Editing West Country English

{{Short description|Variety of the English language}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Ooh arr|Ooh Ahh (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{use British English|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = West Country English
| altname          = 
| nativename       = 
| acceptance       = 
| states           = [[England]]
| region           = [[West Country]]
| creator          = 
| created          = 
| setting          = 
| coordinates      = 
| extinct          = 
| era              = 
| revived          = 
| revived-category = <!-- or revived-cat -->
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|fam3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
|fam4=[[North Sea Germanic]]
|fam5=[[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
|fam6=[[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
|fam7=[[West Saxon dialect|Old West Saxon]]
|ancestor=[[Old English]]
|ancestor2=[[West Saxon dialect|West Saxon Old English]]
|ancestor3=[[Middle English]]
|ancestor4=[[Early Modern English]]
| dia1             = [[Dorset dialect]]
| map              = England Region - South West.svg
| mapscale         = 1
| mapalt           = 
| mapcaption       = The official region of [[South West England]], approximately co-extensive with the areas where "West Country" varieties are spoken.
| module           = 
| notice           = IPA
|isoexception=dialect
}}
{{listen|filename=Sophie Anderson's Voice.flac|type=speech|title=Speech example|description=An example of a female with a mostly rhotic accent from [[Bristol]] ([[Sophie Anderson (actress)|Sophie Anderson]]).}}
{{listen|filename=Julie burchill bbc radio4 desert island discs 10 02 2013 b01qhd0p.flac|type=speech|title=Speech example|description=An example of a working-class female with a rhotic accent from Bristol ([[Julie Burchill]]).}}
{{listen|filename=Martin Turner voice.flac|type=speech|title=Speech example|description=An example of a male with a partially rhotic accent from [[Devon]] ([[Martin Turner]]).}}

'''West Country English''' is a group of [[English language|English]] [[language variety|language varieties]] and [[Accent (dialect)|accent]]s used by much of the native population of the [[West Country]], an area found in the southwest of England.<ref>[http://benjamins.nl/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=VEAW%20T5 The Southwest of England (Varieties of English around the world T5)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812083625/http://benjamins.nl/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=VEAW%20T5 |date=12 August 2011 }}</ref>

The West Country is often defined as encompassing the official [[Regions of England|region]] of [[South West England]]: [[Cornwall]], and the counties of, [[Devon]], [[Dorset]], [[Somerset]], [[Wiltshire]], [[Bristol]] and [[Gloucestershire]]. However, the exact northern and eastern boundaries of the area are hard to define. In the adjacent counties of [[Herefordshire]], [[Worcestershire]], [[Hampshire]], [[Berkshire]] and [[Oxfordshire]], it is possible to encounter similar accents and indeed, much the same distinct dialect, albeit with some similarities to others in neighbouring regions.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} Although natives of all these locations, especially in rural parts, often still have West Country influences in their speech, their increased mobility and [[urbanisation]] has meant that in the more populous of these counties the dialect itself, as opposed to the people's various local ''accents'', is becoming increasingly rare.

Academically the regional variations are considered to be dialectal forms. The ''[[Survey of English Dialects]]'' captured manners of speech across the South West region that were just as different from Standard English as any from the far North of England. There is some influence from the [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Cornish language|Cornish]] languages depending on the specific location.

==In literature, film and television==
In literary contexts, most of the usage has been in either poetry or dialogue, to add local colour. It has rarely been used for serious prose in recent times but was used much more extensively until the 19th century. West Country dialects are commonly represented as "[[Mummerset]]", a kind of catch-all southern [[rural]] accent invented for broadcasting.

===Early period===
* The [[Late West Saxon]] dialect was the standard literary language of later [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] England, and consequently the majority of [[Anglo-Saxon literature]], including the epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'' and the poetic Biblical paraphrase ''[[Judith (poem)|Judith]]'', is preserved in West Saxon dialect, though not all of it was originally written in West Saxon.
* In the [[medieval]] period, ''[[Sumer is icumen in]]'' (13th century) is a notable example of a work in Wessex dialect.
* The [[Cornish language]] (and [[Breton language|Breton]]) descended from the ancient [[Common Brittonic|British language]] (Brythonic/Brittonic) that was spoken all over what is now the West Country until the West Saxons conquered and settled most of the area. The Cornish language throughout much of the High Middle Ages was not just the vernacular but the prestigious language in Cornwall among all classes, but was also spoken in large areas of Devon well after the Norman conquest. Cornish began to decline after the Late Middle Ages with English expanding westwards, and after the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]], suffered terminal decline, dying out in the 18th century. (Its existence today is a [[Cornish language#Forms of Revived Cornish|revival]]).

