Ruinate for ruin is now so common that it is a colloquialism rather than dialect. Johnson gives quotations for it from Shakespeare and other authors, but says: ‘This word is now obsolete.’
Sometimes a dialect form which sounds like a corruption, is in reality a different word from the standard form with which we associate it, for example: meese (Glo. Wil. Dor. Som. Dev. Cor.), moss, is not a corruption of moss, but the regular descendant of O.E. mēos, the literary form being probably a Scandinavian import. Rivel (War. Wor. Shr. Hrf. Glo. Dor.), to shrivel, is from M.E. rivelen, to wrinkle, whilst shrivel is of different origin. Shakespeare uses both words. Shill (Sc. Dur. Yks. Nhp. Dor.), shrill, is from O.E. scill, sonorous, etymologically quite distinct from shrill. Quite distinct too is the dialect lew-warm (in gen. dial. use in Sc. Irel. and Eng.), from the standard lukewarm, tepid, cp. ‘Thou art lew, and nether cold, nether hot,’ Wyclif, Rev. iii. 16.
Phonological Differences
Or again, the difference between the dialect and the standard word may be traced back to a grammatical or phonological variation in the O.E. period, resulting in the development of two distinct types side by side, one of which came to be preserved in the literary language and the other in the spoken dialects. Among such are: ax (in gen. dial. use in Sc. Irel. and Eng.), beside ask, O.E. ācsian, āxian, beside the non-metathesized form āscian. The common dialect form cowslop for our cowslip goes back to O.E. cū-sloppe beside cū-slyppe. Yat or yet is more usual in the dialects than gate, and is perfectly regular. The form in O.E. was geat in the singular, whence correctly yat or yet; and gatu in the plural, whence our gate with the hard g. A farm I knew well near my Herefordshire home was known as ‘The Three Hats’, apparently a corruption of ‘The Three Yats’, so called from its situation at the junction of three farm-roads, each shut off by a gate. Gate meaning road is, as we have already noticed (p. 75), a Norse loan-word, and not to be confused with gate, an opening. Lat (n.Cy. Yks. Lan. Chs. Der. Lei. War. Wor. Shr.) beside late is the normal descendant of the adjective O.E. læt, beside the adverb O.E. late which has given the standard form. Neist (Sc. Nhb. Lakel. Yks. Lan. Der. Nhp. Shr. Hmp. Wil. Som. Dev. Cor.), nearest, nighest, beside next goes back to an O.E. contracted form nēst, beside the uncontracted nēhst, which became next. Quid, which in many dialects is used for our cud, is from O.E. cwidu, beside which was the by-form cudu, which gave cud. Rew (Wor. Sur. Sus. Hmp. I.W. Som. Dev.) beside our row goes back to O.E. rǣw beside rāw, a row, a line. Sealch (Sc. Irel.) for seal is from the O.E. nominative seolh, whereas seal is from the oblique cases where there was no h. Shilder (Lan.) for shoulder is derived from the plural form O.E. gescyldru, shoulders. The Scotch and North-country weel for the adverb well is from an O.E. wēl which existed beside the form with e, whence our well.
Grammatical Distinctions
Grammatical distinctions are frequently kept up in the dialects, where they have become obliterated in the literary language, for example: kemb (Sc. Nhb. Yks. Lan. Cor.) vb. to comb, beside comb subs., in O.E. cemban vb., and camb, comb subs. Keel is the common dialect verb meaning to make cool, in O.E. cēlan vb. beside cōl adj. Wyclif has: ‘Sende Lazarus, that he dippe the ende of his fyngur in watir, to kele my tunge,’ Luke xvi. 24. Snew (Irel. Yks. Lan. Glo. Nrf. Dev.), to snow, to abound, beside snow subs. is from O.E. snīwan vb. beside snāw subs., cp. ‘It snewede in his hous of mete and drinke,’ Chaucer, Prol. l. 345. Smeeth (Nhb. Chs.), to smooth, beside the adj. smooth is from O.E. smēðian vb. The correct form of the adjective is found in a few North-country dialects as smeeth, from O.E. smēðe adj.; our smooth is from the O.E. adverb smōðe. A difference of pronunciation of work, verb and noun, is found in nearly all dialects; in O.E. wyrcan vb. and weorc subs. In mean (Sc. Nhb. Lakel. Yks. Lan.), moan vb. and subs., the verbal form O.E. mǣnan has predominated, whilst in the standard language we have formed our verb from the noun. In kuss (n.Cy. Yks. Lan.) vb. and subs., the dialects have taken the noun form, O.E. coss, for both uses, whilst the standard language has retained only the verbal one, O.E. cyssan, to kiss.
