tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49752114428122882992024-03-24T09:30:38.989+02:00Wirelect - the Warrington DialectWarrington is an ancient settlement on the banks of the River Mersey, a river that has served as a natural boundary for millennia to Celtic tribes, Romans, Vikings, and Anglo-Saxons. The cultures and languages have all left their mark on the town and, indeed, the dialect.Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-70596122091933606762014-02-13T17:37:00.000+02:002014-02-13T17:37:24.400+02:00Run, run, runHello everyone.<br />
<br />
It's been a while since my last post, but thankfully there is an ongoing and interesting conversation amongst the regulars (thank you Gaynor, Bryan, Bert, and Yorick)<br />
<br />
This latest post came to me while I was working upstairs in my house building bedrooms for the kids. I was talking to my wife about some detail or other when I caught myself saying, "I run up the stairs".<br />
<br />
What I actually meant was, "I <i>ran </i>up the stairs", which would have been the correct verb form for the imperfect tense of run - <i>ran.</i> There is nothing particularly unusual in this, many people in various dialects will use the present tense form of verbs to express actions in the past. What did strike me as interesting was that there may be another, much more subtle, element to this construction.<br />
<br />
When I said, "I run upstairs", there was no doubt in my mind that I was referring to something that had happened in the past, even though the verb form was actually in the present tense. The interesting thing was the pronunciation, not of the verb form <i>run</i> rather the pronoun <i>I</i>.<br />
<br />
I pronounced the I as /<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">æ/</span></span> like the "a" in bat. It seems that this pronunciation changed the meaning of the sentence and therefore the tense of the verb to imperfect, that is, past tense. To compare I pronounced the sentence with the standard pronunciation of "I" /aj/. Pronounced like this, the verb form <i>run </i>maintains its temporal meaning of present tense, that is, "I run" (something that happens in the present, or more usually in English, something I do habitually) "I run to work on Tuesdays", for example.<br />
<br />
Try it yourself and see what you think.<br />
Is there a difference when you say /<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">æ r</span></span><span style="font-family: 'DejaVu Serif'; line-height: 60px; white-space: nowrap;">ʊ</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">n </span></span><span style="font-family: 'DejaVu Serif'; line-height: 60px; white-space: nowrap;">ʊ</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">pstɛrz</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode'; font-size: x-small;">/ (pronounced like the "a" in bat)</span><br />
as compared to<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode'; font-size: x-small;"> /</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode';">aj </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">r</span></span><span style="font-family: 'DejaVu Serif'; line-height: 60px; white-space: nowrap;">ʊ</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">n </span></span><span style="font-family: 'DejaVu Serif'; line-height: 60px; white-space: nowrap;">ʊ</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">pstɛrz</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode'; font-size: medium;">/ </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode'; font-size: x-small;">(pronounced like the "y" in my)</span><br />
It is my feeling that there is a difference between the two when said in natural, normal-pace speech. Whether this is peculiar to the Warrington dialect is another question.<br />
<br />
<br />Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-81469185260671648152013-04-03T02:00:00.000+03:002013-04-03T02:00:21.016+03:00A little side projectHello everyone.<br />
<br />
You may have noticed that I have been quiet for a while. Don't worry, I've not forgotten about Wirelect or Warrington, but I have been busy with a side project over in Ireland.<br />
<br />
I am in Cork for a couple of months with my family on a work-related project. During this time I am documenting my adventures on social media. If you are interested, take a look at the Facebook page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PoppingtheCork?ref=hl" target="_blank">Pop the Cork</a><br />
<br />
In the meantime, this got me thinking about a dialect word referring to exactly this kind of side project: <em>a foreigner. </em>I have heard this used many times to refer to a project or job that is in addition to regular work.<br />
<br />
Is this a Warrington word? Does it mean something different to you?<br />
<br />
Let me know.<br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-29098728735716015402013-03-06T11:02:00.002+02:002013-03-06T11:02:21.361+02:00National Grammar DayThe 4th of March was National Grammar Day (in the United States at least), and so I thought I would honour the occasion by talking a little about grammar.<br />
<br />
Grammar is a slightly misunderstood concept in that it means different things to different people. To an average person, and indeed many books on the use of language, grammar mainly refers to spelling and punctuation. To linguists, however, it is a set of rules that governs how natural languages are structured and composed by native speakers.<br />
<br />
I'm sure most of the people reading this have a memory of school English lessons where they were told about the use of "bad grammar" and, no doubt, reprimanded for it. This idea of "bad grammar" finds its roots in what is known as <em>prescriptive grammar</em> or a <em>prescriptive approach</em> to language. The term <em>prescriptive</em> refers to a way of looking at, and subsequently teaching, grammar that assumes that one particular type of grammar is superior to others and therefore should be aspired to.<br />
<br />
The problem with this kind of prescriptive approach is that it does not represent real spoken language; the kind of language that you and I speak every day. We have to look to <em>descriptive grammar</em> for that.<br />
<br />
Descriptive grammar, as the name suggests, attempts to describe the grammar of the language as it is used by native speakers, rather than attempting to determine a particular way of forming clauses and sentences according to rules that don't necessarily apply to the language use in question.<br />
<br />
The Warrington dialect, just as any other dialect, is not Standard English. We have our own words, our own pronunciations, and indeed, our own grammar. And more importantly, the way we speak is not <em>wrong</em> or bad style, it simply has slightly different rules than the standard, and for that matter slightly different rules than other dialects. But, and this is the important part, <em>there are rules!</em> You cannot just say whatever, and call it grammatical.<br />
<br />
Here are a few examples of Warrington grammar that are in every-day use, although you might not have noticed them:<br />
<br />
<br />
Use of the past participle in place of the imperfect (past) tense:<br />
