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28-393: Northumbrian dialect or Northumbrian English is any one of several traditional English dialects spoken in the historic counties of Northumberland and County Durham . The term Northumbrian can refer to the region of Northumbria but can also refer specifically to the county of Northumberland. This article focuses on the former definition and thus includes varieties from throughout

56-674: A Proto-Anglo-Frisian language as disproven, as far as such postulates are falsifiable. Nevertheless, the close ties and strong similarities between the Anglic and the Frisian grouping are part of the scientific consensus . Therefore, the concept of Anglo-Frisian languages can be useful and is today employed without these implications. Geography isolated the settlers of Great Britain from Continental Europe , except from contact with communities capable of open water navigation. This resulted in more Old Norse and Norman language influences during

84-608: A decidedly Northumbrian base, but have been shaped by a standard English superstrate , resulting in hybrid dialects that incorporate elements of both traditional dialects and more standardised forms of English. On the other hand, the southern urban dialects have been subject to more significant dialect restructuring, resulting in a dialect which, while still North Eastern in character, lacks more marked Northumbrian forms such as 'gan' (to go) and 'divvent' or 'dinnet' (don't) that survive in Tyneside, Wearside and Durham. Berwick-upon-Tweed

112-554: A group of closely related dialects that underwent several areal changes in relative unison. The extinction of two little-attested and presumably North Sea Germanic languages, Old Old Anglian and Old Jutish , in their homelands (modern southern Schleswig and Jutland respectively), mat have led to a form of " survivorship bias " in classification. Since Old Anglian and Jutish were, like Old Saxon, direct ancestors of Old English, it might follow that Old Saxon, Old Anglian and/or Jutish were more closely related to English than any of them

140-549: A result of the region's rapid urbanization during the 19th and 20th centuries, which brought about significant social and demographic changes. In comparison to traditional dialects, urban North East English dialects have undergone a greater degree of dialect levelling. A tripartite division is recognised among modern urban dialects in the North East of England, which distinguishes between the northern, central, and southern urban dialects: Central and northern urban dialects retain

168-578: A significantly higher degree of distinctiveness from both larger varieties than does Canadian English. South African English , New Zealand English and Irish English are also distinctive and rank fifth, sixth, and seventh in the number of native speakers. English language in Europe English language in England : American English : Canadian English : Indian English : These dialects are used in everyday conversation almost all over

196-644: A variety of different accents (systems of pronunciation) as well as various localized words and grammatical constructions. Many different dialects can be identified based on these factors. Dialects can be classified at broader or narrower levels: within a broad national or regional dialect, various more localised sub-dialects can be identified, and so on. The combination of differences in pronunciation and use of local words may make some English dialects almost unintelligible to speakers from other regions without any prior exposure. The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into three general categories:

224-508: A variety of the Scots language. The southern part of County Durham was considered part of the 'West Northern' dialect group, which was deemed to be more closely related to Richmondshire and Cumbrian dialects, especially that of the Vale of Eden . Like Cumbrian, the dialect of south Durham was subject to greater Scandinavian influence than the rest of Durham and Northumberland. Scandinavian influence

252-859: Is considered disproved by some scholars. These are the words for the numbers one to 12 in the Anglo-Frisian languages, with Dutch, West-Flemish and German included for comparison: * Ae [eː] , [jeː] is an adjectival form used before nouns. North Sea Germanic , also known as Ingvaeonic, is a proposed grouping of the West Germanic languages that encompasses Old Frisian , Old English , and Old Saxon . The North Sea Germanic grouping may be regarded as an alternative to Anglo-Frisian, or as ancestral to it. Since Anglo-Frisian features occur in Low German – especially in its older stages such as Old Saxon – some scholars regard

280-565: Is evident in the naming of streams in south Durham, which are typically named ‘becks’ (from the Old Norse ‘bekkr’). In contrast, 'burns' (from the Old English ‘burna’) are found in north Durham and Northumberland. Urban North East English dialects are a group of English dialects spoken in urban areas of the North East of England, including major cities such as Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, and Middlesbrough. These dialects have emerged as

308-682: Is part of its mainland district of Pinneberg ). North Frisian has approximately 8,000 speakers. The East Frisian language is spoken by only about 2,000 people; speakers are located in Saterland in Germany. There are no known East Frisian dialects, but there are three dialects of West Frisian and ten of North Frisian. The following is a summary of the major sound changes affecting vowels in chronological order. For additional detail, see Phonological history of Old English . That these were simultaneous and in that order for all Anglo-Frisian languages

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336-985: Is unique within Northumberland. The local speech has characteristics of the North Northumbrian dialect and due to its geographical location, has characteristics of the East Central Scots dialect as well. A sociological study of the Anglo-Scottish border region conducted in the year 2000 found that locals of Alnwick, 30 miles (48 km) south of Berwick, associated the Berwick accent with Scottish influence. Conversely, those from Eyemouth, Scotland, 9 miles (14 km) north of Berwick, firmly classed Berwick speech as English, identifying it as Northumbrian. The Northumbrian Language Society (NLS), founded in 1983 to research, preserve and promote

364-550: The British Isles dialects, those of North America , and those of Australasia . Dialects can be associated not only with place but also with particular social groups. Within a given English-speaking country, there is a form of the language considered to be Standard English : the Standard Englishes of different countries differ and can themselves be considered dialects. Standard English is often associated with

