The north above the North
-
Warren Maguire
Abstract
Linguistic varieties in Northern England and Scotland have always been closely related, as a result of their shared history and geographical proximity. Older Scots and Northern Middle English were divided from other Middle English dialects by a major dialect boundary, and this division survived into modern times, separating Scots and far Northern English dialects on the one hand from Southern and Midland English dialects on the other. Cutting across this dialect unity, the Scottish-English Border has further shaped the relationship between linguistic varieties on either side of it. This has caused dialects in Northern England and Scotland to look in different directions and, as traditional dialect boundaries have faded, the Scottish-English Border appears to have become increasingly important as a linguistic divide. Thus we cannot begin to understand the meaning of ‘Northern English’ without considering the relationship between linguistic varieties in Scotland and Northern England, and the extent to which the Scottish-English Border constitutes a linguistic boundary between them.
Abstract
Linguistic varieties in Northern England and Scotland have always been closely related, as a result of their shared history and geographical proximity. Older Scots and Northern Middle English were divided from other Middle English dialects by a major dialect boundary, and this division survived into modern times, separating Scots and far Northern English dialects on the one hand from Southern and Midland English dialects on the other. Cutting across this dialect unity, the Scottish-English Border has further shaped the relationship between linguistic varieties on either side of it. This has caused dialects in Northern England and Scotland to look in different directions and, as traditional dialect boundaries have faded, the Scottish-English Border appears to have become increasingly important as a linguistic divide. Thus we cannot begin to understand the meaning of ‘Northern English’ without considering the relationship between linguistic varieties in Scotland and Northern England, and the extent to which the Scottish-English Border constitutes a linguistic boundary between them.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- List of contributors ix
- The North of England and Northern English 1
-
The North of England
- The enregisterment of Northern English 27
- The Great Vowel Shift in the North of England 51
- Morphosyntactic features of Northern English 71
- The history of present indicative morphosyntax from a northern perspective 99
- Northern English 131
-
Locations within the North
- Tyneside 161
- Sunderland 183
- Carlisle and Cumbria 205
- Sheffield 227
- Middlesbrough 251
- Lancashire 271
- Manchester English 293
- Language attitudes and divergence on the Merseyside/Lancashire border 317
-
The North
- Borders and boundaries in the North of England 345
- The East Midlands 369
- The West Midlands 393
- Between North and South: The Fenland 417
- The north above the North 437
- Non-native northern English 459
- Index 479
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- List of contributors ix
- The North of England and Northern English 1
-
The North of England
- The enregisterment of Northern English 27
- The Great Vowel Shift in the North of England 51
- Morphosyntactic features of Northern English 71
- The history of present indicative morphosyntax from a northern perspective 99
- Northern English 131
-
Locations within the North
- Tyneside 161
- Sunderland 183
- Carlisle and Cumbria 205
- Sheffield 227
- Middlesbrough 251
- Lancashire 271
- Manchester English 293
- Language attitudes and divergence on the Merseyside/Lancashire border 317
-
The North
- Borders and boundaries in the North of England 345
- The East Midlands 369
- The West Midlands 393
- Between North and South: The Fenland 417
- The north above the North 437
- Non-native northern English 459
- Index 479