<ul>
<li>I run to t'bus this mornin' (I run to the bus this morning)</li>
</ul>
as opposed to the standard "I <em>ran</em> to the bus this morning."<br />
<br />
<br />
Use of the imperfect tense in place of the perfect tense ("have done" something)<br />
<ul>
<li>'ave y'et yer tea yet (Have you ate your tea yet?)</li>
</ul>
as opposed to the standard "Have you <em>eaten</em> your tea yet?"<br />
<br />
<br />
Also with the imperative (giving an order)<br />
<ul>
<li>Gerrit et! (Get it ate!)</li>
</ul>
as opposed to the standard, "<em>Eat</em> it!"<br />
<br />
<br />
We also use stative constructions in place of active present/past continuous verb forms (linguist-speak for the following):<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I am sat / I was sat</li>
</ul>
as opposed to the standard, "I am <em>sitting</em>" / "I was <em>sitting</em>".<br />
<br />
However, this only works with certain <em>stative</em> verbs. As I said, you cannot simply say anything you like and call it grammatical (the asterix always denotes an ungrammatical example):<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>*I am ran / *I was ran</li>
<li>*I am ate/eaten / *I was ate/eaten</li>
</ul>
<br />
Spotting these features of a dialect can be tricky if you are not used to thinking about language in a particularly analytical way. But I would encourage everyone in Warrington to analyse the speech they hear around them every day. Especially if someone says something that you were told in school was <em>wrong</em> or <em>bad grammar</em>. It isn't necessarily, it's just the dialect obeying its own rules.<br />
<br />
Does anyone have any pet hates that they think are just bad grammar?<br />
<br />
Post them here or on the Facebook page, and we can analyse them together :-)<br />
Wirelector<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-75258552241883539972013-03-01T23:16:00.000+02:002013-03-01T23:16:02.238+02:00MuckerThere has been some discussion about this word on the "Your dialect words" page, so I thought I would bring it to the front page to give it a bit more publicity.<br />
<br />
<em>Mucker</em> is a very common word in Warrington that means "friend" or "mate". It is, I think it's safe to say, exclusively used from men to men. I have never heard a woman referred to as <em>mucker</em>, not have I heard a woman refer to someone else as <em>mucker</em>. Please, correct me if I am wrong.<br />
<br />
There were some suggestions that <em>mucker</em> is specific to Warrington, but that does not seem to hold true. A quick Google search shows that it is also used in the South, a fact that is confirmed by my Londoner friend being well aware of it. Interestingly, Wiktionary states that mucker is primarily used in the southern dialects, which is clearly not the case!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mucker">http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mucker</a><br />
<br />
To my mind, a strong contender for the origin of this dialect word would be the Irish <em>mo chara</em>, which means "my friend". The massive immigration from Ireland to Liverpool over the years would make this a feasible proposition, and presumably it would not take much for such a word to trickle down the Mersey to Warrington and other towns along the shoreline.<br />
<br />
Another possibility that makes sense is the task of mucking out animals, where a worker would remove the animal faeces from the stalls in a barn. Anyone who has done this knows that it is a hard, dirty, thankless task.<br />
<br />
<em>To muck out</em> is a phrasal verb and is no doubt related to another phrasal verb <em>to muck in</em>, which means to join in the work in order to share the tasks (and presumably get the job finished quicker). A common feature of many languages, especially English, is a phenomenon called conversion. This results in the change in function of a word. For example, the lexical verb <em>to muck, </em>from which the phrasal verbs are derived, changes function and word class to become a noun, <em>mucker</em>, that is, the person who does the mucking.<br />
<br />
It is easy to imagine how any fellow worker involved in the mucking would be called a <em>mucker</em>, and subsequently how the use of this word could spread to other people involved in physical work, and eventually become synonymous with a workmate and/or friend.<br />
<br />
What do you think? Do you use <em>mucker</em> where you live? Does it mean friend, or something completely different?<br />
<br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-68133498065889437442013-02-28T22:16:00.002+02:002013-02-28T22:16:36.264+02:00CorrectionApologies for the silence for the past few weeks, I've been tied up with other stuff.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I wanted to post the following correction to my earlier post about the borders of Lancashire and Cheshire.<br />
<br />
Bryan Gregory contacted me with the following message a couple of weeks ago, and I have only now got round to doing something about it. It is only fair that I post it here.<br />
<br />
Here is Bryan's message in full:<br />
<br />
<div>
<em>Please be informed that the 1974 Local government act did not at any time alter the boundary of <span>Lancashire</span> & Cheshire only administrational areas. The River Mersey remains the boundary between <span>Lancashire</span> and Cheshire corresponding with the boundary of the Duchy of Lancaster</em></div>
<div>
<em>of which <span>Warrington</span> north of the river is a part.</em></div>
<div>
<em></em> </div>
<div>
<em><span>Warrington</span> is no longer under the administration of Cheshire since it became a <span><span>unitary</span></span> authority. The remnants of this administration can be seen in the Police and Fire service which will change along with the ambulance to become North West in due course.</em></div>
<div>
<em></em> </div>
<div>
<em>It unfortunate that there is great confusion over our traditional counties.</em></div>
<div>
<em></em> </div>
<div>
<em>If you died without any <span><span>beneficiaries</span></span> and lived north of the River Mersey the Duchy of Lancaster would get your estate.</em></div>
<div>
<em> </em></div>
<div>
<em>Bryan R Gregory</em> </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Thank you, Bryan, for the correction.</div>
<div>
Wirelector</div>
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-55861894532736189202013-01-14T22:26:00.003+02:002013-01-14T22:26:47.457+02:00Warrington's North/South divide?We had a very interesting question from David Ball that I would like to explore here.<br />
<br />
In a comment on the "Your dialect words" section of the blog, David stated:<br />
<br />
"<em>The western parts of Warrington have Liverpool-influenced
words. The eastern parts have a more Manchester/Lancashire influence. That's
because of their relative positions, vis-a-vis our metropolitan
neighbours.<br /><br />What about the North-South divide? [ ] I would further guess that Cheshire influences the way
people talk south of the canal. One thing I could imagine being the case is more
words related to a farming lifestyle, as opposed to industrial related words to
