BBC VOICES RECORDINGS http://sounds.bl.uk

Title:

Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent

Shelfmark:

C1190/32/04

Recording date:

25.11.2004

Speakers: Ashton, Paul, b. 1962 Stoke-on-Trent; male; worker (mother chip shop worker) Fryer, Anthony, b. 1939 Stoke-on-Trent; male; retired miner (father, miner; mother, housewife) Hammond, Peter, b. 1937 Wolstanton, Stoke-on-Trent; male; retired builder (father, insurance agent; mother, shop assistant) Heath, Norton, b. 1931 Stoke-on-Trent; male; retired builder (father, clerk; mother, housewife) Simpson, Norman, b. 1934 Stoke-on-Trent; male; retired miner (father, potter; mother, potter)

The interviewees are all allotment owners in Middleport. ELICITED LEXIS

○ see English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905) * see Survey of English Dialects Basic Material (1962-1971) ∆ see New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006) ◊ see Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010) ♥ see Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (2014) # Dictionary of North East Dialect (2011)

▼ see Ey Up Mi Duck! Dialect of Derbyshire and the East Midlands (2000) ♦ see Urban Dictionary (online) ⌂ no previous source (with this sense) identified pleased happy; chuffed (“dead chuffed/really chuffed with that” thought to be used nationwide) tired jiggered; knackered (suggested by interviewer, most common); cream crackered∆ (used by “Cockneys”); bolloxed♦ (“absolutely bolloxed”); absolutely fucked (used frequently) unwell knackered; poorly (“little man he werena* be going school today he’s poorly”); bad (common in past); jiggered (also used for ‘tired’); absolutely effed∆ (i.e. presumably used euphemistically for ‘fucked’) hot sweating cobs∆ (“bloody hell I’m sweating cobs”); boiling; roasting cold frozzen# (“bloody frozzen”); risen-on1 annoyed got a cob on (“cobbed up, he is”) throw chuck (“chuck us that spanner”); sling (“sling it away”)

1 David Wilson’ Dialect Words: a historical survey (1974) includes ‘risen-on’ in this sense. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 1 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings play truant wagging off; bobbing it○ (“did you go school today, no, I bobbed it”); bobbing school○; wagged the day off; wagging; bobbing off○; bob school○ sleep kipping; kip play a game play hit hard welly (“give it some bloody welly” also used of e.g. kicking ball); give it a good belt clothes clobber trousers trousers; kecks, kegs♥ (“oh, he’s got a new pair of kegs” used by younger speakers) child’s shoe pumps (most common locally in past); plimsolls (“posh”, modern); trainers (used by own grandchildren) mother mam (to/of own mother); ma (of own mother-in-law); mum (to/of own mother); mother gmother grandma (used by own grandchildren in Leeds, considered old-fashioned by own wife); granny (“granny Sheila” used by own grandchildren); nan (“I’m going up me nan’s”); nanny; nana (pronounced “nana” [nanɑː] locally) m partner him (used frequently by own wife of self); Him-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed2; hubby (used by own wife of self) friend mates; pals; mate (“I’m just going nip up my mates a minute”) gfather grandpa, johnpa⌂ (used by own grandchildren to distinguish between self and other grandfather called John); grandad (“I’m just going give me grandad a ring”) forgot name what’s-his-name (suggested by interviewer, used); crimes of Paris3 (“oh, crimes of Paris what’s-his-name” phrase used to express frustration at forgetting name for something/someone) kit of tools tools; kit (“have I got me kit with me?”) trendy poof⌂; tart (“looks a right tart, her does” of male/female); slapper (“oh, look at her looks a bit of a slapper” used by younger speakers, learnt from own children) f partner my lady (“I’m just going pick my lady [mɒːleɪdi] up” used frequently of own wife, also title of regular cartoon strip in local newspaper4); the wife (not used) baby nippers; babby○ (“oh, my lady’s sister’s just had a new babby”, “how’s babby is she all right?”); little man (used to own children in past/own nephew now); kid; young ’un ∆ (“has young ’un/big ’un come in yet?” used of own teenage children); little’un∆ rain heavily pissing down toilet bog, privy (used in past of outside toilet); toilet (suggested by interviewer); lav, loo (“I’m just going loo” used now); closet (used in past of inside toilet, also used of ‘junk cupboard’); W.C. (“water closet” used now in architect’s plans) walkway alleys, passage (used in Biddulph); entries (used in Tunstall) long seat sofa (“sit on t’ sofa” [sɪt ɒnt səʊfi]); settee run water stream; brook (common in local nicknames for tributaries of , e.g. “Banky Brook”5 and “”6) main room lounge (used now of main room in semi-detached house); parlour, front room (used in past of room in terraced house reserved for special occasions/visitors); living-room (used in past of middle room in terraced house situated between “parlour/front room” and “kitchen/scullery/back-kitchen”) rain lightly drizzle; drizzling (“it’s all right it’s only drizzling”); mizzle, dagging○ (used by mother in past); mizzly; spitting (“it inna* much it’s only spitting”)

2 OED (online edition) includes ‘She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed’ in sense of ‘female partner’. 3 OED (online edition) records ‘crimes’ as exclamation expressing surprise/disbelief/frustration but not ‘crimes of Paris’. 4 Reference, presumably, to ‘’ by British cartoonist Dave Follows (1941-2003) which first appeared 1986 in North Staffordshire Sentinel. 5 See Wikipedia entry for ‘’ (at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Green_Brook). 6 See Wikipedia entry for ‘Fowlea Brook’ (at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fowlea_Brook). http://sounds.bl.uk Page 2 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings rich loaded; got plenty money; well off; not short; “he inna* short of a bob or two ∆7; got plenty of ackers (“ackers” used locally for ‘money’) left-handed keggy-handed○; keggy○ unattractive right ugly; busted∆ (“her’s busted, [bɒstɪd] her is”, “face/mug like a busted [bɒstɪd] clog”8); ugly mug♦ (“she’s got an ugly mug”); “look at his bloody fizzog” (expression commonly directed at miserable-looking person) lack money skint; brassic (“Cockney rhyme” > brassic lint: skint); broke (“I’m broke [bɹɒk] this week”); got no money; got naught drunk pissed as arseholes∆; pissed; nissed as a pewt9/newt; drunk as a skunk∆; hammered∆; kaylied; had a few pregnant up the duff; bun in the oven (“got a bun in th’ oven” [gɒɾə bʊn ɪn ðʊvn̟]); full; up t’ spout; (“he’s put her up the spout again”); “her’s had a bit in”⌂ (“her’s had a bit in and now her’s got a lot in”); full as a bed tub⌂; full as a tick/bedtick○◊10) attractive fit (“her’s fit, her is”); “what a belter” (“her’s a belter, her is”); smart bit of crumpet; strutters⌂ (“she’s a strutter” used on building site of attractive female passer-by “walking nicely/sticking her boobs out”); smart (“her’s smart”); “good headlights”∆, “big pair of baps” (used of “well-endowed” female) insane (not discussed) moody (not discussed) SPONTANEOUS LEXIS and all = too, as well (0:20:56 (and we call we e… even ca… call used to call the kids our kids ‘little man’ even now we say, like, to the y… youngest one who’s fifteen we say, “has young ’un come in yet?” or) aye, we refer (“has has big ’un come in yet?” you know) we refer to t’ ‘young ‘un’ and all; 0:58:57 (and there’s that sentence something about a) (“canst kick a ball against a wall and head it till thee burst it”11) […] (“head it till it bursts”) there’s another and all, “ghosts sitting on posts eating crusts out of their fists”) any road up12 = humorous catchphrase commonly used in game of bingo to refer to number sixty-nine (0:09:14 (go on what are they?) well ‘legs’ ‘eleven’ and (‘two fat ladies’ ‘eighty-eight’)‘two fat ladies’ (and uh) (‘one little duck’) (‘number two’) (‘a duck’ ‘a duck on a crutch’ ‘twenty-seven’) ‘any road up’ ‘sixty-nine’ (‘Kelly’s eye’) or (‘Kelly’s eye’) (go on what’s the other one go on) ‘two can chew’ ‘sixty- nine’) aught = anything 0:33:23 (or) I don’t know really it is more ‘babby’ than aught, isn’t it? (yeah, or same as me me and my lady we always say ’cause we look after our little my my nephew we always say ‘little man’)) aye = yes (0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) yeah, yeah (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) (mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down t’ same club, see) oh aye, yeah (so her conna13 understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you?) get a bollocking off her, aye; 0:21:09 (if mother put uh a fire in the what did she call it ‘front room’) ‘front room’

7See entry for ‘worth a bob or two’ 8 ‘A Dictionary of Slang’ (Ted Duckworth, 1996-2015 at http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/index.htm) includes ‘face like a busted clog’ in this sense. 9 Spoonerism, presumably, for ‘pissed as a newt’. 10 English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905) records ‘full as a tick’ in sense of ‘eaten one’s fill’ but not in this sense; Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010) records ‘full as a tick’ in sense of ‘intoxicated’ but not in this sense. 11 Alan Povey & Andy Ridler’s 2nd Book of Arfur Tow Crate in Staffy Cher (1975) records this as ‘well-known Pottery phrase’. 12 Bingo Lingo (http://www.bingo-lingo.net/bingocalls.htm) includes ‘any way up’ in this sense; OED (online edition) includes ‘road’ in sense of ‘way’. 13 Where SED Basic Material (1962-1971) sets no precedent, see West Midlands English: Speech and Society (http://www.aston.ac.uk/speech-society) for spelling conventions of dialectal negative forms, e.g. canna = canPRESNEG (≈ ‘can’t’), shanna = shallPRESNEG (≈ ‘shan’t’), arena = bePASTNEG (≈ ‘am not’), dunna = doPRESNEG (≈ ‘do(es)n’t’), didna = doPASTNEG (≈ ‘didn’t’), wudna = willPASTNEG (≈ ‘wouldn’t’) etc. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 3 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings (oh, yeah) (on a Sunday you always know you were going have visitors) oh aye, knew somebody was coming, aye; 0:37:13 if you’re ‘hungry’ very hungry ‘clemmed’ “I’m clemmed” (“I’m clemmed”, aye) aye (‘clemmed’ ‘clemmed’) ‘clemmed’ (or if you’re ‘thirsty’ “I’m parched”)) back-kitchen = scullery (0:20:56 (days gone by you used to call it ‘scullery’ […]) and my mother used to call it the ‘back-kitchen’ for some reason) banner off⌂ = to go away, depart (0:56:50 (same as if you want somebody go away you ‘sling your hook’) (aye, yeah, or ‘sod off’) […] or ‘banner off’ […] (when he comes down we usually tell him piss off)) baps = female breasts (0:01:29 “her’s fit, her is” (aye, that’s right) or “her’s smart” (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) big pair of baps he means yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) yeah (yeah) (summat catch hold on)) bloke = man (0:40:58 and we’d got a bloke named Arthur Hancock young fella as a winding engine man and uh he says, “we’ve got six more for come”) bollock = to tell off, reprimand (0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) yeah, yeah (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) (mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down t’ same club, see) oh aye, yeah (so her conna13 understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you?) get a bollocking off her, aye) bob = shilling (0:26:21 same as old pounds shillings and pence we used to call them ‘tanners’ ([…] sixpence was a ‘tanner’) a ‘bob’ was a shilling) bone-dry = extremely thirsty (0:37:29 or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’ (‘bone-dry’) “bloody bone-dry, my throat is” (a bone, yeah) you know, “bone-dry, my throat is” (or it could be ‘bone-idle’) […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] ‘bone-idle’ yeah (because a skelington dunna* move, does it?) (yes, possibly)) bone-idle = extremely lazy (0:37:29 (or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’) ‘bone-dry’ (“bloody bone-dry, my throat is”) a bone, yeah (you know, “bone-dry, my throat is”) or it could be ‘bone-idle’ […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] (‘bone-idle’ yeah) (because a skelington dunna* move, does it?) (yes, possibly)) brew = cup/pot of tea (0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t; 0:55:25 they always have it, you know (“cup of tea”) […] “cup of tea” half past ten […] half past twelve dinner and half two first brew again first cup of tea for a brew again) Brummy = person from Birmingham (1:01:05 if a Scouser you you can hear a S… you hear a Scouser (oh you can, aye, yeah) talking you can tell a mile off a Brummy (very true) you can tell a Brummy Cockney just, you know, you can tell how they talk, can’t you, where they come from (the Geordies, aye) (Geordies) yeah, Geordies that’s another one) bugger = nuisance, so-and-so (0:03:30 sometimes my lady’ll say to me, “oh look at his bloody fizzog” in other words ‘he’s a miserable bugger’, like, (“look at his fizzog”) bugger = man, person (0:56:27 well I always say if they’re talking about me they’re talking about ne’er bugger else (giving somebody else a rest) (that’s true, yeah) (are thy ears burning?)) bullshit = rubbish, nonsense (0:53:21 he comes out with some bullshit, he does (plenty of bull shit down there)) bung = to throw (0:36:39 (anything) carrots parsnips (any any veg) whatever you’ve got in peas bung it all in) catch on the hop = to take unawares, catch out (0:04:25 caught thee on the hop now, haven’t they? […] (he’s lost it now) (he’d forgot what he was gonna say)) chap = man (0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and first thing he says to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?”) chock-a-block = extremely full, carmmed (0:44:04 the windows as opened they were all across the top them little windows (yeah, sliders, yeah) in these buses and you’d go up you’d clunk clunk clunk everybody up in clogs colliers they’d fill chock-a-block full and all of them light a fag) collier = miner (0:44:04 the windows as opened they were all across the top them little windows (yeah, sliders, yeah) in these buses and you’d go up you’d clunk clunk clunk everybody up in clogs colliers they’d fill chock-a-block full and all of them light a fag) conkers◊ = testicles (0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 4 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings clemmed = hungry (0:37:13 if you’re ‘hungry’ very hungry ‘clemmed’ “I’m clemmed” (“I’m clemmed”, aye) (‘clemmed’ ‘clemmed’) ‘clemmed’ (or if you’re ‘thirsty’ “I’m parched”)) cob = small stack of hay/corn (0:38:00 you know haymaking? (‘sweating cobs’) (yeah) str… have the sheaf that are in the fields and they were referred to as ‘cobs’) Cockney = person from London (1:01:05 if a Scouser you you can hear a S… you hear a Scouser (oh you can, aye, yeah) talking you can tell a mile off a Brummy (very true) you can tell a Brummy Cockney just, you know, you can tell how they talk, can’t you, where they come from (the Geordies, aye) (Geordies) yeah, Geordies that’s another one) daft = foolish, silly (0:01:45 (is there any wolf-whistling goes on over here then or?) (um not really, does it?) used to do but not now (go on tell us about when it used to happen, Tony) (we’re old wolves) when, oh, used to see it when you were young and daft and uh they’d turn round look at you and more or less stick two fingers up) dead = very, really (0:51:05 ‘chuffed’ means, “oh, dead chuffed with that” you know, ‘pleased with that’, like, sort of thing) dinner = main midday meal (0:55:25 they always have it, you know (“cup of tea”) […] “cup of tea” half past ten […] half past twelve dinner and half two first brew again first cup of tea for a brew again) dollar = five shillings (0:26:52 five shilling was a ‘dollar’ (yeah) (what was a ‘Joey’ yeah) and ha… half- a-crown was ‘half-a-dollar’ (aye) (that’s right, isn’t it?) (there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old) […] (them little silver threepenny bits) (threepenny bits that was right, aye, a ‘Joey’)) drop a bollock∆ = to slip up, make a mistake that attracts attention (0:34:12 if I remember rightly he kept dropping hisself a bollock and it was, “Gordon Bennett” and it referred to ever anybody’s dropped a clanger (say, “Gordon Bennett”) “Gordon Bennett”); 0:34:25 ‘dropped a clanger’ when you’ve made a mistake (‘drop a gooly’) yeah, when you’ve made a mistake (oh dear) say, “oh, I’ve dropped a right bollock here”) drop a clanger = to slip up, make a mistake that attracts attention (0:34:12 if I remember rightly he kept dropping hisself a bollock and it was, “Gordon Bennett” and it referred to ever anybody’s dropped a clanger (say, “Gordon Bennett”) “Gordon Bennett”); 0:34:25 ‘dropped a clanger’ when you’ve made a mistake (‘drop a gooly’) yeah, when you’ve made a mistake (oh dear) say, “oh, I’ve dropped a right bollock here”) drop a gooly∆ = to slip up, make a mistake that attracts attention (0:34:25 ‘dropped a clanger’ when you’ve made a mistake) ‘drop a gooly’ (yeah, when you’ve made a mistake) (oh dear) (say, “oh, I’ve dropped a right bollock here”)) duck = common local form of address (0:06:01 if you were at the table and uh for instance if you wanted salt and there was no salt there you’d say to a waitress, “uh, canst bring us some salt, duck?” right she wouldn’t have a clue what you were on about so you say, “could I have some salt, please?”; ; 0:13:54 (you know, say some of the places the towns “Kidsgrove” that’s ‘Kidsgrove’) (aye) (“Kidsgrove”) (“”) yeah, ‘Burslem’ (that’s ‘Burslem’) […] “Tunstall” which means ‘Tunstall’ “up Tunstall” […] “I’m just going up Hanley, duck” aye; 0:35:22 oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck (thought her brought a bowl) (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) oh, lovely jubbly (I thought her’d got a b… bowl of then); 0:35:40 are you in tomorrow, duck?) duck on a crutch14 = humorous catchphrase commonly used in game of bingo to refer to number twenty- seven (0:09:14 (go on what are they?) well ‘legs’ ‘eleven’ and (‘two fat ladies’ ‘eighty-eight’)‘two fat ladies’ (and uh) (‘one little duck’) (‘number two’) ‘a duck’ ‘a duck on a crutch’ ‘twenty-seven’ ‘any road up’ ‘sixty-nine’ (‘Kelly’s eye’) or (‘Kelly’s eye’) (go on what’s the other one go on) ‘two can chew’ ‘sixty- nine’) ears be burning15 = expression commonly used of someone who is topic of others’ conversation (0:56:27 (well I always say if they’re talking about me they’re talking about ne’er bugger else) (giving somebody else a rest) (that’s true, yeah) are thy ears burning?) else = otherwise, or else (0:57:31 (have you won much?) (no, not) no, not really (no) nothing (tenners) tenners and that but nothing nothing substantial, have we, else we wudna13 be here)

