Different dialects

Posted by Henry on April 21, 2004

In Reply to: Different dialects posted by Amatire on April 20, 2004

: I found this link and it shows how different localities pronounced these numbers. It reminded me of just how different regional english was before the development of the printing press...

I think you might enjoy The Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg. He was born in Wigton, Cumbria, where the local dialect is a mixture of English, Scandinavian and, I think, Romany. An episode of his radio programme was devoted to it. He said that he was at a dinner in Norway once, and the refined Norwegian lady next to him stood up and said, "Am gang wham." This was exactly how they said "I'm going home" in Wigton!