the north</em>"<br />
<br />
David is absolutely correct about the East/West differences, but what about North/South?<br />
<br />
The town north of the river is undoubtedly historically more industrial. The River Mersey was also the natural border for Lancashire and Cheshire for centuries up to 1974.<br />
<br />
Has this history made a difference?<br />
<br />
If so, is that difference still present in the modern speech of Warringtonians?<br />
<br />
What do you think?<br />
<br />
Do you live north of the River Mersey/Manchester Ship Canal, and do you think you speak differently from those "over the water"?<br />
<br />
The same question to those living south of the River Mersey/Manchester Ship Canal.<br />
<br />
Post your comments or send me an email!Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-57739477485629890712012-12-30T18:55:00.003+02:002012-12-30T18:58:17.351+02:00Happy New Year 2013I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2013!<br />
<br />
Here are a few highlights fom the Wirelect year 2012:<br />
<dir>
<ul>
</ul>
<li>The Wirelect site surpassed the 100 "likes" mark, (we are currently at 146 "likes") </li>
<li>The Wirelect site surpassed the 10 000 views mark and we are nearly at 11 000 views! </li>
<li>Wirelect was in the Warrington Guardian </li>
<li>Wirelect was on Radio Warrington </li>
<li>The Wirelect Facebook page has 30 "likes"</li>
</dir>
<br />
But more important than these stats and events is the contribution made by the community that reads and posts on this blog.<br />
<br />
I would like to thank everyone who has read and/or posted on the Wirelect site during 2012 and I hope you will continue to do so during 2013!<br />
<br />
We are a small community, but we care about our dialect and our linguistic culture and that is why we congregate here. I will continue to do my best to research the Warrington dialect and its linguistic history, and I will share my findings, insights and ideas on here with you all.<br />
<br />
Lastly, I would like to thank a couple of members of this community for their contribution:<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Tim: </b>Thanks for your comments, I would really like to hear more of your opinions :-)<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>David Ball: </b>Thank you, David, for your unending support via Radio Warrington and activity on here and the Facebook page :-)<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Yorick: </b>You are a mine of linguistic and cultural information, I wish you realised it more :-)<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Totty Teabag: </b>Like me, you left the town physically, but still hold it in your heart :-)<br />
<br />
And finally, <b>Gaynor</b>: thank you for your constant support, contributions, and opinions. You are the heart of this community, and the entire town should be proud of you! :-)<br />
<br />
Thank you! All the best for 2013.Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-41170299222333121872012-11-27T20:58:00.000+02:002012-11-27T20:58:11.233+02:00Lancashire DayIf you didn't know, 27th November is Lancashire Day.<br />
<br />
Lancashire Day commemorates Edward I calling the first elected representatives from Lancashire to parliament in 1295.<br />
<br />
Warrington has gone by many titles over the years, such as: a municipal borough, a county borough, and most recently a unitary authority. The local government reforms of 1974 made Warrington part of Cheshire, but historically, culturally, and more importantly, linguistically, Warrington is part of Lancashire.<br />
<br />
For proof of this, you need look no further than the Lancashire Day proclamation, which is read out by town criers on this day throughout the county:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="reference-text"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Know ye also, and rejoice, that by virtue of Her Majesty's County Palatine of Lancaster, the citizens of the Hundreds<span style="color: black;"> of </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lonsdale</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, North and South of the Sands, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Amounderness</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Leyland</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Blackburn</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Salford</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> and </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Derby_(hundred)" title="West Derby (hundred)"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">West Derby</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"> are forever entitled to style themselves Lancastrians. Throughout the County Palatine, from the Furness Fells to the River Mersey, from the Irish Sea to the Pennines, this</span> day shall ever mark the peoples' pleasure in that excellent distinction - true Lancastrians, proud of the Red Rose and loyal to our Sovereign Duke.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span class="reference-text"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">(source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancashire_Day">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancashire_Day</a>)</span></span><br />
<span class="reference-text"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></span><br />
<br />
You can see that, "From the Furness Fells to the River Mersey..." is historically Lancashire. Also, I have left in the link to the Wikipedia article on the West Derby Hundred as Warrington had been part of it since the 11th century.<br />
<br />
Here are a couple of links to Lancashire societies:<br />
<ul>
<li>The Friends of Real Lancashire: <a href="http://forl.co.uk/index.html">http://forl.co.uk/index.html</a></li>
<li>The Lancashire Society: <a href="http://www.thelancashiresociety.org.uk/">http://www.thelancashiresociety.org.uk/</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
As a result of local governmental bureaucracy, Warringtonians may have Cheshire in their addresses nowadays, but they will have Lancashire in their hearts forever!<br />
<br />
Happy Lancashire Day, everyone!Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-3334232137093304462012-11-23T22:49:00.000+02:002012-11-23T22:49:47.550+02:00Welsh WarringtonWell, the radio interview came and went. If you managed to tune in, I hope you enjoyed it. If you missed it, you can listen to the interview in its entirety on Soundcloud here: <a href="http://soundcloud.com/radio-warrington/warrington-dialect-with">http://soundcloud.com/radio-warrington/warrington-dialect-with</a><br />
<br />
Welsh Warrington<br />
<br />
If we go back in time about 1200 years to around 800AD, one of the languages spoken in the Warrington area would have been Welsh. To be precise, the language would have been an earlier form of Welsh, called Old Welsh, or possibly even a dialect related to Old Welsh, called Cumbric. There is no doubt that dialects of Old English were also spoken in the area, and Danish dialects of Old Norse would have also been heard more and more as the Vikings took over more land to the north-east, but from the River Mersey all the way up to Southern Scotland some form of Welsh dialect would have been spoken. Indeed, the entry for Warrington in Domesday comes under the name "Walintune", which many scholars believe is the Old English name meaning roughly "the settlement of the Welsh".<br />