14 Bingo Lingo (http://www.bingo-lingo.net/bingocalls.htm) includes ‘duck with a crutch’ in this sense. 15 Cambridge Idioms Dictionary (2006) includes ‘(your) ears must be burning’ in this sense. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 5 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings ey up▼ = hello (0:14:48 and another greeting he… is uh, “ey up, surry” (aye) (aye) “ey up, surry” (aye) […] (means ‘ey up, mate’ sort of thing, doesn’t it, ‘are you all right’ “ey up, mate”)) fag = cigarette (0:44:04 the windows as opened they were all across the top them little windows (yeah, sliders, yeah) in these buses and you’d go up you’d clunk clunk clunk everybody up in clogs colliers they’d fill chock-a-block full and all of them light a fag) fella = man (0:40:58 and we’d got a bloke named Arthur Hancock young fella as a winding engine man and uh he says, “we’ve got six more for come”) fetch = to bring (0:40:51 and they weren’t drawing any coal they just fetching miners up) fizzog = face, facial expression (0:03:30 sometimes my lady’ll say to me, “oh look at his bloody fizzog” in other words ‘he’s a miserable bugger’, like, (“look at his fizzog”) folk = people (0:10:18 the old folks’ll sit there (what you’re saying) when somebody else is on they’re looking up all the time waiting for number come up yet you don’t see them when I’m there) fore = before (0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to t’ young one, like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” you know (aye, yeah)) gansey = pullover, cardigan (0:45:13 what did you call your ‘jumpers’ your ‘ganseys’) Geordie = person from Newcastle upon Tyne (1:01:05 if a Scouser you you can hear a S… you hear a Scouser (oh you can, aye, yeah) talking you can tell a mile off a Brummy (very true) you can tell a Brummy Cockney just, you know, you can tell how they talk, can’t you, where they come from (the Geordies, aye) (Geordies) yeah, Geordies that’s another one) Gordon Bennett = exclamation expressing surprise/incredulity/frustration (0:34:12 if I remember rightly he kept dropping hisself a bollock and it was, “Gordon Bennett” and it referred to ever anybody’s dropped a clanger (say, “Gordon Bennett”) “Gordon Bennett”)) headlights∆ = female breasts (0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) good headlights on her as well (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) good headlights (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) well-endowed at the top end (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) (summat catch hold on)) hiding = beating, thrashing (0:54:12 damned good hiding (a bang on the door and you s… you knew who it was s… ’cause they usually come in the day)) Joey = threepenny bit in predecimal currency (0:26:52 (five shilling was a ‘dollar’) (yeah) what was a ‘Joey’ yeah (and ha… half-a-crown was ‘half-a-dollar’) (aye) (that’s right, isn’t it?) there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old […] (them little silver threepenny bits) threepenny bits that was right, aye, a ‘Joey') Kelly’s eye = humorous catchphrase commonly used in game of bingo to refer to number one (0:09:14 (go on what are they?) (well ‘legs’ ‘eleven’ and) (‘two fat ladies’ ‘eighty-eight’) (‘two fat ladies’) (and uh) ‘one little duck’ (‘number two’) (‘a duck’ ‘a duck on a crutch’ ‘twenty-seven’) (‘any road up’ ‘sixty-nine’) ‘Kelly’s eye’ (or) ‘Kelly’s eye’ (go on what’s the other one go on) ‘two can chew’ ‘sixty-nine’) legs eleven = humorous catchphrase commonly used in game of bingo to refer to number one (0:09:14 (go on what are they?) well ‘legs’ ‘eleven’ and (‘two fat ladies’ ‘eighty-eight’)‘two fat ladies’ (and uh) (‘one little duck’) (‘number two’) ‘a duck’ ‘a duck on a crutch’ ‘twenty-seven’ ‘any road up’ ‘sixty-nine’ (‘Kelly’s eye’) or (‘Kelly’s eye’) (go on what’s the other one go on) ‘two can chew’ ‘sixty-nine’) lobby16 = lobscouse, local dish consisting of meat stewed with vegetables (0:35:22 (oh her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck) thought her brought a bowl (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) (oh, lovely jubbly) I thought her’d got a b… bowl of lobby then; 0:36:23 for some reason uh everybody says, “oh, I’ll have a bowl of lobby” (“going have a bowl of lobby”) ’cause it wa… supposed it just an old thing as it warms you up, doesn’t it? (aye) (that’s right) yeah, but you’ve got have I should say dumplings in it if for make it a lobby if you haven’t got dumplings in it inna* lobby, is it? (no)) lovely jubbly = exclamation expressing delight/affirmation (0:35:22 oh, her’s come in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck (thought her brought a bowl) (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) oh, lovely jubbly (I thought her’d got a b… bowl of lobby then)) misery guts = miserable/irritable person (0:32:10 my youngest son calls me uh what’s-his-bloody-name uh misery guts […] oh, crimes of Paris [….] Meldrew (Victor Meldrew? 17))

16 Robert Nicholls’ Dialect Words & Phrases used in the Staffordshire (1934) includes ‘lobby’ in this sense. 17 Fictional character created by David Renwick (b.1951) and played by Scottish actor Richard Wilson (b.1936) in popular TV sit-com ‘One Foot in the Grave’, originally broadcast on BBC1 1990-2000. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 6 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings missus = wife (0:28:48 yesterday it was me eldest grand-daughter’s birthday and she lives in Leeds and she rang up last night and uh me missus answers, “hiya, grandma” I could hear her now any any the others, “nana”) muck = dung, manure (0:25:04 in fact the him as brings the muck here his gr… his uh father his grandfather lived next door to us) mug = face (0:03:12 (you can even say that as a ‘mug’ is somebody who’s uh easily took in) easily took in as well (’cause you’ll say w…, “he’s a bit of a mug, like”) “he’s a bit of a mug” (you know, which means he’s ‘easily led’ or something like that, isn’t it, you know) or a or, “she’s got an ugly mug” (yeah) (that’s another one, yeah)) mug = fool, gullible person (0:03:12 you can even say that as a ‘mug’ is somebody who’s uh easily took in (easily took in as well) ’cause you’ll say w…, “he’s a bit of a mug, like” (“he’s a bit of a mug”) you know, which means he’s ‘easily led’ or something like that, isn’t it, you know (or a or, “she’s got an ugly mug”) (yeah) that’s another one, yeah) my lady = wife (0:03:30 sometimes my lady’ll say to me, “oh look at his bloody fizzog” in other words ‘he’s a miserable bugger’, like, (“look at his fizzog”; 0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to t’ young one, like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” you know (aye, yeah); 0:55:02 you know what my lady always says (you can hear him snoring) my lady always says, “what’s been doing down there burning thy wellies?” sitting by the fire burning me wellies (burning your wellies) aye, “oh, he’s melted his wellies down there”) Neck End18 = local nickname for Longton (0:50:17 Tunstall Burslem Fenton Hanley Stoke and Longto… ‘Neck End’ they used to call Longton) ne’er = not a, no (0:56:27 well I always say if they’re talking about me they’re talking about ne’er bugger else (giving somebody else a rest) (that’s true, yeah) (are thy ears burning?)) naught = nothing (0:32:35 me s… me youngest son’ll ring up,“ey up, Victor” what’s up I’ve said naught; 0:58:39 you wouldn’t didn’t they’d never want buy you anything (no) they always wanted summat for naught) oh aye○ = yes, confirming or contradicting (0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) yeah, yeah (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) (mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother- in-law goes down t’ same club, see) oh aye, yeah (so her conna13 understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you?) get a bollocking off her, aye; 0:21:09 (if mother put uh a fire in the what did she call it ‘front room’) ‘front room’ (oh, yeah) (on a Sunday you always know you were going have visitors) oh aye, knew somebody was coming, aye; 0:25:37 (you took it in cans and ladled it out in half pints) oh aye (and pint ladles); 0:36:54 (warms you up, does it?) oh aye, it puts uh hair on your uh chest (does it really?); 0:41:57 (and the engine house was you could eat your snapping) oh, yeah (off the floor) oh aye (was it ke… they kept it clean?) (oh) (clean) (immaculate) oh spotless (immaculate) (every brass bit it was polished) (every brass and) (why was that?) (every) day (why did they take so much care over it?) (because they’d got keep the machine in tip-top condition ’cause it was a safety thing)) one little duck19 = humorous catchphrase commonly used in game of bingo to refer to number two (0:09:14 (go on what are they?) (well ‘legs’ ‘eleven’ and) (‘two fat ladies’ ‘eighty-eight’) (‘two fat ladies’) (and uh) ‘one little duck’ (‘number two’) (‘a duck’ ‘a duck on a crutch’ ‘twenty-seven’) (‘any road up’ ‘sixty-nine’) ‘Kelly’s eye’ (or) ‘Kelly’s eye’ (go on what’s the other one go on) ‘two can chew’ ‘sixty-nine’) our = affectionate term for family member (0:31:15 and a l… a lot of people used to refer to their brothers as ‘our kid’ (‘our kid’) (ah, yeah) (‘our kid’) (our kid’) ‘our kid’ (and ‘our wench’) never ever say “me brother” “our kid”) our kid = one’s brother (0:31:15 and a l… a lot of people used to refer to their brothers as ‘our kid’ (‘our kid’) (ah, yeah) (‘our kid’) (our kid’) ‘our kid’ (and ‘our wench’) never ever say “me brother” “our kid”) our wench⌂ = one’s sister (0:31:15 (and a l… a lot of people used to refer to their brothers as ‘our kid’) ‘our kid’ (ah, yeah) (‘our kid’) (our kid’) (‘our kid’) and ‘our wench’ (never ever say “me brother” “our kid”))

18 Robert Nicholls’ Dialect Words & Phrases used in the (1934) includes ‘Neck End’ as ‘Longton (place name)’. 19 Bingo Lingo (http://www.bingo-lingo.net/bingocalls.htm) includes ‘one little duck’ in this sense. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 7 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings parched = thirsty (0:37:13 (if you’re ‘hungry’ very hungry ‘clemmed’ “I’m clemmed”) “I’m clemmed”, aye (aye) (‘clemmed’ ‘clemmed’) (‘clemmed’) or if you’re ‘thirsty’ “I’m parched”) pigging = mild expletive equivalent to flipping/blinking (0:46:14 (was that when you’re visiting the women of the night up ?) yeah (old prossies) oh, when I was driving buses I used to see them every pigging night, oh God, hundreds of them) prossie = prostitute (0:46:14 (was that when you’re visiting the women of the night up Cobridge?) (yeah) old prossies (oh, when I was driving buses I used to see them every pigging night, oh God, hundreds of them)) put hair on one’s chest = expression used to encourage someone to eat/drink something considered unpleasant/unappetising (0:36:54 (warms you up, does it?) oh aye, it puts uh hair on your uh chest (does it really?)) quid = pound sterling (0:24:49 (how much muck does he bring on do you have a lot of muck done) […] yeah, twelve quid a load and it’s a good load, inna* it?) right = real, complete (0:34:25 ‘dropped a clanger’ when you’ve made a mistake (‘drop a gooly’) yeah, when you’ve made a mistake (oh dear) say, “oh, I’ve dropped a right bollock here”) road = way, direction (0:13:39 I was in the building trade and going out, say, Cheshire or the other road (yeah) if it’s talk like that nobody would understand what what you what you were on what you were doing; 0:25:13 (I bet you don’t call it ‘muck’ though boys, do you? (aye, ‘sh…’ ‘shit’ sometimes) (‘hor…’ ‘horse shit’ summat like that) […] we don’t call it ‘manure’ put it that road) same difference = the same thing, no difference (0:52:24 (you see you used ‘knackered’ there for ‘poorly’ but I’d use that for ‘tired’) it’s same difference, yeah) skelington○ = skeleton (0:37:29 (or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’) (‘bone-dry’) (“bloody bone-dry, my throat is”) (a bone, yeah) (you know, “bone-dry, my throat is”) (or it could be ‘bone-idle’) […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] (‘bone-idle’ yeah) because a skelington dunna* move, does it? (yes, possibly)) scouse = lobscouse, local dish consisting of meat stewed with vegetables (0:36:05 what would you call it ‘scouse’? (what?) ‘lobby’ no, I just call we just call it ‘lobby’) well ‘lobby’s uh in Liverpool language is ‘scouse’, isn’t it?) Scouser = person from Liverpool (1:01:05 if a Scouser you you can hear a S… you hear a Scouser (oh you can, aye, yeah) talking you can tell a mile off a Brummy (very true) you can tell a Brummy Cockney just, you know, you can tell how they talk, can’t you, where they come from (the Geordies, aye) (Geordies) yeah, Geordies that’s another one) scullery = back-kitchen (0:20:56 days gone by you used to call it ‘scullery’ […] (and my mother used to call it the ‘back-kitchen’ for some reason)) slack = refuse coal (0:26:05 I was on coal bagging 1963 I was only doing eighteen months of it but you could get a bag of slack for six shilling (I know)) slaphead = bald person (0:31:55 my children call me (‘slaphead’) ‘slaphead’) slash = act of urination (0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee; 1:00:14 ‘busting for a slash’ (aye) (‘slash’ that’s an old one) (‘busting for a slash’, yeah)) sling one’s hook = to go away, depart, leave (0:56:50 same as if you want somebody go away you ‘sling your hook’ (aye, yeah, or ‘sod off’) […] (or ‘banner off’) […] (when he comes down we usually tell him piss off)) snap = snack, packed lunch (0:43:53 they always used to carry their snap (snapping snapping underneath their arm) under their arm) snapping○ = snack, packed lunch (0:41:57 and the engine house was you could eat your snapping (oh, yeah) off the floor (oh aye) (was it ke… they kept it clean?) oh (clean) immaculate (oh spotless) immaculate (every brass bit it was polished) every brass and (why was that?) every day (why did they take so much care over it?) because they’d got keep the machine in tip-top condition ’cause it was a safety thing; 0:38:16 (no, I don’t want any more, ta, you you have one) no, I shanna13 eat any of me snapping) sod off = to go away, depart (0:56:50 (same as if you want somebody go away you ‘sling your hook’) aye, yeah, or ‘sod off’ […] (or ‘banner off’) […] (when he comes down we usually tell him piss off)) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 8 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings stuffed = full, well-fed (0:52:39 and same as when you’re you’re full up you’re ‘stuffed’, you know, you’ve had your big meal (I’ve had enough, “I’m stuffed”)) summat∆ = something (0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) summat catch hold on; 0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past in town or summat you always see hear them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know; 0:25:13 (I bet you don’t call it ‘muck’ though boys, do you? (aye, ‘sh…’ ‘shit’ sometimes) ‘hor…’ ‘horse shit’ summat like that […] (we don’t call it ‘manure’ put it that road); 0:46:48 my two lads now they’ll say if he if I’m getting me hair off or summat, you know, and and having a well I hanna13 got much anyway but uh I’m getting me hair off they’ll say, “oh, yeah, well, dad, whatever floats your boat”; 0:58:39 you wouldn’t didn’t they’d never want buy you anything (no) they always wanted summat for naught) surry○ = form of address (0:14:48 and another greeting he… is uh, “ey up, surry” (aye) (aye) “ey up, surry” (aye) […] (means ‘ey up, mate’ sort of thing, doesn’t it, ‘are you all right’ “ey up, mate”); 0:15:05 when I was young at Biddulph Biddulph Moor Biddulph everybody was going, “dost hear, surry?” (aye, “dost hear?”) when they’re getting your attention (yeah) ‘can you hear me?’) swede◊20 = person from Bristol (1:00:49 you know, if you’re in a pub or a bar and you’re talking to someone I try to guess (where they come from) what part the country they come from (aye, yeah) same as a swede’s from Bristol (yeah) and things like that, you know) ta = thanks you (0:38:16 no, I don’t want any more, ta, you you have one (no, I shanna13 eat any of me snapping)) tanner = sixpence in predecimal currency (0:26:21 same as old pounds shillings and pence we used to call them ‘tanners’ ([…] sixpence was a ‘tanner’) a ‘bob’ was a shilling) tenner = ten pounds sterling (0:57:31 (have you won much?) (no, not) no, not really (no) nothing (tenners) tenners and that but nothing nothing substantial, have we, else we wudna13 be here) two can chew♦21 = humorous catchphrase commonly used in game of bingo to refer to number sicty-nine (0:09:14 (go on what are they?) well ‘legs’ ‘eleven’ and (‘two fat ladies’ ‘eighty-eight’)‘two fat ladies’ (and uh) (‘one little duck’) (‘number two’) (‘a duck’ ‘a duck on a crutch’ ‘twenty-seven’) ‘any road up’ ‘sixty-nine’ (‘Kelly’s eye’) or (‘Kelly’s eye’) (go on what’s the other one go on) ‘two can chew’ ‘sixty- nine’) two fat ladies♦ = humorous catchphrase commonly used in game of bingo to refer to number eighty-eight (0:09:14 (go on what are they?) well ‘legs’ ‘eleven’ and (‘two fat ladies’ ‘eighty-eight’)‘two fat ladies’ (and uh) (‘one little duck’) (‘number two’) ‘a duck’ ‘a duck on a crutch’ ‘twenty-seven’ ‘any road up’ ‘sixty-nine’ (‘Kelly’s eye’) or (‘Kelly’s eye’) (go on what’s the other one go on) ‘two can chew’ ‘sixty- nine’) two fingers = V-sign used as coarse gesture of contempt/expletive (0:01:45 (is there any wolf-whistling goes on over here then or?) (um not really, does it?) used to do but not now (go on tell us about when it used to happen, Tony) (we’re old wolves) when, oh, used to see it when you were young and daft and uh they’d turn round look at you and more or less stick two fingers up) wakes = annual parish festival (0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody in the Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley; 0:49:46 and there used to be one down Westport Lake was called the Jam Jar Wakes (‘Jam Jar Wakes’ yeah) and if you wanted a ride on anything you’d take a jam jar) want = to need (0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I arena13 cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”) wench = girl (0:31:15 (and a l… a lot of people used to refer to their brothers as ‘our kid’) ‘our kid’ (ah, yeah) (‘our kid’) (our kid’) (‘our kid’) and ‘our wench’ (never ever say “me brother” “our kid”))

