My Accent

As mentioned in my last blog, I speak in a “strong” Yorkshire dialect. Being the largest county in the United Kingdom, there are obviously several dialects that are spoken within Yorkshire depending on which area you originate from. If you’re from outside Yorkshire, you probably think we all talk like how we are represented on the British soap opera Emmerdale (despite there being quite a few geordies on that show these days, what’s that about?!). However, having been born and raised in East Yorkshire, I’ve noticed how differently people talk in others parts of Yorkshire too.

From personal knowledge, I knew that the Yorkshire accent originally came from the Vikings when they took over most of Northern England, as well as parts of the East, during the 9th century before conquering the South and West of England. After expanding my knowledge further, I read that they divided Yorkshire into 3 districts that would become the North, West and East Ridings, which are still commonly used as sub-counties today. West Yorkshire is said to have the more broader accent, which apparently came from the hardworking millworkers during the 19th century. North-Eastern parts of Yorkshire are much more rural and the small communities surrounded by farms gave them the “softer” accent.

I come from Goole in East Yorkshire (basically near Hull) so my accent is pretty “slang”, or as some may say, how “chavs” would talk; which, coming from near Hull, they wouldn’t be wrong. The most common characteristic about the East Yorkshire accent is that we tend to not say the word “the”. This word is forbidden. For example: “I am just going to the shop”, would be, “Am just off t’shop”, in our dialect. Last year I tasked the “Tumblr Accent Challenge (below)" and uploaded the video to youtube. The comments I received were mainly how they find my accent funny and that I tend to miss-pronounce a lot of words, which again is another characteristic of the Yorkshire accent.

Overtime, with the affects of media and popular culture, accents around different regions of England have changed over the years. I, myself, find myself picking up “scouse” phrases after watching an episode of Grange Hill or Hollyoaks. However, because some parts of Yorkshire have remained rural and isolated, there are many places still where people talk with a true Yorkshire accent and have retained many traditional sayings and phrases. People find the Yorkshire accent very distinctive and our miss-pronunciations are what defines it.

Despite being hard for people outside of Yorkshire to understand, the Yorkshire accent is generally perceived as quite comical and is used as a centre topic in many stand-up comedian shows, though usually it is over-exaggerated. Examples of celebrities who speak in strong Yorkshire accents include Jane McDonald, Melanie B and Keith Lemon.

Personally, I love having a Yorkshire accent because the ‘missing out words’ and comical side to the accent reflects the laid-back type of person I am and makes me proud of being a true Yorkshireman.