Certain areas of the West Midlands are stereotyped as having stronger accents than others, Dudley in the Black Country being an example. There are some local phrases in the Black Country that are renowned. People do tend to substitute a reply of "arr" for "yes". Generally, most words are shortened, most commonly being "I haven't" to "I ay" (which can be argued as an even shorter form of "I ain't").[citation needed] In the south of the West Midlands (southern Warwickshire and Worcestershire), the accent is more similar to the general southern accent.
[in Herefordshire and Worcestershire] we have many different ways of speaking the English language, at least I think that's what we are speaking !!!
Go from Kington in North Herefordshire with the Welsh-border lilt, to Evesham in the south of Worcestershire where there's a very different sound.
From Kidderminster and the North Worcestershire area were many, but not all, have a Brummigum twang, and then off down to Ross where there's a hint of the rounded Gloucestershire tones.
West Midlands accents do not have the trap-bath split, so cast is pronounced [kast] rather than the [kɑːst] pronunciation of most southern accents. The northern limit of the [ɑː] in many words crosses England from mid-Shropshire to The Wash, passing just south of Birmingham.
There is no foot–strut split in the West Midlands, except for Herefordshire, with words containing [ʌ] like strut or but being pronounced with [ʊ], without any distinction between putt and put.
H-dropping is common, in which the [h] sound is usually omitted from most words.[2]
There is no Ng-coalescence. Cases of the spelling -ing are pronounced as [ɪŋɡ] rather than [ɪŋ]. Wells noted that there were no exceptions to this rule in Stoke-on-Trent, whereas there were for other areas with the [ɪŋɡ] pronunciation, such as Liverpool.[3]
Dialect verbs are used, for example am for are, ay for is not (related to ain't), bay for are not, bin for am or, emphatically, for are. Hence the following joke dialogue about bay windows: "What sort of windas am them?" "They'm bay windas." "Well if they bay windas wot bin them?". There is also humour to be derived from the shop-owner's sign of Mr. "E. A. Wright" (that is, "He ay [isn't] right," a phrase implying someone is saft [soft] in the jed [head]). Saft also may mean silly as in, "Stop bein' so saft".
The Birmingham and Coventry accents are distinct, even though the cities are only 19 miles/30 km apart. Coventry being closer to an East Midlands accent.[citation needed]
Around Stoke-on-Trent, the short i can sometimes sound rather like ee, as very obvious when hearing a local say it, however this is not always the case as most other words such as "miss" or "tip" are still pronounced as normal. The Potteries accent is perhaps the most distinctly 'northern' of the West Midlands accents, given that the urban area around Stoke-on-Trent is close to the Cheshire border.
In Warwickshire, the northern towns like Nuneaton and Bedworth have a similar accent to Coventry whereas southern Warwickshire generally have a southern accent.
^Bradley, Dave (19 August 2005). "You knows 'im don't ya? BBC Hereford and Worcester presenter Dave Bradley tells us his thoughts on accents and dialects". BBC Hereford and Worcester.
^Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2002). The Phonetics of Dutch and English (5 ed.). Leiden/Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 290–302.
