Can you help with a survey of local accents?

Will_Barras · 15-09-2008, 10:25

Hi
I am carrying out research for a PhD focussing on East Lancashire accents. Despite the fact that Lancashire has always been very rich in local accents and dialects, there has not been much recent research into Lancashire accents, so I'm doing my best to put that right! If you were "born and bred" in Accrington, and have lived all your life in the local area, or know someone who fits that description, then you might be able to help.

My research involves talking to people in various towns in East Lancashire - so far I have visited Accrington, Rawtenstall, Ramsbottom and I'm also planning to go further south into Bury and on into Manchester (to compare Mancunian accents with more Lancashire accents). Although I've talked to one or two people in those places, I'm always looking for other people who are willing to volunteer.

I would like to talk to pairs of people (friends, neighbours, relatives etc) who can discuss their local town and what it's like to live there. There is also a list of words and sentences to read out, which allows me to compare how the same word is said in different places. Although I call it an "interview" it's more of an informal chat. This can take up to about an hour (with an extra 10-15 minutes for the individual reading list) although you're welcome to talk for longer if you want to - I'm from Cumbria myself, so I'm sure you'll be able to tell me all sorts of things to do with Lancashire life that I don't know! I make tape-recordings of the interviews so that I can listen back to them and pick out certain words or phrases. However, I keep my volunteers anonymous, so that when I write up my research I will be preserving your privacy.

Ideally would like to talk to people in two broad age groups: "older" (roughly aged 60+) and "younger" (roughly aged 20-30). However, I would be happy to talk to anyone who thinks they'd be able to help.

You can read more information about my research on this page: Will Barras | Research | Lancashire Accents Research Project. If you think you might be able to help then you can contact me by sending me a message on this forum; there are also contact details on the webpage linked to above.

Also, if you have noticed any interesting differences in accents in East Lancashire that you think I should know about, feel free to post them on this thread.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
Will

blazey · 15-09-2008, 16:35

Hi,

I once had a discussion on this topic with a linguistics student at Lancaster University, and although my accent has quite changed since being at uni myself, I might be able to help you out with your research.

I'm 19yrs old and my name is Michelle. You can contact me via PM if I will be of any use to you.

emzy · 15-09-2008, 16:41

I'll think about it lol

Accy born and bred, and am 27

MargaretR · 15-09-2008, 17:02

I am over 65 and would like to join in.
I was born and bred in Ossy and live there now, and have always lived in Hyndburn area, apart from 4 years in Higham nr Padiham
I would need a female to join as the 'other' in the 'discussion twosomes' because-
I have no female relatives in this area,
My neighbours are all men (no racy comments thanks!)
My female friends are occupied with caring for sick husbands or granny duties

katex · 15-09-2008, 17:07

I'd help, but speak too posh so I'm told ... LOL.

MargaretR · 15-09-2008, 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by katex

I'd help, but speak too posh so I'm told ... LOL.

.. maaath full o' peas...

WillowTheWhisp · 15-09-2008, 17:17

I don't fit either of those age groups and I've been told that my accent is weird. Although I've lived in Accy most of my life I have travelled about a bit too and picked up bits of accents from all over the place.

Being married to a southerner has affected the way I speak too but he still reckons I talk funny.

katex · 15-09-2008, 17:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

.. maaath full o' peas...

Cheeky moo ...must be all those mushy ones I have eaten over the years.

Best person would be Cashman ... he even types in an Accy accent ...

And he is a good talker, with lots of tales to tell.

Don't think the actual accent has changed over the years Will .. still using the flat 'a' as in hat and diphthongs are not even known around here .. as in 'cold'. Just not using 'watter' for 'water' etc. There is a huge difference between towns though .. it's amazing. Get to Bolton/Manchester and they say Cah Pahk for Car Park, etc.

The other week at Manchester Airport, this huge security lady asked me to put my bar code from my boarding pass on this scanner ... put my bag on it !! Couldn't quite catch what she said ... "Bah code". Got the eyes to heavens look to one of her colleagues ... LOL. I worked in Manchester for 16 years, but still misunderstood her.

MargaretR · 15-09-2008, 18:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by katex

Cheeky moo ...must be all those mushy ones I have eaten over the years.

Best person would be Cashman ... he even types in an Accy accent ...

And he is a good talker, with lots of tales to tell.

He only wants women at the mo.

I will excuse you for your poshness because I know your job meant dealing with those snotty southerners

Retlaw · 15-09-2008, 18:22

[quote=MargaretR;631345]He only wants women at the mo.

I've read the original post 3 times, where does he say he only wants women, I don't think many women today speak with a proper Lancashire dialect, probably because of snobbery and frightened of being thought common. Spoken to Will and agreed to meet him.

Retlaw.

MargaretR · 15-09-2008, 18:27

[quote=Retlaw;631351]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

He only wants women at the mo.

I've read the original post 3 times, where does he say he only wants women, I don't think many women today speak with a proper Lancashire dialect, probably because of snobbery and frightened of being thought common. Spoken to Will and agreed to meet him.

Retlaw.

In the link he gave (his webpage) -
For the moment my research requires me to record female volunteers (to contrast with the Survey of English Dialects, which used male volunteers). However, in the near future I would like to expand my survey to include male speakers too and I would be happy to talk to potential volunteers of either gender.
So he needs women in pairs first

I can even lapse into full dialect if he wants me too

I am not common and positively no snob

blazey · 15-09-2008, 18:34

I think with the younger groups he'd find the dialect is much milder anyway as a lot of the full phrases have stopped being used as much and we've grown up with stronger outside influences such as more television and the internet.

I know people can tell where I am from when they hear me speak because they comment on it, even now when my accent has changed from all the exposure to other accents at uni, but it is nothing like some lancashire accents.

blazey · 15-09-2008, 18:36

And just as a note to you Will, apparently one of the most distinguishable words we say around here is 'car'. The way it is pronounced from town to town differs slightly. The O in down/town/frown also differs between oswaldtwistle, blackburn and darwen quite distinctively.

MargaretR · 15-09-2008, 18:40

When I lived near Padiham, the way they said 'stairs' was very different.

Will_Barras · 15-09-2008, 18:46

Hi

Thanks for all your replies so far! I will send PMs to various people who've expressed an interest in helping.

Just to clarify, my original research question involved looking at traditional dialect studies and doing a present day survey to give us some ideas of how the dialect may be changing. The traditional surveys often involved only men, so I wanted to start with gathering information about how women speak - as we all know men and women often speak differently from each other!

However, I am very happy to talk to women or men to allow me to get a good indication of the variety of accents spoken in Accrington nowadays, from the most traditional Lancashire to accents which may have changed a bit.

If you have any more ideas or suggestions for me then please feel free to post them for me here. Thanks very much!