<br />
I was surprised to find out a few years ago that my maternal ancestors are in fact from South Wales, and Warrington's close proximity to the Welsh border, and its position as the crossing point of the Mersey, must have made it a natural stop-off point for Welsh people moving North for whatever reason.<br />
<br />
Surprisingly little is left of the language and/or dialects from this time. In fact, the clearest clue to the Old Welsh or Cumbric dialect spoken at that time is the name of my old stomping ground "Penketh". The name is made up of two elements, both Welsh/Cumbric words:<br />
<ul>
<li>Pen(n) - meaning a hill</li>
<li>Keth (originally spelled "coed") - meaning a wood</li>
</ul>
"Pencoed" became "Penketh" - "The wooded hill".<br />
<br />
Both "pen" and "coed" are still present in the modern Welsh language. There is, in fact, a village called "Pencoed" in south Wales near to Bridgend. Other places in Wales contain the "pen" element and probably the most famous place containing "coed" is "Betws-y-Coed" in Clwyd, North Wales, which means "Prayer house in the wood".<br />
<br />
Other than a few place names, there is virtually no sign of the Welsh/Cumbric language and dialects. <br />
<br />
Or is there?<br />
<br />
Do you know any Warrington words, phrases or sayings that contain Welsh words?<br />
<br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-75624039916317662722012-11-23T14:32:00.001+02:002012-11-23T14:32:47.441+02:00Wirelect Interview on FM radioThe Wirelect interview that I did for Radio Warrington will be live on Radio Warrington 87.8 FM from 12 noon to 15pm today.<br />
<br />
Tune in: <a href="http://radiowarrington.co.uk/">http://radiowarrington.co.uk/</a><br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-27755960289515063272012-11-10T15:07:00.004+02:002012-11-10T15:07:49.130+02:00Warrington Wolves slangOur beloved Challenge Cup winning rugby team, the Warrington Wolves, or "The Wire" as we know them has been a part of the town's history since 1879.<br />
<br />
In the 133 years since their inception as a rugby team, the people of Warrington have come together to follow the team through thick or thin. Over the past few year, the Wolves have seen great success, and this has no doubt spread the appeal of the game of rugby and increased the fan base of the Wolves.<br />
<br />
We have not concentrated a great deal on the Wire, sorry, Wolves in this blog, but now I would like to collect some of the words or phrases that have evolved alongside the team.<br />
<br />
If you have a particular phrase or saying that you always say at the match, or that you always hear at the match, post it on here or send me an email at <a href="mailto:wirelector@gmail.com">wirelector@gmail.com</a> It might be just a word that you use to describe a situation or a player, whatever it is, I would like to know.<br />
<br />
Let's put together a glossary of Warrington Wolves slang.<br />
<br />
Thanks, WirelectorRobert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-683610616314354702012-11-06T18:14:00.000+02:002012-11-06T18:14:00.939+02:00The Co-op vowel shift results and other stuffThe results of our little survey are in. Sorry it took a while, I have been a bit under the weather.<br />
<br />
Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey, we had a much stronger response than in previous surveys :-)<br />
<br />
In total we had 20 responses and some very interesting results; not the results I was expecting, which is always a good thing!<br />
<br />
16 people answered that they would pronounce Co-op as two separate syllables transcribed here phonetically: /kɒʊ ɒp/ "co - op". These people aged from 30 to 77 years old.<br />
<br />
But just 4 people answered that they would pronounce Co-op as a single syllable with a long vowel as follows: /kwɒ:p/ "cwarp". These people aged from 69 to 95 years old.<br />
<br />
This surprised me, as I thought that there would be a higher incidence of the single syllable variant particularly in the older age range. Admittedly, the 4 people who pronounce Co-op as /kwɒ:p/ are all in the older age group, and two of these 4 are reported as being born elsewhere than Warrington (Leigh and Bolton). This may lead us to believe that the single syllable pronunciation is not a feature of the Warrington dialect. However, both my parents belong to the single syllable group and they are both Warrington born and bred.<br />
<br />
So what can we summise from this?<br />
<br />
It appears from the data we have from our survey that there is a possible slight shift in the pronunciation of Co-op from a single syllable to two syllables over time. This shift may be influenced from neighbouring dialects that maintain a long vowel where Warrington has a diphtong; for example, think of a Widnesian or a Boltonian pronouncing "no". These dialects have maintained the long vowel that results in /nʊə/ "noor" as opposed to the more common Warringtonian /nɒʊ/ "no".<br />
<br />
However, it is likely that both pronunciations of Co-op have existed side by side, particularly due to the fact that "Co-op" is always pronounced as two separate syllables in its full form in the name "Co-operative". As far as I know, no-one says "Cwarprative". Please correct me if I am wrong.<br />
<br />
A couple other comments came in from Gaynor and Tim that I wanted to point out:<br />
<br />
Gaynor commented on the good people of Yorkshire not understanding the word "Barm cake". I have to say that I concur. I recently chatted with a colleague who is originally from Huddersfield, and he did not know what a Barm cake is either. This does seem to be confined to the Lancashire area.<br />
<br />
And Tim posted a word that I have never heard before in my life: <strong>lozzock</strong>. He gave the example, "Stop lozzocking around and get something done." Great word! Does anyone else use this word?<br />
<br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-59827218327019537052012-10-23T00:27:00.001+03:002012-10-23T00:27:07.926+03:00The Co-op vowel shiftWe all know the Co-operative. It's a shop and it's a bank, and it's probably many other things as well, but what I am interested in is the way you say it.<br />
<br />
In my experience, there are two distinct pronunciations of Co-op in Warrington:<br />
<ol>
<li>Each syllable pronounced separately: <em>Co</em> - <em>Op</em></li>
<li>As one word: <em>Cworp</em></li>
</ol>
The pronunciation distinction seems to be related to age, so let's have a survey.<br />
<br />
If you pronounce Co-op as in number 1, post a comment with the number 1 and your birth year.<br />
<br />
If you pronounce Co-op as in number 2, post a comment with the number 2 and your birth year.<br />
<br />
As an example, my response is: 1 and 1974<br />
<br />
Please ask as many of your friends as you can and post their responses too. Let's try to get some good results for this one.<br />
<br />
I'll post the results in a couple of days.<br />
