West Midlands English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West Midlands English is a group of dialects of the English language. The traditional Black Country dialect is very old, and can be very confusing for outsiders. The language is said to be a throw back to Middle English and still contains words such as Thee, Thy and Thou. "'Ow B'ist", meaning "How beist thou?" is a common greeting, with the typical answering being "'Bay too bah", meaning "I bayn't be too bad". "I haven't seen her" becomes "I ay sid 'er". Somebody from the Black Country will often substitute the word "ar" instead of "yes".
Inhabitants are proud to be known as Black Country "folk" and resist hints at any relationship to people living in Birmingham, calling Birmingham "Brum-a-jum" (Birmingham's colloquial name is Brummagem). Residents of Birmingham (Brummies) meanwhile often refer to their Black Country neighbours as "Yam Yams", a reference to the use of "Yow am" instead of "You are".
This often good natured exchange has been reciprocated in latter years with the Brummie "Yo Am" for "You Are" being used as a countermeasure with the jocular retort "YoYo" used when referring to the Brummies
The thick Black Country dialect is less commonly heard today than in the past. Midlands English is much more naturalistic, especially the Black Country variety which has frozen in time. Some New World dialects borrow some of the Old World characteristics of this dialect.
[edit] Varieties of West Midlands English
- Black Country (Yam Yam)
- Brummie (spoken in Birmingham)
- Potteries (North Staffordshire)
- Herefordshire
- Warwickshire
- Worcestershire
- Cheshirian dialect
British Isles
British •
East Anglian •
English English •
Estuary •
Hiberno-English (Ireland) •
Highland •
Manx •
Mid Ulster •
Midlands •
Northern •
Received Pronunciation •
Scottish •
Welsh •
West Country dialects
United States
American •
African American Vernacular •
Appalachian •
Baltimorese •
Boston •
California •
Chicano •
Cajun•
General American •
Hawaiian Pidgin •
Maine-New Hampshire •
New York-New Jersey English •
North Central American •
Inland Northern American •
Pacific Northwest •
Pittsburgh •
Southern American •
Utah •
Yooper
Canada
Canadian •
West/Central Canadian •
Maritimer •
Newfoundland •
Quebec
Oceania
Australian •
New Zealand •
Australian Aboriginal
Asia
Burmese •
Hong Kong •
Indian •
Manglish •
Philippine •
Singlish •
Sri Lankan
Other countries
Bermudian •
Caribbean •
Jamaican •
Liberian •
Malawian •
South African
Miscellaneous
Basic •
Commonwealth •
Euro-English •
Globish •
International •
Llanito (Gibraltar) •
Mid-Atlantic •
North American •
Plain •
Simplified •
Special •
Standard