^Wells in Trudgill ed., Language in the British Isles, page 58, Cambridge University Press, 1984
Further reading
Clark, Urszula (2004), "The English West Midlands: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 134–162, ISBN3-11-017532-0
External links
BL staff. "Sounds Familiar?". British Library. Retrieved 19 February 2012. – Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
BBC staff (November 2008). "Voices 2005:Hereford and Worcester". BBC Hereford and Worcester. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
Lovell, Martyn (22 August 2005). "The voice of a Herefordshire farrier". BBC Hereford and Worcester. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
March 29, 2023
west, midlands, english, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, ju. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources West Midlands English news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2007 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article s lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article May 2021 West Midlands English is a group of dialects of the English language native to the English West Midlands West Midlands EnglishNative toEnglandRegionWest MidlandsEthnicityEnglishLanguage familyIndo European GermanicWest GermanicIngvaeonicAnglo FrisianAnglicEnglishBritish EnglishWest Midlands EnglishEarly formsOld English Middle English Early Modern EnglishDialectsWest Midlands EnglishLanguage codesISO 639 3 Location of The West Midlands within EnglandThis article contains IPA phonetic symbols Without proper rendering support you may see question marks boxes or other symbols instead of Unicode characters For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA Speech example source source source An example of a male speaker from Stoke on Trent Frank Skinner Problems playing this file See media help Contents 1 County accents 2 Phonology 3 Varieties of West Midlands English 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksCounty accents EditCertain areas of the West Midlands are stereotyped as having stronger accents than others Dudley in the Black Country being an example There are some local phrases in the Black Country that are renowned People do tend to substitute a reply of arr for yes Generally most words are shortened most commonly being I haven t to I ay which can be argued as an even shorter form of I ain t citation needed In the south of the West Midlands southern Warwickshire and Worcestershire the accent is more similar to the general southern accent Dave Bradley a presenter on BBC Hereford and Worcester said in 2005 that in Herefordshire and Worcestershire we have many different ways of speaking the English language at least I think that s what we are speaking Go from Kington in North Herefordshire with the Welsh border lilt to Evesham in the south of Worcestershire where there s a very different sound From Kidderminster and the North Worcestershire area were many but not all have a Brummigum twang and then off down to Ross where there s a hint of the rounded Gloucestershire tones Dave Bradley 1 Phonology EditWest Midlands accents do not have the trap bath split so cast is pronounced kast rather than the kɑːst pronunciation of most southern accents The northern limit of the ɑː in many words crosses England from mid Shropshire to The Wash passing just south of Birmingham There is no foot strut split in the West Midlands except for Herefordshire with words containing ʌ like strut or but being pronounced with ʊ without any distinction between putt and put H dropping is common in which the h sound is usually omitted from most words 2 There is no Ng coalescence Cases of the spelling ing are pronounced as ɪŋɡ rather than ɪŋ Wells noted that there were no exceptions to this rule in Stoke on Trent whereas there were for other areas with the ɪŋɡ pronunciation such as Liverpool 3 Dialect verbs are used for example am for are ay for is not related to ain t bay for are not bin for am or emphatically for are Hence the following joke dialogue about bay windows What sort of windas am them They m bay windas Well if they bay windas wot bin them There is also humour to be derived from the shop owner s sign of Mr E A Wright that is He ay isn t right a phrase implying someone is saft soft in the jed head Saft also may mean silly as in Stop bein so saft The Birmingham and Coventry accents are distinct even though the cities are only 19 miles 30 km apart Coventry being closer to an East Midlands accent citation needed Around Stoke on Trent the short i can sometimes sound rather like ee as very obvious when hearing a local say it however this is not always the case as most other words such as miss or tip are still pronounced as normal The Potteries accent is perhaps the most distinctly northern of the West Midlands accents given that the urban area around Stoke on Trent is close to the Cheshire border Herefordshire and parts of Worcestershire and Shropshire have a rhotic accent citation needed somewhat like the West Country and in some parts mixing with the Welsh accent particularly when closer to the English Welsh border In Warwickshire the northern towns like Nuneaton and Bedworth have a similar accent to Coventry whereas southern Warwickshire generally have a southern accent Varieties of West Midlands English EditBlack Country Brummie spoken in Birmingham Coventry Herefordshire West Country accent Potteries North Staffordshire Salopian Shropshire Warwickshire WorcestershireReferences Edit Bradley Dave 19 August 2005 You knows im don t ya BBC Hereford and Worcester presenter Dave Bradley tells us his thoughts on accents and dialects BBC Hereford and Worcester Collins Beverley Mees Inger M 2002 The Phonetics of Dutch and English 5 ed Leiden Boston Brill Publishers pp 290 302 Wells in Trudgill ed Language in the British Isles page 58 Cambridge University Press 1984Further reading EditClark Urszula 2004 The English West Midlands phonology in Schneider Edgar W Burridge Kate Kortmann Bernd Mesthrie Rajend Upton Clive eds A handbook of varieties of English vol 1 Phonology Mouton de Gruyter pp 134 162 ISBN 3 11 017532 0External links EditBL staff Sounds Familiar British Library Retrieved 19 February 2012 Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library s Sounds Familiar website BBC staff November 2008 Voices 2005 Hereford and Worcester BBC Hereford and Worcester Retrieved 19 February 2012 Lovell Martyn 22 August 2005 The voice of a Herefordshire farrier BBC Hereford and Worcester Retrieved 19 February 2012 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title West Midlands English amp oldid 1128352024, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