Retention of old Verbal Forms
In the conjugation of verbs, the dialects have also often retained an old formation which has become obsolete in standard English, for example: afrore (sw. counties), frozen, O.E. gefroren. Our frozen has taken its medial consonant from the stem of the Present. In the form frore this word has maintained a fitful existence in poetry ever since Milton wrote: ‘the parching air Burns frore,’ Par. Lost, ii. 594, but this is merely an archaism. Forboden (Yks.), O.E. forboden, is strictly correct; our forbidden has been influenced by the vowel of the Infinitive. Getten, the dialect past participle of to get, is, in the same way, the true form grammatically, and got is due to analogy. Raught (Sc. Lan. Chs. Stf. Der. War. Shr. Glo. Brks. Hmp. I.W. Som.) is from O.E. rǣhte, and might have remained like taught, but the standard language has selected the new preterite reached, made from the Infinitive, cp. ‘He smiled me in the face, raught me his hand,’ Hen. V, IV. vi. 21. Weared (Sc. n.Yks. Nhp. Wor. Som. Dev. Cor.) is from O.E. werede. Chaucer has: ‘A whit cote and a blew hood werede he,’ Prol. l. 564. We have since made a new strong preterite wore on the analogy of bore. Wrought (Sc. Irel. Nhb. Dur. Cum. Wm. Yks. Lan. Der. Suf.), as a preterite and participle, is familiar to us in the Bible, cp. ‘He abode with them and wrought,’ Acts xviii. 3, M.E. wrohte, wroht; but the standard language has adopted the newer form worked, retaining wrought only as an adjective. The common dialect adjective afeared or feared for afraid is originally a past participle, O.E. āfǣred, cp. ‘I am afeard you make a wanton of me,’ Ham. V. ii. 310. To illustrate the use of the word in modern times, a Dialect Glossary gives the following anecdote: Two ladies, alarmed at some cows that obstructed their path, called a boy to drive them away, when having been rewarded for his trouble, he said, Would you please to be feared of the sheep too?
The basis of the standard language is the sound-system of what is called the Mercian Dialect of the O.E. period, and the East Midland Dialect of the M.E. period, but occasionally we meet with words which have been borrowed from some district outside the East Midland area, and incorporated into literary English with the characteristic pronunciation of the district whence they came. For instance, our pronunciation of among is irregular; we ought to make it rhyme with hang or long, as it does in various dialects. Our among rhyming with hung is a West Midland form, specially common in Lancashire. Again, our vat, vane, vixen with initial v are south-western dialect forms; the regular standard pronunciation should be fat, &c., cp. ‘The fats shall overflow with wine and oil,’ A.V. Joel ii. 24; ‘pressfat,’ A.V. Hag ii. 16, from O.E. fæt. The forms brize (Sc. Nhb. Yks.), from O.E. brȳsan, and kidgel (Nhb. Yks.), from O.E. cycgel, have been ousted from the literary speech by the south-western bruise and cudgel. The common dialect pronunciation bile for boil subs., from O.E. bȳl, would be correct in literary English; our form boil is irregular and corrupt.
Irregularities in Standard English compared with Dialect Forms