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West Midlands English is a group of dialects of the English language. The accent has experienced ridicule within the UK for its unusual sound. Most English people do not realise the accent is a result of extensive migration to the region during the industrial revolution. Birmingham and its surrounding suburbs received people not only from England and Ireland, but also in smaller numbers from Wales and Scotland.
Certain areas of the West Midlands are stereotyped as having stronger accents than others, Dudley being an example.
There are some local phrases that are renowned. People do tend to substitute a reply of "arr" for "yes". Generally, most words are shortened, most commonly being "I haven't" to "I ay" (which can be argued as an even shorter form of "I ain't").
Varieties of West Midlands English
- Black Country (Yam Yam)
- Brummie (spoken in Birmingham)
- Potteries (North Staffordshire)
- Herefordshire
- Warwickshire
- Worcestershire
- Cheshirian dialect
- Salopian (Shropshire)
External links
- Sounds Familiar? – Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
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