Sheffield dialect/accent

[catabolickid]

Hello everyone,

 

I know there are a couple of threads on Sheffield accent/dialect but this is a little different as I have some specific questions... Some of them may seem a bit naive so set me straight as you can:

 

• Do locals still use 'tha' or 'thou' or 'thee' instead of 'you'? Which would you say was more accurate for Sheffield?
  
• Is the word 'the' missed out all the time or just sometimes? In some threads on this post I've seen it written t' - which is more accurate for the Sheffield accent? To miss it out completely or to use the t'?
  
• I'm struggling with contractions - things like wasn't, didn't, wouldn't? How would you attempt to spell these to approximate a Sheffield accent?
  
• Finally, is it 'jinnel', 'jennel' or 'gennel' for a passageway between houses?!?
  

 

Just so you all know: I'm new to this forum - it's probably obvious that I'm not from Sheffield though I've visited a few times. A while ago for some reason, I decided to write a story set in Sheffield. This turned out to be more ambitious than I realised as I tried to write it all from the point of view of a local... I'm worried that the voice telling the story won't be convincing enough.

 

I've avoided spelling general words differently to the conventional English spelling because I want the story to be quite easy to read. But answers to the questions above might allow me to suggest a flavour of the accent...

 

Any help much appreciated :-)

ctk

[iceblast]

Locals still use 'tha' 'tho' 'waint' etc.. tends to be the men however I think the most accurate out of the ones you stated is 'tha', i know lots of people that use it.

 

Some words are missed out completely, however be careful.. for example t'internet.. is an abbreviation from Peter Kay the comedian so it isn't to do with Sheffield as much.

 

wasnt - werent

didnt - dint

wouldnt- wunt

won't - waint

 

and its a Jennel!!!!!!!!

[toploader]

Nobody in the history of Sheffield, has ever said "thou"......ever.

[deedar]

Trying to explain the Sheffield contraction of "the" to non Sheffielders is always difficult.

It's easy enough to write down, eg. "Gooin down to t' shops" but obviously that's not how you say it. It's all about how you say the bit before the t', you have to cut it short and the t' isn't actually pronounced at all. It's a sure fire way of spotting a fake Sheffielder.

[catabolickid]

iceblast: Thanks for answering all my questions so quickly. Interesting that it's more men that use these words :-)

 

So far it looks as though I've done alright... I used 'jennel' anyway but wanted to make sure and all the contractions were as I thought (though I've been spelling dint as di'n't and wunt as woul'n't, so it's sort of closer to the conventional spellings).

 

Still not sure about the use of 'tha' though... Perhaps 'tha' is only used when directly addressing someone? So if there was a sentence like

 

You have to be at least 36 inches high to go on this ride.

 

Ie. where the 'you' is general and not directed at a specific person. Locals in Sheffield wouldn't say 'tha' in this case would they? This is a bit confusing for me...

 

toploader: I suspected as much, but didn't know if 'tha' was just a different pronunciation of 'thou' or considered a word in its own right.

 

Cheers,

ctk

[catabolickid]

Trying to explain the Sheffield contraction of "the" to non Sheffielders is always difficult.

It's easy enough to write down, eg. "Gooin down to t' shops" but obviously that's not how you say it. It's all about how you say the bit before the t', you have to cut it short and the t' isn't actually pronounced at all. It's a sure fire way of spotting a fake Sheffielder.

 

Hi deedar, yeah I would most definitely be spotted!

 

But in my story at least I've missed using 'the' altogether. I originally replaced it with an apostrophe but it looked kind of messy. Then I read some of David Peace's stuff and he misses it out so I figured I'd do the same... I think the t' can be a bit misleading as you say.

 

I also listened to quite a lot of interviews with locals and tried to transcribe them to get the rhythm. As said I used conventional spelling mostly. Does this excerpt read convincingly like a Sheffielder?

 

On eighteenth of June, the police actually escorted us

in

to Orgreave that day. Which were strange because normally, they'd stop us at motorways or where-ever. At bottom, there's a command post, and that's where police planned all milit'ry operations on day. Straight across from there, there's main gates, at coke implant, where lorries used to go in with scab lorry drivers. We were ushered into this corn-field, and that's where they made a stand. Facing a thick blue line of police, probably ten deep with all the big riot shields and things, and they were there obviously to stop us getting down to speak to lorry drivers at gate. There were dogs, on right, in wood, who were only there for one reason - so that we couldn't go that way - on left there were a steep banking and there were dogs at bottom of there. Then you'd look behind you, and once again there were horses, probably seven, seven of them, with police on them, equipped in riot gear, once again. So you actually felt as if you were penned in, totally. There's only one way out and that's up to top of village where there's a bridge.

 

 

Would you know this was a Sheffielder if you just read it someone out-of-context? I guess that's a hard question. It's also what I'm trying to achieve with my story...

 

Thanks for your response,

ctk

[toploader]

You mean "coking plant"

[depoix]

you would be hard pressed to find anyone under 60 who speaks sheffield tongue even then it isnt what it once was ,thanks to the bbc and the television we now speak a more grange hill type of language

[the1]

Sometimes though, you don't realise how your accent sounds... Just met somebody from Reading & she says I sound very Yorkshire, but I don't think I do!. I suppose you get used to the sound of your own voice - o wait, just me lol .

[Hayley1]

Hi there. I don't know if it helps, but I've been here for just over three years now, and it's been a constant battle this last year to correct my 13yr old son's vocab. He now forever drops 'the' from his sentences (ie "shall I close door?"), and I can't tell you how many times a day I now have to remind him that the word 'were' shouldn't be used when the word 'was' should be! gotta love em.