392-599: The English-speaking world . Conversely, a number of countries with historical ties to the United States tend to follow American English conventions. Many of these countries, while retaining strong British English or American English influences, have developed their own unique dialects, which include Indian English and Philippine English . Chief among other native English dialects are Canadian English and Australian English , which rank third and fourth in

420-619: The Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law , which is present in Low German as well, Anglo-Frisian brightening and palatalization of /k/ are for the most part unique to the modern Anglo-Frisian languages: The grouping is usually implied as a separate branch in regards to the tree model . According to this reading, English and Frisian would have had a proximal ancestral form in common that no other attested group shares. The early Anglo-Frisian varieties, like Old English and Old Frisian , and

448-686: The Netherlands and Germany . West Frisian , by far the most spoken of the three main branches with 875,840 total speakers, constitutes an official language in the Dutch province of Friesland . North Frisian is spoken on some North Frisian Islands and parts of mainland North Frisia in the northernmost German district of Nordfriesland , and also in Heligoland in the German Bight , both part of Schleswig-Holstein state (Heligoland

476-441: The number of native speakers . For the most part, Canadian English, while featuring numerous British forms, alongside indigenous Canadianisms, shares vocabulary, phonology and syntax with American English, which leads many to recognise North American English as an organic grouping of dialects. Australian English, likewise, shares many American and British English usages, alongside plentiful features unique to Australia and retains

504-497: The North Sea Germanic classification as more meaningful than a sharp division into Anglo-Frisian and Low German. In other words, because Old Saxon came under strong Old High German and Old Low Franconian influence at an early stage, it lost some North Sea Germanic features, that it had previously shared with Old English and Old Frisian. North Sea Germanic is not thought of as a monolithic proto-language , but rather as

532-591: The Northumbrian language variety, considers it divergent enough to be not a dialect of Modern Standard English but, rather, a related but separate Anglic language of its own, since it is largely not comprehensible by standard English speakers. Northumbrian has perhaps an even closer relationship with Modern Scots , and both the NLS regard as distinct languages derived from Old English but close relatives; however, mainstream scholarly sources regard them as essentially

560-561: The bulk of Northumberland and northern County Durham as belonging to the 'North Northern' dialect group. This group was deemed to be a transitional variety between other Northern dialects (those north of the Humber-Lune Line ) and Scots , but overall still considered a form of Northern English. However, a small portion of northwestern Northumberland around the Cheviot hills was deemed to be Scots-speaking and therefore categorised as

588-491: The development of Late Modern English , whereas the modern Frisian languages developed under contact with the southern Germanic populations, restricted to the continent. The proposed Anglo-Frisian family tree is: Anglic , Insular Germanic , or English languages encompass Old English and all the linguistic varieties descended from it. These include Middle English , Early Modern English , and Late Modern English ; Early Scots , Middle Scots , and Modern Scots ; and

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616-510: The extinct Fingallian and Yola dialects in Ireland . English-based creole languages are not generally included, as mainly only their lexicon and not necessarily their grammar, phonology, etc. comes from Early Modern English and Late Modern English . The Frisian languages are a group of languages spoken by about 500,000 Frisian people on the southern fringes of the North Sea in

644-523: The more educated layers of society as well as more formal registers . British and American English are the reference norms for English as spoken, written, and taught in the rest of the world, excluding countries in which English is spoken natively such as Australia , Canada , Ireland , and New Zealand . In many former British Empire countries in which English is not spoken natively, British English forms are closely followed, alongside numerous American English usages that have become widespread throughout

672-818: The results of field work, which consisted of the direct interrogation of native speakers. In 1862 he published a compilation of 24 dialectal translations of the Old Testament passage, The Song of Solomon, which he commissioned from local dialectologists from throughout England and southern Scotland. According to a register of his known works, six Biblical translations were commissioned in the Northumbrian dialects, four of which appear in The Song of Solomon. Some Northumbrian words include: English language varieties Dialects can be defined as "sub-forms of languages which are, in general, mutually comprehensible ." English speakers from different countries and regions use

700-428: The same language, albeit with minor differences. The similarities are not commonly or formally recognised possibly due to sensitivities on both sides of the border. The status of Scots and Northumbrian as either languages or dialects therefore remains open to debate. In 1883 Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte was granted a civil list pension for his work on English dialects. His dialect studies draw upon both written texts and

728-551: The third Ingvaeonic group at the time, the ancestor of Low German Old Saxon , were spoken by intercommunicating populations. While this has been cited as a reason for a few traits exclusively shared by Old Saxon and either Old English or Old Frisian, a genetic unity of the Anglo-Frisian languages beyond that of an Ingvaeonic subfamily cannot be considered a majority opinion. In fact, the groupings of Ingvaeonic and West Germanic languages are highly debated, even though they rely on much more innovations and evidence. Some scholars consider

756-616: The wider region. The traditional Northumbrian dialect is a moribund older form of the dialect spoken in the area. It is closely related to Scots and Cumbrian and shares with them a common origin in Old Northumbrian . The traditional dialect has spawned multiple modern varieties, and Northumbrian dialect can also be used to broadly include all of them: Alexander John Ellis , a 19th century linguist and philologist, divided Northumberland and Durham into three main dialect groups based on their linguistic features. Ellis considered

784-466: The world, and are used as lingua francas and to determine grammar rules and guidelines. Anglic languages Anglic: Frisian : The Anglo-Frisian languages are the Anglic ( English , Scots , Fingallian †, and Yola †) and Frisian ( North Frisian , East Frisian , and West Frisian ) varieties of the West Germanic languages . The Anglo-Frisian languages are distinct from other West Germanic languages due to several sound changes : besides

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