<br />
Thanks, Wirelector.Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-76566505393255322082012-10-15T22:29:00.002+03:002012-10-16T11:01:21.180+03:00S-words rule! UpdateWe seem to be having a real influx of words beginning with "S".<br />
<br />
Here's a few of the words that have come in from your comments. Keep 'em coming :-)<br />
<br />
<strong>Update!</strong><br />
I have found a reference to the word "scutch" in the Cheshire Glossary that I posted about back in March. The full entry can be seen here, half-way down page 178: <a href="http://www.archive.org/stream/glossaryofwordsu00leigrich#page/178/mode/2up">http://www.archive.org/stream/glossaryofwordsu00leigrich#page/178/mode/2up</a><br />
<br />
Here is a snapshot of the entry:<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYvgiXHv42FKA2yJa9apTQHICax29-7Nn_ugr1Q_o9crcSXmAKy4OtQG_mcBIGxt_PgNsKvISbflTNEgWQJT9ZoF-ytx6inuA_xFxol9Kh6A_Vd-BpTaEct-R_VJ2FQUgOkHg5DQqK9P4/s1600/Scutch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYvgiXHv42FKA2yJa9apTQHICax29-7Nn_ugr1Q_o9crcSXmAKy4OtQG_mcBIGxt_PgNsKvISbflTNEgWQJT9ZoF-ytx6inuA_xFxol9Kh6A_Vd-BpTaEct-R_VJ2FQUgOkHg5DQqK9P4/s400/Scutch.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
An anonymous reader had posted the word <em>scutch</em> in reference to skipping. Apparently your legs would get <em>scutched</em> if the skipping rope hit them. Here is the original comment:<br />
<br />
<div class="comment-content" id="bc_0_67MC">
<em>"does anyone remember getting their legs 'scutched' when skipping? My dad was an electrician so I skipped with cable and that gave you a good 'scutch' if it caught your legs!" </em>Anonymous.</div>
<div class="comment-content">
<br /></div>
<div class="comment-content">
It appears that the word <em>scutch</em> has changed over time from the cause of the injury to the injury itself. It has also changed from a verb to a noun, a fairly common occurance called <em>conversion</em>.</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Scutch</strong> - a scratch or scrape on the skin</li>
<li><strong>Scuff</strong> - as above</li>
<li><strong>Slutch</strong> - sticky, smelly mud (normally along the banks of the Mersey)</li>
<li><strong>Slather</strong> - drool (normally from a dog)</li>
<li><strong>Slavver</strong> - a variant of <em>slather</em></li>
<li><strong>Slobber</strong> - drool (normally from a baby)</li>
</ul>
And a few others that have come up:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><strong>Scrawp</strong> - a scratch on the skin</li>
<li><strong>Skittering</strong> - a thin covering of snow</li>
<li><strong>Snig</strong> - a worm</li>
</ul>
It's interesting that we seem to differentiate between the saliva produced by a dog and that produced by a human! Does anyone disagree with this distinction?Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-59174973974987722102012-10-14T22:52:00.001+03:002012-10-14T22:52:20.024+03:00A couple of wordsHere are a couple of words that my Dad reminded me of a couple of days ago:<br />
<br />
<strong>Slothering</strong> - to slother, (verb) apparently this refers to the dragging of the feet when walking.<br />
<br />
"Stop slotherin' an' pick yer feet up!"<br />
<br />
<strong>A skittering</strong> - (noun) a thin covering of something (almost always used in reference to snow).<br />
<br />
"I woke up this mornin' an' there was a skitterin' of snow on the ground."<br />
<br />
The verb <em>to skitter</em> also exists. See the following link:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skitter">http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skitter</a><br />
<br />
Do you use these words? What do they mean to you?Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-45821257858318821902012-10-08T21:42:00.000+03:002012-10-08T21:42:30.306+03:00Building site slangMy beloved older brother has worked his entire life on various building sites around Warrington and the North West. Below is a selection of phrases he said are in common use on those building sites. I don't know if these are specific to Warrington, but I would imagine some of them are.<br />
<br />
These are priceless, and some of them hilarious. My favourite is <em>Squirrel up</em>:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Half chop - finishing work at dinner time on a Friday</li>
<li>Early dart - finishing work early</li>
<li>Roman spear - finishing work early</li>
<li>March past - not going into work on a Monday</li>
<li>Put the stones in - the order to finish work, in other words put a couple of shovel of stones and a couple of buckets of water in the cement mixer, then run it to clean the inside of the barrel.</li>
<li>Poke - money</li>
<li>Tank - money</li>
<li>Boxed off - paying for something</li>
<li>Maverick - money put aside for an emergency</li>
<li>Squirrel up - staying indoor during the winter</li>
<li>Where is your next drop - what's the next job</li>
<li>Are you in collar - are you in work?</li>
<li>Have you got a bend - did you get work</li>
<li>Compo - mortar</li>
<li>Bucket of shite - bucket of mortar</li>
<li>Cod hod - Hod carrier who supervises other hod carriers</li>
</ul>
<br />
Every field of work has its own slang. What's yours?Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-87317530776638881402012-10-07T21:23:00.003+03:002012-10-08T14:55:46.529+03:00The Wirelect podcast - Update!The Wirelect interview now available.<br />
<br />
The podcast has now moved to Sound Cloud: <a href="http://soundcloud.com/radio-warrington/warrington-dialect-with">http://soundcloud.com/radio-warrington/warrington-dialect-with</a><br />
<br /><br />
If you missed the Wirelect interview or you would just like to listen to it again, it is now available to stream or download in its entirety on the Radio Warrington frontpage: <a href="http://radiowarrington.co.uk/">http://radiowarrington.co.uk/</a><br />
<br />
Thanks for listening and keep those comments coming!<br />
<br />Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-17311322536913927982012-10-02T23:05:00.004+03:002012-10-02T23:05:58.758+03:00Lend and Borrow - The Explanation!We have had a couple of comments on the mixing up of <em>lend</em> and <em>borrow</em> in the dialect, so I think it is worth taking the time to point out the differences between the two and why.<br />
<br />
We will have to use some linguistic jargon to explain the differences, but I will try to keep it simple.<br />
<br />
First things first; <em>to lend</em> and <em>to borrow</em> are both verbs, and as such they tell us what is going on in the sentence in terms of who or what is doing what to who.<br />
<br />
More specifically they are both <em>transitive</em> verbs, which means that they have to take a <em>grammatical</em> <em>object </em>(normally referred to as simply 'an object'); in this case the <em>thing</em> that is being lent or borrowed.<br />
<br />
This means that just "I lend" or "I borrow" sounds weird. And indeed it does sound incomplete!<br />
<br />
To make things a little more complicated, transitive verbs can be further subdivided into <em>monotransitive</em>, <em>ditransitive</em>, and even <em>tritransitive</em> verbs, depending on how many objects they take (1, 2 or 3, respectively).<br />