20 Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010) records ‘swede’ in sense of ‘ignorant country person’. 21 Urban Dictionary (online) records ‘two can chew’ as ‘how you say sixty-nine in Chinese’. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 9 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings whatever floats your boat◊22 = whatever turns you on, whatever satisfies you (0:46:48 my two lads now they’ll say if he if I’m getting me hair off or summat, you know, and and having a well I hanna* got much anyway but uh I’m getting me hair off they’ll say, “oh, yeah, well, dad, whatever floats your boat”) whatsits = thingy, thingummybob (0:41:34 he’d knocked all the whatsits off so as if he was drawing coal ’cause he copuld draw coal a hell of a lot faster than men) what’s-her-name = thingy, thingummybob (0:26:46 was that the what’s-her-name, Peter, one with the like a fifty pence piece) what’s-his-name = thingy, thingummybob (0:32:10 my youngest son calls me uh what’s-his-bloody-name23 uh misery guts […] oh, crimes of Paris [….] Meldrew (Victor Meldrew?17)) whip = slender branch of plant (0:18:02 how much whip was there on it? (how much?) whip (length) (length) (ta... tail end) (it werena13 very good at the bottom you mean?) yeah (oh, haven’t you seen it) no) wolf-whistle = distinctive whistle used by males to express sexual admiration for female (0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past in town or summat you always see hear them wolf- whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know) woman of the night = prostitute (0:46:14 was that when you’re visiting the women of the night up Cobridge? (yeah) (old prossies) (oh, when I was driving buses I used to see them every pigging night, oh God, hundreds of them)) PHONOLOGY

KIT [ɪ ~ ë] (0:11:50 you you know you get young ones same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones fifty [fëfti] sixty [sëksti] still [stɪɫ] talk a lot lot of them still [stɪɫ] talk very broa…, you know, very broad Pottery accent but the young ones don’t; 0:13:39 I was in the building trade [bɪɫdɪn tɹɛɪd] and going out, say, Cheshire or the other road (yeah) if it’s talk like that nobody would understand what what you what you were on what you were doing; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter [wëntə] when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee; 0:26:52 (five shilling [ʃɪlɪŋ] was a ‘dollar’) (yeah) (what was a ‘Joey’ yeah) (and ha… half-a- crown was ‘half-a-dollar’) (aye) (that’s right, isn’t it?) (there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old) […] them little [lɪʔɫ̩] silver [sɪlvə] threepenny bits [bɪts] (threepenny bits [bɪts] that was right, aye, a ‘Joey')) DRESS [ɛ > æ] (0:03:47 ‘rich’ means oh as you say (‘loaded’) you’re ‘loaded’ “oh, he’s loaded, he is”, you know, he’s got in other words ‘he’s got plenty money’ [plɛnti mʊni] “oh, he’s loaded,” you know “plenty money [plɛnti mʊni] he has, like”; 0:13:39 I was in the building trade and going out, say, Cheshire or the other road [ʧæʃɪɹ ɔː ði ʊðə ɾɔʊd] (yeah) if it’s talk like that nobody would understand what what you what you were on what you were doing; 0:30:35 they would read it better [bɛtə] than us because we know what they’re going to say but we can’t can’t read it; 0:42:13 the safety features on them are out of this world (yeah, yeah) and then they changed over to electric [ɪlɛktɹɪk] and there was more safety features on them; 0:55:02 you know what my lady always says (you can hear him snoring) my lady always says, “what’s been doing down there burning thy wellies?” [bɪːnɪn ðɪ wælɪz]) sitting by the fire burning my wellies [bɪːnɪn mɪ wælɪz] (burning your wellies [bɪːnɪn jə wælɪz]) aye, “oh, he’s melted his wellies down there” [əʊ ɪz mæɫtɪd ɪz wælɪz daʊn ðɛː])) TRAP [a] (0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were goinghave a slash [slaʃ] (yeah) I tell thee; 0:26:05 I was on coal bagging [kɔʊɫbagɪn] 1963 I was only doing eighteen months of it but you could get a bag of slack [bag ə slak] for six shilling (I know); 0:49:46 and there used to be one

