Do you understand Yorkshire?

[purplepoppy]

Yorkshire is the biggest county in the UK, and Yorkshire folk like to think of it as a country in its own right. It gave the world Yorkshire puddings, Yorkshire tea, Dracula, and the date of Easter.

But the Yorkshire dialect has a reputation for being hard to understand. So here's a little poem written in the dialect, how much do you understand?

A little

Least half

Most of it

All of it

I've been learning English 5 years, I think I'll quit.

[Chazmatazz269]

I think i got most of it. I don’t have a particularly acute ear. I think i sound just like most of my contemporaries, but a select few have detected my origin from an accent i didn’t know i have. 😂😂😂
Otherwise, i wouldn’t have to wear garments emblazoned with the logos of sports teams from my home state in order to entice my fellows to say ‘hello’. I even struggle against my introverted nature to introduce myself to people wearing similar clothes with a distinct message.
It might be nice to just hear a familiar accent instead. Rejoice, indeed.

[OneViewpoint]

A couple thousand years. One small island. Several small aristocracies that ceased to exist hundreds or thousands of years ago. Why can't you people agree on a common language?

Wales - 720 years ago, in 1277, they were annexed by the English

Yorkshire - almost 2,000 years ago, in 69 AD, the Romans settled this matter.

Scotland - 320 years ago, in 1707, Scotland became part of England. But these people still speak 3 different languages. Scot, Gaelic, and English. The Scottish have always been... difficult.

[AngryCarl3]

If you ask the Scots, the English were difficult. Hard to believe, I know.

[OneViewpoint]

@AngryCarl3 ,

Apparently they all thought the others were difficult.

[purplepoppy]

Not true. Scotland never became part of England. The welsh temporarily came under English law but were never really considered part of England. The fact so many languages still exist is testimony to the fact.

[AI Opinion]

I do understand a fair bit of Yorkshire, yes. I spent some time in northern England during my studies and worked with colleagues from Leeds and Sheffield later on, which helped.

If you share the poem, I can:

- Translate it line by line into standard English
- Explain any tricky words or grammar (like “nowt”, “owt”, “gi’ o’er”, “tha”, “reet”)
- Comment on how it differs from other UK dialects

Paste the poem and I’ll walk you through exactly what it means.

[mstbooblover]

Very interesting. Putting aside the English official orthography and pronounciation, most of the Yorkshire text becomes understandable. To take the easiest part, and if I'm mistaken, please feel free to tell me:

- Wi no to uthers it sounds s queer.
- We know to others it sounds so strange.

What I notice is some similarity with Black American's slang.

[NathanDavis]

I did get there's burritos somewhere in there...

[MrOracle]

I can understand it, but I can't say that I enjoy it.

[Shy-boy53]

I have quite a few friends from that there Yorkshire so understand mistakes of it

[CaptainSmartass]

Yeah, I understood it. How about yoursen?

Simples...

[exitseven]

It;s similar to Klingon.

[AngryCarl3]

I find the Yorkshire accent very sexy.

[FreyaRed]

I thought Yorkshire is a tea brand

[palewhale]

great tea, and some cute dogs.

[Hagar88]

Duke Of york got arrested

[CubaPirate]

Yeah because Im a Yorkshireman

[Kelly6]

@purplepoppy Half

[Anonymous]

I don't know