Dialects - Potteries - Stoke-on-Trent

What's the history of the Potteries dialect?

The existence of a dialect is not unique to the North Staffordshire area. In many areas of the UK and indeed the world there are regional variations in the spoken word. Listening to a broad Geordie, Liverpudlian or Potteries inhabitant will leave the average eavesdropper baffled. In China the dialect spoken by those living in Shanghai is almost impossible to understand by other Chinese speakers.

English language scholars say that the Potteries dialect derives from the Anglo Saxon Old English.

For example the word “Nesh” meaning soft, tender, easily get cold is derived from the early English, “nesc, nescenes.” The word “Slat” meaning to throw, is from the old English “slath,” moved.

The presence of an accent and dialect can be seen by these three things:

Firstly a localised difference in the intonation or meter of a sentence. It’s difficult for the person who lives in the locality to notice this because everyone speaks in the same manner. However listen to the mind numbingly tedious drawl of the Southern States of America or the grating twang of the Birmingham / Dudley area and you immediately know what I mean.

Secondly a method of pronunciation which is unique to a restricted geographic area, for example in the Potteries the vowel O followed by an L is pronounced “OW” as in towd (told), owd (old), cowd (cold), gowd (gold).

Thirdly there are words that are particular to that area, or sometimes a couple of areas. These words are not present in Standard English, you can tell by spell checking them in a word processor. For example “Sneap” or “sneep” as in to snub or upset appears to be local to the Potteries, but a friend of mine from Sheffield, which has a dialect all of its own, had no idea what I was talking about.

How has it changed?

Language, especially the spoken word, continually changes; hence the now annual round of additional words to be included in the Oxford English Dictionary. Dialects are the same: there are even variations within a region and it used to be that the dialect was broader and more obvious in Tunster (Tunstall) and less pronounced in the more refined Neck End (Lane End or Longton).

It’s interesting to note that in the six Potteries towns the broader the dialect - the coarser the product manufactured. For example Tunstall in the north had a preponderance of brick manufacturers, the other towns largely produced earthenware and stoneware with Longton the southernmost town having the most china potworks.

All spoken languages change quite quickly and John Ward, in his book ‘The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent’ published in 1843 recalls ‘A Burslem Dialogue’ which took place in the market place in 1810. Although Ward wrote only some 30 odd years later he felt the need to explain the meaning of such Potteries words as ‘mewds’ (moulds), ‘kale’ (being called upon in order, first, second….), ‘heo’ (she), ‘shippon’ (a cow-house).

Did the pits and pots make a difference?

Dialects are diluted when there is mobility of the population and are strengthened when there is a concentration of people.

The fact that there used to be two main occupations in North Staffordshire – the pits or the pots – meant that people of these specific social classes spent most of their days in close proximity with people with the same way of speaking. This helped to reinforce and preserve the dialect.

Where does 'duck' come from?

Firstly the word “duck” as a term of greeting has nothing at all to do with the winged bird of the same name.

It is said to find its origin in the Saxon word ‘ducas’ which was meant as a term of respect; similar to the Middle English ‘duc’, ‘duk’ which denotes a leader, commander; from which comes the title ‘Duke’ and the Old French word ‘ducheé’ - the territory ruled by a Duke.

From these origins it became a greeting and then a term of endearment. This use of ‘duck’ as a greeting is not restricted to the Potteries; although the use here is very common. It is still used an many parts of what was Mercia. Even though they have very different dialects from the Potteries the greeting is used in the Black Country, in Derbyshire, as far east as Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire. In Yorkshire the main term of greeting is ‘luv’ but in Sheffield, which is close to the Yorkshire – Derbyshire boarder the greeting ‘Ey up mi duck’ can be heard.

In Midsummer Nights Dream Shakespeare uses the phrase ‘O dainty Ducke: O Deere!” as a term of endearment.

Tell us about some of the more unique names...

Many of the differences of a dialect compared with standard English are to do with grammar and pronunciation. Even though a dialect can be difficult to follow, with a little care and patient the average person can work out what is being said.

However many dialects have words that are unique to a particular area and the speaker would not know what the word meant if used in isolation. The greeting “duck” as described above is an example.

There are other words which are unique to the Potteries and surrounding area such as:-

“Surry” meaning friend as in “ ‘Ay up surry, ‘ars biznes” – Hello friend, how’s business (as Bennett noted in his short story ‘His worship the goosedriver’ in the Five Towns business takes the place of weather as a topic of salutation). Surry (also spelt sirrah or surrie) is derived from an obsolete form of sir – used as a form of greeting or address – ‘yes sir’ ‘how are you, sir’ – it gained an extra syllable ‘ah’ when spoken in general conversation and became ‘sirrah’.

“Farrantly” as in ‘That wer a farrantly mon’ - that was a good man. Farrantly means good and amiable; a worthy person.

“Brazzle” ‘Hard as brazzle’ - either hard (as opposed to soft) or hard faced. Brazzle were hard iron pyrites nodules found during the mining of the Black bank Ironstone deposits.

“Clemmed” – short of food, starving. Derived from a Norse word meaning ‘press’, ‘squeeze’; then ‘to pinch’ as hunger or fasting does; to waste with hunger, starve. From these origins it was used in general conversation to mean very hungry, just as people today will say ‘I’m starving’ or ‘I’m famished’.

Is it dying out?

Yes and no! Certainly the use of a broad dialect is not heard amongst the general population of the area.

The ease of travel, the movement of people from one area to another; radio and television and uniformity of teaching have all contributed to the dilution of dialects.

However visitors from outside immediately notice that Potteries folk do have a different accent and a ‘strange’ way of speaking; sometimes we have to repeat our selves or speak slowly to be understood. This shows that the dialect is still present in everyday conversation. There is also a growing interest in preserving, reading about and speaking dialects.

John Ward, in his book (1843), noted that the Potteries dialect was “now almost banished by the schoolmasters assiduous care”. Well the dialect may have softened and changed – but it is still alive and kicking – a bit like th’ bo agin th’ wo.