22 See entry for ‘float one’s boat’. 23 The form ‘what’s-his-bloody-name’ results, presumably, from productive process of tmesis (c.f. ‘absobloodylutely’). http://sounds.bl.uk Page 10 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings down Westport Lake was called the Jam Jar Wakes [ʤam ʤɑː wɛɪks] (‘Jam Jar Wakes’ [ʤam ʤɑː wɛɪks] yeah) and if you wanted a ride on anything you’d take a jam jar [ʤam ʤɑː]) catch (0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) summat catch hold on [sʊmət kɛʧ ɛʊt ɒn]) canst (0:06:01 if you were at the table and uh for instance if you wanted salt and there was no salt there you’d say to a waitress, “uh, canst bring us some salt, duck?” [kɒst bɹɪŋ əs sʊm sɔːɫt dʊk] right she wouldn’t have a clue what you were on about so you say, “could I have some salt, please?”; 0:58:57 (and there’s that sentence something about a) “canst kick a ball against a wall and head it till thee burst it”11 [kɒst kɪk ə bɔʊ əgɛnst ə wɔʊ ən ɛd ɪt tɪɫ ðɪ bɒst ɪt] […] (“head it till it bursts”) (there’s another and all, “ghosts sitting on posts eating crusts out of their fists”)) LOT~CLOTH [ɒ] (0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off [fɾiːz jə kɒŋkəz ɒf] in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee; 0:21:22 mind you, that didn’t matter so much in this area because crockery [kɹɒkɹi] was (easy to get) no problem [nɔʊ pɹɒbləm]; 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody [ɛvɾɪbɒdi] in the Potteries [pɒtɹɪz] was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped [stɒpt] at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley) STRUT [ʊ] (0:21:09 (if mother put uh a fire in the what did she call it ‘front room’ [fɹʊnʔ ɹuːm]) ‘front room’ [fɹʊnʔ ɹuːm] (oh, yeah) (on a Sunday [sʊndɪ] you always know you were going have visitors) oh aye, knew somebody [sʊmbɒdɪ] was coming, [kʊmɪn] aye; 0:35:08 same as the other [ðʊðə] week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck [mʊk] come [kʊm] in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest [jʊŋgɪst] son [sʊn] come [kʊm] down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?” [astə gɒɾə fɔʊk lɛnd əz]; 0:52:39 and same as when you’re you’re full up [fʊl ʊp] you’re ‘stuffed’, [stʊft] you know, you’ve had your big meal (I’ve had enough, “I’m stuffed” [aɪm stʊft])) mother (0:21:09 if mother [mɒðə] put uh a fire in the what did she call it ‘front room’ (‘front room’) (oh, yeah) on a Sunday you always know you were going have visitors (oh aye, knew somebody was coming, aye)) ONE (0:06:20 if there is other Pottery people about that’s nothing [nʊθɪn] do with you they say, “which part of Stoke dost thee come from?”; 0:11:50 you you know you get young ones [jʊŋg ənz] same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing [nʊθɪn] like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones [ɔʊɫd ənz] fifty sixty still talk a lot lot of them still talk very broa…, you know, very broad Pottery accent but the young ones [jʊŋg ənz] don’t; 0:19:22 (the best I’ve ever had’s about five and half pound) now them are them are good ones, [gʊd ənz] yeah (hang go on say it again) (five and a half pound) each, yeah (but the world record I mean the world record is fifteen pound fourteen ounces); 0:20:56 (and we call we e… even ca… call used to call the kids our kids ‘little man’ even now we say, like, to the y… youngest one [wɒn] who’s fifteen we say, “has young one come in yet?” [az jʊŋg ən kʊm ɪn jɛt] or) aye, we refer (“has has big one come in yet?” [az bëg ən kʊm ɪn jɛt] you know) we refer to the ‘young one’ [jʊŋg ən] and all; 0:39:48 then once [wʊns] you’re on the pit bottom you used to get off you either go in the mine car; 0:44:29 one [wɒn] of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one [wɒn] of the lads says, “you want alittle scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”; 0:48:00 if you had the grey or brown ones [bɹaʊn wɒnz] (or the black ones [blak ənz]) (oh aye) (the black ones [blak ənz]) oh aye, the black ones [blak ənz] (the black ones [blak ənz]) (who had the white ones then here?) they’re posh (none [nɒn] of us) (none [nɒn] of us); 0:49:46 and there used to be one [wɒn] down Westport Lake was called the Jam Jar Wakes (‘Jam Jar Wakes’ yeah) and if you wanted a ride on anything you’d take a jam jar; 0:57:31 (have you won http://sounds.bl.uk Page 11 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings much?) (no, not) no, not really (no) nothing [nʊθɪn] (tenners) tenners and that but nothing [nɒθɪn] nothing [nʊθɪn] substantial, have we, else we wouldn’t be here) FOOT [ʊ] (0:17:55 he pulled [pʊɫd] this photograph out and said, “look at this, Porky, have you seen the size of this?” but we are on about parsnips by any chance by any way; 0:41:09 the bell rings he got these six and uh I stood [stʊd] at the top for let them out when they got to the top; 0:52:39 and same as when you’re you’re full up [fʊl ʊp] you’re ‘stuffed’, you know, you’ve had your big meal (I’ve had enough, “I’m stuffed”)) <-ook> (0:03:12 you can even say that as a ‘mug’ is somebody who’s uh easily took in [iːzəli tʉːk ën] (easily took in [iːzəli tʉːk ɪn] as well) ’cause you’ll say w…, “he’s a bit of a mug, like” (“he’s a bit of a mug”) you know, which means he’s ‘easily led’ or something like that, isn’t it, you know (or a or, “she’s got an ugly mug”) (yeah) that’s another one, yeah; 0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking [lʊkɪn] through the the I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look [lʊk] at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t; 0:17:55 he pulled this photograph out and said, “look [lʉːk] at this, Porky, have you seen the size of this?” but we are on about parsnips by any chance by any way; 0:35:22 oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, [lʉːk] come on you’re all right, duck (thought her brought a bowl) (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) oh, lovely jubbly (I thought her’d got a b… bowl of lobby then); 0:56:50 same as if you want somebody go away you ‘sling your hook’ [slɪŋ jəɾ ʉːk] (aye, yeah, or ‘sod off’) […] (or ‘banner off’) […] (when he comes down we usually tell him piss off)) BATH [a] (0:01:45 (is there any wolf-whistling goes on over here then or?) (um not really, does it?) used to do but not now (go on tell us about when it used to happen, Tony) (we’re old wolves) when, oh, used to see it when you were young and daft [daft] and uh they’d turn round look at you and more or less stick two fingers up; 0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past [past] and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past [past] in town or summat you always see hear them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know; 0:17:55 he pulled this photograph [fʌʊtəgɹaf] out and said, “look at this, Porky, have you seen the size of this?” but we are on about parsnips by any chance [ʧans] by any way) NURSE [əː ~ ɪː] (0:08:44 yeah, if you get burgled [bɪːgɫ̩d] they say, “oh, I been broke in some bu… somebody’s broke in my house” yeah, instead of ‘broke in’ (“broke”) “broke in” (“my house”) for “my house” aye) 0:19:22 the best I’ve ever had’s about five and half pound (now them are them are good ones, yeah) (hang go on say it again) five and a half pound (each, yeah) but the world record [wɪːɫd ɹɛkɔːd] I mean the world record [wɪːɫd ɹɛkɔːd] is fifteen pound fourteen ounces; 0:25:22 my first [fəːst] job was farming up Harriseahead Mow Cop (yeah) and I used to take milk all the way round from Harriseahead to Mow Cop school and uh I used to kn…, you know, get for know all people up there; 0:42:13 the safety features on them are out of this world [aʊt ə ðɪs wəːɫd] (yeah, yeah) and then they changed over to electric and there was more safety features on them) Burslem, burst, durst, weren’t (0:02:20 (so what about when you see somebody who’s ‘unattractive’?) (‘right ugly’) always say “oh, her’s busted, her is” [əːz bɒstɪd əːɾ ɪz] […] (‘face like a busted clog’ [fɛɪs laɪk ə bɒstɪd klɒg] […] a ‘clog’ is is uh a ‘shoe’ right and ‘busted’ [bɒstɪd] means ‘bursted’ [bɪːstɪd] like an unmade bed you know; 0:13:54 you know, say some of the places the towns “Kidsgrove” that’s ‘Kidsgrove’ (aye) (“Kidsgrove”) “Burslem” [bɒzləm] (yeah, ‘Burslem’ [bɪːzləm]) that’s ‘Burslem’ [bɪːzləm] […] (“Tunstall” which means ‘Tunstall’ “up Tunstall”) […] (“I’m just going up Hanley, duck” aye); 0:18:02 (how much whip was there on it?) how much? (whip) (length) (length) (ta... tail end) it weren’t [wɒnə] very good at the bottom you mean? (yeah) oh, haven’t you seen it (no); 0:50:17 Tunstall Burslem [bɒzləm] Fenton Hanley Stoke http://sounds.bl.uk Page 12 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings and Longto… ‘Neck End’ they used to call Longton; 0:58:57 (and there’s that sentence something about a) “canst kick a ball against a wall and head it till thee burst it”11 [kɒst kɪk ə bɔʊ əgɛnst ə wɔʊ ən ɛd ɪt tɪɫ ðɪ bɒst ɪt] […] (“head it till it bursts” [jɛd ɪt tɪɫ ɪt bɒsts]) (there’s another and all, “ghosts sitting on posts eating crusts out of their fists”); 0:58:30 another word have I said it, “durst be bound?” [dɒs bɪ bʊn] (go on what’s that?) […] ‘dare be bound’; 1:00:14 ‘busrting for a slash’ [bɒstɪɱ fəɹ a slaʃ] (aye) (‘slash’ that’s an old one) (‘busting for a slash’, [bɒstɪɱ fəɹ a slaʃ] yeah)) FLEECE [iː > ɪ] (0:10:06 well put it this way I’ve got to admit as uh they like it when I am there because of uh I speak [spɪk] clear; 0:14:48 and another greeting [gɹɪtɪn] he… is uh, “ey up, surry” (aye) (aye) “ey up, surry” (aye) […] (means [miːnz] ‘ey up, mate’ sort of thing, doesn’t it, ‘are you all right’ “ey up, mate”); 0:18:57 they reckon, you know, grow a good parsnip as a iron bar in your soil […] and keep [kɪp] on going round and round and deeper and deeper and deeper [dɪpəɹ ən dɪpəɹ ən dɪpə] […] put fine fine soil and sand in (just fine soil) and the parsnip follows that down; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ [fɾiːzɪŋ kɔʊɫd] used to freeze [fɾiːz] your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee [a tæɫ ði]; 0:35:08 same as the other week [wiːk] (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?”; 0:36:39 (anything) carrots parsnips (any any veg) whatever you’ve got in peas [piːz] bung it all in; 0:42:13 the safety features [sɛɪfti fiːʧəz] on them are out of this world (yeah, yeah) and then they changed over to electric and there was more safety features [sɛɪfti fiːʧəz] on them) been (0:16:35 uh it’s been [bɪn] it has been raining a lot, hasn’t it, been [bɪn] a bad year really (well we’re just waiting for it dry up a bit so we can get digging) get on the garden; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been [bɪn] there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”) he, stream, tea, thee (0:06:20 if there is other Pottery people about that’s nothing do with you they say, “which part of Stoke dost thee come from?” [wɪʧ paːt ə stəʊk dʊs ðɛɪ kʊm fɹɒm]; 0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” [ɛɪz gɒɹə gʊd bɛtəɹ ʊniənz] like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden put it tell you truth and your produce when you see it; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee [a tæɫ ði]; 0:53:21 he [ɛɪ] comes out with some bullshit, he does [iː dʊz] (plenty of bull shit down there); 0:55:25 they always have it, you know (“cup of tea” [kʊp ə tɛɪ]) […] “cup of tea” [kʊp ə tɛɪ] half past ten […] half past twelve dinner and half two first brew again first cup of tea [kʊp ə tiː]) for a brew again; 0:57:46 (‘running water slower than a river’?) (oh yeah, go on) ‘stream’ [stɹɛɪm] (‘brook’)) threepenny (0:26:52 (five shilling was a ‘dollar’) (yeah) what was a ‘Joey’ yeah (and ha… half-a- crown was ‘half-a-dollar’) (aye) (that’s right, isn’t it?) there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old […] (them little silver threepenny [θɹɛpni] bits) threepenny [θɹɪpni] bits that was right, aye, a ‘Joey') FACE [ɛɪ > eɪ > iː] (0:06:01 if you were at the table [teɪbɫ̩] and uh for instance if you wanted salt and there was no salt there you’d say [sɛɪ] to a waitress, [wɛɪtɹəs] “uh, canst bring us some salt, duck?” right she wouldn’t have a clue what you were on about so you say, [seɪ] “could I have some salt, please?”; 0:13:39 I was in the building trade [bɪɫdɪn tɹɛɪd] and going out, say, Cheshire or the other road (yeah) if it’s talk like that nobody would understand what what you what you were on what you were doing; 0:41:20 as soon as they rang off as all these men were in the cage [kɛɪʤ] dropped like a stone; 0:42:13 the safety features [sɛɪfti fiːʧəz] on them are out of this world (yeah, yeah) and then they changed [ʧɛɪnʒd] over to electric and there was more safety features [sɛɪfti fiːʧəz] on them; 0:55:14 (is it a good place to have a kip then down the greenhouse?) (it is until these come knocking on your windows and then they wake [wɛɪk] you up) you’ll lock the doors one of these days [diːz] (shouting for a cup of tea, you know)) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 13 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings always, <-day>, they (0:01:45 (is there any wolf-whistling goes on over here then or?) (um not really, does it?) used to do but not now (go on tell us about when it used to happen, Tony) (we’re old wolves) when, oh, used to see it when you were young and daft and uh they’d [ðɪd] turn round look at you and more or less stick two fingers up; 0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past in town or summat you always [ɔːwɪz] see hear them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know; 0:18:37 in a show they [ðɪ] do uh ta… uh measure them from top of the leaves, don’t they, [dəʊntði] from (yeah) right to the bottom of the whip; 0:21:09 if mother put uh a fire in the what did she call it ‘front room’ (‘front room’) (oh, yeah) on a Sunday [sʊndɪ] you always know you were going have visitors (oh aye, knew somebody was coming aye); 0:29:19 but it’s funny, that is, because my mother and dad I always [əʊwɪz] used to refer to them as ‘mam and ‘dad’ and yet my mother-in law and father-in-law I referred to them as ‘ma’ and ‘pa’; 0:41:09 the bell rings he got these six and uh I stood at the top for let them out when they [ðɪ] got to the top; 0:44:04 the windows as opened they were all across the top them little windows (yeah, sliders, yeah) in these buses and you’d go up you’d clunk clunk clunk everybody up in clogs colliers they’d [ðɪd] fill chock-a-block full and all of them light a fag; 0:55:25 they always [ɔːwɪz] have it, you know (“cup of tea”) […] “cup of tea” half past ten […] half past twelve dinner and half two first brew again first cup of tea for a brew again) PALM [ɑː] (0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I aren’t allowed drink more than a pint and half [paɪnʔ ən ɑːf] a night not now; 0:25:37 you took it in cans and ladled it out in half pints [ɑːf paːnts] (oh aye) and pint ladles; 0:28:48 yesterday it was my eldest grand-daughter’s birthday and she lives in Leeds and she rang up last night and uh my missus answers, “hiya, grandma” [haɪʲə gɹamɑː] I could hear her now any any the others, “nana”) can’t, shan’t (0:04:38 you automatically talk to to how you so wh… when you’re at home and then they say well, you know, look at you as if say, you know, can’t understand [kɒnəɹ ʊndəstand] what you on about; 0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down the same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her can’t understand [ɪː kɒnəɹ ʊndəstand] so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t [kɑːnt]; 0:31:26 ‘my mate’ (‘pals’) I would say (yeah, yeah) “oh, I’m just going I’m just going up nip up my mates a minute” (yeah) “shan’t be long, like” [ʃɒnə bɪ lɒŋ lɑːk]; 0:38:16 (no, I don’t want any more, ta, you you have one) no, I shan’t eat any of my snapping [ʃɒnəɹ iːt ɛni ə mi snapɪn]) father, half (past) (0:25:04 in fact the him as brings the muck here his gr… his uh father [fɑːðə] his grandfather [gɹaɱfɛɪðə] lived next door to us; 0:54:34 when I used come in, “you haven’t been school you wait till your bloody father [fɑːðə] comes in” (yeah) but my father [fɑːðə] wasn’t in very often so I got away with it most of the time; 0:55:25 they always have it, you know (“cup of tea”) […] “cup of tea” half past ten [ɛɪf past tɛn] […] half past twelve [ɛɪf past twæɫv] dinner and half two [ɛɪf tuː] first brew again first cup of tea for a brew again) THOUGHT [ɔː] (0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past [wɔːkɪm past] and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks [wɔːks] past in town or summat you always [ɔːwɪz] see hear them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know; 0:06:01 if you were at the table and uh for instance if you wanted salt [sɔːɫt] and there was no salt [sɔːɫt] there you’d say to a waitress, “uh, canst bring us some salt, duck?” [kɒst bɹɪŋ əs sʊm sɔːt dʊk] right she wouldn’t have a http://sounds.bl.uk Page 14 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings clue what you were on about so you say, “could I have some salt, please?” [kʊd aɪ hav sʊm sɔːɫt pliːz]; 0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking [tɔːkɪn] about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t) aught, brought, naught, thought (0:33:23 (or) I don’t know really it is more ‘babby’ than aught, [əʊt] isn’t it? (yeah, or same as me me and my lady we always say ’cause we look after our little my my nephew we always say ‘little man’); 0:35:22 (oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck) thought her brought a bowl [θɛʊd ə bɹɛʊt ə baʊɫ] (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) (oh, lovely jubbly) I thought [θɛʊʔ] her’d got a b… bowl of lobby then; 0:58:39 you wouldn’t didn’t they’d never want buy you anything (no) they always wanted summat for naught [nɛʊt]) ball, wall (0:58:57 (and there’s that sentence something about a) “canst kick a ball against a wall and head it till thee burst it”11 [kɒst kɪk ə bɔʊ əgɛnst ə wɔʊ ən ɛd ɪt tɪɫ ðɪ bɒst ɪt] […] (“head it till it bursts”) (there’s another and all, “ghosts sitting on posts eating crusts out of their fists”)) GOAT [ɔʊ > ʌʊ] (0:16:46 mine’s is on a bit of a slope [slɔʊp] and everything down the bottom end seems to had uh the most [mɔʊst] of the water and it hasn’t done too dow… uh too good at the bottom of the garden this year; 0:17:55 he pulled this photograph [fʌʊtəgɹaf] out and said, “look at this, Porky, have you seen the size of this?” but we are on about parsnips by any chance by any way; 0:37:29 or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’ [bɔʊndɹaɪ] (‘bone-dry’ [bɔʊndɹaɪ]) “bloody bone-dry, my throat is” [blʊdi bɔʊndɹaː maː θɹɔʊt ɪz] (a bone, [bɔʊn] yeah) you know, “bone-dry, my throat is” [bɔʊndɹaː maː θɹɔʊt ɪz] (or it could be ‘bone-idle’ [bɔʊn aɪdɫ̩]) […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] ‘bone-idle’ [bɔʊn aɪdɫ̩] yeah (because a skelington doesn’t move, does it?) (yes, possibly); 0:40:51 and they weren’t drawing any coal [kɔʊɫ] they just fetching miners up; 0:41:20 as soon as they rang off as all these men were in the cage dropped like a stone [stɔʊn]) bowl (0:35:22 (oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck) thought her brought a bowl [baʊɫ] (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) (oh, lovely jubbly) I thought [θɛʊʔ] her’d got a b… bowl of lobby [baʊl ə lɒbi] then; 0:36:23 for some reason uh everybody says, “oh, I’ll have a bowl of lobby” [bɔʊl ə lɒbi] (“going have a bowl of lobby” [bɔʊl ə lɒbi]) ’cause it wa… supposed it just an old thing as it warms you up, doesn’t it? (aye) (that’s right) yeah, but you’ve got have I should say dumplings in it if for make it a lobby if you haven’t got dumplings in it isn’t lobby, is it? (no)) broke, frozen, only (0:08:13 ‘brassic’s ‘skint’ yeah (“I’m broke” [ɒm bɹɒk]) means you’ve got no money or you’re ‘broke’ [bɹɒk] (yeah) (‘broke’?) […] “I’m broke this week” [am bɹɒk ðës wɪk]; 0:08:44 yeah, if you get burgled they say, “oh, I been broke in [bɹɒk ɪn] some bu… somebody’s broke in my house” [sʊmbɒdɪz bɹɒk ɪn mi aʊs] yeah, instead of ‘broke in’ [bɹəʊk ɪn] (“broke” [bɹɒk]) “broke in” [bɹɒk ɪn] (“my house”) for “my house” aye; 0:26:05 I was on coal bagging 1963 I was only [ɒni] doing eighteen months of it but you could get a bag of slack for six shilling (I know); 0:37:02 (what about words when you’re feeling ‘cold’? […]) ‘bloody frozen’ [blʊdi fɹɒzn̩]) don’t, going to (0:04:25 (caught thee on the hop now, haven’t they?) […] (he’s lost it now) he’d forgot what he was going to [gʊnə] say; 0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down the same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her can’t understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you [dʊnʔjə] (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:11:50 you you know you get young ones same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t [dʌʊnʔ] talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones fifty sixty still talk a lot lot of them still talk very broa…, you know, very broad Pottery accent but the young ones don’t [dʊnt]; 0:25:13 (I bet you don’t call it ‘muck’ though boys, do you? (aye, ‘sh…’ ‘shit’ sometimes) (‘hor…’ ‘horse shit’ summat like that) […] we don’t [dʊnʔ] call it ‘manure’ put it that road) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 15 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings go(ing) (0:13:39 I was in the building trade and going out, [gʌʊɪn aʊt] say, Cheshire or the other road (yeah) if it’s talk like that nobody would understand what what you what you were on what you were doing; 0:13:54 (you know, say some of the places the towns “Kidsgrove” that’s ‘Kidsgrove’) (aye) (“Kidsgrove”) (“Burslem”) yeah, ‘Burslem’ (that’s ‘Burslem’) […] “Tunstall” which means ‘Tunstall’ “up Tunstall” […] “I’m just going up Hanley, duck” [am ʤʊst gɨˑɪn ʊp anli dʊk] aye; 0:21:09 if mother put uh a fire in the what did she call it ‘front room’ (‘front room’) (oh, yeah) on a Sunday you always know you were going have visitors [jə wə gɨːn av vëzɪtəz] (oh aye, knew somebody was coming, aye); 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash [gɨˑɪn av ə slaʃ] (yeah) I tell thee; 0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” [am ʤʊst giːn luː] (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to the young one, like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” [av jə bɪn luː fɔː jə gʌʊ skʉːəɫ] you know (aye, yeah); 0:30:35 they would read it better than us because we know what they’re going to say [wɒt ðɛ gɨˑɪnt sɛɪ] but we can’t can’t read it; 0:31:26 ‘my mate’ (‘pals’) I would say (yeah, yeah) “oh, I’m just going [am ʤʊst gɪn] I’m just going up nip up my mates a minute” [am ʤʊst gɪn ʊp nɪp ʊp mɑː mɛɪts ə mɪnɪt] (yeah) “shan’t be long, like”; 0:56:05 (I’ve seen him down here, yeah) (he comes down but he goes [gʌʊz] fishing) he’s got nowhere else to go [guː] though, has he, George?) <-old> (0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) summat catch hold on [sʊmət kɛʧ ɛʊt ɒn]; 0:10:18 the old [ɔʊɫd] folks’ll sit there (what you’re saying) when somebody else is on they’re looking up all the time waiting for number come up yet you don’t see them when I’m there; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ [fɾiːzɪŋ kɔʊɫd] used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” [ɑ ɑːnə kɛʊd] (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”) no (0:18:02 how much whip was there on it? (how much?) whip (length) (length) (ta... tail end) (it weren’t very good at the bottom you mean?) yeah (oh, haven’t you seen it) no [naː]) <-ow>, plimsolls, so (0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window [wëndə] I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t; 0:18:57 they reckon, you know, grow a good parsnip as a iron bar in your soil […] and keep on going round and round and deeper and deeper and deeper […] put fine fine soil and sand in (just fine soil) and the parsnip follows [fɒləz] that down; 0:21:22 mind you, that didn’t matter so much [sə mʊʧ] in this area because crockery was (easy to get) no problem; 0:21:57 didn’t so much [sə mʊʧ] call it the ‘lounger’ (no) did you, it was always, “go and ju… oh go s… sit on the sofa you’re all right” ‘on the sofa’, aye (and she didn’t like it) no (did she, Sophie) no; 0:35:40 are you in tomorrow, duck? [ɑː jɪn təmɒɹə dʊk]; 0:40:58 and we’d got a bloke named Arthur Hancock young fellow [fɛlə] as a winding engine man and uh he says, “we’ve got six more for come”; 0:43:35 the posh word for it’s ‘plimsolls’ [plɪmsəɫz] (‘plimsolls’ [plɪmsəɫz]) (‘plimsolls’ [plɪmsəɫz]) (aye, that come after, didn’t it?); 0:44:04 the windows [wɪndəz] as opened they were all across the top them little windows [wëndəz] (yeah, sliders, yeah) in these buses and you’d go up you’d clunk clunk clunk everybody up in clogs colliers they’d fill chock-a-block full and all of them light a fag) GOOSE [uː] (0:55:25 they always have it, you know (“cup of tea”) […] “cup of tea” half past ten […] half past twelve dinner and half two [ɛɪf tuː] first brew [bɹuː] again first cup of tea for a brew again; 0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” [am ʤʊst giːn luː] (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to the young one, like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” [av jə bɪn luː fɔː jə gəʊ skʉːəɫ] you know (aye, yeah)) Blackpool, school (0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to the young one, like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” [av jə bɪn luː fɔː http://sounds.bl.uk Page 16 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings jə gəʊ skʉːəɫ] you know (aye, yeah); 0:25:22 my first job was farming up Mow Cop Harriseahead Mow Cop (yeah) and I used to take milk all the way round from Harriseahead to Mow Cop school [maʊ kɒp skʉːɫ] and uh I used to kn…, you know, get for know all people up there; 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool [blakpʉːɫ] I think everybody in the Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley) produce (0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden put it tell you truth and your produce [pɹɒdjʊs] when you see it) you (0:04:38 you automatically talk to to how you so wh… when you’re at home and then they say well, you know, look at you as if say, you know, can’t understand what you on about [kɒnəɹ ʊndəstand wɒʔ jɒn əbaʊʔ]; 0:15:05 when I was young at Biddulph Biddulph Moor Biddulph everybody was going, “dost hear, surry?” (aye, “dost hear?”) when they’re getting your attention (yeah) ‘can you hear me?’ [kan jɪː mɪ]; 0:35:40 are you in tomorrow, duck? [ɑː jɪn təmɒɹə dʊk]; 0:39:48 then once you’re on the pit bottom you used to [jə juːstə] get off you either [jaɪðə] go in the mine car; 0:48:09 my mother always used to buy mine at the start the holidays the big school holidays you had a pair of pumps [jad ə pɛːɾ ə pʊmps] (aye) as’d last you [jə] for the holiday; 0:55:14 (is it a good place to have a kip then down the greenhouse?) it is until these come knocking on your windows and then they wake you up [ðɪ wɛɪk jʊp] (you’ll lock the doors one of these days (shouting for a cup of tea, you know)) PRICE [aɪ ~ aː > ɑː] (0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) good headlights [gʊd ɛdlaɪts] on her as well (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) good headlights [gʊd ɛdlaːts] (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) well-endowed at the top end (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) (summat catch hold on); 0:10:06 well put it this way I’ve got to admit as uh they like [lɑːk] it when I am there because of uh I speak clear; 0:25:37 you took it in cans and ladled it out in half pints [ɑːf paːnts] (oh aye) and pint ladles [paɪnt lɛɪdɫ̩z]; 0:37:29 or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’ [bɔʊndɹaɪ] (‘bone-dry’ [bɔʊndɹaɪ]) “bloody bone-dry, [bɔʊndɹaː] my throat is” (a bone, yeah) you know, “bone-dry, [bɔʊndɹaː] my throat is” (or it could be ‘bone-idle’ [bɔʊn aɪdɫ̩]) […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] ‘bone-idle’ [bɔʊn aɪdɫ̩] yeah (because a skelington doesn’t move, does it?) (yes, possibly); 0:46:14 (was that when you’re visiting the women of the night up Cobridge?) yeah (old prossies) oh, when I was driving buses [dɹɑːvɪm bʊzɪz] I used to see them every pigging night, [naɪt] oh God, hundreds of them; 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody in the Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight [fɔːtnaɪt] (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley) admire, fire (0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden [jəɹ admaːɹ iːʧ ʊðəz gɑːdn̩] put it tell you truth and your produce when you see it; 0:55:02 you know what my lady always says (you can hear him snoring) my lady always says, “what’s been doing down there burning thy wellies?” sitting by the fire [faɪə] burning my wellies (burning your wellies) aye, “oh, he’s melted his wellies down there”) <-ight> (0:02:20 (so what about when you see somebody who’s ‘unattractive’?) ‘right ugly’ [ɹɛɪt ʊgli] (always say “oh, her’s bursted, her is”) […] (‘face like a bursted clog’) […] (a ‘clog’ is is uh a ‘shoe’ right [ɹaɪʔ] and ‘bursted’ means ‘bursted’ like an unmade bed you know); 0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out last night [nɛɪt] (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I aren’t allowed drink more than a pint and half a night [naɪt] not now; 0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and first thing he says to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?” [at ɔʊɹɛɪt]; 0:26:52 (five shilling was a ‘dollar’) (yeah) what was a ‘Joey’ yeah (and ha… half-a-crown was ‘half-a-dollar’) (aye) (that’s right, isn’t

http://sounds.bl.uk Page 17 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings it?) there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old […] (them little silver threepenny bits) threepenny bits that was right, [ɹɛɪt] aye, a ‘Joey') my, thy (0:08:44 yeah, if you get burgled they say, “oh, I been broke in some bu… somebody’s broke in my house” [mi aʊs] yeah, instead of ‘broke in’ (“broke”) “broke in” (“my house” [mi aɪs]) for “my house” [mi aɪs] aye; 0:25:22 my [mɪ] first job was farming up Mow Cop Harriseahead Mow Cop (yeah) and I used to take milk all the way round from Harriseahead to Mow Cop school and uh I used to kn…, you know, get for know all people up there; 0:28:48 yesterday it was my [mi] eldest grand-daughter’s birthday and she lives in Leeds and she rang up last night and uh my [mɪ] missus answers, “hiya, grandma” I could hear her now any any the others, “nana”; 0:31:15 and a l… a lot of people used to refer to their brothers as ‘our kid’ (‘our kid’) (ah, yeah) (‘our kid’) (our kid’) ‘our kid’ (and ‘our wench’) never ever say “my brother” [mɪ bɹʊðə] “our kid”; 0:31:26 ‘my mate’ [mɑː mɛɪt] (‘pals’) I would say (yeah, yeah) “oh, I’m just going I’m just going up nip up my [mɑː] mates a minute” (yeah) “shan’t be long, like”; 0:34:44 (the word you use for y…your ‘tools’ or your your vegetables or) (‘tackle’) (‘tackle’, aye) “hast got thy tackle with thee?” [ast gɒt ðɪ tatɫ̩ wɪð ði]; 0:35:08 same as the other week (“hast got thy fork?” [ast gɒt ðɪ fɔʊk]) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?”; 0:38:16 (go on ‘snapping’ what’s ‘snapping’?) food (your food) (food) (food?) (yeah) thee’st got some in thy hand [ðɪs gɒt sʊm ɪn ði and]; 0:54:34 when I used come in, “you haven’t been school you wait till your bloody father comes in” (yeah) but my [mi] father wasn’t in very often so I got away with it most of the time) CHOICE [ɔɪ] (0:18:57 they reckon, you know, grow a good parsnip as a iron bar in your soil [sɔɪɫ] […] and keep on going round and round and deeper and deeper and deeper […] put fine fine soil [sɔɪɫ] and sand in (just fine soil [sɔɪɫ]) and the parsnip follows that down; 0:54:51 I knew they’d point [pɔɪnt] at me I knew they’d point [pɔɪnt] at me) MOUTH [aʊ > aː > aɪ > ɛʊ] (0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past in town [taʊn] or summat you always see hear them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know; 0:08:44 yeah, if you get burgled they say, “oh, I been broke in some bu… somebody’s broke in my house” [mi aʊs] yeah, instead of ‘broke in’ (“broke”) “broke in” (“my house” [mi aɪs]) for “my house” [mi aɪs] aye; 0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out [aːʔ] last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I aren’t allowed [əlaʊd] drink more than a pint and half a night not now [naʊ]; 0:19:22 the best I’ve ever had’s about [əbɛʊt] five and half pound [paʊnd] (now them are them are good ones, yeah) (hang go on say it again) five and a half pound [paʊnd] (each, yeah) but the world record I mean the world record is fifteen pound [paʊnd] fourteen ounces [aʊnsɪz]; 0:51:49 any powder [paɪdə] soap powder [səʊp paɪdə] Beechams Powder24 [biːʧəmz paɪdə] (powder [paɪdə] powders, [paɪdəz] aye) custard powder, [kʊstəd paɪdə] isn’t there?; 0:55:14 (is it a good place to have a kip then down the greenhouse?) (it is until these come knocking on your windows and then they wake you up) (you’ll lock the doors one of these days shouting [ʃaɪtɪn] for a cup of tea, you know) bound (0:58:30 another word have I said it, “durst be bound?” [dɒs bɪ bʊn] (go on what’s that?) […] ‘dare be bound’ [dɛː bɪ baʊnd]) our (0:31:15 and a l… a lot of people used to refer to their brothers as ‘our kid’ [aː kɪd] (‘our kid’ [aː kɪd]) (ah, yeah) (‘our kid’ [aʊə kɪd]) (our kid’ [aː kɪd]) ‘our kid’ [aː kɪd] (and ‘our wench’)

