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East Midlands English was a dialect traditionally spoken in those parts of Mercia lying East of Watling Street (the A5 London - Shrewsbury Road). Today this area is represented by the counties of the East Midlands of England, (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland (and Northamptonshire, see below).

Origins

Like that of Yorkshire, the East Midlands dialect owes much of its grammar and vocabulary to Nordic influences, the region having been incorporated in the Norse controlled Danelaw in the late 9th century. For example, the East Midlands word scraight ('to cry') is thought to be derived from the Norse, skrike in modern Scandinavian, also meaning to cry.

East Midlands Dialects in Literature

The romantic English novelist, and East Midlander, D. H. Lawrence who was from the Nottinghamshire town of Eastwood wrote in the dialect of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Coalfield in several dialect poems as well as in his more famous works such as Lady Chatterley's Lover and Sons and Lovers.

Though spoken less commonly today, the dialect of the East Midlands has been investigated in notable texts such as the affectionately titled Ey Up Mi Duck series of books (and an LP) by Richard Scollins and John Titford. These books were originally intended as a study of Derbyshire Dialect, particuarly the distinctive speech of Ilkeston and the Erewash valley, but later editions acknowledge similarities in vocabulary and grammar which unite the East Midlands dialects and broadened their appeal to the region as a whole.

"Ey Up" is a greeting of uncertain origin used widely throughout the North Midlands and South Yorkshire, and "Mi Duck" is thought to be derived from a respectful Anglo Saxon form of address, "Duka" (Literally "Duke"), and is unrelated to waterfowl. Non-natives of the East Midlands are often surprised to hear men greet each other as 'Mi Duck.'

Dialect Words

In recent years, humorous texts such as Nottingham, As it is spoke have combined phonetically spelt standard English words together in order to deliberately confuse non-natives to the region. However, there are many words in use in the traditional East Midlands Dialect which do not appear in standard English. The short list below is by no means exhaustive. More comprehensive 'dictionaries' exist within texts such as Ey Up Mi Duck by Richards Scollins and John Titford.

   *  Ay (or ey) up mi duck - hello there!
   * Aya gorra weeya? - is the wife with you?
   * It's black uvver Bill's mother's - it looks like rain
   * Coggie - swimming costume
   * Croaker - doctor
   * Duck's necks - bottle of lemonade
   * Gorra bag on - in a bad mood
   * Laropped - drunk
   * Nesh - cold
   * Old cock - friend or mate
   * Page owl - single woman out alone at night
   * Skants - pants
   * The rally - the railway line
   * Thiz summat up wee im - I think he may be ill
   * Who's mashing? - who's making the cups of tea

Grammar

Those who speak traditional regional dialects are not trying to speak Standard English and failing. East Midlands English follows a series of distinct gramatical rules. Some examples follow below.

Formal address

Up until the mid 20th century it was not uncommon to hear the use of informal forms of address, Thee and Thou, as compared to the more formal Yo or You. Use of the informal form of address is now uncommon in modern speech.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns differ from standard English as follows;

Example "It eent theirn it's ourn!" (It isn't theirs, it's ours!)

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are characterised by the replacement of Self with 'Sen' (From Middle English seluen)

Y'usen - Yourself, Mesen - Myself, Thisens - Themselves/Yourselves, Ussens - Ourselves

Example "We s'll ay to do it ussens." (We shall have to do it ourselves)

Dialect Variations within the Region

Although in the East Midlands, Kettering dialect is influenced by the dialects of East Anglia, the West Midlands and the South. Its dialect is perhaps best classed as East Anglian. In the northern part of the county, around Corby the anomalous dialect of Corbyite is spoken, which reflects the migrations of large numbers of Scottish and Irish Steelworkers to the town during the 20th Century.

External links

Links to East Midlands Dialect in Literature

• The Dialect Poems of DH Lawrence

• Dialect in the East Midlands - BBC East Midlands

Counties in which East Midlands English is Spoken

• Derbyshire
• Leicestershire
• Lincolnshire
• Nottinghamshire
• Rutland

• British culture
• English dialects
• Languages of the United Kingdom
• English language
• Culture in Derbyshire
• Leicestershire
• Lincolnshire
• Nottinghamshire
• Rutland