Northern English

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Northern English is a group of dialects of the English language. It includes the North East England dialects, which is similar in some respects to Scots. Among the other dialects are Cumbrian, Tyke (Yorkshire dialect) and Scouse. Northern English shows Viking influence because the area was all north of the Danelaw. Norwegian has had a greater impact on most northern dialects than Danish, but the East Riding of Yorkshire has been influenced more by Danish. There are also Irish influences on accents at Liverpool, Birkenhead and Middlesbrough. Northern English is one of the major groupings of British English dialects; other major groupings include for East Anglian English, Midlands English and Southern English.

Northern English contains:

• Cumbrian dialect
• Geordie (spoken in the Newcastle upon Tyne/Greater Tyneside area)
• Lancashire
• Mackem (spoken in Sunderland/Wearside)
• Pitmatic (two variations, one spoken in the former mining communities of County Durham and the other in Northumberland)
• Scouse (spoken in Liverpool with variations as far as North Wales
• Teesside (spoken in Middlesbrough and certain other parts of Teesside)
• Tyke (spoken in Yorkshire)
• Manc (spoken in Manchester, Greater Manchester, parts of Lancashire and Cheshire East).

In some areas, it can be noticed that dialects and phrases can vary greatly within regions too. For example, the Lancashire dialect has many sub-dialects and varies noticeably from town to town. Even within as little as 5 miles there can be an identifiable change in accent. The Yorkshire Dialect Society has always separated West Riding dialect from that in the North and East ridings.

Common features of most Northern English accents are:

• The absence of the /ʌ/ vowel, for which the /ʊ/ vowel is substituted. This has led to Northern England being described "Oop North".
• A short /a/ in words like ask, grass, bath, where Southern accents have a broad A /ɑː/.

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

Further reading

• Katie Wales (2006). Northern English: A Social and Cultural History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-86107-1. 

See also

• Northern subject rule