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We spent some time this week with friends who are visiting the U.S. from Yorkshire. Three generations: early 70s, 40s, and teenagers.
I confess I have some trouble understanding the Yorkshire accent in general. But eventually I realized I was hearing something new to me: "He are," "She were," "It were."
The third person singular -- he/she/it IS or WAS -- does not seem to be in their usage. All three generations. (Over 30 years, we never noticed that our friend, the 70-year-old, used this variant. But he does now.)
Is this something local to Yorkshire? Is it a class or education distinction? Our friend was VP-level in a good-sized Yorkshire company, but I don't think has a university education; nor do his kids. I've tried to Google this, but I must not be using the right terms because I can't find anything on it.
Would love to know whether this is regional or advant garde or what.
It is simply poor education. Don't believe anyone who offers excuses to the contrary. I grew up in Yorkshire. If I had come out with phrases such as 'she were' at school, I would have got a ruler across my knuckles.
I can remember my Yorkshire Gram saying, "It were comical." She was born in the late 1800s and in those days most people had to go to work in the mills and they couldn't go to school beyond the age of 13. Yorkshire dialect is dying out but it must still linger on in more rural areas and among the less educated.
My still living Yorkshire relatives don't have much of an accent at all, but they are a generation younger than my Gram was.
Gosh, I'm fairly surprised. Is it really localized? These folks are from the Barnsley/Wakefield/Castleford area. One of them is certified as something that seems to equate to our teacher's aide. Would that be acceptable in the schools?
"That's daft" would be fine. "That are daft" would be the variant. They brought me a tea towel with "Yorkshire-isms" which we're enjoying. One of those is "Daft as a brush," which I love! Reminds me of when we lived in Appalachia, where someone might be called "Dumb as a stick."
Gosh, I'm fairly surprised. Is it really localized? These folks are from the Barnsley/Wakefield/Castleford area. One of them is certified as something that seems to equate to our teacher's aide. Would that be acceptable in the schools?
"That's daft" would be fine. "That are daft" would be the variant. They brought me a tea towel with "Yorkshire-isms" which we're enjoying. One of those is "Daft as a brush," which I love! Reminds me of when we lived in Appalachia, where someone might be called "Dumb as a stick."
Thanks for the info.
Barnsley is an area where this way of speaking is still fairly common.she may not speak that way in school to the children.I know people who dont speak slang like that at work,if their job isnt suitable for it but do with their friends.Barnsley is a very insular place,even now outsiders are tolerated not welcomed.Different if you just visiting but you wont get much of a welcome living there,though of course everyone is different in their attitude.
I know Castleford a bit,again a very tight knit community,their dialect is probably more like Wakefield/Leeds than Barnsley,and if you live in Britain,where accents can change completely within 15 miles,you would notice the difference.Ive been to several places in USA and accents dont differ that much to me in hundreds of miles.
Daft as a brush is very Yorkshire and in daily use regularly,and somewhat elsewhere.
You ever hear Sheffield dialect/accent you will truly be stumped.Like Barnsley but much broader
Its actually Keighley.Theres parts of Keighley you will be lucky to hear English,theyre speaking Urdu
Thanks for the correction. There HAD to be someone who would really know how to spell it. My "K" connection is from about 1066 so that's my excuse, lol.
Seems that language is common all over the North. I went to one city that is the same as my last name--oooops. Made me want to get outa there fast as I didn't exactly feel that I fit in.
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(and it's Keithley.)
