Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore

by Elizabeth Mary Wright

Phonology: Consonants

Consonants.—(1) The Semi-vowels. (a) w. Initial w has generally remained before vowels, but in parts of Sc. Midl. e.An. and sw.Cy. it has disappeared in certain words, mainly where it stands before a following u, such as woman, wonder, wood, wool, wound, &c. There are no examples in the dialects of initial w being changed to v before a following vowel. This sound-change, characteristic of the language spoken by Mr. Samuel Weller and his father—‘ven’, ‘vay’, ‘svear’, ‘anyveres’, &c.—seems to have been invented by Dickens. The converse, namely, the change of initial v to w, does occur in Bck. Nrf. Suf. Ess. Ken. e.Sus., and Dickens would have heard this pronunciation—wery, very, wenter, venture—used by the class of person typified in Sam Weller, but there is no authority for the change of w to v, and it can only be described as ‘artist’s licence’. An initial w has often arisen in the dialects through a falling diphthong having become a rising diphthong, e.g. in such words as wome, wum, woats, wold, lit. Eng. home, oats, old. This accounts for the w in the place-names Woking, Wokingham, which within living memory were pronounced Oaking, Oakingham, and for the pronunciation of lit. Eng. one, once, and the spelling whole. Initial hw has become f in ne.Sc. in such words as what, wheat, wheel, &c. Initial kw has often become tw in n.Cy. dialects, in such words as twilt, lit. Eng. quilt. A w has often been developed before a back vowel preceded by a consonant, especially a labial, more rarely when preceded by a guttural, dental, nasal, or liquid. This w is chiefly confined to the s.Midl. s. and sw. dialects when the preceding consonant is a labial, as bwone, bwoy, pwoizn, lit. Eng. bone, boy, poison. Medial w has generally disappeared in words compounded with -ward, -worth, as awkward, backward, pennyworth, &c. It has also generally disappeared in always, and in somewhat.

(b) j. This consonant is represented in modern English spelling by y. An initial j has often arisen in the dialects through a falling diphthong having become a rising diphthong, as jabl, jek, jiər, lit. Eng. able, ache, ear. Many educated people in the south of England make no difference in the pronunciation of ear and year. A s.Midl. s.Cy. saying to express a long period of time is ‘years and years and donkey’s ears’. A medial j has often been developed after a consonant. In many cases the change has been caused by a falling diphthong having become a rising diphthong, e.g. gjārdin, kjetl, lit. Eng. garden, kettle.

(2) The Liquids. (a) l. Medial l has often disappeared, especially in the combinations ld, lf, lh, lk, lp, ls, and lt, e.g. in such words as bald, bulk, pulpit, false, bolt. Final l has often disappeared after a guttural vowel, especially in the Sc. Ir. n.Cy. and n.Midl. dialects, e.g. in such words as all, fool, pull, small, wool.

(b) r. In Sc. and the greater part of Irel. and the northern parts of Nhb. and Cum. r has a strong trill. In Nhb. and parts of n.Dur. it is a uvular r, not unlike the French r. It is often called ‘the Northumberland burr’. In all the s. and sw. dialects it is a reverted or retracted r, the trill being indistinct and less sharp than for the Sc. r. Similarly in these dialects the l is reverted. In the rest of England r has had practically the same development as in the standard language. When a word ends in and the next word begins with a vowel, a ‘euphonic’ r is generally inserted to avoid a hiatus, in the s.Midl., eastern, southern, and south-western dialects, as aidiər əv it, idea of it, Sērər An, Sarah Ann, lǭr əv Iŋglənd, law of England. And an r is sometimes inserted medially, as drǭrin, drawing. This insertion of ‘euphonic’ r is not confined to dialect speakers, it is quite common among educated people in the s.Midl. and s. counties, and seems to be spreading gradually further north. r has often undergone metathesis, especially in the sw. dialects in apə̄n, tʃildən, gərn, h)undəd, pə̄ti, &c., lit. Eng. apron, children, grin, hundred, pretty, &c.

(3) The Nasals. (a) m. This consonant has generally remained unchanged in all positions except where after consonants it has become vocalic, as in bodm, botm, kindm, &c., lit. Eng. bottom, kingdom, &c.

(b) n. Initial n has remained in nadder (O.E. nǣdre), napron (O.Fr. naperon), nauger (M.E. nauger), lit. Eng. adder, apron, auger. In the various dialects there is a large number of words which have an inorganic initial n. It has arisen partly from the n of the indefinite article an, and partly from the n of the possessive pronoun mine; the latter is especially the case in words denoting relationship, as n-oration, a great noise or clamour, n-urchin, a hedgehog, n-awl, n-aunt, n-uncle, cp. ‘Nuncle Lear, nuncle Lear, tarry and take the fool with thee,’ Lear, I. iv. 338. The n in lit. Eng. nickname (M.E. ekename), newt (O.E. efeta) is of this origin. The normal form evet is common in the dialects of southern England. In a few words n has been developed before medial dȝ; [the final sound in bridge], as porindȝə(r, a coarse pot or mug used for porridge, sosindȝə(r, sausage, cp. lit. Eng. messenger, passenger, for messager, passager. In the n. and n.Midl. dialects medial n has disappeared in unaccented syllables as Liŋkiʃə(r, Lincolnshire, Robisn, Robinson, &c. In a few words, mainly in n.Cy. dialects, final n occurs contrary to the usage of the lit. language; these are: aivin (O.E. īfig, īfegn), ivy, holin (O.E. holen, holegn), holly, miln (O.E. mylen), mill, ratn (O.Fr. raton), rat, slōn (O.E. slāh, slā, plur. slān), sloe.

The guttural ŋ [the final sound in hang], written n in O.E., only occurred before the gutturals g and c. In stressed syllables medial ŋg has become ŋ in Sc. Irel. n.Cy. n.Midl. and parts of Ken. Sus. and Som., as fiŋər, finger, siŋl, single, &c. ŋ has become n before a following dental in lenþ, length, strenþ, strength, in Sc. Irel. and n.Cy. The n is also very common in other parts of England, but beside it there exist the forms leŋþ, leŋkþ; streŋþ, streŋkþ. The forms with k are often used by educated people in the Midlands. Medial ŋ in unstressed syllables has generally disappeared, as Bebitn, Bebbington, Notigəm, Nottingham, &c. Final unstressed ŋ has generally become n in all the dialects, as in evenin(g), farthin(g), mornin(g), sendin(g), and similarly in all present participles and verbal nouns in -ing. In parts of Lan. Chs. Der. when dialect speakers try to talk ‘fine’ they generally substitute ŋk for ŋ in all present participles and verbal nouns in -ing. The same thing can often be heard among educated speakers in those parts.

(4) The Labials. (a) p. This consonant has generally remained in all positions the same as in the standard language.

(b) b. This consonant hardly ever occurs in any of the dialects between m—l or m—r in such words as bramble, thimble, chamber, number. The word marble appears in almost all the dialects as marvl. The form pipl, pebble, occurs in some s. and sw. dialects, cp. O.E. papol- beside M.E. pibble-, pobble.