what does a norfolk accent sound like

Five characteristics are particularly important:

1. Yod-dropping is found after all consonants, so that 'few' sounds like 'foo' and 'music' sounds like 'moozic'.
2. The accent is generally non-rhotic, as is RP/BBC, so /r/ is only pronounced when a vowel follows it.
3. Unlike many regional accents of England, Norfolk does not usually exhibit H-dropping. The phoneme /h/ is generally pronounced in 'hat', 'ahead' by most, though not all, Norfolk speakers.

Full Answer

How well do you know the Norfolk accent?

You only have to walk around any town or village in Norfolk to hear examples of the local accent. But to many people it's not as strong or as widespread as it once was. That’s why the group FOND, Friends Of Norfolk Dialect, was formed in 1999 to record as many of the county's traditional words and sayings as possible.

What is the Norfolk dialect?

The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect spoken in the county of Norfolk in England which sits within the broader East Anglian English. While less widely and purely spoken than in its heyday, the dialect and vocabulary can still be heard across the county, with some variations.

Does Smethurst have a Norfolk accent?

Smethurst's undisputed Norfolk accent is well known from his releases of the 1960s, such as "Hev Yew Gotta Loight Bor?". The Boy John Letters of Sidney Grapes, which were originally published in the Eastern Daily Press, are another valid example of the Norfolk dialect.

Where is Norfolk in the UK?

Location of Norfolk within the UK. The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect spoken in the county of Norfolk in England which sits within the broader East Anglian English. While less widely and purely spoken than in its heyday, the dialect and vocabulary can still be heard across the county, with some variations.

What accent is in Norfolk?

broad East Anglian accentMany speakers with a broad East Anglian accent use this short vowel for words such as road and stone and in the phrase post office. Also typical of speech in Norfolk is the striking use of a weak vowel in the final syllable of words that end with such as morning, something, writing and drinking, here.

How do you say hello in Norfolk?

One of the most common phrases used across the county, 'ar yer orrite bor', (which can be written in various other ways, such as 'ar yer reet bor') is a standard form of greeting and can be used to mean any of the following: Hi/Hello/Good Morning/Good Afternoon/Good Evening/How're you?

What is a Suffolk accent?

Speakers of the Suffolk dialect can often be heard using words and phrases like 'blabber' (can't keep a secret) 'whooly' (very), 'on the drag' (running late), 'atwin' (between), 'on the huh' (wonky), and 'jip' (pain). You can have a look at some more dialect words at the Suffolk Dictionary.

What does BOR mean in Norfolk dialect?

Bein'as – because of. Bishy-barney-bee – ladybird. Blunder – fall over. Bor – boy (Norfolk way to address males)

Is the L silent in Norfolk?

“By persons residing in the city and vicinity, the sound of the l is omitted in the pronunciation; but it is often improperly sounded by persons residing abroad.”

What is a person from Norfolk called?

Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a Tyke from Yorkshire and a Yellowbelly from Lincolnshire; the traditional nickname for people from Norfolk is 'Norfolk Dumpling' or 'Norfolk Pudden' ("pudding"): two of the county's two culinary dishes.

What is the difference between Norfolk and Suffolk?

The variation in pitch of the words in Suffolk is very unique. Words have a distinct rise and fall in pitch and can often sound as if you were being asking a question. This intonation of the words is biggest distinguishing feature between the 'whine' of Suffolk speech and the 'drant' of Norfolk speech.

Are Norfolk and Suffolk the same?

Suffolk (/ˈsʌfək/) is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east.

What is a Coventry accent?

Coventry being closer to an East Midlands accent. Around Stoke-on-Trent, the short i can sometimes sound rather like ee, as very obvious when hearing a local say it, however this is not always the case as most other words such as "miss" or "tip" are still pronounced as normal.

How do you say good morning in Norfolk?

One of the most common phrases used across the county, 'ar yer orrite bor', (which can be written in various other ways, such as 'ar yer reet bor') is a standard form of greeting and can be used to mean any of the following: Hi/Hello/Good Morning/Good Afternoon/Good Evening/How're you?

How do people speak in Norfolk?

The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect spoken in the county of Norfolk in England which sits within the broader East Anglian English. While less widely and purely spoken than in its heyday, the dialect and vocabulary can still be heard across the county, with some variations.

How do they speak in Norfolk?

they took elements from one another's languages to develop a new one. They brought this amalgam of 18th century English and Polynesian with them when they migrated to Norfolk Island in 1856. To this day, when they are amongst themselves, they use this language, now called simply 'Norfolk'.

What do Norfolk people say?