===17th century===
* In ''[[King Lear]]'', Edgar speaks in the West Country dialect, as one of his various personae.
* Both [[Sir Francis Drake]] and [[Sir Walter Raleigh]] were noted at the Court of [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth]] for their strong Devon accents.

===18th century===
* ''[[The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling|Tom Jones]]'' (1749) by [[Henry Fielding]], set in [[Somerset]], again mainly dialogue. Considered one of the first true English novels.<ref>{{cite news
 |last        = Yardley
 |first       = Jonathan
 |title       = 'Tom Jones,' as Fresh as Ever
 |pages       = C1
 |newspaper   = Washington Post
 |date        = 9 December 2003
 |url         = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47728-2003Dec8.html
 |access-date  = 31 December 2006
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103044449/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47728-2003Dec8.html
 |archive-date = 3 November 2012}}</ref>

===19th century===
* [[William Barnes]]' Dorset dialect poetry (1801–1886).
*[[Walter Hawken Tregellas]] (1831–1894), author of many stories written in the local dialect of the county of Cornwall and a number of other works.
* [[Anthony Trollope]]'s (1815–1882) series of books ''[[Chronicles of Barsetshire]]'' (1855–1867) also use some dialect in dialogue.
* The novels of [[Thomas Hardy]] (1840–1928) often use the dialect in dialogue, notably ''[[Tess of the d'Urbervilles|Tess of the D'Urbervilles]]'' (1891).
* ''Wiltshire Rhymes and Tales in the Wiltshire Dialect'' (1894) and other works by [[Edward Slow]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2005/01/13/voices_dialect_moonrakers_130105_feature.shtml |title=Wiltshire&nbsp;— About Wiltshire&nbsp;– 'Vizes excizemen on tha scent' |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 April 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703201647/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2005/01/13/voices_dialect_moonrakers_130105_feature.shtml |archive-date=3 July 2010}}</ref>
* The [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] operetta ''[[The Sorcerer]]'' is set in the fictional village of Ploverleigh in Somerset. Some dialogue and song lyrics, especially for the chorus, are a phonetic approximation of West Country speech. ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' and ''[[Ruddigore]]'' are both set in Cornwall.
* [[John Davey (Cornish speaker)|John Davey]] a farmer from [[Zennor]], records the native Cornish language [[Cranken Rhyme]].
* R. D. Blackmore's ''[[Lorna Doone]]''. According to Blackmore, he relied on a "phonogogic" style for his characters' speech, emphasizing their accents and word formation.<ref>Buckler, William E. (1956) "Blackmore's Novels before ''Lorna Doone''" in: ''Nineteenth-Century Fiction'', vol. 10 (1956), p. 183</ref> He expended great effort, in all of his novels, on his characters' dialogues and dialects, striving to recount realistically not only the ways, but also the tones and accents, in which thoughts and utterances were formed by the various sorts of people who lived in the [[Exmoor|Exmoor district]].

