1 : Numbers
Well, numbers as they are spook -
a not unimportant aspect of speech!
- 2 - begins with an unhappy letter, so a
Norfolk person (in any practical situation)
will always ask for a couple.
- With 3 - tough ! But you may just (if, on the day,
" the avoidance-mechanism" isn't working)
hear it as tree.
N.B. The Cockney practice, of replacing
th with f,is definitely NOT accepted.
- As for 4 - no contest! : it must, for a true son of
the soil, rhyme with sour and flour.
- 7 - In rural areas you may well hear seeven
(as in even).
Common (urban and rural) forms are :
noin (as in German neun); levven
(just ignore the first letter);
twalve* (see bell etc.);
tha(tt)een (see turn etc.);
twe(tt)y*; tha(tt)y; hundre(t) (as German hundert).
*Dozen and score, respectively, are used
in preference - to avoid more t s !
Now for an important fraction : 1/4 = kor(t)er.
Imperial measurements include (predictably)
poin(t) [liquid, not decimal] and stoon ["mid-u"];
(less predictably) airca, for acre.
[Similarly, Acle village is Aircl, not Ackley]
Plurals exist (?), but Norfolk measurements are
always singular, as in present-day Dutch :-
two foo(t), twalve yard, eigh(t) moil, six airca
(and, I bet, fower litre!).
A large number is a mort
(Icelandic fishermen derivation?)
Historical footnote : a farthing was a farden
(as in garden).
2 : Time, Gentle-Persons
Wooss the clock?.
Maybe . . . a kor(t)er parst; or . . .
Thass 'alf ar(t)er fower.
Lastly, replacing (as ever) the word needs :
Tha(t) wan(t) a kor(t)er ter foive.
Accordin'lie-a the clo-o-ock, tha(t)
ha' gone foive a'riddy, he say.
The clock's owner replies :
Dorn' you pay noo regard-a tha(t) there clo-o-ock, tha(t) gi(t) !
The alternative, of course, is : tha(t) lose !
The word time itself, as we see elsewhere,
means while OR when; in a similar fashion to
the Northerners' use of while meaning until.
Time is money, both in short supply in the
Norfolk backwoods. The worst poverty
(the old Norwich yards or Yarmouth rows)
may have gone; but local people can be
every bit as "careful" as the Scots.
Words for money (other than general slang,
like spondulicks) include cu(t)er (or kew(t)er).
Having ready money
(not being skun(t)) is to hold :
Do [if] you (h)owld [1], Bor,
then we'll goo-a the pub.
The amount "held" may be minimal : a latch-lifter
i.e. just enough to get them through the door.
Then they would probably have to "Go Dutch" :
in Norfolk an Elsham Trea(t). (Aylsham).
[1] - NOT as in Oi dorn' (h)owld wi' drinkin'.
3 : Consonants
So far, all the emphasis has been on changing vowel-sounds.
Students of other European languages will know
that consonants can shift, too. For example,
the famous d -to- t shift, as between English and
German; and the latter's difficulty with the v-sound.
Whilst Norrigers nowadays have no problem with
wicked or very (or very wicked?), it has been
traditional in Norfolk to render these words as
wicke(t) and werry
(actually more like werra). Firstly, and bizarrely, the t is (of course) silent;
so the change from d has largely to be inferred !
Secondly, a wherry has (for centuries) been a
very important trading vessel.
To avoid confusion (and a bit of Teutonic
tongue-twisting?), and to lend even greater
emphasis (at times), the word wholly is
much prized and heavily utilised.
Of course, it is quite removed from holy
(a true double-o used here),
so our old friend the "mid-u" triumphs again.
Usually written as whully or maybe hully, it is best
as (w)hoolly - reminding one of winter jumpers.
Another example is wittals for food.
The word (wittles/wittals) is found in Dickens,
who knew more than a little about Yarmouth (Great).
Anybody unaware of what a Licensed Victualler is
(most?) will not know the actual word - victuals.
The orthodox pronunciation for LV is vittler.
A weather-vane is a wane. Heyya bin upta the wicarage?
^Top^
4 : No Tea, Wicar?
(E say, less goo 'oom agatha . . .)
Norfolk fully aligns itself with the, apparently,
worldwide aversion to the letter T; encompassing
leading-t's and those in the middle of words.
This is bound to affect the important words
to and too, which lack the softening effect of th,
as in - this, there, that, then . . .
A drastic "it-type" solution is employed in the
case of too : change the word !.
Actually the word-count doubles, which would
be very inefficient - but for the joining-up.
Thus : and-all = anall
(best written as anorl, for anatomical reasons).
Sure, the syllable-count still doubles;
but you can't have everything . . .
E give [gave] me a cup-a drink an'
a free straw anorl.
N.B. and therefore occurs twice; also he had a
filled cup, a straw and nothing else (no ALL).
For the word to, full advantage is taken of its status
as a conjunction i.e. it is seldom found at the
beginning of a sentence. (To be or not to be?)
It can thus be reduced to a suffix, as in our
standard phrase : a-gorn-a goo.
The suffix is little more than a grunt.
Only contextual help is available for those
unable to decipher grunts . . .
See 7. below Concatenation : the conjunction of
is just as easily relegated : E talk a lood-a squi(t)!
The useful words something and nothing
are always difficult second-half-wise.
The former is abused in much the same way
as in London (suthin' /suffin').
Oddly [because of fewer letters?] the latter does
not become nuffin (or nuttern).
(See some earlier references to the soft-O)
^Top^
| |
5 : Putting It All Agatha
Two important words (at least; one of them
highly favoured in these parts) begin with to.
