', 'their', etc.

Here's a Yorkshireman talking to his son, who has just returned from a long stay in London: 'Take feet off t'table, lad. London folk may put feet on t'table, but here we put 'em on t'floor.'²

Cockney has a pronunciation, accent and vocabulary unlike any other dialect. Cockneys pronounce 'wait', 'late', 'tray', etc. like 'white', 'light', 'try', etc. 'Wait for me, Dave!' becomes, 'Wite for me, Dive!', and they drop their aitches: 'have' becomes "ave', etc.

This is how a Cockney tells his friend, Herbert, what happened to Dave when he came home drunk from the pub:

'Poor old Dive!, 'e always 'its 'is old woman when 'e's drunk. But this time, when 'e gets 'ome from the pub, 'is old woman 'as 'er bike 'elmet on. But 'e don't see the 'elmet, so 'e 'its it 'stead of 'er 'ead. 'urts 'isself, 'e does!'³ Cockneys usually tell a story in the present tense.

Many linguists today say that dialects are a natural way of speaking, and that it does not matter if the grammar and pronunciation are not standard English.

Here's some more Cockney: 'I ain't pleased with them repairs wot 'e done.'⁴

Norfolk dialect: 'She say it's wrong. She don't know a lot, do she?'⁵

West Country (Devon and Somerset): 'I be vat and wold, zurr. I stays at wom.'⁶

None of these examples are correct Standard English, but they are quite correct in the regions where they are spoken.

There are several non-English languages spoken in Britain today. Indian immigrants are mostly Hindu and speak Hindi. The Muslim Pakistanis speak Urdu, which is very like Hindi. Their children are bilingual. There are Indian and Pakistani children who speak with perfect Cockney or Northern accents. English is the language of West Indians, but the dialects of some of the islands are very difficult to understand. West Indian children in Britain, however, often have dialects or accents which are completely British.

There are Welsh people who are doing all they can to preserve the Welsh language. Many Welsh school children have to learn Welsh when they would prefer to learn German or Spanish. Most public signs in Wales are in Welsh as well as in English, even when this isn't really necessary:

Toilet/Toiletd. The leading members of Plaid Cymru are Welsh-speaking, but not all Welsh-speaking people want independence, or even a separate parliament. English tourists find Welsh place names like Pwllheli impossible to pronounce.

Gaelic on the Hebridean islands of Scotland will not survive as long as Welsh, because children have to go to secondary school on the mainland, where they speak English. Many school leavers find life on the islands too hard and lonely, and move to the cities.

Many Scots who do not speak Gaelic have a broad, colourful dialect that most non-Scots find difficult to under­stand:

'What do ye think o' yon bonnie lassie, Angus? Dae ye ken her?'

'Ay, but I dinna like her.'

'Why's that, Angus?'

'Well, mun, she's a Sassenach.'⁷

 

¹ I say, thanks awfully (very much), old chap! It's very nice of you...'

² Take your feet off the table, lad. London folk may put their feet on the

table, but here we put them on the fIoor.

³ Poor old Dave! He always hits his wife when He's drunk. But this time, when he gets home from the pub, his old woman has her bike helmet on. But he doesn't see the helmet, so he hits it instead of her head. Hurts

himself, he does!

⁴ I'm not pleased with those repairs that he's done.

⁵ She says it's wrong. She doesn't know a lot, does she?

⁶ I'm fat and old, sir. I stay at home.

⁷ 'What do you think of that good-looking girl, Angus? Do you know her? 'No, but I don't like her.' 'Why,s that, Angus?' 'Well, man, she's English.' (Sassenach ='Saxon')