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Norfolk Talk : Introduction

  (Paras. 1 to 3)
3. Nootairtion  

1. : Trades Descriptions Act

Well, the longer title Norfolk As How That Is Spook
- now abandoned - is completely flawed, for a start;
being inaccurate in two major respects
(apart from Thass) :-
  • Caveat (a) -
      I don't know much about how Norfolk is spoken,
      being born and (?) bred** in Norwich;
     
  • Caveat (b) -
      The word spook invokes ghosts etc.;
      which does not indicate the true local sound.
Fortunately, the old title is correct in one instance :-
    No proper Norfolk person would
    ever bother with the word spoken.
**Note : Norfolk insists upon "bred and born",
                but this is most probably a corruption of
                "bread and board".

^Top^

Up The City

NCFC
 

2. : Up The Cii*

There is no point in your continuing to read unless
you are fully prepared to "take on board"
(and very much to heart) the following matters:-

    (a) : City is a word of only three letters
            (like letter in fact)

    (b) : NEVER substitute it with Town,
            even if you can't pronounce Cii

    (c) : Don't declare an intention to go
            'down (to) the City' (or even up to)

    (d) : " Up The City " has two distinct meanings :-
          (i)  Come On, You Yellows !
          (ii) Where you go on a shopping-trip,
                or for other, more cultural, pursuits?  
                - e.g. (i) above

    (e) : Norwich is not just a Fine City,
            but the finest in the known Universe

    (f) : Much of that glory rubs-off on the
            County of Norfolk (God's Own County)  

    (g) : Don't perpetuate the myth that (all)
            Norfolk is flat.
    ( 'Norwich is one of the hilliest cities in England'
                    - Brian Ayers)

Provided you have signed-up to all the above points
(with total commitment), you will now be fully
entitled to . . . "Do Different" -
like the rest of us occard buggers.
 

3. : Nootairtion

Norfolkisms are in bold and italic type
(and, hopefully, RED) :-
    Blast, E say, if Oi hen(t) . . .
    = pronunciation guidance.

Norfolk words written in a "standard" form are in
orange; whilst "ordinary" words are in green.

Consonants not generally sounded
are enclosed in (ordinary) brackets.

There is an important distinction between (h)
and the other letters - usually (w) or (t).

    As mentioned later, dropped-aitches are
    more a feature of the Norwich dialect.
    So, when attempting to recreate the County
    sound, one may have to pretend that the
    brackets around the h are missing!

 
    The (w) cases are uniformly valid.
    Virtually all the (t) or (tt) cases are replaced
    with what is usually known as a "glottal stop".

Hyphen-a   usually, but by no means always,
            means IT . . . Dorn't-a ?

Note : Where the following word begins
           with a vowel, a word ending in t may
           conveniently be given its full expression
           (cf. indefinite articles a and an).

(*Not the Chartered Insurance Institute - sorry!)

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