===20th century===
* 'Zummerzet speech' is discussed in ''The Somerset Coast'' (1909) by [[Charles George Harper]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Harper |first=Charles G. |url=https://archive.org/details/somersetcoast00harp/page/168/mode/1up?view=theater |title=The Somerset Coast |publisher=Chapman & Hall |year=1909 |location=London |pages=168–172 |author-link=Charles George Harper |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
* ''Songs of the Soil'' by Percy G Stone, verse in Isle of Wight dialect, rendered phonetically, showing similarities with 'core' West Country dialects.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stone |first1=Percy G |title=Songs of the Soil |date=1932 |publisher=Isle of Wight County Press |location=Newport, IW}}</ref> 
* ''[[A Glastonbury Romance]]'' (1933) by [[John Cowper Powys]] (1872–1963) contains dialogue written in imitation of the local Somerset dialect.
* Albert John Coles (1876–1965), writing as [[Jan Stewer]], wrote 3,000 short stories in the Devonshire dialect for local Devon newspapers, and published collections of them, as well as performing them widely on stage, film, and broadcast.
* [[David Foot (journalist)|David Foot]] (1929–2021) wrote often about the West Country. ''Footsteps from East Coker'' was about his childhood village and beyond.
* [[Laurie Lee]]'s (1914–1997) works such as ''[[Cider with Rosie]]'' (1959) portray a somewhat idealised [[Gloucestershire]] childhood in the [[Five Valleys]] area.
* [[John Fowles]]'s ''[[Daniel Martin (novel)|Daniel Martin]]'', which features the title character's girlfriend's dialect.
* [[Dennis Potter]]'s ''[[Blue Remembered Hills]]'' is a television play about children in the [[Forest of Dean]] during the Second World War. The dialogue is written in the style of the Forest dialect.
* The songs of [[Adge Cutler]] (from [[Nailsea]], died 1974) were famous for their West Country dialect, sung in a strong [[Somerset]] accent. His legacy lives on in the present day [[Wurzels]] and other so-called "[[Scrumpy and Western]]" artists.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cidercraftmag.com/scrumpy-western-cider-soundtrack/|first=Abram |last=Goldman-Armstrong|title=Scrumpy and Western: Cider Soundtrack|publisher=Cidercraft Magazine|date=7 September 2015|access-date=21 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006042256/https://cidercraftmag.com/scrumpy-western-cider-soundtrack/|archive-date=6 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
* The folk group [[The Yetties]] perform songs composed in the dialect of Dorset (they originate from [[Yetminster]]).
* [[Andy Partridge]], lead singer with the group [[XTC]], has a pronounced [[Wiltshire]] accent. Although more noticeable in his speech, his accent may also be heard in some of his singing.
* [[J. K. Rowling]]'s ''[[Harry Potter]]'' [[fantasy]] novels feature [[Rubeus Hagrid|Hagrid]], a character who has a West Country accent.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://doaj.org/article/ef7c3acab6554bd8b3fb46c1892f2392 |journal= Journal of Literature and Language Teaching |date= April 2016 |title= An Analysis of West Country Dialect Used by Hagrid in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter |first=Rika |last=Santika |doi=10.15642/NOBEL.2016.7.1.25-35 |volume= 7 |issue= 1 |pages=25–35|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* Berk, the central monster character from ''[[The Trap Door]]'', voiced by actor and comedian [[Willie Rushton]].
* Archaeologist [[Phil Harding (archaeologist)|Phil Harding]] from Channel 4's ''[[Time Team]]'' speaks with a strong Wiltshire accent.

==History and origins==
Until the 19th century, the [[West Country]] and its dialects were largely protected from outside influences, due to its relative geographical isolation. While standard English derives from the [[Old English]] [[Mercian dialect]]s, the West Country dialects derive from the [[West Saxon dialect]],{{Which|date=August 2024|reason=It would be helpful to know which variant of the West Saxon dialect it's considered to be descended from, Early or Late, as it is disputed whether the latter is a direct descendant of the former}} which formed the earliest English language standard. [[Thomas Spencer Baynes]] claimed in 1856 that, due to its position at the heart of the Kingdom of Wessex, the relics of Anglo-Saxon accent, idiom and vocabulary were best preserved in the Somerset dialect.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/somersetshiredi00bayngoog The Somersetshire dialect: its pronunciation, 2 papers (1861)] Thomas Spencer Baynes, first published 1855 & 1856</ref>

The dialects have their origins in the expansion of Old English into the west of modern-day England, where the kingdom of [[Wessex]] (West-Saxons) had been founded in the 6th century. As the [[Kings of Wessex]] became more powerful they enlarged their kingdom westwards and north-westwards by taking territory from the British kingdoms in those districts. From Wessex, the Anglo-Saxons spread into the Celtic regions of present-day [[Devon]], Somerset and Gloucestershire, bringing their language with them. At a later period, [[Cornwall]] came under [[Wessex]] influence, which appears to become more extensive after the time of [[Athelstan]] in the 10th century. However, the spread of the English language took much longer here than elsewhere.