<br />
So, to get back to our mixed up verbs, <em>to borrow</em> is a monotransitive verb. This means that it only takes one object. For example:<br />
<ul>
<li>I borrow <strong>a book</strong>.</li>
</ul>
The bolded <strong>'book'</strong> is the object, and because <em>borrow</em> only takes one object, the sentence looks and sounds fine.<br />
<br />
<em>To lend</em>, on the other hand, is a ditransitive verb. This means that it has to take two objects. For example:<br />
<ul>
<li>I lend <u>her</u> <strong>a book</strong>.</li>
</ul>
The bolded <strong>'book'</strong> is still the object, but because we now have two objects we need to be able to differentiate between them. Therefore, '<strong>book</strong>' it is now called the <em>direct object</em> and is still the thing that is being lent. The underlined <u>her</u> is called the <em>indirect object</em> and is the person to whom the book is being lent.<br />
<br />
The sentence looks and sounds fine because <em>lend</em> has two objects and is therefore linguistically happy.<br />
<br />
The problem arises when we use <em>borrow</em> to mean <em>lend</em>. We subconciously know that the thing we are talking about is lending, and we also subconciously know that the verb <em>lend</em> needs two objects, but we actually say <em>borrow,</em> which only needs one.<br />
<br />
It is this inate, subconcious knowledge of the grammar of our own language that allows us to hear when something is not quite right. For example, using the same <u>underline</u> for the indirect object and <strong>bold</strong> for the direct object notations as before (including an asterix, which is the standard linguistic way of showing that something in ungrammatical), we can see the two objects used with <em>borrow</em>, and thus see why it sounds odd:<br />
<ul>
<li>*I'll borrow <u>you</u> <strong>a tenner</strong>.</li>
</ul>
The reverse is also true.<br />
<br />
If we use <em>lend</em> with only one object, it also sounds odd:<br />
<ul>
<li>*Will you lend <strong>a tenner</strong>?</li>
</ul>
Here the indirect object is missing and therefore leads us to ask the question, "Lend who a tenner?"<br />
<br />
So, there we are. A bit long and technical, but I hope it made sense.<br />
<br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-36175436508811359652012-10-02T00:21:00.002+03:002012-10-02T00:21:52.565+03:00Back to realityWell, after last week's flurry of media exposure, it's time to return to normality.<br />
<br />
Thank you to everyone who read the article and listened to the radio interview! It is really great to see that we have some more followers and interested parties.<br />
<br />
Speaking of which, we had some very interesting comments (in bold) on the "Your dialect words" page from an anonymous reader. I would like to comment on a few here.<br />
<br />
<strong>Jiggered - exhausted</strong><br />
<br />
I also understand <em>jiggered</em> as meaning exhausted or very tired. However, some quick Google research revealed numerous meanings for the the word <em>jigger</em>. Have a look <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigger" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
I am inclined to assume that our use of the word <em>jiggered</em> probably has its roots in the alcoholic measure used for pouring spirits, and therefore quite possibly has a different meaning closer to (very) drunk.<br />
<br />
<strong>Thrutch - to move along a seat without standing up</strong><br />
<br />
I was really pleased to see this word turn up because I have known about it for a long time, but never had cause to use it. Apparently, my grandmother often used the term <em>thrutch</em> in the phrase, "<em>Where there's least room there's most thrutching</em>". My Dad tells me that she would say it when there was a lot of people in a small space. He also says that he believes it is a mining term used by miners who would have to squeeze through tiny gaps in order to reach the coal face. The <em>thrutching</em> was the movement they would have to make to get through the gap.<br />
<br />
It's great to know that thrutch is still in use. My grandmother was born in 1903, and must have heard the term when she was growing up. Over one hundred years on and it is still part of our vocabulary, albeit with a different meaning.<br />
<br />
I have never heard thrutch used in the sense of moving along a seat without standing up. Personally, I would say <em>shift.</em><br />
<strong>Mention of the word slutch (ie sticky foul smelling mud) made me think about the origins of slutchers lane</strong><br />
<br />
I have also wondered about <em>Slutchers Lane</em>. Does anyone know the story behind the name?<br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-46370911077792480482012-09-26T17:35:00.001+03:002012-09-28T12:16:49.765+03:00Wirelect in the local media NEW UPDATE!As promised...<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>NEW UPDATE!</strong> Just a couple of hours until the Wirelect interview on Radio Warrington <a href="http://radiowarrington.co.uk/listen-live/">http://radiowarrington.co.uk/listen-live/</a><br />
<br />
Stream live on the above link.<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<strong>UPDATE!</strong> Here is a link to the article: <a href="http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/9951075.Forget_Vladivar__did_the_vikings_put_the____V____in_Warrington_/" target="_blank">Forget Vladivar, did the Vikings put the "V" in Warrington?</a><br />
The article is featured on page 4 of the Warrington Guardian paper edition.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
What a week!<br />
<br />
Wirelect will be featured in this week's Warrington Guardian <a href="http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/">http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/</a> as part of the follow-up to its first birthday, AND we will be on Radio Warrington <a href="http://radiowarrington.co.uk/listen-live/">http://radiowarrington.co.uk/listen-live/</a> this Friday (28th September) from 12 noon (GMT) to 3pm (15.00).<br />
<br />
The Warrington Guardian article will be in the paper edition this week and will also appear on the web edition in the next few days.<br />
<br />
My most sincere thanks must go to Vicki Stockman at Warrington Guardian; and David Ball, Diane Abbott, and Gordon Gandy at Radio Warrington.<br />
<br />
Thank you all for your support!<br />
<br />
Keep reading and commenting, and tell your friends about Wirelect :-)<br />
WirelectorRobert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-50578203732842256242012-09-23T22:25:00.000+03:002012-09-23T22:25:52.323+03:00Homonymy and "The Green"Two interesting points came to my attention over the last few days.<br />
<br />
The first was raised by Pete Magill who commented that his old school teacher used to remark on the misuse of <em>our</em> and <em>are</em>.<br />
<br />
The difference, of course, is obvious in writing but not so in speech. For example, it is perfectly feasible for someone to say the following two sentences in the dialect, but make no audible distinction between <em>our</em> and <em>are</em> :<br />
<ul>
<li>"I'm goin' to see <strong>our</strong> Mike later."</li>