24 Popular over-the-counter cold and flu remedy produced by Beecham Group, British pharmaceutical company founded 1859 now part of GlaxoSmithKline. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 18 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings never ever say “me brother” “our kid” [aː kɪd]; 0:54:12 I used to bob school regular and the School Board man was regular at our house [ɑːɹ aʊs]) <-house> (0:18:13 are you getting it out now? (I’ll get it out now) (aye, you show me yours and I’ll show you mine) good job’s the pit house lady [pɪtəs lɛɪdi] isn’t looking) NEAR [ɪə > ɪː] (0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past in town or summat you always see hear [ɪə] them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know; 0:10:06 well put it this way I’ve got to admit as uh they like it when I am there because of uh I speak clear [klɪə]; 0:15:05 when I was young at Biddulph Biddulph Moor Biddulph everybody was going, “dost hear, surry?” [dʊst ɪə sʊɹi] (aye, “dost hear?” [dʊst ɪə]) when they’re getting your attention (yeah) ‘can you hear me?’ [kan jɪː mɪ]; 0:16:35 uh it’s been it has been raining a lot, hasn’t it, been a bad year [jɪː] really [ɹɪːli] (well we’re just waiting for it dry up a bit so we can get digging) get on the garden; 0:25:04 in fact the him as brings the muck here [ɪə] his gr… his uh father his grandfather lived next door to us) SQUARE [ɛː] (0:01:29 “her’s fit, her is” (aye, that’s right) or “her’s smart” (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) big pair of baps [bɪg pɛːɾ ə baps] he means yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) yeah (yeah) (summat catch hold on); 0:21:22 mind you, that didn’t matter so much in this area [ɛːɹiə] because crockery was (easy to get) no problem; 0:48:09 my mother always used to buy mine at the start the holidays the big school holidays you had a pair of pumps [ə pɛːɾ ə pʊmps] (aye) as’d last you for the holiday) there (0:06:20 if there is [ɪf ði ɪz] other Pottery people about that’s nothing do with you they say, “which part of Stoke dost thee come from?”; 0:10:18 the old folks’ll sit there [ðɛː] (what you’re saying) when somebody else is on they’re looking up all the time waiting for number come up yet you don’t see them when I’m there [ðɛː]; 0:21:29 used have to leave the the door ajar a bit if there hadn’t been [ɪf ði adn̩t bɪn] a fire in ’cause smoke used to come back instead; 0:51:49 any powder soap powder Beechams Powder24 (powder powders, aye) custard powder, isn’t there? [ɪntði]; 0:53:21 (he comes out with some bullshit, he does) plenty of bull shit down there [daːn ðɪə]; 0:55:02 you know what my lady always says (you can hear him snoring) my lady always says, “what’s been doing down there burning thy wellies?” [wɒts duːɪn ðɪə bɪːnɪn ðɪ wælɪz]) sitting by the fire burning my wellies (burning your wellies) aye, “oh, he’s melted his wellies down there” [əʊs ɪz mæɫtɪd ɪz wælɪz daʊn ðɛː]))

START [ɑː ~ ɒː > aː] (0:01:29 “her’s fit, her is” (aye, that’s right) or “her’s smart” [ɪːz smaːt] (‘smart’ [smaːt]) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) big pair of baps he means yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) yeah (yeah) (summat catch hold on); 0:06:20 if there is other Pottery people about that’s nothing do with you they say, “which part [paːt] of Stoke dost thee come from?”; 0:16:35 uh it’s been it has been raining a lot, hasn’t it, been a bad year really (well we’re just waiting for it dry up a bit so we can get digging) get on the garden [gɒːdɪn]; 0:36:39 (anything) carrots parsnips [pɒːsnɪps] (any any veg) whatever you’ve got in peas bung it all in; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” [skɑːf] (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” [skɑːf] he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”) 0:49:46 and there used to be one down Westport Lake was called the Jam Jar Wakes [ʤam ʤɑː wɛɪks] (‘Jam Jar Wakes’ [ʤam ʤɑː wɛɪks] yeah) and if you wanted a ride on anything you’d take a jam jar [ʤam ʤɑː]) art (0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and first thing he says to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?” [at ɔʊɹɛɪt]) NORTH [ɔː] http://sounds.bl.uk Page 19 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings (0:19:22 the best I’ve ever had’s about five and half pound (now them are them are good ones, yeah) (hang go on say it again) five and a half pound (each, yeah) but the world record [wɪːɫd ɹɛkɔːd] I mean the world record [wɪːɫd ɹɛkɔːd] is fifteen pound fourteen ounces; 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody in the Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight [fɔːtnaɪt] (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley) fork (0:35:08 same as the other week (“hast got thy fork?” [ast gɒt ðɪ fɔʊk]) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?” [astə gɒɾə fɔʊk lɛnd əz]) or (0:01:45 (is there any wolf-whistling goes on over here then or?) (um not really, does it?) used to do but not now (go on tell us about when it used to happen, Tony) (we’re old wolves) when, oh, used to see it when you were young and daft and uh they’d turn round look at you and more or less [mɔːɹ ə lɛs] stick two fingers up; 0:04:10 that’s another one, “he isn’t short” (“he isn’t short he’s not short” ‘not short’) “he isn’t short of a bob or two” [iː ɪnə ʃɔːt əɹ ə bɒb ə tʉː]) FORCE [ɔː] (0:25:04 in fact the him as brings the muck here his gr… his uh father his grandfather lived next door [nɛkst dɔː] to us; 0:41:57 and the engine house was you could eat your snapping (oh, yeah) off the floor [flɔː] (oh aye) (was it ke… they kept it clean?) oh (clean) immaculate (oh spotless) immaculate (every brass bit it was polished) every brass and (why was that?) every day (why did they take so much care over it?) because they’d got keep the machine in tip-top condition ’cause it was a safety thing) CURE [ʊə] 0:25:13 (I bet you don’t call it ‘muck’ though boys, do you? (aye, ‘sh…’ ‘shit’ sometimes) (‘hor…’ ‘horse shit’ summat like that) […] we don’t call it ‘manure’ [mənjʊə] put it that road) poorly (0:51:24 “he won’t be going to school today he’s poorly” [puːli]) happY [i] (0:03:47 ‘rich’ means oh as you say (‘loaded’) you’re ‘loaded’ “oh, he’s loaded, he is”, you know, he’s got in other words ‘he’s got plenty money’ [plɛnti mʊni] “oh, he’s loaded,” you know “plenty money [plɛnti mʊni] he has, like”; 0:11:50 you you know you get young ones same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones fifty [fëfti] sixty [sëksti] still talk a lot lot of them still talk very [vɛɾi] broa…, you know, very [vɛɾi] broad Pottery [pɒtɹi] accent but the young ones don’t; 0:37:13 if you’re ‘hungry’ [hʊŋgɹi] very hungry [vɛɹi ʊŋgɹi] ‘clemmed’ “I’m clemmed” (“I’m clemmed”, aye) aye (‘clemmed’ ‘clemmed’) ‘clemmed’ (or if you’re ‘thirsty’ [θəːsti] “I’m parched”)) lettER [ə > ë] (0:18:57 they reckon, you know, grow a good parsnip as a iron bar in your soil […] and keep on going round and round and deeper and deeper and deeper [dɪpəɹ ən dɪpəɹ ən dɪpə] […] put fine fine soil and sand in (just fine soil) and the parsnip follows that down; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off [fɾiːz jə kɒŋkəz ɒf] in winter [wëntə] when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee; 0:28:48 yesterday it was my eldest grand-daughter’s [gɹandɔːtəz] birthday and she lives in Leeds and she rang up last night and uh my missus answers, [ansëz] “hiya, grandma” I could hear her now any any the others, “nana”; 0:42:13 the safety features [sɛɪfti fiːʧəz] on them are out of this world (yeah, yeah) and then they changed over to electric and there was more safety features [sɛɪfti fiːʧəz] on them; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older” [ɔʊɫdë]) <-shire> (0:13:39 I was in the building trade and going out, say, Cheshire or the other road [ʧæʃɪɹ ɔː ði ʊðə ɾɔʊd] (yeah) if it’s talk like that nobody would understand what what you what you were on what you were doing) commA [ə > ë]

http://sounds.bl.uk Page 20 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings (0:21:22 mind you, that didn’t matter so much in this area [ɛːɹiə] because crockery was (easy to get) no problem; 0:44:54 used to wear about two sets of coats (oh aye) balaclava [baləklɑːvë] then the pit helmet on) nana (0:28:48 yesterday it was my eldest grand-daughter’s birthday and she lives in Leeds and she rang up last night and uh my missus answers, “hiya, grandma” I could hear her now any any the others, “nana” [nanɑː]) sofa (0:21:57 didn’t so much call it the ‘lounger’ (no) did you, it was always, “go and ju… oh go s… sit on the sofa [sɔʊfi] you’re all right” ‘on the sofa’, [sɔʊfi] aye (and she didn’t like it) no (did she, Sophie) no) horsES [ɪ] (0:19:22 the best I’ve ever had’s about five and half pound (now them are them are good ones, yeah) (hang go on say it again) five and a half pound (each, yeah) but the world record I mean the world record is fifteen pound fourteen ounces [aʊnsɪz]; 0:46:14 (was that when you’re visiting the women of the night up Cobridge?) yeah (old prossies) oh, when I was driving buses [bʊzɪz] I used to see them every pigging night, oh God, hundreds of them) startED [ɪ] (0:24:57 it was so broad it you sounded [saʊndɪd] like a foreign language (yeah) (yeah) couldn’t understand a word on it (yeah); 0:49:46 and there used to be one down Westport Lake was called the Jam Jar Wakes (‘Jam Jar Wakes’ yeah) and if you wanted [wɒntɪd] a ride on anything you’d take a jam jar) mornING [ɪ] (0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ [fɾiːzɪŋ kɔʊɫd] used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee; 0:46:14 (was that when you’re visiting [vɪzɪtɪn] the women of the night up Cobridge?) yeah (old prossies) oh, when I was driving buses [dɹɑːvɪm bɪz] I used to see them every pigging [pɪgɪn] night, oh God, hundreds of them)

ZERO RHOTICITY

PLOSIVES

T word final T-glottaling (0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out [aːʔ] last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I aren’t allowed drink more than a pint and half [paɪnʔ ən ɑːf] a night not [nɒʔ] now; 0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth [wɒʔn̩ əːθ] are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t; 0:15:12 so it’s like target [taːgɪʔ] your attention or something; 0:35:22 (oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck [jəɹ ɔː ɹaːʔ dʊk]) thought her brought a bowl (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) (oh, lovely jubbly) I thought [θɛʊʔ] her’d got a b… bowl of lobby then) word medial & syllable initial T-glottaling (0:26:52 (five shilling was a ‘dollar’) (yeah) (what was a ‘Joey’ yeah) (and ha… half-a-crown was ‘half-a-dollar’) (aye) (that’s right, isn’t it?) (there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old) […] them little [lɪʔɫ̩] silver threepenny bits (threepenny bits that was right, aye, a ‘Joey'); 0:37:29 (or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’) (‘bone-dry’) (“bloody bone- dry, my throat is”) (a bone, yeah) (you know, “bone-dry, my throat is”) (or it could be ‘bone-idle’) […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] (‘bone-idle’ yeah) because a skelington [skɛlɪnʔn̩] doesn’t move, does it? (yes, possibly); 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little [lɪʔɫ̩] scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”) frequent T-tapping (e.g. 0:11:50 you you know you get young ones same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones fifty sixty still talk a lot lot of them [lɒɾ əv əm] still talk very broa…, you know, very broad Pottery accent but the young ones http://sounds.bl.uk Page 21 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings don’t; 0:35:08 same as the other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?” [astə gɒɾə fɔʊk lɛnd əz]; 0:36:01 (it’s got to have dumplings in, [ɪts gɒɾav dʊmplɪnz ɪn] hasn’t it?) it’s got to have barley in [ɪts gɒɾav bɑːli ɪn] handful of barley in; 0:36:39 (anything) carrots parsnips (any any veg) whatever [wɒɾɛvə] you’ve got in peas bung it all in; 0:41:09 the bell rings he got these six and uh I stood at the top for let them out [fə lɛɾ əm aʊt] when they got to the top; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older” [wɛn jə gɛɾ ɔʊɫdë]) T-voicing (0:03:12 you can even say that as a ‘mug’ is somebody who’s uh easily took in (easily took in as well) ’cause you’ll say w…, “he’s a bit of a mug, like” [iːz ə bɪd əv ə mʊg lɑːk] (“he’s a bit of a mug”) you know, which means he’s ‘easily led’ or something like that, isn’t it, you know (or a or, “she’s got an ugly mug”) (yeah) that’s another one, yeah) frequent T-to-R (e.g. 0:10:06 well put it this way [pʊɹɪʔ ðɪs wɛɪ] I’ve got to admit [av gɒɹə admɪt] as uh they like it when I am there because of uh I speak clear; 0:15:05 when I was young at Biddulph Biddulph Moor Biddulph everybody was going, “dost hear, surry?” (aye, “dost hear?”) when they’re getting [gɛɹɪn] your attention (yeah) ‘can you hear me?’; 0:16:35 uh it’s been it has been raining a lot, hasn’t it, been a bad year really (well we’re just waiting for it dry up a bit so we can get digging) get on the garden [gɛɹ ɒn ðə gɒːdɪn]; 0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” [ɛɪz gɒɹə gʊd bɛtəɹ ʊniənz] like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden put it tell you truth and your produce when you see it; 0:26:05 I was on coal bagging 1963 I was only doing eighteen months of it but you could get a bag of slack [gɛɹə bag ə slak] for six shilling (I know); 0:35:22 (oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck) thought her brought a bowl (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) (oh, lovely jubbly) I thought her’d got a b… bowl of lobby [a θɛʊʔ əd gɒɹə bɔʊl ə lɒbi] then; 0:36:39 (anything) carrots parsnips (any any veg) whatever you’ve got in [wɒɾɛvə jəv gɒɹ ën] peas bung it all in) debuccalisation of word final T (0:51:05 ‘chuffed’ means, “oh, dead chuffed with that” [dɛd ʧʊft wɪ ðaʰ] you know, ‘pleased with that’, like, sort of thing)

NASALS

NG frequent velar nasal plus (e.g. 0:11:50 you you know you get young ones [jʊŋg ənz] same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones [ɔʊɫd ənz] fifty sixty still talk a lot lot of them still talk very broa…, you know, very broad Pottery accent but the young ones [jʊŋg ənz] don’t; 0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and first thing [θɪŋg] he says to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?”; 0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to the young one, [jʊŋg ən] like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” you know (aye, yeah); 0:34:12 if I remember rightly he kept dropping hisself a bollock and it was, “Gordon Bennett” and it referred to ever anybody’s dropped a clanger [dɹɒpt ə klaŋgə] (say, “Gordon Bennett”) “Gordon Bennett”); 0:36:39 (anything) carrots parsnips (any any veg) whatever you’ve got in peas bung it all in [bʊŋg ɪt ɔːl ën]; 0:41:57 and the engine house was you could eat your snapping (oh, yeah) off the floor (oh aye) (was it ke… they kept it clean?) oh (clean) immaculate (oh spotless) immaculate (every brass bit it was polished) every brass and (why was that?) every day (why did they take so much care over it?) because they’d got keep the machine in tip-top condition ’cause it was a safety thing [θɪŋg]) frequent NG-fronting (e.g. 0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking [lʊkɪn] through the the window I can hear her making [mɛɪkɪn] a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking [tɔːkɪn] about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t; 0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and first thing he says to you in a morning [mɔːnɪn] when he sees http://sounds.bl.uk Page 22 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings you, “art all right?”; 0:13:39 I was in the building trade [bɪɫdɪn tɹɛɪd] and going out, [gʌʊɪn aʊt] say, Cheshire or the other road (yeah) if it’s talk like that nobody would understand what what you what you were on what you were doing [duːɪn]; 0:16:35 (uh it’s been it has been raining [ɹɛɪnɪn] a lot, hasn’t it, been a bad year really) well we’re just waiting [wɛɪtɪn] for it dry up a bit so we can get digging [dɪgɪn] (get on the garden))

