Suffolk dialect
Encyclopedia
Suffolk
dialect is an English
dialect
. Like many English dialects it is rapidly disappearing, with the advent of increasing social and geographical mobility and the influence of the media. Despite this, there are still many people who profess some knowledge of Suffolk dialect, and there is an increasing number of young speakers who have a distinctive Suffolk accent, if not dialect.
The dialect appears to be creeping slowly south over the border into Northern Essex, and is still widely spoken in Colchester
and its surrounding towns in northern Essex
, as well as in Suffolk
. Suffolk dialect has many characteristics, some of which are similar to its northern neighbour's, Norfolk dialect
. Yet it retains many specific and unique terms and phrases which are instantly recognisable.
Outsiders generally perceive the dialect to be a stereotypical English countryside accent, and tend to imitate it badly. Their attempts usually resemble West Country English rather than Suffolk Dialect, and the two are commonly confused, although they are very different from each other.
, but can be used for a female as well as a male addressee. A corruption of "neighbour"
- "dag" = early morning or evening mist, especially associated with coastal / marsh areas, possibly also general eastern England dialect
- "bibble" = (of animals, esp. birds) to drink
- "hull" = throw
- "on the her" = uneven, unbalanced
- "I'll" becomes "oi'll" (as in "oil") e.g. "Oi'll see yer 'amara". This also happens to other words with the 'ae' sound in, such as "five", which becomes "foive".
- "you" becomes "yer".
- "rope" is pronounced "roup", with an emphasis on the 'u'. Likewise, "road" also sounds like "rood" and "soap" sounds like "soup". This shows that Suffolk dialect is a context language.
- most words ending in '-ing' become '-en', as in "Oi'm busy worken".
- "seen" and "been" become "sin" and "bin" respectively.
- words such as "picture" and "lecture" become "pitcher" and "letcher".
- the perfect tense of "to show" changes from "showed" to "shew", e.g. "Oi shew er a pitcher".
- words such as "shopping" and "office" mutate to "sharpin" and "arfice" as in "Oi'm gorn sharpin" or "Oi'm gorn down-a poost arfice".
- "going" becomes "gorn", but unlike Norfolk
, "doing" becomes "do-en".
- "int" is used for "have not", and is similar to "ain't" in London English.
- "ant" is used for "has not".
- "yesterday", as well as any other words ending in '-day' becomes "-di" as in "yesterdi" and "Toosdi".
- "it" often becomes "e'", an approximate schwa
sound, somewhere between an 'e' and a 'u', like a short 'er', e.g. "Oi int gorn-a do e'".
- "to" becomes "a", another schwa
sound, after the compound future i.e. "I am going to" becomes "Oi'm gorn-a"
- "go" and other words with an 'o' sound become 'oo', such as "Oi'm mooing the lawn".
- words containing aʊ sounds (as in 'ouch!') become something resembling 'e-oo'. This affects words like "now" which becomes "ne-oo". This is very similar to the Welsh 'ew' sound (see the diphthongs on the bottom right) and is quite difficult to explain in writing - it should be heard to get the full jist of it. A particularly interesting website contains a dialect map, which has an example of this pronunciation.
- pronunciation of words such as "bear" and "care" resemble New Zealand English
in that they sound like "beer" and "keer".
occurs occasionally in Suffok dialect, as it does in Norfolk dialect
. Words like "film" become "filum".
Yod dropping is very common, so words like "dew", "queue", "new" and "tune" will become "doo", "koo", "noo" and "toone" respectively.
Suffolk dialect is non-rhotic, i.e. the 'r' in "hard" and similar words is not pronounced, unlike West Country English.
Suffolk dialect has a strong use of the glottal stop
. This is shown in words like "'amara" and "e'" ('tomorrow' and 'it').
The intonation
of words in Suffolk is very peculiar. Words have a notable range of rise and fall in pitch and can often sound as if the speaker were asking a question.
Verbs very rarely conjugate, the only exceptions being 'to be' and 'to have'. Other verbs do not conjugate whatsoever, and the present and perfect tense is often the same, and context is used. This is shown in "Ee say he goo down-a poost arfice" for "he said he went to the post office".
A comprehensive survey can be found in "Suffolk Dialect", by A.O.D.Claxton, published by The Boydell Press.
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
dialect is an English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
. Like many English dialects it is rapidly disappearing, with the advent of increasing social and geographical mobility and the influence of the media. Despite this, there are still many people who profess some knowledge of Suffolk dialect, and there is an increasing number of young speakers who have a distinctive Suffolk accent, if not dialect.
The dialect appears to be creeping slowly south over the border into Northern Essex, and is still widely spoken in Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
and its surrounding towns in northern Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, as well as in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. Suffolk dialect has many characteristics, some of which are similar to its northern neighbour's, Norfolk dialect
Norfolk dialect
The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect that was once, and to a great extent, still is spoken by those living in the county of Norfolk in England...
. Yet it retains many specific and unique terms and phrases which are instantly recognisable.
