Old Sheffield dialect

[tintoy 10]

giore mytherin mi!

[leddi 10]

why are you even on a sheffield forum t020?? if you dislike yorkshire so much then move! this thread is about old sheffield dialect, dont enter into the conversation just to annoy people you must be so bored. everyone is chatting and replying and adding there views and i quess that that is yours, but why do you have to be so nasty, hate is a very strong word.

[t020 11]

Originally posted by leddi

why are you even on a sheffield forum t020?? if you dislike yorkshire so much then move! this thread is about old sheffield dialect, dont enter into the conversation just to annoy people you must be so bored. everyone is chatting and replying and adding there views and i quess that that is yours, but why do you have to be so nasty, hate is a very strong word.

 

Like you said, I was adding my view. Maybe hate is a tad hyperbolic, consider it changed to "strongly dislike".

[Waltheof 10]

Personally, I'm very fond of the Sheffield dialect (and Northern dialects in general) and strongly defend their heritage, their importance in forging a regional sense of identity, and their status as independent variants of English, not inferior to some supposed "standard". And that is from an Antipodean who has made his home here for over 30 years.

 

For those interested, there is an ongoing survey of the Sheffield dialect being undertaken by the National Centre for English Culture and Tradition (part of the School of English in the University) and all contributions (such as these posts) are welcome. Also for those interested there was some years ago a popular little book called Sheffieldish which had a lot of words and phrases (e.g. tintintin = it's not in the metal container), maybe copies of it are still about. The great grandaddy of such things is the book by the 19th-century journalist Abel Bywater, called The Sheffield Dialect. It contains a series of sketches, some humourous, from the 1830s onwards, which were collected in book form. I am lucky enough to have a copy of the third edition (1877--he died in 1876 and was buried in the General Cemetery). No doubt the city library or the local history collection will have copies.

 

So--long may this vigorous dialect endure!

[LBoogie 10]

Has anyone taken a look at the links I put up earlier, especially the British Library one. It's amazing.

[pitsmoorlad 10]

Almost on the same topic but looking at things more from t020's point of view, I wonder which dialects other people dislike. Personally I don't like the Scouse accent, it's all nasal and horrible. (e.g. Di do dat dere don't dey). Love the Geordie accent but can't understand it. And also strongly dislike the Cockney accent with their inability to pronouce words that start with "th" preferring to use "f". (e.g. I fink I'll fetch free fings for Fursday) But the best (apart from Yorkshire) is the Irish dialect.

[tgmcluk 10]

In West Yorkshire they refer to 'lakin' about i.e. playing about (particularly relates to kids out playing). Is this something also used in Sheffield?

[Mo 10]

Originally posted by tgmcluk

In West Yorkshire they refer to 'lakin' about i.e. playing about (particularly relates to kids out playing). Is this something also used in Sheffield?

 

My father in law lives in West Yorks and calls a ball a'cuckoo'. Have you heard of this or is he just going senile?

[Plain Talker 11]

Originally posted by tgmcluk

In West Yorkshire they refer to 'lakin' about i.e. playing about (particularly relates to kids out playing). Is this something also used in Sheffield?

 

"Lakin' " is a phrase that my brother in law (who is from the stocksbridge side of town) uses, a lot.

 

it's definitely very common to hear it used in the Barnsley area, but it's not *quite* as common to hear it, in Sheffield, although it is used..

 

PT

[Waltheof 10]

Lakin (or laiking) is just one of the Norse words that came into the North of England in the Anglo-Scandinavian period (9th-11th century). In many books on the history of English you will find lists of words due to this source--including many not now dialectal but standard, e.g. sky (replacing Old English welkin), skin (replacing OE fell), law (replacing OE ae), ugly (replacing OE unfaeger) and even window (replacing OE eagthyrel). Many Northern topographical terms are also Norse, such as beck, fell, force (from foss), and places ending in -by or -thorpe. Altogether a fascinating study.

[LBoogie 10]

Lakin isn't common in most of Sheffield, it's more Barnsley area.

[t020 11]

Originally posted by Plain Talker

"Lakin' " is a phrase that my brother in law (who is from the stocksbridge side of town) uses, a lot.

 

it's definitely very common to hear it used in the Barnsley area, but it's not *quite* as common to hear it, in Sheffield, although it is used..

 

PT

 

Do you mean "larking", as in "larking about"? I was always under the impression this word was from a Southern dialect.

 

A lot of people are saying this like "my uncle from Barnsley once said.... therefore that's Barnsley dialect". This just isn't true. Linguistic terms are becoming increasingly liquid (due to TV, internet, etc) so people use terms that are not necessarily part of their actual dialect.