</ul>
or<br />
<ul>
<li>"D'you know how old Mike and Steve <strong>are</strong>?"</li>
</ul>
However, in Standard English and many other dialects <em>our</em> and <em>are</em> have different pronunciations altogether.<br />
<br />
Words like these are often referred to as <em>homonyms</em> and are erroneously defined as words that are spelled differently but pronounced in exactly the same way. The precise linguistic definition of <em>homonym</em> is words that have the same spelling <em>and</em> pronunciation but have different meanings. An example of true homonyms would be <em>bow</em>, which can mean to lean forward as a mark of respect; or the front part of a ship - both spelled and pronounced the same way, but with distinct meanings.<br />
<br />
In the case or <em>our</em> and <em>are</em> they can be referred to in two different ways:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><em>homophones -</em> the same pronunciation but a different meaning and/or different spelling</li>
<li><em>heterographs</em> - the same pronunciation but a different meaning and different spelling</li>
</ol>
For the sake of simplicity, it makes more sense to refer to all these instances as examples of homonymy. Are there any other examples in the dialect?<br />
<br />
The second point that came up is the name of the large traffic roundabout that forms the junction of Sankey Way, Lovely Lane, Froghall Lane, and Thewlis Street.<br />
<br />
To me, it has always been and always will be "The Green". I had never heard it referred to as anything else until a couple of days ago when I saw it referred to as the "Pink Eye roundabout". Admittedly, I don't think that this name was used in all seriousness, but nevertheless, it got me thinking.<br />
<br />
What do you call that particular place? Is it "The Green" to you?<br />
<br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-18551285187565022282012-09-18T17:59:00.003+03:002012-09-26T13:39:47.429+03:00Wirelect on the airwaves 28th Sept.Don't forget to tune in to Radio Warrington <a href="http://radiowarrington.co.uk/listen-live/">http://radiowarrington.co.uk/listen-live/</a> this Friday (28th September) from 12 noon (GMT) to 3pm (15.00).<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
During my visit to Warrington at the beginning of September, I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by David Ball of Radio Warrington.<br />
<br />
David and I talked at length about many different aspects of the Wirelect project, such as the Warrington dialect and its influences, the differences between a dialect and an accent, descriptive versus prescriptive approaches to language, and many other matters relating to language and dialect.<br />
<br />
You can hear the interview in its entirety on Radio Warrington on Friday 28th September between 12 noon and 3 pm (15.00). The interview will be divided into smaller sections that will be spread out throughout Diana Abbott's show.<br />
<br />
You can stream Radio Warrington live from the following link: <a href="http://radiowarrington.co.uk/listen-live/">http://radiowarrington.co.uk/listen-live/</a><br />
<br />
My sincere thanks go to David and Diana, and the Radio Warrington team :-)<br />
<br />
Don't forget to tune it!<br />
<br />
<br />Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-18606849203143133402012-09-02T15:49:00.001+03:002012-09-02T15:49:46.739+03:00Warrington - the Viking theoryReceived wisdom on the subject of Warrington's name would lead us to believe that it is Old English in origin. There are some well-founded theories to support this claim, but there should always be room for new theories, too.<br />
<br />
I believe that the Vikings gave our town its name as the "Place to moor the boats", or as they would have said, "<strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Vǫrr<em>-</em></span>ing-tun</strong>".<br />
<br />
But before we get to my theory, let's have a look at the existing theories.<br />
<br />
A quick Google search or the first few pages of any Warrington local history book will provide you with the standard explanations for the name "Warrington".<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>"Waer" the personal name of a local ruler or chieftan, and "tun" a homestead or settlement. These together form "Waerstun" or Waer's settlement. This is certainly a feasible explanation for the name.</li>
<li>"Werid", "Weryt", or "Gweryt" and other permutations are possible words from Brythonic languages (the languages spoken in the British Isles before the Roman conquest, and represented nowadays by Welsh). These words are listed as meaning "ford" as in a river crossing. When combined with "tun", as above, we get various versions of "Weritun" or the settlement on the river crossing. This is a very good theory due to the clear importance of the river crossing in the development of the town.</li>
<li>The final popular theory is based on the Anglo-Saxon word "Waering" meaning a weir or dam. There have no doubt been various fish weirs on the river throughout history, indeed there is written historical data to prove the presence of fish weirs on the River Mersey. "Waering", again, combined with "tun" gives us "Waeringtun", the settlement of the weirs on the river. A very compelling theory, especially as it fits the idea of the importance of the river and looks, to our modern eyes, very close to the modern spelling of Warrington.</li>
</ol>
The above are all very reasonable explanations for the name of the town, and any of them could be true. However, these theories are all very local in nature and do not take into account the broader regional context.<br />
<br />
If we take a closer look at the surrounding towns and villages along the Mersey shoreline, we can see a distinct Nordic influence. Starting at the mouth of Mersey estuary and working our way inland along the northern shoreline we can see places such as: Formby, Crosby, Kirkdale, Aigburth, Oglet, and Widnes - all Scandinavian in origin. Along the southern shoreline we have: Bromborough, Eastham, Ellesmere, Helsby, Frodsham - again, Scandinavian in origin.<br />
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This abundance of place-names of Scandinavian origin suggests strongly a high incidence of people who spoke a Scandinavian language. Works such as <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>Viking DNA: The Wirral and West Lancashire Project by Steve Harding, Mark Jobling, and Turi King provide clear evidence of a Viking presence in the Wirral. Indeed, the huge number of Scandinavian place-names within the Wirral is testament not only to the fact that Vikings came to our shores, but also that they stayed. This is also supported by the genetic evidence presented in the book.<br />
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But what about Warrington?<br />
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It seems more than a little strange to me that the Vikings should have such key presence in the Wirral, and obvious influence along the Mersey shoreline, but not leave their mark on the most important Mersey-coastal town of the age - Warrington!<br />