The prized case can be relied upon to be buried
inside a sentence (apart from political perorations);
so the first syllable can be treated casually,
as for the said conjunction.
Hence agatha - who may be a lady but
must have her SECOND syllable accented.
She is also a victim of the (soft) e-to-a shift.
There is no good reason not to write agather :
most English folk pronounce -er words without
the r - and down-grade the e accordingly.
Gratuitous re-spellings
(e.g. orl) revisited!.
Even bogus languages have been invented
e.g. Australian Strine, of which the only example
I can recall is :- 'Tiger peera spargly guys'
(Take a pair of sparkling eyes).
See ASSWAHREESAY.
If the occasional invented word does no harm,
here is our other important "to-word":-
Amara (cf. armada, stressed second syllable),
as in Chair-ioo, seeya amara.
Norfolk (and the rest of England) indulges in
plenty of "skating-over" in the French manner.
We have mentioned -er endings; and the -ow ending
in the last example is also "swallowed" or grunted.
In most UK dialects, even the vital word you
gets the skating-over treatment.
Another example :-
Hi-ya! Cen Oi bara a couple-a quid?
6 : Come All Ye
The Norfolk together is prized, as I have said,
because its social use is quite distinct.
It means - "All you members of my current audience".
Members may number as little as two, as in Yarn Q;
or even just the one!!
A group of lads, on a pub-crawl, may be
urged-on by their leader thus -
Come you on agatha, thass nairly cloosen-toime!
(Accordin'lie they ha(tt)er gi(t) a-gorn) A Norfolk toast to the assembled company is
"an' hair uz moi opinion on yer, agatha".
Two other words which acquire a special gloss
in the County are rare and treat.
Rare may be used in all its normal contexts,
but has the (more frequent) use as meaning
extreme - extreme anything; or extremely -
Thass a rare good hoss!
Treat (but not as in treating something seriously,
or in a legalistic sense) is the Norfolk word
for anything good, impressive or enjoyable.
Yure done tha(t) a trea(t) ; tha(t) look a trea(t) ;
thass comin-on a trea(t) [i.e. well]
The mind boggles at the state of excitement built-up
when the two words are used in conjunction:-
Thass a rare trea(t), tha(t) tha(t) is !!
An actual treat, involving food and drink,
is termed a lush-up.
7 : Say, Mate, Let's Concatenate
Although the word is unknown hereabouts,
the natives have mastered the methodology.
They have raised it to the art-form found in French
(as mentioned in 5. above - not Dutch, for once).
We have noted how conjunctions, like to and of
disappear into mere grunts.
The same fate often befalls you.
Even the ultra-important word have can be affected. This is when it is used, subordinately, as part of
the past/conditional-tense; hence is "buried"
within a sentence. For example:-
E would-a go-o-on [gone], but (h)is moo-er conked-ou(t).
E tal me they a-(h)ad a brairk-in or
E a-(h)ad a operairtion.
[ N.B. no use of an permitted ]
Oral Exercise for students :
Say "a-ad" for "have had".
Hev is, in truth, only its Sunday face.
"Tops and Tails" count, otherwise grunts only.
Heyya go(t) any [enna]? - Yis, we 'ev - or
(for emphasis) Yis, tha(t) we hev!
The modus operandi seems to be -
"shove everything agatha, and let the
context take the interpretive strain !"
8 : Raising The Ire
Here we highlight a special case, where have lies
"too near the front"for contextual comfort, as in
"I have done it". In practice, this short sentence
starts with I-a, which comes across phonetically as Ire.
Given that Oi is a bit nearer than "I", the effect is
very similar to Our - a potential cause of confusion.
A difficult question might be met with :
Our go-o-o(t) noo oidare! ( = I, not we).
Similarly, he has = he have = Here, phonetically;
similarly, also Sheer.
So the examples in 7. above are better written as :
E tal me there [they have] 'ad a brairk-in . . . .
Ear [He has ] 'ad a operairtion.
(not necessarily on his ear !)
Also e.g. : Where go-o-o(t) some atoom
(We have some at home).
Yure (for 'You-a') is virtually a mono-syllabic word,
indistinguishable from you're (for 'you are').
It is not yewer, nor yore (your).
[1] Are yure gorn' ? [2] Yure go-o-o(t) one, incha??
A bus-driver told a travelling colleague that -
Our jist 'ad a coupl-a weeks orff.
Aya?!, replied the colleague, by way of
envious acknowledgement.
In Coronation Street happen means perhaps.
In Norfolk, it has the more usual meaning;
but still in relation to a chance occurrence -
like meeting somebody in the street.
To come upon somebody (by chance) is to
happen-on them,
the past tense normally being used :
Oi hapt-on 'em.
Alternatively rendered as : (h)appened acrorst 'em.
9 : Painting PicturesIf you can't count, and can't even read (the case for
most Norfolk inhabitants until "modern times"), you
may get some information - as well as enjoyment -
from pictures.
Illustrations in books were known as gays : a term
completely overtaken by the technology of publishing
and other (social) factors.
If a gay consists of a mixture of colours, badly faded
or in uncommon pale shades - so as to be beyond
simple description - it is dumduckerdumer. More perplexingly, a picture can also be known as a cut.
It is a little doubtful if this would have been
accomplished just with a cedar (pencil) !.
A mental picture, of some colourful nature, is painted
by the word arsle, which means to move or wriggle backwards.
A less appealing picture is given by the word clag :
which means to clean or comb-out matted hair
(claggy meaning sticky or lumpy).
Very enticing, on the other hand, is a hotpot
(pronounced without any t's, of course); either as
the stew we all know and love, or as the
Norfolk variety : warmed ale with spirits
(commonly "old ale" and gin).
|