One of the most common phrases used across the county, 'ar yer orrite bor', (which can be written in various other ways, such as 'ar yer reet bor') is a standard form of greeting and can be used to mean any of the following: Hi/Hello/Good Morning/Good Afternoon/Good Evening/How're you?

How do you say hello in British style?

0:000:58How to say hello like a British English speaker - English In A MinuteYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou could also say hello mate. But say it like this hello mate another thing we could say is how areMoreYou could also say hello mate. But say it like this hello mate another thing we could say is how are you doing but we say it like this.

What does staithe mean in Norfolk?

Area details. Burnham Overy Staithe lies on the North Norfolk coast between Holkham and Burnham Norton. 'Staithe' is an Old English word meaning 'landing place', and 'overy' meaning 'over the water'.

What does repps mean in Norfolk?

strips of landRepps comes from Old English and refers to strips of land in a fen that could be tilled. Bastwick is also from Old English, meaning a farm in a lime grove.

What is the accent of Norfolk?

For the accent of Norfolk, Virginia, see Tidewater accent. Location of Norfolk within the UK. The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect spoken in the county of Norfolk in England which sits within the broader East Anglian English. While less widely and purely spoken than in its heyday, the dialect and vocabulary can still be ...

Which play made good use of authentic Norfolk dialect?

Arnold Wesker 's 1958 play Roots made good use of authentic Norfolk dialect.

What is the glottal stop in Norfolk?

Glottal stops [ʔ] are found widely in Norfolk speech. The consonant /t/ when following a stressed vowel is often realized as [ʔ] so that 'better' is pronounced as [beʔə]. Alternatively, /p, t, k, tʃ/ may be pronounced with the glottal closure slightly preceding the oral closure, so that 'upper' is pronounced as [ʌʔpə], 'better' is pronounced as [beʔtə], 'thicker' as [θɪʔkə] and 'butcher' as [bʊʔtʃə]. This pronunciation is also found when another consonant follows.

What does the goat vowel sound like?

The GOAT vowel /əʊ/ of RP generally has a quality that can be represented as [ʊu] in Norfolk: thus words with the spelling 'oa', 'oe' and 'oCe' such as 'boat ', 'toe', 'code' sound to outsiders like 'boot', ' too', 'cood' respectively. An exception is that of words spelt with 'ou', 'ow', 'ol' such as 'soul', 'know', 'told' which have a diphthong quite similar to the RP /əʊ/. This is a preservation of the toe-tow distinction that has since been lost in most modern accents of English.

How to spell "Thr" in Norfolk?

In older Norfolk dialect the spelling 'thr' may be pronounced as /tr/ and the spelling 'shr' as /sr/; thus 'three' sounds the same as 'tree' and 'shriek' is pronounced as /sriːk/.

Why does Norfolk have a rhythm?

Norfolk speech has a distinctive rhythm due to some stressed vowels being longer than their equivalents in RP and some unstressed vowels being much shorter.

Where does RP have the rounded vowel?

Where RP has the rounded LOT vowel /ɒ/ in words containing the spellings 'f', 'ff', 'gh' or 'th' (such as 'often', 'off', 'cough', 'trough' and 'cloth'), Norfolk may have /ɔː/ as in the vowel of THOUGHT. This is a manifestation of the lot-cloth split.

Who said prejudice based on an accent isn't acceptable?

Dr Ken Lodge, from the UEA, says this kind of prejudice based on an accent isn’t acceptable.

Does the BBC edit comments?

The BBC reserves the right to edit comments submitted.

Does accent change over time?

It's not just accents which change over time. The actual words we use to describe things evolve. Only in the last couple of years has the word 'chav' become part of everyday language to describe someone who wears too much cheap jewellery and fake designer labels.

Do accents change?

Accents change. Languages change. Those are linguistic facts. Why does everyone bemoan the 'loss' of an accent when all it's doing is its natural linguistic evolution? We've more American and Northern slang here (Cromer) now than any 'authentic' naaarfuk (excepting a few of us locals) and do I care? Nar not likely. (Global situation, are accents becoming homogenised by the universal broadcast media, or is it giving play to local accents to spread, e.g. through heavily accented songs such as those by The Arctic Monkeys?) My accent was taken away by the schools system (elocution lessons at the age of 5), and it's been weird since then communicating with people who think I'm posh. Bor, I'm happy with my accent, all of them.

Overview

Features

The Norfolk accent sounds very different from that of London and the Home Counties. The main characteristics of the accent are set out below, usually with reference to the standard English accent known as Received Pronunciation (RP). Phonetic symbols (in square brackets) and phonemic symbols (in slant brackets) are used where they are needed to avoid ambiguity (brackets in IPA). Five characteristics are particularly important:

Portrayal

Notable speakers

See also

Further reading