It is a fact, and one worthy of all commendation, that every Yorkshireman considers the dialect spoken in the immediate locality wherein he was reared, as being not only the best, but the purest. Doubtless in some cases this is quite correct, but not in all. Contiguity to other counties has a deteriorating influence, which naturally extends across both borders, and is sometimes very far-reaching in its effect. Owing to this and other causes, many of my readers will find the pronunciation of some words, as given both in the Glossary and throughout the work, not quite in tune with the sound in which they daily hear such words uttered. This difficulty presented itself at the very commencement of the work. A rule had to be adopted to obtain something approaching uniformity and conciseness. To accomplish this, area has been chosen; i.e. in all cases in which a word has several pronunciations, those given in the Glossary and elsewhere, so far as the writer knows, are the pronunciations most generally in use throughout the riding. It may be noted, as we approach the West Riding and South Lancashire, that the vowel sounds of a, e, and o have a growing tendency to broaden in sound, often becoming u. This, however, should be carefully guarded against in writing the dialect of the North Riding[113], as there is ample proof that over a very wide area the original sound of eighty years ago was the same as now used in Cleveland. These gradual local alterations form in time what botanists call sports.
Many words in such places are to-day passing through a transitional stage. E.g. let us compare a few words as spoken eighty years ago in two places I well know, viz. Bedale and Great Ayton. The former is much nearer the West Riding than the latter, and very forcibly shows the gradual alteration in pronunciation some words have undergone since 1800.
Pronunciation.
| As used in the North Riding, 1898. | As given in a Glossary published at Bedale, 1800. | As pronounced in Bedale, 1898. | As pronounced in the West Riding, 1898. | Meaning. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chetch | Chŭch | Church | ||
| Deear | Doour | Door | ||
| To’n | Tŭ’n | Turn | ||
| Stor | Sturr | Stir | ||
| Fo’st | Fust | First | ||
| Ez | Uz | As | ||
| Fau’k | Fooak | Folk | ||
| Neeaze | Nooaz | Nose | ||
| Cleease | Clooase | Close | ||
| Ken or Kern | Chen or Chun | Churn | ||
| Diz | Duz | Does | ||
| Wark | Wurrk | Work | ||
| War or Wor | Wuz | Was or were | ||
| Ax’d | Ast, Assed | Asked | ||
| Clais, Cleeas | Clooaz | Clothes | ||
| Deean’t | Dooan’t | Don’t | ||
| Fleear | Flooar | Floor | ||
| Gahin’ or ganning | Bown Bahn | Going | ||
The Glossary contains many words common to other dialects[114], especially the folk-speech of North Lincolnshire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, North Lancashire, and East Anglia.
It may be of interest to note over what a wide area the dialect of the North Riding is understood and in the main spoken. As an entertainer, I come in touch with the country people of many places, and I have often been surprised at the quickness with which the various points in my dialect sketches have been seized by those of other counties. Naturally I am able to indulge much more freely, both in dialect and idiom, in some places than in others.
The North and West Riding dialects widely differ not only as to vocabulary, but in drawl and intonation; e.g. take the following sentences:—
North Riding. Noo, mun, wheear’s ta gahin’ teea? Ah’s gahin’ doon t’ toon.
West Riding. Nah, lad, whor’s ta bahn tew? Ah w’ bahn dahn t’ tahn.
Hear each sentence uttered by men of their respective ridings, and my readers will better understand my meaning than from pages of written explanation. There is also another difference. Whilst many titled people, and members of the best families in the North and East Ridings, can, when they have a mind to, speak the dialect fluently, of only a few of the leading families in the West Riding whom I have met am I able to say the same thing. There seems to be a feeling that in some way it would be infra dig. to admit ability to speak a word of their own folk-speech.