Ha’way man! How wor dialects are alreet

Published on 23, July, 2024

North-east dialects are flourishing according to a new book written by an academic at the University of Sunderland which uses data from the online forum Ready to Go.

Dr Mike Pearce, Senior Lecturer in English Language and Dialectologist at the University, noticed that many of the messages on the site were rich with local linguistic features and wondered if this untapped resource could form the basis for an up-to-date description of north-east English.

Mike said: “One of the things I wanted to show in this book is that many well-known dialect features which have sometimes been seen as ‘old fashioned’ or ‘dying out’ are alive and kicking here.

“Many of these features have survived in the north-east and been lost in other parts of England. For example, at one point in history every English speaker would have said ‘mooth’ instead of ‘mouth’ and ‘lang’ instead of ‘long’ – and they would have referred to their children as ‘bairns’.”

His new book, North East Vernacular English Online, is the most detailed description of the region’s English published since the nineteenth century.

The book also focuses on attitudes towards regional dialects and how language is used to distinguish itself from other Englishes that are found elsewhere.

Mike added: “Sociodialectological research on a data-set like Ready to Go is important because there is sometimes a tendency for people in the region to under-appreciate their everyday way of using English, perhaps even to see it as ‘wrong’ or ‘sub-standard’.”

But this book does not only just look to the past, but it also looks to the changes that have been made now to north-east accents.

Mike said: “I also wanted to show how a resource like this can be a means of monitoring innovations and developments in the dialect – new north-east vernacular forms and usages.

“It’s culturally important, especially in a marginalized peripheral region like the north-east, or vernacular culture to be acknowledged and celebrated, which I believe is what this book does.”

Written in an accessible style for a wide readership, the book is packed with examples drawn from Ready to Go, showing how ‘dialect’ is not a fossil relic of the linguistic past but a living, dynamic resource in constructing place, meaning, and identity.

North East Vernacular English Online can be purchased online here.

If you are interested in studying English at the University, find out more here.

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