N frequent syllabic N with nasal release (e.g. 0:06:01 if you were at the table and uh for instance if you wanted salt and there was no salt there you’d say to a waitress, “uh, canst bring us some salt, duck?” right she wouldn’t [wʊdn̩t] have a clue what you were on about so you say, “could I have some salt, please?”; 0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t [kʊdn̩t] understand me like you can’t; 0:16:46 mine’s is on a bit of a slope and everything down the bottom end seems to had uh the most of the water and it hasn’t done too dow… uh too good at the bottom of the garden [gɑːdn̩] this year; 0:21:29 used have to leave the the door ajar a bit if there hadn’t been [ɪf ði adn̩t bɪn] a fire in ’cause smoke used to come back instead; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t [adn̩ʔ] been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”)

FRICATIVES

H frequent H-dropping (e.g. 0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) good headlights [ɛdlaɪts] on her as well (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) good headlights [ɛdlaːts] (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) well-endowed at the top end (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) (summat catch hold on [sʊmət kɛʧ ɛʊt ɒn]); 0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I aren’t allowed drink more than a pint and half [paɪnʔ ən ɑːf] a night not now; 0:15:05 when I was young at Biddulph Biddulph Moor Biddulph everybody was going, “dost hear, surry?” [dʊst ɪə sʊɹi] (aye, “dost hear?” [dʊst ɪə]) when they’re getting your attention (yeah) ‘can you hear me?’ [kan jɪː mɪ]; 0:25:37 you took it in cans and ladled it out in half pints [ɑːf paːnts] (oh aye) and pint ladles; 0:41:57 and the engine house [ɛnʤɪn aʊs] was you could eat your snapping (oh, yeah) off the floor (oh aye) (was it ke… they kept it clean?) oh (clean) immaculate (oh spotless) immaculate (every brass bit it was polished) every brass and (why was that?) every day (why did they take so much care over it?) because they’d got keep the machine in tip-top condition ’cause it was a safety thing; 0:44:54 used to wear about two sets of coats (oh aye) balaclava then the pit helmet [pɪt ɛɫmɪt] on; 0:46:14 (was that when you’re visiting the women of the night up Cobridge?) yeah (old prossies) oh, when I was driving buses I used to see them every pigging night, oh God, hundreds [ʊndɹədz] of them; 0:54:12 I used to bob school regular and the School Board man was regular at our house [aʊs])

LIQUIDS

R approximant R (0:11:50 you you know you get young ones same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones fifty sixty still talk a lot lot of them still talk very broa…, [bɹɔː] you know, very broad [bɹɔːd] Pottery [pɒtɹi] accent but the young ones don’t; 0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through [θɹuː] the the window I can hear her making a brew [bɹuː] and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird [bɹëd] here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t; 0:31:15 and a l… a lot of people used to refer [ɹɪfɪː] to their brothers [bɹʊðəz] as ‘our kid’ (‘our kid’) (ah, yeah) (‘our kid’) (our kid’) ‘our kid’ (and ‘our wench’) never ever say “my brother” [mɪ bɹʊðə] “our kid”) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 23 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings R-tapping (0:11:50 you you know you get young ones same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones fifty sixty still talk a lot lot of them still talk very [vɛɾi] broa…, you know, very [vɛɾi] broad Pottery accent but the young ones don’t; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ [fɾiːzɪŋ kɔʊɫd] used to freeze [fɾiːz] your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee)

L clear onset L (0:10:06 well put it this way I’ve got to admit as uh they like [lɑːk] it when I am there because of uh I speak clear [klɪə]; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash [slaʃ] (yeah) I tell thee; 0:33:23 or (I don’t know really [ɹɪːli] it is more ‘babby’ than aught, isn’t it?) yeah, or same as me me and my lady [maː lɛɪdi] we always say ’cause we look [lʉːk] after our little [lëtɫ̩] my my nephew we always say ‘little man’ [lëtɫ̩ man]) dark coda L (0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ [fɾiːzɪŋ kɔʊɫd] used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee [a tæɫ ði]; 0:17:55 he pulled [pʊɫd] this photograph out and said, “look at this, Porky, have you seen the size of this?” but we are on about parsnips by any chance by any way; 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool [blakpʉːɫ] I think everybody in the Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle [mëdɫ̩] of Hanley) frequent syllabic L with lateral release (e.g. 0:15:05 when I was young at Biddulph [bɪdɫ̩] Biddulph Moor [bɪdɫ̩ mɔː] Biddulph [bɪdɫ̩] everybody was going, “dost hear, surry?” (aye, “dost hear?”) when they’re getting your attention (yeah) ‘can you hear me?’; 0:25:37 you took it in cans and ladled [lɛɪdɫ̩d] it out in half pints (oh aye) and pint ladles [lɛɪdɫ̩z]; 0:33:23 or (I don’t know really it is more ‘babby’ than aught, isn’t it?) yeah, or same as me me and my lady we always say ’cause we look after our little [lëtɫ̩] my my nephew we always say ‘little man’ [lëtɫ̩ man]; 0:37:29 or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’ (‘bone-dry’) “bloody bone-dry, my throat is” (a bone, yeah) you know, “bone-dry, my throat is” (or it could be ‘bone- idle’ [bɔʊn aɪdɫ̩]) […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] ‘bone-idle’ [bɔʊn aɪdɫ̩] yeah (because a skelington doesn’t move, does it?) (yes, possibly); 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody in the Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle [mëdɫ̩] of Hanley)

GLIDES

J yod with D (0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden put it tell you truth and your produce [pɹɒdjʊs] when you see it) yod dropping with N (0:21:09 (if mother put uh a fire in the what did she call it ‘front room’) ‘front room’ (oh, yeah) (on a Sunday you always know you were going have visitors) oh aye, knew [nuː] somebody was coming aye; 0:54:12 (damned good hiding) a bang on the door and you s… you knew [nuː] who it was s… ’cause they usually come in the day; 0:54:51 I knew [nuː] they’d point at me I knew [njuː] they’d point at me) yod coalescence (0:21:22 mind you, [mɑːnʤə] that didn’t matter so much in this area because crockery was (easy to get) no problem)

ELISION prepositions in reduction (0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen [ɪ ðə këʧɪn] looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 24 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings frequent of reduction (e.g. 0:16:46 mine’s is on a bit of [əv] a slope and everything down the bottom end seems to had uh the most of [ə] the water and it hasn’t done too dow… uh too good at the bottom of [ə] the garden this year; 0:18:37 in a show they do uh ta… uh measure them from top of [ə] the leaves, don’t they, from (yeah) right to the bottom of [ə] the whip; 0:26:05 I was on coal bagging 1963 I was only doing eighteen months of it but you could get a bag of [ə] slack for six shilling (I know); 0:35:22 (oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck) thought her brought a bowl (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) (oh, lovely jubbly) I thought her’d got a b… bowl of [ə] lobby then; 0:35:08 same as the other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of [ə] muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?”; 0:48:09 my mother always used to buy mine at the start the holidays the big school holidays you had a pair of [ə] pumps (aye) as’d last you for the holiday) to reduction (0:30:35 they would read it better than us because we know what they’re going to say [wɒt ðɛ gɨˑɪnt sɛɪ] but we can’t can’t read it; 0:55:49 comes down Christmas morning but he has to be in [iː ast biː ën] for his Christmas dinner) with reduction (0:51:05 ‘chuffed’ means, “oh, dead chuffed with that” [dɛd ʧʊft wɪ ðaʰ] you know, ‘pleased with that’, like, sort of thing) negation frequent secondary contraction (e.g. 0:02:05 but mostly it was on the at the building trade what used to wolf-whistle, hadn’t they? [antði]; 0:03:12 you can even say that as a ‘mug’ is somebody who’s uh easily took in (easily took in as well) ’cause you’ll say w…, “he’s a bit of a mug, like” (“he’s a bit of a mug”) you know, which means he’s ‘easily led’ or something like that, isn’t it, [ëntɪt] you know (or a or, “she’s got an ugly mug”) (yeah) that’s another one, yeah; 0:14:48 (and another greeting he… is uh, “ey up, surry”) aye (aye) (“ey up, surry”) (aye) […] means ‘ey up, mate’ sort of thing, doesn’t it, [dʊntɪt] ‘are you all right’ “ey up, mate”; 0:16:35 uh it’s been it has been raining a lot, hasn’t it, [anɪt] been a bad year really (well we’re just waiting for it dry up a bit so we can get digging) get on the garden; 0:36:05 what would you call it ‘scouse’? (what?) ‘lobby’ no, I just call we just call it ‘lobby’) well ‘lobby’s uh in Liverpool language is ‘scouse, isn’t it? [ëntɪt]; 0:18:02 (how much whip was there on it?) how much? (whip) (length) (length) (ta... tail end) it weren’t very good at the bottom you mean? (yeah) oh, haven’t you [anʔjə] seen it (no); 0:26:52 (five shilling was a ‘dollar’) (yeah) what was a ‘Joey’ yeah (and ha… half-a-crown was ‘half-a- dollar’) (aye) (that’s right, isn’t it?) there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, [wɒntði] what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old […] (them little silver threepenny bits) threepenny bits that was right, aye, a ‘Joey'; 0:33:23 (or) I don’t know really it is more ‘babby’ than aught, isn’t it? [ɪntɪt] (yeah, or same as me me and my lady we always say ’cause we look after our little my my nephew we always say ‘little man’); 0:36:01 (it’s got to have dumplings in, hasn’t it? [antɪt] (it’s got to have barley in handful of barley in); 0:36:23 for some reason uh everybody says, “oh, I’ll have a bowl of lobby” (“going have a bowl of lobby”) ’cause it wa… supposed it just an old thing as it warms you up, doesn’t it? [dʊntɪt] (aye) (that’s right) yeah, but you’ve got have I should say dumplings in it if for make it a lobby if you haven’t [ëf jant] got dumplings in it isn’t lobby, is it? (no); 0:51:49 any powder soap powder Beechams Powder24 (powder powders, aye) custard powder, isn’t there? [ɪntði]; 0:53:05 it’s just according how rough you are, isn’t it? [ɪntɪt] (yeah)) simplification word final consonant cluster reduction (0:13:54 you know, say some of the places the towns “Kidsgrove” [kɪtkɹʉː]25 that’s ‘Kidsgrove’ [kɪdzgɹəʊv] (aye) (“Kidsgrove” [kɪtkɹʉː]) “Burslem” (yeah, ‘Burslem’) that’s ‘Burslem’ […] (“Tunstall” which means ‘Tunstall’ “up Tunstall”) […] (“I’m just going up Hanley, duck” aye); 0:15:05 when I was young at Biddulph [bɪdɫ̩] Biddulph Moor [bɪdɫ̩ mɔː] Biddulph [bɪdɫ̩] everybody was going, “dost hear, surry?” (aye, “dost hear?”) when they’re getting your attention

25 Robert Nicholls’ Dialect Words & Phrases used in the Staffordshire Potteries (1934) includes ‘Kitcrew’ for ‘Kidsgrove (place name)’. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 25 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings (yeah) ‘can you hear me?’; 0:16:35 uh it’s been it has been raining a lot, hasn’t it, [anɪt] been a bad year really (well we’re just waiting for it dry up a bit so we can get digging) get on the garden) word initial syllable reduction (0:32:52 (there’s another word I just can’t think of it what did they call it now?) ‘fucking hell’ [kɪnɛɫ]) syllable deletion (0:07:18 you can tell a Brummy, can’t you, he stands out a mile, can’t he […] you can tell or even Scousers […] Cockneys so I su… I suppose [spəʊz] it’s same wherever you go; 0:21:22 mind you, that didn’t matter so much in this area because crockery [kɹɒkɹi] was (easy to get) no problem; 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody in the Potteries [pɒtɹɪz] was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley) <-sts> + (0:58:57 (and there’s that sentence something about a) (“canst kick a ball against a wall and head it till thee burst it”11) […] (“head it till it bursts”) there’s another and all, “ghosts sitting on posts eating crusts out of their fists” [gɔʊsɪz sɪtɪn ɒm pɔʊsɪz iːtɪŋ kɹʊsɪz aʊt ə ðə fɪsɪz]) definite article reduction (0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down the same club, [daːnt sɛɪm klʊb] see (oh aye, yeah) so her can’t understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:21:57 didn’t so much call it the ‘lounger’ (no) did you, it was always, “go and ju… oh go s… sit on the sofa [sɪt ɒnt sɔʊfi] you’re all right” ‘on the sofa’, [ɒnt sɔʊfi] aye (and she didn’t like it) no (did she, Sophie) no; 0:20:56 (and we call we e… even ca… call used to call the kids our kids ‘little man’ even now we say, like, to the y… youngest one who’s fifteen we say, “has young ’un come in yet?” or) aye, we refer (“has has big one come in yet?” you know) we refer to the ‘young one’ [təʔ jʊng ən] and all; 0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to the young one, [təʔ jʊŋg ən] like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” you know (aye, yeah); 0:30:42 when I was at the pit [əʔ θpɪt] I was on pit bank and me brother was below and c… and we used to write on tubs, like, uh sending messages down or to one another that are round top; 0:35:08 same as the other week [ðʊðə wiːk] (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?”; 0:41:09 the bell rings he got these six and uh I stood at the top for let them out when they got to the top [wɛn ðɪ gɒt tə ðtɒp]; 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody in the Potteries [ɪn ðpɒtɹɪz] was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley) it reduction (0:16:35 uh it’s been it has been raining [taz bɪn ɹɛɪnɪn] a lot, hasn’t it, been a bad year really (well we’re just waiting for it dry up a bit so we can get digging) get on the garden; 0:33:23 (or) I don’t know really it is [tɪz] more ‘babby’ than aught, isn’t it? (yeah, or same as me me and my lady we always say ’cause we look after our little my my nephew we always say ‘little man’)) L-deletion (0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past in town or summat you always [ɔːwɪz] see hear them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know; 0:06:01 if you were at the table and uh for instance if you wanted salt and there was no salt there you’d say to a waitress, “uh, canst bring us some salt, duck?” [kɒst bɹɪŋ əs sʊm sɔːt dʊk] right she wouldn’t have a clue what you were on about so you say, “could I have some salt, please?”; 0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and first thing he says to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?” [at ɔʊɹɛɪt]; 0:13:54 (you know, say some of the places the towns “Kidsgrove” that’s ‘Kidsgrove’) (aye) (“Kidsgrove”) (“Burslem”) yeah, ‘Burslem’ (that’s ‘Burslem’) […] “Tunstall” [tʊnstɪ] which means ‘Tunstall’ [tʊnstɫ̩] “up Tunstall” [ʊp tʊnstɪ] […] “I’m just going up Hanley, duck” aye; 0:29:19 but it’s funny, that is, because my mother and dad I always [əʊwɪz] used to refer to them as ‘mam and ‘dad’ and yet my mother- in law and father-in-law I referred to them as ‘ma’ and ‘pa’; 0:35:22 oh, her’s coming in with some stuff, look, come on you’re all right, duck [jəɹ ɔː ɹaːʔ dʊk] (thought her brought a bowl) (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) oh, lovely jubbly (I thought her’d got a b… bowl of lobby then); 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I http://sounds.bl.uk Page 26 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” [ɑ ɑːnə kɛʊd] (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”; 0:50:17 Tunstall [tʊnstə] Burslem Fenton Hanley Stoke and Longto… ‘Neck End’ they used to call Longton; 0:55:25 they always [ɔːwɪz] have it, you know (“cup of tea”) […] “cup of tea” half past ten […] half past twelve dinner and half two first brew again first cup of tea for a brew again) 0:58:57 (and there’s that sentence something about a) “canst kick a ball against a wall and head it till thee burst it”11 [kɒst kɪk ə bɔʊ əgɛnst ə wɔʊ ən ɛd ɪt tɪɫ ðɪ bɒst ɪt] […] (“head it till it bursts”) (there’s another and all, “ghosts sitting on posts eating crusts out of their fists”)) frequent TH-deletion with them (e.g. 0:10:18 the old folks’ll sit there (what you’re saying) when somebody else is on they’re looking up all the time waiting for number come up yet you don’t see them [əm] when I’m there; 0:11:50 you you know you get young ones same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones fifty sixty still talk a lot lot of them [əm] still talk very broa…, you know, very broad Pottery accent but the young ones don’t; 0:41:09 the bell rings he got these six and uh I stood at the top for let them [əm] out when they got to the top; 0:44:04 the windows as opened they were all across the top them little windows (yeah, sliders, yeah) in these buses and you’d go up you’d clunk clunk clunk everybody up in clogs colliers they’d fill chock-a- block full and all of them [əm] light a fag; 0:42:13 the safety features on them [əm] are out of this world (yeah, yeah) and then they changed over to electric and there was more safety features on them [ðɛm]; 0:46:14 (was that when you’re visiting the women of the night up Cobridge?) yeah (old prossies) oh, when I was driving buses I used to see them [əm] every pigging night, oh God, hundreds of them [əm])

