Essex dialect

Essex Dialect is the traditional dialect in Essex,[1][2] Essex dialect is a sub-dialect of East Anglian,[3] it is largely similar to that of the Suffolk dialect. It is often confused with Estuary English. at one point it may have been a separate language to English Entirely[4] it is mainly confined to the north and the east of Essex. It is similar to some forms of East Anglian English, including both the Suffolk and Norfolk dialects, but has its own peculiarities. With rapid urbanisation in the twentieth century, as well as the impact of the London overspill, Estuary English, a milder form of the London accent predominant largely along the Thames Estuary and thus the name, has become common, mainly in the southern portion of the county. As a result of the growing London influence, the usage of rural accents everywhere and the rural Essex dialect is now normally, but not always, confined to older generations in some of the areas affected and the dialect itself stands in a vulnerable state in those affected parts of the county. Elsewhere in Essex, the dialect and rural accent continues.

Essex dialect
Old Essex
RegionEssex, England, United Kingdom
EthnicityEnglish People
English alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologesse1265
Location of Essex within the UK.

For example, in the coastal town of Harwich the Essex dialect is still common, even among the town's youth, and is a defining feature of the area. Harwich is pronounced as "arridge" in the local dialect, and in nearby Manningtree they pronounce Manningtree "mannintree", dropping the "g".

Many of the unique patterns of speech, as well as vocabulary were recorded in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries[5][6] The Survey of English Dialects investigated 15 sites in Essex, most of which were in the rural north of the county and one of which was on Mersea Island. This was an unusually high number of sites, being second only to Yorkshire. It was originally planned to survey only five sites in Essex, but research in Essex by a visiting Fulbright scholar named Howard Berntsen in the early 1960s was incorporated into the framework of the Survey to increase the number.[7]

An Essex Dialect Handbook has been published, and the Essex County Records office has recorded a CD of the sounds of Essex dialect speakers in an effort to preserve the dialect.[8][9][10]

Pronunciation
  • The diphthong of [aɪ] which is common amongst East Anglian English and other predominantly English rural dialects, e.g. right > ‘roight’
  • The shortening of certain elongated vowel sounds from [iː] to [ɪ], e.g. been > ‘bin’, seen > ‘sin’
  • Yod-dropping is common, as in the Norfolk and Suffolk dialects
  • Dropping of Ls, e.g. old > ‘owd’
  • th-fronting, a feature now widespread in England, was found throughout Essex in the 1950s Survey of English Dialect.[11]
  • Essex speech is non-rhotic, although Mersea Island was rhotic until the mid-20th century.[12]
  • A often becomes O so because becomes becos.
  • O is often inserted before an I e.g. fine becomes foine.
  • R is often dropped e.g. surpassed becomes suppassed.
  • O often becomes U e.g. from can become Frum.[13]
  • W and V and D and T are often interchanged.

Characteristics

Frequently sounds are elided to allow the easy flow of speech; e.g.,

Wonderful > 'wunnerful'
Correctly > 'creckly'
St Osyth > 'Toosie' (*meaning 'To Saint', as in the place, Saint Osyth*)

Grammar

Varying use of 'do', which is a common trait in Norfolk and Suffolk, is exhibited in the Essex dialect.

Distribution

The Essex dialect is a subset of the Southern English dialect group. Geographically it covers areas in North Essex such as St. Osyth and Manningtree.

History and Documentation

Very little is known about the Anglo-Saxon Essex dialect however at one point it was supplanted by the East Anglian Dialect. The modern Essex dialect is quite rare however still thriving in some rural areas and Maldon. The dialect was mostly stamped out by the school system, by the BBC and the advance of London.[14] The earliest dictionary for the Essex dialect is A Glossary of the Essex Dialect (1880) by Richard Stephen Charnock followed by Essex Dialect Dictionary (1920) by Edward Gepp there have been efforts to revitalize this dialect with Essex Dialect: A Selection of Words and Anecdotes from Around Essex being released in 2013 There is currently an archive for this dialect

Dialect Words
Essex Suffolk Norfolk English
Dicky / Bussock[15]WaddledickieDickeyDonkey
Hodmedod[16]HodmedodDodmanSnail
Ary ? ?Either
BorBorBorBoy
StrangeRumStrangeStrange
Gone FurrinGone FurrinGone Furrinto go abroad[17]

Placenames
Place Essex
ManningtreeManentrey
St. OsythToosie
RowhedgeRowedge (H is dropped)

References
  1. "Essex dialect Archives".
  2. "How did the Essex dialect become so peculiar?". 17 April 2020.
  3. East Anglian English. Boydell & Brewer, Limited. 2001. ISBN 9781846150678. OL 34507942M.
  4. "Heritage: Essex speak – dialect or language?". 23 March 2020.
  5. Benham, Charles Edwin (23 October 2017). "Essex ballads and other poems". Colchester : Benham – via Internet Archive.
  6. Gepp, Edward. "A contribution to an Essex dialect dictionary". London G. Routledge – via Internet Archive.
  7. Craig Fees, The Imperilled Inheritance: dialect and folklife studies at the University of Leeds 1946-1962, Part 1: Harold Orton and the English Dialect Survey, page 20
  8. "Essex". John Nickalls Publications. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010.
  9. "Essex County Council". www.essexcc.gov.uk.
  10. "Archivists launch campaign to save Essex accent". 10 June 2009 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. Britain, David; Cheshire, Jenny, eds. (2003). "Dialect levelling and geographical diffusion in British English". Social Dialectology: In Honour of Peter Trudgill. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. p. 233.
  12. http://roa.rutgers.edu/content/article/files/1208_amos_1.pdf page 44
  13. ">Essex Dialect".
  14. https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/lifestyle/essex-speak-dialect-or-language-3254202
  15. The Salamanca Corpus: Essex Dialect Dictionary (1920)
  16. "Setting the boundaries".
  17. The Salamanca Corpus: A Glossary of Words Used in East Anglia (1895)
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