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The proof is in Warrington's location on the mersey. The Mersey has always been a difficult river to navigate because of silting and its large tidal range. This was not a problem to the Vikings due to the ingenious design and construction of their longboats, which had a draft (the amount of a ship's hull that is submerged) of only 40 - 50 cm (approx 18 inches). This design allowed them to navigate seaworthy long boats far upstream and inland.<br />
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However, there were limits; and these limits are what gave Warrington its name.<br />
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The Vikings, both Norwegian and Danish, spoke dialects of a language that we know today as Old Norse. As they sailed further and further inland along the Mersey, they would eventually have come to a place where the water was too shallow, or the river too marshy to continue. This place would have also been the site where the river was fordable. This place was the site of modern Warrington.<br />
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Old Norse had two words that were related to each other: <span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><strong>Vǫrr</strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> - meaning a wave or the sea; and <strong>Vör</strong> - meaning a landing space for a boat. The latter is still present in modern Icelandic place names (Icelandic being the closest modern language to Old Norse).</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">It is perfectly reasonable to assume that the Vikings, having sailed as far as they could up the Mersey, would have moored their boats somewhere in the vicinity of Latchford. As more and more Vikings used this site as a landing place to enter the established settlement near the ford, they would have begun to call it by a name. In their native Old Norse, that name would have been "<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Vǫrr"<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> or "Vör" or something related. They would have added the particle "ing" to that name, as all modern Scandinavian languages do, to describe the place where the event happens, and then the "tun", which simply means a town or settlement.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">So we are left with Vikings calling our town "<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Vǫrringtun" or Vöringtun", <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">simply meaning, "The place to moor the boats".</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">What do you think? Do you have a theory? Tell me your thoughts.</span></span></span></span><br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-26279787908801849452012-09-01T21:55:00.000+03:002012-09-01T21:55:11.161+03:00Wirelect LIVE in Warrington!Wirelect is back in town!<br />
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The blog is one year old at the end of this week, and to celebrate I will be out and about in Warrington handing out fliers and talking to people about the dialect.<br />
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I will be doing more research for the book and I will also be doing an interview for Radio Warrington about the Wirelect project.<br />
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Keep your eyes open for me, and see you in town!<br />
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WirelectorRobert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975211442812288299.post-23457510998705069092012-08-21T17:10:00.001+03:002012-08-21T17:10:51.587+03:00Another snippetAfter the summer break it's time to get back to work on the book. Here is a small section about moving away from Warrington:<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">Think for a moment about your own dialect, whatever it is. It is full of words, sayings, expressions, turns of phrase, and proverbs that are peculiar to your geographic region, and quite possibly your town or village. It sounds like you. It represents the sounds of your earliest memories, the sounds of your childhood friends, the sounds of your games and play. It may not be obvious at first, but if you leave for a while and then return, you will notice how the dialect sounds like you and you like it. The longer you stay away, the more you may lose your dialect but it never disappears. It is possibly as fundamental to our understanding of ourselves as our relationship with our parents.<br /><br />Our dialect is our first language. Long before we learn "official" rules of grammar and standardised spelling, we are fluent in our own native dialect with its own grammar, spelling, and pronunciation. The education system quite rightly teaches us the standard language of our nation, but it should not, it must not, do it at the expense of our native dialect. However, if and when a person leaves the place where they were born, they will have to alter their dialect at least a little.<br /><br />When I left Warrington to go to university in London, I did not realise that I had an accent or spoke a dialect; my fellow students soon let me know, albeit light-heartedly, that I was from "Up North". We often made fun of each other’s accents and dialects, but what I didn’t realise was that this joviality had set in motion a process that would result in a distinct "softening" of my accent.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">In my day-to-day life in London, the Warrington dialect was useless because no-one understood it, and my accent just made me stand out. I didn’t consciously set out to change my way of speaking, it just happened. When I left England to move to Finland, the way I spoke would change even more. The English I heard was not a regional variant, rather an English that had been learned in school by reading books and at home by watching television programmes. It was an English that was not the native language of the people speaking it, and it had rules all of its own, but those rules did not apply to me.</span><br />
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I had to "standardise" my English. I had to focus on pronouncing properly and clearly so that people could understand me. I had to explain what I meant rather than simply reeling off set phrases that had, in their native setting, slowly gathered precise meanings over hundreds of years. And as my Finnish improved, I spoke less and less English altogether. The English that I spoke had "fossilized", and I was in danger of losing the dialect.<br />
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I didn't have the opportunity to visit Warrington for almost six years, but when I did finally return, the sounds of the voices disturbed something that had been hibernating inside me all that time. I recognised these sounds, these voices, these phrases. I found that I could express myself with absolute ease, saying exactly what I intended to say rather than a close approximation. For the first time in a long time I sounded like myself and the people around me. I was home!<br />
Robert Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18040625047419146197noreply@blogger.com3