LIAISON frequent linking R (e.g. 0:01:45 (is there any wolf-whistling goes on over here then or?) (um not really, does it?) used to do but not now (go on tell us about when it used to happen, Tony) (we’re old wolves) when, oh, used to see it when you were young and daft and uh they’d turn round look at you and more or less stick two fingers up [mɔːɹ ə lɛs stɪk tuː fɪŋgəz ʊp]; 0:13:39 I was in the building trade and going out, say, Cheshire or the other road [ʧæʃɪɹ ɔː ði ʊðə ɾɔʊd] (yeah) if it’s talk like that nobody would understand what what you what you were on what you were doing; 0:18:57 they reckon, you know, grow a good parsnip as a iron bar in your soil [ə ʔaɪən bɑːɹ ɪn jə sɔɪɫ] […] and keep on going round and round and deeper and deeper and deeper [dɪpəɹ ən dɪpəɹ ən dɪpə] […] put fine fine soil and sand in (just fine soil) and the parsnip follows that down; 0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden [jəɹ admaːɹ iːʧ ʊðəz gɑːdn̩] put it tell you truth and your produce when you see it; 0:29:19 but it’s funny, that is, because my mother and dad [mʊðəɹən dad] I always used to refer to them as ‘mam and ‘dad’ and yet my mother-in law and father-in-law [mʊðəɹɪnlɔːɹən fɑːðəɹɪnlɔː] I referred to them as ‘ma’ and ‘pa’; 0:48:09 my mother always used to buy mine at the start the holidays the big school holidays you had a pair of pumps [ə pɛːɾ ə pʊmps] (aye) as’d last you for the holiday) frequent intrusive R (e.g. 0:01:45 (is there any wolf-whistling goes on over here then or?) (um not really, does it?) used to do but not now (go on tell us about when it used to happen, Tony) (we’re old wolves) when, oh, used to see it when you were young and daft and uh they’d turn round look at you and more or less stick two fingers up [lʊk at jəɹ ən mɔːɹ ə lɛs stɪk tuː fɪŋgəz ʊp]; 0:04:10 that’s another one, “he isn’t short” (“he isn’t short he’s not short” ‘not short’) “he isn’t short of a bob or two” [iː ɪnə ʃɔːt əɹ ə bɒb ə tʉː]; 0:24:49 (how much muck does he bring on do you have a lot of muck done) […] yeah, twelve quid a load and it’s a good load, isn’t it? [ënəɹɪt]; 0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I aren’t allowed drink [aɪ anəɹ əlaʊd dɹɪŋk] more than a pint and half a night not now; 0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down the same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her can’t understand [ɪː kɒnəɹ ʊndəstand] so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); http://sounds.bl.uk Page 27 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings 0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and first thing he says to you in a morning [fəːst θɪŋg ɪ sɛz tu jəɹ ɪn ə mɔːnɪn] when he sees you, “art all right?”; 0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” [bɛtəɹ ʊniənz] like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden [admaːɹ iːʧ ʊðəz gɑːdn̩] put it tell you truth and your produce when you see it; 0:24:49 (how much muck does he bring on do you have a lot of muck done) […] yeah, twelve quid a load and it’s a good load, isn’t it? [ënəɹɪt]; 0:29:19 but it’s funny, that is, because my mother and dad I always used to refer to them as ‘mam and ‘dad’ and yet my mother-in law and father-in-law [mʊðəɹɪnlɔːɹən fɑːðəɹɪnlɔː] I referred to them as ‘ma’ and ‘pa’ [mɑːɹ əm pɑː]; 0:42:13 the safety features on them are out of this world (yeah, yeah) and then they changed over to electric [təɹ ɪlɛktɹɪk] and there was more safety features on them; 1:01:21 if you talk to somebody who doesn’t come from round here the Potters Potteries they always say you talk we talk funny (yeah) but to us a a a Cockney or a Scouser or a Geordie always talk s… talk they sound funny to us [təɾ ʊz]) zero intrusive R (0:40:51 and they weren’t drawing [dɹɔːɪn] any coal they just fetching miners up)

SUBSTITUTION

KL with TL (0:34:44 (the word you use for y…your ‘tools’ or your your vegetables or) ‘tackle’ [tatɫ̩] (‘tackle’, [tatɫ̩] aye) (“hast got thy tackle with thee?” [ast gɒt ðɪ tatɫ̩ wɪð ði])) frequent alternative negator (e.g. 0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I aren’t allowed drink [aɪ anəɹ əlaʊd dɹɪŋk] more than a pint and half a night not now; 0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down the same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her can’t understand [ɪː kɒnəɹ ʊndəstand] so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:18:02 (how much whip was there on it?) how much? (whip) (length) (length) (ta... tail end) it weren’t [wɒnə] very good at the bottom you mean? (yeah) oh, haven’t you seen it (no); 0:18:13 are you getting it out now? (I’ll get it out now) (aye, you show me yours and I’ll show you mine) good job’s the pit house lady isn’t [ënə] looking; 0:21:57 (didn’t so much call it the ‘lounger’) (no) (did you, it was always, “go and ju… oh go s… sit on the sofa you’re all right” ‘on the sofa’, aye) and she didn’t [dɪnə] like it (no) did she, Sophie (no); 0:24:49 (how much muck does he bring on do you have a lot of muck done) […] yeah, twelve quid a load and it’s a good load, isn’t it? [ënəɹɪt]; 0:31:26 ‘my mate’ (‘pals’) I would say (yeah, yeah) “oh, I’m just going I’m just going up nip up my mates a minute” (yeah) “shan’t be long, like” [ʃɒnə bɪ lɒŋ lɑːk]; 0:33:23 (or) I don’t [dʊnə] know really it is more ‘babby’ than aught, isn’t it? (yeah, or same as me me and my lady we always say ’cause we look after our little my my nephew we always say ‘little man’); 0:36:23 for some reason uh everybody says, “oh, I’ll have a bowl of lobby” (“going have a bowl of lobby”) ’cause it wa… supposed it just an old thing as it warms you up, doesn’t it? (aye) (that’s right) yeah, but you’ve got have I should say dumplings in it if for make it a lobby if you haven’t got dumplings in it isn’t lobby, [ɪt ënə lɒbiː] is it? (no); 0:37:29 (or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’) (‘bone-dry’) (“bloody bone-dry, my throat is”) (a bone, yeah) (you know, “bone-dry, my throat is”) (or it could be ‘bone-idle’) […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] (‘bone-idle’ yeah) because a skelington doesn’t [dʊnə] move, does it? (yes, possibly); 0:38:16 (no, I don’t want any more, ta, you you have one) no, I shan’t eat any of my snapping [ʃɒnəɹ iːt ɛni ə mi snapɪn]; 0:43:35 (the posh word for it’s ‘plimsolls’) (‘plimsolls’) (‘plimsolls’) aye, that come after, didn’t it? [dɪnəɹɪʔ]; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” [ɑ ɑːnə kɛʊd] (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”; 0:46:48 my two lads now they’ll say if he if I’m getting my hair off or summat, you know, and and having a well I haven’t got much anyway [aɪ anə gɒt mʊʧ ɛnɪwɛɪ] but uh I’m getting my hair off they’ll say, “oh, yeah, well, dad, whatever floats your boat”; 0:57:31 (have you won

http://sounds.bl.uk Page 28 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings much?) (no, not) no, not really (no) nothing (tenners) tenners and that but nothing nothing substantial, have we, else we wouldn’t be here [wɪ wʊdnə bɪ ɪə]) metathesis (0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird [bɹëd] here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t)

EPENTHESIS

J-onglide (0:58:57 (and there’s that sentence something about a) “canst kick a ball against a wall and head it till thee burst it”11 […] (“head it till it bursts” [jɛd ɪt tɪɫ ɪt bɒsts]) (there’s another and all, “ghosts sitting on posts eating crusts out of their fists”))

+/- VOICE word final devoicing (0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) summat catch hold on [sʊmət kɛʧ ɛʊt ɒn]; 0:37:13 if you’re ‘hungry’ very hungry ‘clemmed’ [klɛmd] “I’m clemmed” [klɛmd] (“I’m clemmed”, [klɛmd] aye) aye (‘clemmed’ [klɛmt] ‘clemmed’ [klɛmd]) ‘clemmed’ [klɛmt] (or if you’re ‘thirsty’ “I’m parched”)) bus (0:44:04 the windows as opened they were all across the top them little windows (yeah, sliders, yeah) in these buses [bʊzɪz] and you’d go up you’d clunk clunk clunk everybody up in clogs colliers they’d fill chock-a-block full and all of them light a fag; 0:46:14 (was that when you’re visiting the women of the night up Cobridge?) yeah (old prossies) oh, when I was driving buses [bʊzɪz] I used to see them every pigging night, oh God, hundreds of them)

WEAK-STRONG CONTRAST vowel strengthening word final vowel strengthening (0:16:35 uh it’s been it has been raining a lot, hasn’t it, been a bad year really (well we’re just waiting for it dry up a bit so we can get digging) get on the garden [gɒːdɪn]; 0:24:57 it was so broad it you sounded like a foreign language [fɒɹɪn langwɪʤ] (yeah) (yeah) couldn’t understand a word on it (yeah)) LEXICALLY SPECIFIC VARIATION again (0:55:25 they always have it, you know (“cup of tea”) […] “cup of tea” half past ten […] half past twelve dinner and half two first brew again [əgɛn] first cup of tea for a brew again [əgɛn]) (be)cause (0:21:22 mind you, that didn’t matter so much in this area because [bɪkʊz] crockery was (easy to get) no problem; 0:41:57 and the engine house was you could eat your snapping (oh, yeah) off the floor (oh aye) (was it ke… they kept it clean?) oh (clean) immaculate (oh spotless) immaculate (every brass bit it was polished) every brass and (why was that?) every day (why did they take so much care over it?) because [bɪkʊz] they’d got keep the machine in tip-top condition ’cause [kʊz] it was a safety thing) either (0:00:38 she can write with either hand [aɪðəɾ and] can’t tell the difference; 0:39:48 then once you’re on the pit bottom you used to get off you either [aɪðə] go in the mine car) often (0:54:34 when I used come in, “you haven’t been school you wait till your bloody father comes in” (yeah) but my father wasn’t in very often [ɒfən] so I got away with it most of the time) says (0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, [sɛz] “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t; 0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad http://sounds.bl.uk Page 29 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings and first thing he says [sɛz] to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?”; 0:35:08 same as the other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says [sɛz] to Norman I says, [sɛz] “hast thou got a fork lend us?”; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, [sɛz] “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I aren’t cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, [sɛz] “you’ll feel it when you get older”) GRAMMAR

DETERMINERS frequent definite article reduction (e.g. 0:20:56 (and we call we e… even ca… call used to call the kids our kids ‘little man’ even now we say, like, to the y… youngest one who’s fifteen we say, “has young ’un come in yet?” or) aye we refer (“has has big ’un come in yet?” you know) we refer to t’ ‘young ’un’ and all; 0:21:57 didn’t so much call it the ‘lounger’ (no) did you, it was always, “go and ju… oh go s… sit on t’ sofa you’re all right” ‘on t’ sofa’, aye (and she didn’t like it) no (did she, Sophie) no; 0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to t’ young one, like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” you know (aye, yeah); 0:30:42 when I was at th’ pit I was on pit bank and me brother was below and c… and we used to write on tubs, like, uh sending messages down or to one another that are round top; 0:35:08 same as th’ other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?”; 0:41:09 the bell rings he got these six and uh I stood at the top for let them out when they got to th’ top; 0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody in th’ Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley) zero definite article (0:10:18 the old folks’ll sit there (what you’re saying) when somebody else is on they’re looking up all the time waiting for _ number come up yet you don’t see them when I’m there; 0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause _ mother-in-law goes down t’ same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her conna understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and _ first thing he says to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?”; 0:18:37 in a show they do uh ta… uh measure them from _ top of the leaves, don’t they, from (yeah) right to the bottom of the whip; 0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden put it tell you _ truth and your produce when you see it; 0:20:56 and we call we e… even ca… call used to call the kids our kids ‘little man’ even now we say, like, to the y… youngest one who’s fifteen we say, “has _ young ’un come in yet?” or (aye, we refer) “has has _ big ’un come in yet?” (you know we refer to t’ ‘young ’un’ and all); 0:30:42 when I was at th’ pit I was on _ pit bank and me brother was below and c… and we used to write on tubs, like, uh sending messages down or to one another that are round _ top) a for an (0:18:57 they reckon, you know, grow a good parsnip as a iron bar in your soil […] and keep on going round and round and deeper and deeper and deeper […] put fine fine soil and sand in (just fine soil) and the parsnip follows that down) zero indefinite article (0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I arena allowed drink more than a pint and _ half a night not now; 0:36:01 (it’s got to have dumplings in, hasn’t it?) it’s got to have barley in _ handful of barley in) demonstrative them (0:19:22 (the best I’ve ever had’s about five and half pound) now them are them are good ones, yeah (hang go on say it again) (five and a half pound) each, yeah (but the world record I mean the world record is fifteen pound fourteen ounces); 0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you http://sounds.bl.uk Page 30 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings admire each other’s garden put it tell you truth and your produce when you see it; 0:26:52 (five shilling was a ‘dollar’) (yeah) (what was a ‘Joey’ yeah) (and ha… half-a-crown was ‘half-a-dollar’) (aye) (that’s right, isn’t it?) (there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old) […] them little silver threepenny bits (threepenny bits that was right, aye, a ‘Joey'))

NOUNS zero plural (0:19:22 (the best I’ve ever had’s about five and half pound) now them are them are good ones, yeah (hang go on say it again) five and a half pound (each, yeah) but the world record I mean the world record is fifteen pound fourteen ounces; 0:26:05 I was on coal bagging 1963 I was only doing eighteen months of it but you could get a bag of slack for six shilling (I know); 0:26:52 five shilling was a ‘dollar’ (yeah) (what was a ‘Joey’ yeah) and ha… half-a-crown was ‘half-a-dollar’ (aye) (that’s right, isn’t it?) (there was a ‘Joey’, wasn’t there, what was a ‘Joey’ the li… the old) […] (them little silver threepenny bits) (threepenny bits that was right, aye, a ‘Joey’))

PRONOUNS me in coordinate subjects (0:33:23 or (I dunna know really it is more ‘babby’ than aught, isn’t it?) yeah, or same as me me and my lady we always say ’cause we look after our little my my nephew we always say ‘little man’) singular object us (0:35:08 same as th’ other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?”) frequent thou, thee, thy (e.g. 0:04:25 caught thee on the hop now, haven’t they? […] (he’s lost it now) (he’d forgot what he was gonna say); 0:06:01 if you were at the table and uh for instance if you wanted salt and there was no salt there you’d say to a waitress, “uh, canst bring us some salt, duck?” right she wouldn’t have a clue what you were on about so you say, “could I have some salt, please?”; 0:06:20 if there is other Pottery people about that’s nothing do with you they say, “which part of Stoke dost thee come from?”; 0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment does talk broad and first thing he says to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?”; ; 0:15:05 when I was young at Biddulph Biddulph Moor Biddulph everybody was going, “dost hear, surry?” (aye, “dost hear?”) when they’re getting your attention (yeah) ‘can you hear me?’; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going have a slash (yeah) I tell thee; 0:34:44 (the word you use for y…your ‘tools’ or your your vegetables or) (‘tackle’) (‘tackle’, aye) “hast got thy tackle with thee?”; 0:35:08 same as th’ other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?”; 0:38:16 (go on ‘snapping’ what’s ‘snapping’?) food (your food) (food) (food?) (yeah) thee’st got some in thy hand; 0:55:02 you know what my lady always says (you can hear him snoring) my lady always says, “what’s been doing down there burning thy wellies?” sitting by the fire burning me wellies (burning your wellies) aye, “oh, he’s melted his wellies down there”; 0:56:27 (well I always say if they’re talking about me they’re talking about ne’er bugger else) (giving somebody else a rest) (that’s true, yeah) are thy ears burning?; 0:58:30 another word have I said it, “durst be bound?” (go on what’s that?) […] ‘dare be bound’; 0:58:57 (and there’s that sentence something about a) “canst kick a ball against a wall and head it till thee burst it”11 […] (“head it till it bursts”) (there’s another and all, “ghosts sitting on posts eating crusts out of their fists”)) pronoun exchange (0:01:29 “her’s fit, her is” (aye, that’s right) or “her’s smart” (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) big pair of baps he means yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) yeah (yeah) (summat catch hold on); 0:02:20 (so what about when you see somebody who’s ‘unattractive’?) (‘right ugly’) always say “oh, her’s busted, her is” […] (‘face like a busted clog’ […] a ‘clog’ is is uh a ‘shoe’ right and ‘busted’ means ‘bursted’ like an unmade bed you know; 0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes http://sounds.bl.uk Page 31 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings down t’ same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her conna understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:25:04 in fact the him as brings the muck here his gr… his uh father his grandfather lived next door to us; 0:35:22 (oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck) thought her brought a bowl (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) (oh, lovely jubbly) I thought her’d got a b… bowl of lobby then) frequent possessive me (e.g. 0:08:44 yeah, if you get burgled they say, “oh, I been broke in some bu… somebody’s broke in me house” yeah, instead of ‘broke in’ (“broke”) “broke in” (“me house”) for “me house” aye; 0:25:22 and a l… a lot of people used to refer to their brothers as ‘our kid’ (‘our kid’) (ah, yeah) (‘our kid’) (our kid’) ‘our kid’ (and ‘our wench’) never ever say “me brother” “our kid”; 0:28:48 yesterday it was me eldest grand-daughter’s birthday and she lives in Leeds and she rang up last night and uh me missus answers, “hiya, grandma” I could hear her now any any the others, “nana”; 0:31:15 me first job was farming up Mow Cop Harriseahead Mow Cop (yeah) and I used to take milk all the way round from Harriseahead to Mow Cop school and uh I used to kn…, you know, get for know all people up there; 0:54:34 when I used come in, “you haven’t been school you wait till your bloody father comes in” (yeah) but me father wasn’t in very often so I got away with it most of the time) possessive us (0:56:11 but it’s like a little community, isn’t it, you know (yeah, oh aye) there’s, you know, half a dozen of us who have a good laugh and, you know, we have us brews and, you know, have jo… good joke and that between us) regularised reflexive (0:34:12 if I remember rightly he kept dropping hisself a bollock and it was, “Gordon Bennett” and it referred to ever anybody’s dropped a clanger (say, “Gordon Bennett”) “Gordon Bennett”)) relative as (0:25:04 in fact the him as brings the muck here his gr… his uh father his grandfather lived next door to us; 0:44:04 the windows as opened they were all across the top them little windows (yeah, sliders, yeah) in these buses and you’d go up you’d clunk clunk clunk everybody up in clogs colliers they’d fill chock-a-block full and all of them light a fag; 0:48:09 my mother always used to buy mine at the start the holidays the big school holidays you had a pair of pumps (aye) as’d last you for the holiday) relative that (0:49:09 if you went Blackpool I think everybody in the Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley) relative what (0:24:35 yeah, ’cause it was all the farmers what speak more broadly than anybody; 0:02:05 but mostly it was on the at the building trade what used to wolf-whistle, hadn’t they?) zero relative (0:12:55 we’ve got a chap on the allotment _ does talk broad and first thing he says to you in a morning when he sees you, “art all right?”; 0:49:46 and there used to be one down Westport Lake _ was called the Jam Jar Wakes (‘Jam Jar Wakes’ yeah) and if you wanted a ride on anything you’d take a jam jar)

