Re: USAGE: YAEPT:Re: Shavian: was Re: USAGE: Con-graphies

Joe a screfas:

"Hokkien and Cantonese are far more different from one another than your
average English dialect.  English is a surprisingly monolithic language,
actually, compared to Arabic and Chinese, or even German or Italian."



Joe,

English - monolithic?! My foot! ;-) Have you ever heard any of the
traditional dialects spoken in England? I can only give you examples from
Lancashire. I agree with you that the language of the younger generation has
been somewhat levelled, in grammar and vocabulary more so than in phonology.
But there are still a few younger speakers that use traditional dialect or
at least code switch back and forth between dialect and a form modified
towards the regional standard.



<I'll be cumin on whoam with thee!>

[al bI 'kUmIn On wUm wI Di:]

"I'm coming home with you."



<Thou knows that Jimmy him as wer deaf.>

[D& no:z Da? 'dZIme Im @z w8r dI@f]

"You do know Jimmy, the one who was deaf."



<but ther again t'money went further>

[bU? D8:r @'gEn ?'mUne wEn? f8:rD@r]

"but then (in those days) you got more for your money's worth"



<That's t'ro:d heaw t'throw t'money away.>

[Da?s ro:d &:? Tro: ?'mUne @'we:]

"That's how you end up waisting money."



<a three or four week sin>

[@ Tri: @(r) fo@r wIk sIn]

"three or four weeks ago"



<wher hasta bin, lad>

[w8:r 'ast@ bIn lad]

"where have you been, lad"



<We used t'ha t'wauk t'eawr work.>

[wI jY:st a? wO:k t&:r w8k]

"We used to have to walk to (our) work."



<It pulls with me goin' out at that time.>

[I? pY:z wI mi: gY:In &:t @? Da? TaIm]

"I don't like going out at that time."



<I'll be seein' thee afore t'week's o'er.>

[al bI 'si:In Di @'fo@r ?wIks o@r]

"I'll be seeing you before the end of the week."



<What wilt do? We'st go again next year.>

[wO? wIl? dY: wIst gY: @'gEn nEks j8:r]

"What can you do? We shall go again next year"



<One of his mates is cume.>

[wOn @v Iz me:ts Iz kUm]

"one of his mates has come"



<'If he had bin kilt,'er said,'we'd have still had to laughed.>

[Iv i:d @ bIn kIl? 8r sEd wId @ stIl ad t@ l3Yft]

"If he had been killed, she said, we would still have had to laugh."



I'm sure other folk from other parts of England and Lowlands Scotland could
come up with more examples. Maybe even from Transatlantia-dialect areas like
the Appalachians.



Dan

Replies