Figure 1.-- The upper-class spoke a less-regional dialect which came to be called public-school English, because of the standardized pronuciation promoted at the private schools the children of the upper-class attended. Many boys when they first arrived at school would be teased about their accents which they then made a point of losing. In England children as young a 7-8 years might board. The youinger children at preparatory schools. The boys here are sitting on their tuck boxes. Tuck is a word many English boys recognizes, but no American boy unless he has lived in England. (An English reader tells us that the word is now not recognized by many English boys. He writes, "Non-Public School boys only know the word 'tuck' from stories in comics about Public Schools from my generation - and they are now a thing of the past. It is never used anywhere else as a noun or adjective. In very rare cases, someone might say, 'Well, tuck in then.'")

A late as the early 20th century, the British people spoke an amazing mix of English dialects. Americans may remember Professor Higgins complaining about the cockney dialect in London. There were, however, many more regional based accents. Some such as in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Somerset were very difficult for Americans and some English people to understand. A Lancashire reader writes, "Tha's rote a reht gradely page aboot istoory ov th Inglish language. This is my my best attempt to express in the Lancashire dialect about this page being a very good one." The dialects and accents in Britain were much more pronounced than regional American accents. The upper-class spoke a less-regional dialect which came to be called public-school English, because of the standardized pronubciation promoted at the private schools the children of the upper-class attended. Many boys when they first arrived at school would be teased about their accents which they then made aoint of losing. A major shift in British English occurred with the advent of broadcast media, first radio and then television. These regional accidents are today much-less pronounced and gradually disappearing.

British Regional Dialects

A late as the early 20th century, the British people spoke an amazing mix of English dialects. Americans may remember Professor Higgins complaining about Eliza's Cockney dialect in London. There were, however, many more regional based accents. Some such as in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Somerset were very difficult for Americans and some English people to understand. A Lancashire reader writes, "Tha's rote a reht gradely page aboot istoory ov th Inglish language. This is my my best attempt to express in the Lancashire dialect about this page being a very good one." The dialects and accents in Britain were much more pronounced than regional American accents. A British reader writes, "An American couple I once had the pleasure to have dinner with commented thus, 'We have been to France and understood the French people when we spoke in English but we meet an Englishman and can't fully understand what you say. When I was 12. I went to Brighton in Sussex. I met relations who had lived there all their lives.It was two days before I became used to their accent and could fully understand them. Even so there are some words spoken in Tajikistan that are similar sounding to Lancashire dialect words and they mean the same too. One is 'nay' meaning no. 'Nay lad tha can't have a toffee.' ( No son you can't have a candy.) " Another reader writes, "In lessons story's about northern people were read such as Bill Nauton's 'Goal Keeper's Revenge.' The pupils enjoyed the story best when the reader was from the North of England. The strangest experience is that people in the South of England like to copy a Northern accent and will spoke with you in this way. Such is the impact of the Northern Dialect. It is fun to listen too when Hollywood gives it a try. They get it wrong and have a Northern people speaking with a cockney accent. There are lots of jokes about teachers from London coming to a Northern town. One joke has the London teacher asking, 'Where's the bin?' This person is asking for the waste paper bin. However Northern folk ask it to find out ' Where a person has been.' This misunderstanding is the joke.'"

Public School English

The upper-class spoke a less-regional dialect which came to be called public-school English, because of the standardized pronuciation promoted at the private schools the children of the upper-class attended. Many boys when they first arrived at school would be teased about their accents which they then made a point of losing. A major shift in British English occurred with the advent of broadcast media, first radio and then television. These regional accidents are today much-less pronounced and gradually disappearing. One observer wrote about the impact of broadcasting on 20th century Britain, "The impact of War time broadcasting changed the way the BBC presented its news. J.B. Priestly and Wilfred Pickles postscripts held to make Northern Accents acceptable. They seem to be more reassuring, warm and comfortable to listen too. It lessoned the impact of accents considered by many to be snobbish in tone and ways of speaking that might divide society rather than unite it." [Taylor] In education it has always been considered inappropriate to teach using regional dialects. An head teacher I worked for saw language as a tool to be mastered to so that the pupils could get better jobs and escape the poverty they lived in. [Taylor] In more wealthy education situations few objections of this sort were made. It was seen as an extension of English and learning something of the roots of the history of the English Speaking people. Such knowledge would allow these youngsters to communicate better with the people they employed.

Sources

Taylor, J.P.

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Created: 5:24 AM 6/17/2007
Last updated: 9:44 PM 6/24/2007