VERBS past zero past (0:35:08 same as th’ other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork lend us?”; 0:39:25 (first thing i… was going down in the cage which was experience, you know) you shit yourself; 0:43:35 (the posh word for it’s ‘plimsolls’) (‘plimsolls’) (‘plimsolls’) aye, that come after, dinna it; 0:54:12 (damned good hiding) a bang on the door and you s… you knew who it was s… ’cause they usually come in the day) regularised past (0:02:20 (so what about when you see somebody who’s ‘unattractive’?) (‘right ugly’) always say “oh, her’s busted, her is” […] (‘face like a busted clog’ […] a ‘clog’ is is uh a ‘shoe’ right and ‘busted’ means ‘bursted’ like an unmade bed you know; 0:08:44 yeah, if you get burgled they say, “oh, I been broke in some bu… somebody’s broke in me house” yeah, instead of ‘broke in’ (“broke”) “broke in” (“me house”) for “me house” aye) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 32 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings generalisation of simple past (0:03:12 you can even say that as a ‘mug’ is somebody who’s uh easily took in (easily took in as well) ’cause you’ll say w…, “he’s a bit of a mug, like” (“he’s a bit of a mug”) you know, which means he’s ‘easily led’ or something like that, isn’t it, you know (or a or, “she’s got an ugly mug”) (yeah) that’s another one, yeah; 0:04:25 (caught thee on the hop now, haven’t they?) […] (he’s lost it now) he’d forgot what he was gonna say) be – was generalisation (1:03:18 ‘mashed’ summat like (oh my God) I thought that was like if you was high on drugs or something) compounds had used to (0:02:05 but mostly it was on the at the building trade what used to wolf-whistle, hadn’t they?) otiose do (0:01:45 (is there any wolf-whistling goes on over here then or?) (um not really, does it?) used to do but not now (go on tell us about when it used to happen, Tony) (we’re old wolves) when, oh, used to see it when you were young and daft and uh they’d turn round look at you and more or less stick two fingers up) zero auxiliary be (0:04:38 you automatically talk to to how you so wh… when you’re at home and then they say well, you know, look at you as if say, you know, can’t understand what you on about; 0:40:51 and they weren’t drawing any coal they _ just fetching miners up) zero auxiliary have (0:08:44 yeah, if you get burgled they say, “oh, I _ been broke in some bu… somebody’s broke in me house” yeah, instead of ‘broke in’ (“broke”) “broke in” (“me house”) for “me house” aye; 0:16:46 mine’s is on a bit of a slope and everything down the bottom end seems to _ had uh the most of the water and it hasn’t done too dow… uh too good at the bottom of the garden this year) invariant there is~was (0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past in town or summat you always see hear them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know; 0:34:01 that was in the weekly news last week who was Gordon Bennett but there was two definitions it comes from America actually; 0:42:13 the safety features on them are out of this world (yeah, yeah) and then they changed over to electric and there was more safety features on them) historic present (0:12:27 I was out in the kitchen looking through the the window I can hear her making a brew and I said, “bloody hell look at this big bird here” and she says, “what on earth are you talking about” now she couldn’t understand me like you can’t; 0:35:08 same as th’ other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down _ help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a forklend us?”; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) said, “I arena cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”) frequent for infinitive (e.g. 0:25:22 me first job was farming up Mow Cop Harriseahead Mow Cop (yeah) and I used to take milk all the way round from Harriseahead to Mow Cop school and uh I used to kn…, you know, get for know all people up there; 0:29:11 I think the reason they call the the other one ‘Johnpa’ is just for differentiate between two of us, you know; 0:36:23 for some reason uh everybody says, “oh, I’ll have a bowl of lobby” (“going have a bowl of lobby”) ’cause it wa… supposed it just an old thing as it warms you up, doesn’t it? (aye) (that’s right) yeah, but you’ve got have I should say dumplings in it if for make it a lobby if you haven’t got dumplings in it inna* lobby, is it? (no); 0:40:58 and we’d got a bloke named Arthur Hancock young fella as a winding engine man and uh he says, “we’ve got six more for come”; 0:41:09 the bell rings he got these six and uh I stood at the top for let them out when they got to th’ top) frequent bare infinitive (e.g. 0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) summat _ catch hold on; 0:06:20 if there is other Pottery people about that’s nothing _ do with you they say, “which part of Stoke dost thee come from?”; 0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I arena allowed _ drink more than a pint and half a night not now; 0:10:18 the old folks’ll sit there (what you’re saying) when somebody else is on they’re looking up all the time waiting for number _ come up yet you don’t see them when I’m there; 0:16:35 (uh it’s been it has been raining a lot, hasn’t it, been a bad year really) well we’re just waiting for http://sounds.bl.uk Page 33 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings it _ dry up a bit so we can get digging (get on the garden); 0:18:57 they reckon, you know, _ grow a good parsnip as a iron bar in your soil […] and keep on going round and round and deeper and deeper and deeper […] put fine fine soil and sand in (just fine soil) and the parsnip follows that down; 0:19:40 it’s like friendly friendly sort of, “oh, he’s got a good better onions” like, or, “them are nice cabbages” you you you aren’t sort of competing (no) you admire each other’s garden _ put it _ tell you truth and your produce when you see it; 0:21:09 if mother put uh a fire in the what did she call it ‘front room’ (‘front room’) (oh, yeah) on a Sunday you always know you were going _ have visitors (oh aye, knew somebody was coming aye); 0:21:29 used _ have to leave the the door ajar a bit if there hadn’t been a fire in ’cause smoke used to come back instead; 0:22:20 ‘freezing cold’ used to freeze your conkers off in winter when you were going _ have a slash (yeah) I tell thee; 0:35:08 same as th’ other week (“hast got thy fork?”) I had a l… I had a load of muck come in (yeah) and my el… uh my youngest son come down _ help me and I says to Norman I says, “hast thou got a fork_ lend us?”; 0:36:23 for some reason uh everybody says, “oh, I’ll have a bowl of lobby” (“going _ have a bowl of lobby”) ’cause it wa… supposed it just an old thing as it warms you up, doesn’t it? (aye) (that’s right) yeah, but you’ve got _ have I should say dumplings in it if for make it a lobby if you haven’t got dumplings in it inna lobby, is it? (no); 0:41:57 and the engine house was you could eat your snapping (oh, yeah) off the floor (oh aye) (was it ke… they kept it clean?) oh (clean) immaculate (oh spotless) immaculate (every brass bit it was polished) every brass and (why was that?) every day (why did they take so much care over it?) because they’d got _ keep the machine in tip-top condition ’cause it was a safety thing; 0:54:34 when I used _ come in, “you haven’t been school you wait till your bloody father comes in” (yeah) but me father wasn’t in very often so I got away with it most of the time; 0:56:50 same as if you want somebody _ go away you ‘sling your hook’ (aye, yeah, or ‘sod off’) […] (or ‘banner off’) […] (when he comes down we usually tell him _ piss off) 0:58:39 you wouldn’t didn’t they’d never want _ buy you anything (no) they always wanted summat for naught)

NEGATION multiple negation (0:11:50 you you know you get young ones same as my two lads seventeen thirt… you they they don’t talk nothing like I talk, you know, you but you get, like, the old ones fifty sixty still talk a lot lot of them still talk very broa…, you know, very broad Pottery accent but the young ones don’t) frequent alternative negator13 (e.g. 0:08:55 (do you boys go out drinking then?) I was out last night (I had a) (go on then, Tony, what sort of state did you get into last night then?) well I arena allowed drink more than a pint and half a night not now; 0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother- in-law goes down t’ same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her canna understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:18:02 (how much whip was there on it?) how much? (whip) (length) (length) (ta... tail end) it werena* very good at the bottom you mean? (yeah) oh, haven’t you seen it (no); 0:18:13 are you getting it out now? (I’ll get it out now) (aye, you show me yours and I’ll show you mine) good job’s the pit house lady inna* looking; 0:21:57 (didn’t so much call it the ‘lounger’) (no) (did you, it was always, “go and ju… oh go s… sit on t’ sofa you’re all right” ‘on t’ sofa’, aye) and she didna like it (no) did she, Sophie (no); 0:24:49 (how much muck does he bring on do you have a lot of muck done) […] yeah, twelve quid a load and it’s a good load, inna* it?; 0:31:26 ‘my mate’ (‘pals’) I would say (yeah, yeah) “oh, I’m just going I’m just going up nip up my mates a minute” (yeah) “shanna be long, like”; 0:33:23 (or) I dunna know really it is more ‘babby’ than aught, isn’t it? (yeah, or same as me me and my lady we always say ’cause we look after our little my my nephew we always say ‘little man’); 0:36:23 for some reason uh everybody says, “oh, I’ll have a bowl of lobby” (“going have a bowl of lobby”) ’cause it wa… supposed it just an old thing as it warms you up, doesn’t it? (aye) (that’s right) yeah, but you’ve got have I should say dumplings in it if for make it a lobby if you haven’t got dumplings in it inna* lobby, is it? (no); 0:37:29 (or sometimes you say ‘bone-dry’) (‘bone-dry’) (“bloody bone-dry, my throat is”) (a bone, yeah) (you know, “bone-dry, my throat is”) (or it could be ‘bone-idle’) […] (don’t know where it’s come from) […] (‘bone-idle’ yeah) because a skelington dunna move, does it? (yes, possibly); 0:38:16 (no, I don’t want any more, ta, you you have one) no, I shanna eat any of me snapping; 0:43:35 (the posh word for it’s ‘plimsolls’) (‘plimsolls’) (‘plimsolls’) aye, that come after, dinna it; 0:44:29 one of the first thing at I hadn’t been there a fortnight one of the lads says, “you want a little scarf,” (yeah) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 34 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings said, “I arena cold” (aye) he said, “you have a scarf” he says, “you’ll feel it when you get older”; 0:46:48 my two lads now they’ll say if he if I’m getting me hair off or summat, you know, and and having a well I hanna* got much anyway but uh I’m getting me hair off they’ll say, “oh, yeah, well, dad, whatever floats your boat”; 0:57:31 (have you won much?) (no, not) no, not really (no) nothing (tenners) tenners and that but nothing nothing substantial, have we, else we wudna be here)

PREPOSITIONS deletion zero of (0:03:47 ‘rich’ means oh as you say (‘loaded’) you’re ‘loaded’ “oh, he’s loaded, he is”, you know, he’s got in other words ‘he’s got plenty _ money’ “oh, he’s loaded,” you know “plenty _ money he has, like”; 0:28:48 yesterday it was me eldest grand-daughter’s birthday and she lives in Leeds and she rang up last night and uh me missus answers, “hiya, grandma” I could hear her now any any _ the others, “nana”; 0:48:09 my mother always used to buy mine at the start _ the holidays the big school holidays you had a pair of pumps (aye) as’d last you for the holiday; 1:00:49 you know, if you’re in a pub or a bar and you’re talking to someone I try to guess (where they come from) what part _ the country they come from (aye, yeah) same as a swede’s from Bristol (yeah) and things like that, you know) zero habitual to (0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going _ loo” (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to t’ young one, like, “have you been _ loo fore you go _ school?” you know (aye, yeah); 0:47:53 but when you went _ school you didn’t call them trainers; 0:49:09 if you went _ Blackpool I think everybody in th’ Potteries was there […] that particular fortnight (yeah) those that stopped at home there was a a a wakes what they called a ‘wakes’ in the middle of Hanley; 0:54:34 when I used come in, “you haven’t been _ school you wait till your bloody father comes in” (yeah) but me father wasn’t in very often so I got away with it most of the time) preposition deletion – other (0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down _ t’ same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her conna understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:13:54 (you know, say some of the places the towns “Kidsgrove” that’s ‘Kidsgrove’) (aye) (“Kidsgrove”) (“Burslem”) yeah, ‘Burslem’ (that’s ‘Burslem’) […] “Tunstall” which means ‘Tunstall’ “up _ Tunstall” […] “I’m just going up _ Hanley, duck” aye; 0:49:46 and there used to be one down _ Westport Lake was called the Jam Jar Wakes (‘Jam Jar Wakes’ yeah) and if you wanted a ride on anything you’d take a jam jar; 0:53:05 it’s just according _ how rough you are, isn’t it? (yeah)) substitution off [= from] (0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) yeah, yeah (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) (mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down t’ same club, see) oh aye, yeah (so her conna understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you?) get a bollocking off her, aye) on [= of] (0:01:29 (“her’s fit, her is”) (aye, that’s right) (or “her’s smart”) (‘smart’) (good headlights on her as well) (aye) (what do you mean, Norman?) (good headlights) (big pair of baps he means) yeah (big boobs) (well-endowed at the top end) (yeah) (yeah) (yeah) summat catch hold on)

ADVERBS complementiser as [= that] (0:10:06 well put it this way I’ve gotta admit as uh they like it when I am there because of uh I speak clear; 0:18:13 are you getting it out now? (I’ll get it out now) (aye, you show me yours and I’ll show you mine) good job’s the pit house lady inna looking; 0:18:57 they reckon, you know, grow a good parsnip as a iron bar in your soil […] and keep on going round and round and deeper and deeper and deeper […] put fine fine soil and sand in (just fine soil) and the parsnip follows that down; 0:36:23 for some reason uh everybody says, “oh, I’ll have a bowl of lobby” (“going have a bowl of lobby”) ’cause it wa… supposed it just an old thing as it warms you up, doesn’t it? (aye) (that’s right) yeah, but you’ve got have I should say dumplings in it if for make it a lobby if you haven’t got dumplings in http://sounds.bl.uk Page 35 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings it inna lobby, is it? (no); 0:41:20 as soon as they rang off as all these men were in the cage dropped like a stone) unmarked manner adverb (0:10:06 well put it this way I’ve gotta admit as uh they like it when I am there because of uh I speak clear; 0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down t’ same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her conna understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:16:46 mine’s is on a bit of a slope and everything down the bottom end seems to had uh the most of the water and it hasn’t done too dow… uh too good at the bottom of the garden this year; 0:54:12 I used to bob school regular and the School Board man was regular at our house; 1:01:21 if you talk to somebody who doesn’t come from round here the Potters Potteries they always say you talk we talk funny (yeah) but to us a a a Cockney or a Scouser or a Geordie always talk s… talk they sound funny to us)

DISCOURSE utterance inital mind you (0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down _ t’ same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her canna understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye); 0:21:22 mind you, that didn’t matter so much in this area because crockery was (easy to get) no problem) frequent utterance final like (e.g. 0:03:12 you can even say that as a ‘mug’ is somebody who’s uh easily took in (easily took in as well) ’cause you’ll say w…, “he’s a bit of a mug, like” (“he’s a bit of a mug”) you know, which means he’s ‘easily led’ or something like that, isn’t it, you know (or a or, “she’s got an ugly mug”) (yeah) that’s another one, yeah; 0:03:30 sometimes my lady’ll say to me, “oh look at his bloody fizzog” in other words ‘he’s a miserable bugger’, like, (“look at his fizzog”; 0:03:47 ‘rich’ means oh as you say (‘loaded’) you’re ‘loaded’ “oh, he’s loaded, he is”, you know, he’s got in other words ‘he’s got plenty money’ “oh, he’s loaded,” you know “plenty money he has, like”; 0:23:07 even say that now my lady says, “oh, I’m just going loo” (aye) you know, or to (yeah) to t’ young one, like, “have you been loo fore you go school?” you know (aye, yeah); 0:30:42 when I was at th’ pit I was on pit bank and me brother was below and c… and we used to write on tubs, like, uh sending messages down or to one another that are round top; 0:31:26 ‘my mate’ (‘pals’) I would say (yeah, yeah) “oh, I’m just going I’m just going up nip up my mates a minute” (yeah) “shanna be long, like”; 0:51:05 ‘chuffed’ means, “oh, dead chuffed with that” you know, ‘pleased with that’, like, sort of thing) utterance final see (0:10:37 (do you consciously make it slower and clearer then?) (yeah, yeah) (is that what you do you do that a lot do you find?) mind you, he has to do that ’cause mother-in-law goes down t’ same club, see (oh aye, yeah) so her canna understand so you have to you have to speak clear, don’t you? (get a bollocking off her, aye)) utterance internal like (0:02:08 you still get the you s… you still s…, like, if you’re walking past and there’s a builder’s you you go and there’s there’s, like, lads on scaffolds if you anybody walks past in town or summat you always see hear them wolf-whistle, don’t you, the builders, you know) intensifer dead (0:51:05 ‘chuffed’ means, “oh, dead chuffed with that” you know, ‘pleased with that’, like, sort of thing) form of address duck (0:06:01 if you were at the table and uh for instance if you wanted salt and there was no salt there you’d say to a waitress, “uh, canst bring us some salt, duck?” right she wouldn’t have a clue what you were on about so you say, “could I have some salt, please?”; 0:13:54 (you know, say some of the places the towns “Kidsgrove” that’s ‘Kidsgrove’) (aye) (“Kidsgrove”) (“Burslem”) yeah, ‘Burslem’ (that’s ‘Burslem’) […] “Tunstall” which means ‘Tunstall’ “up Tunstall” […] “I’m just going up Hanley, duck” aye; 0:35:22 oh, her’s coming in with some stuff now, look, come on you’re all right, duck (thought her brought a bowl) (sausage rolls) (sausage rolls) oh, lovely jubbly (I thought her’d got a b… bowl of lobby then)) http://sounds.bl.uk Page 36 of 37 BBC Voices Recordings © Robinson, Herring, Gilbert Voices of the UK, 2009-2012 A British Library project funded by The Leverhulme Trust

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