Outsiders generally perceive the dialect to be a stereotypical English countryside accent, and tend to imitate it badly. Their attempts usually resemble West Country English rather than Suffolk Dialect, and the two are commonly confused, although they are very different from each other.
Common Vocabulary
- "boi" (with an emphasis on the 'i') - a term of familiar address, equivalent to mateMate (colloquialism)
Mate is a colloquialism used to refer to a friend and is commonly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is or has been used interchangeably with many equivalent terms, such as buddy , pal or bro . It is sometimes abbreviated to M8..-Origin:Mate is a colloquialism...
, but can be used for a female as well as a male addressee. A corruption of "neighbour"
- "dag" = early morning or evening mist, especially associated with coastal / marsh areas, possibly also general eastern England dialect
- "bibble" = (of animals, esp. birds) to drink
- "hull" = throw
- "on the her" = uneven, unbalanced
Mutations to certain words
- "tomorrow" becomes "'amara" (with a hard glottal stop at the beginning).- "I'll" becomes "oi'll" (as in "oil") e.g. "Oi'll see yer 'amara". This also happens to other words with the 'ae' sound in, such as "five", which becomes "foive".
- "you" becomes "yer".
- "rope" is pronounced "roup", with an emphasis on the 'u'. Likewise, "road" also sounds like "rood" and "soap" sounds like "soup". This shows that Suffolk dialect is a context language.
- most words ending in '-ing' become '-en', as in "Oi'm busy worken".
- "seen" and "been" become "sin" and "bin" respectively.
- words such as "picture" and "lecture" become "pitcher" and "letcher".
- the perfect tense of "to show" changes from "showed" to "shew", e.g. "Oi shew er a pitcher".
- words such as "shopping" and "office" mutate to "sharpin" and "arfice" as in "Oi'm gorn sharpin" or "Oi'm gorn down-a poost arfice".
- "going" becomes "gorn", but unlike Norfolk
Norfolk dialect
The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect that was once, and to a great extent, still is spoken by those living in the county of Norfolk in England...
, "doing" becomes "do-en".
- "int" is used for "have not", and is similar to "ain't" in London English.
- "ant" is used for "has not".
- "yesterday", as well as any other words ending in '-day' becomes "-di" as in "yesterdi" and "Toosdi".
- "it" often becomes "e'", an approximate schwa
Schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
sound, somewhere between an 'e' and a 'u', like a short 'er', e.g. "Oi int gorn-a do e'".
- "to" becomes "a", another schwa
Schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
sound, after the compound future i.e. "I am going to" becomes "Oi'm gorn-a"
- "go" and other words with an 'o' sound become 'oo', such as "Oi'm mooing the lawn".
- words containing aʊ sounds (as in 'ouch!') become something resembling 'e-oo'. This affects words like "now" which becomes "ne-oo". This is very similar to the Welsh 'ew' sound (see the diphthongs on the bottom right) and is quite difficult to explain in writing - it should be heard to get the full jist of it. A particularly interesting website contains a dialect map, which has an example of this pronunciation.
- pronunciation of words such as "bear" and "care" resemble New Zealand English
New Zealand English
New Zealand English is the dialect of the English language used in New Zealand.The English language was established in New Zealand by colonists during the 19th century. It is one of "the newest native-speaker variet[ies] of the English language in existence, a variety which has developed and...
in that they sound like "beer" and "keer".
Grammar and linguistics
EpenthesisEpenthesis
In phonology, epenthesis is the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially to the interior of a word. Epenthesis may be divided into two types: excrescence, for the addition of a consonant, and anaptyxis for the addition of a vowel....
occurs occasionally in Suffok dialect, as it does in Norfolk dialect
Norfolk dialect
The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect that was once, and to a great extent, still is spoken by those living in the county of Norfolk in England...
. Words like "film" become "filum".
Yod dropping is very common, so words like "dew", "queue", "new" and "tune" will become "doo", "koo", "noo" and "toone" respectively.
Suffolk dialect is non-rhotic, i.e. the 'r' in "hard" and similar words is not pronounced, unlike West Country English.
Suffolk dialect has a strong use of the glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
. This is shown in words like "'amara" and "e'" ('tomorrow' and 'it').
The intonation
Intonation (linguistics)
In linguistics, intonation is variation of pitch while speaking which is not used to distinguish words. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation does distinguish words. Intonation, rhythm, and stress are the three main elements of linguistic prosody...
of words in Suffolk is very peculiar. Words have a notable range of rise and fall in pitch and can often sound as if the speaker were asking a question.
Verbs very rarely conjugate, the only exceptions being 'to be' and 'to have'. Other verbs do not conjugate whatsoever, and the present and perfect tense is often the same, and context is used. This is shown in "Ee say he goo down-a poost arfice" for "he said he went to the post office".
See also
- Norfolk dialectNorfolk dialectThe Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect that was once, and to a great extent, still is spoken by those living in the county of Norfolk in England...
, Suffolk dialect's closest relative with which it shares many characteristics.
A comprehensive survey can be found in "Suffolk Dialect", by A.O.D.Claxton, published by The Boydell Press.