English language in Northern England

The spoken English language in Northern England has been shaped by the region's history of settlement and migration, and today encompasses a group of related accents and dialects known as Northern England English (or, simply, Northern (English) in the United Kingdom).^[2][3]

The terms 'accent' and 'dialect' are broadly defined terms in the English language,^[4] this article strives to comply with these accepted definitions. This article largely focuses on accents. Most current language differences in the north of England are arguably accent orientated, though there are some clear historical influences from older true dialects that are no longer in common use.^[5][6][7][8] Certain 'local words' and speech patterns certainly are inherited from older dialects that existed in the area.^[9][10]

Well-known accents and dialects in the United Kingdom are Cockney, Welsh English, Yorkshire, Scouse and Scottish English; in modern Britain, these differ largely through word pronunciations, though vocabulary differences certainly still exist. These accents are not typically notable when speakers with such accents/dialects write in standard English.^[11]

An accent can be thought of as a subpart of a dialect and a dialect is a subpart of a language.^[12][13] The term 'dialectology' is also used in some academic studies relating to accent/dialect studies.^[14]

In the context of this article, an exhibit of the relationship between key terminology is as follows:

Manchester Local Accent - Regional Dialect - British English Language.

Examples of recognized dialects that are in current use: Quebecois French, provincial Irish variations, and numerous Chinese dialects, these dialects focus on word pronunciation, vocabulary and deeper linguistic structure and are distinctive from their parent/stem dialect-language in both the spoken and written forms of the language. Dialects may also be associated with other non-linguistic cultural attributes such as 'perceived social or educational status'.^[15][16]

Another more extreme example is Afrikaans and Dutch - though seen as distinctive languages they are largely mutually intelligible and serve as an interesting model for how languages develop and language dialects fork when a population is geographically isolated or comes into contact with other language groups.^[17]

The strongest influence on the modern varieties of the English language spoken in Northern England has been the Northumbrian dialect of Middle English, in addition to contact with Old Norse during the Viking Age, as well as Irish English following the Great Famine, particularly in Lancashire and the south of Yorkshire, and Midlands dialects since the Industrial Revolution, all of which having produced new and distinctive styles of speech.^[18][19]

There are traditional dialects associated with many of the historic counties, including the Cumbrian dialect, Lancashire dialect, Northumbrian dialect and Yorkshire dialect, but new, distinctive dialects have arisen in cities following urbanisation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.^[20]

Northern England's urban areas have numerous distinctive accents^[21] There are unique expressions and terms that are very local, and arguably were once aligned with older northern dialects.^[22] Northern English accents are often stigmatized, and native speakers commonly attempt to modify their Northern speech characteristics in corporate and professional environments.^[23][24][25]

In the vernacular the terms 'accent' and 'dialect' are used without a great deal of distinction, and there are clear examples of unique words or expressions that might have at one point been part of a unique dialect, in modern English speaking Britain, spoken English is broadly intelligible across the whole of the British Isle, all British English speakers can understand each other.^[26]

There is some debate as to how modern spoken English has impacted modern written English in the north, though it is clearly hard to represent a spoken accent in a written language.^[27] The existence of the works of well known 'Lancashire Dialect' poets emphasizes the historical shift from a true northern dialect in the 1700s to northern accents in the modern north.^[28]

Many people from northern England traditionally have taken 'lessons in elocution' in order to adopt a more standard use of the English language. This has been viewed as archaic, but recent studies demonstrate attempts by professionals to 'soften their northern accents' is currently on the rise.^[29][30]