Outside Cornwall, it is believed that the various local dialects reflect the territories of various West Saxon tribes, who had their own dialects<ref>[https://archive.org/details/originofanglosax00shoruoft Origin of the Anglo-Saxon race : a study of the settlement of England and the tribal origin of the Old English people]; Author: [[William Thomas Shore]]; Editors TW and LE Shore; Publisher: Elliot Stock; published 1906 esp. p. 3, 357, 367, 370, 389, 392</ref>
which fused together into a national language in the later Anglo-Saxon period.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/originofanglosax00shoruoft Origin of the Anglo-Saxon race : a study of the settlement of England and the tribal origin of the Old English people; Author: William Thomas Shore; Editors TW and LE Shore; Publisher: Elliot Stock; published 1906] p. 393</ref>

As Lt-Col. J. A. Garton observed in 1971,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.john.lerwill.btinternet.co.uk/personal/dialects.htm |title=A Somerset Dialect |last=Garton | first=J.A. |year =1971|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426224910/http://www.john.lerwill.btinternet.co.uk/personal/dialects.htm |archive-date=26 April 2006|access-date=25 January 2013}}</ref> traditional Somerset English has a venerable and respectable origin, and is not a mere "debasement" of Standard English:

{{blockquote|The dialect is not, as some people suppose, English spoken in a slovenly and ignorant way. It is the remains of a language—the court language of [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]]. Many words, thought to be wrongly pronounced by the countryman, are actually correct, and it is the accepted pronunciation which is wrong. English pronounces W-A-R-M worm, and W-O-R-M wyrm; in the dialect W-A-R-M is pronounced as it is spelt, Anglo-Saxon W-E-A-R-M. The Anglo-Saxon for worm is W-Y-R-M. Polite English pronounces W-A-S-P wosp; the Anglo-Saxon word is W-O-P-S and a Somerset man still says WOPSE. The verb To Be is used in the old form, I be, Thee bist, He be, We be, Thee 'rt, They be. 'Had I known I wouldn't have gone', is 'If I'd a-know'd I 'ooden never a-went'; 'A' is the old way of denoting the past participle, and went is from the verb to wend (Anglo-Saxon wendan).}}

In some cases, many of these forms are closer to [[Low German|modern Saxon]] (commonly called Low German/Low Saxon) than Standard British English is, e.g.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Low German
! Somerset
! Standard British English
|-
| Ik bün||I be/A be||I am
|-
| Du büst||Thee bist||You are (archaic "Thou art")
|-
| He is||He be||He is
|}

The use of masculine and sometimes feminine, rather than neuter, pronouns with non-animate referents also parallels Low German, which unlike English retains grammatical genders. The pronunciation of "s" as "z" is also similar to Low German. However, [[Brittonicisms in English#Substantive verb – consuetudinal tense byð|recent research]] proposes that some syntactical features of English, including the unique forms of the verb ''to be'', originate rather with the [[Brythonic languages]]. (See ''Celtic language influence'' below.)

In more recent times, West Country dialects have been treated with some derision, which has led many local speakers to abandon them or water them down.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sullock|first1=Jason|title=Oo do ee think ee are?|date=2012|publisher=Lulu|isbn=9781291148411|page=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xo_8AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3}}</ref> In particular it is British comedy which has brought them to the fore outside their native regions, and paradoxically groups such as [[The Wurzels]], a comic North Somerset/Bristol band from whom the term [[Scrumpy and Western]] music originated, have both popularised and made fun of them simultaneously. In an unusual regional breakout, the Wurzels' song "[[The Combine Harvester]]" reached the top of the [[UK Top 40|UK charts]] in 1976, where it did nothing to dispel the "simple farmer" stereotype of [[Somerset]] and West Country folk. It and all their songs are sung entirely in a local version of the dialect, which is somewhat exaggerated and distorted.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Milligan|first1=Daniel|title=Ten words and phrases that prove you're Somerset born and bred|url=http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/somerset_news/11011425.Ten_words_and_phrases_that_prove_you_re_Somerset_born_and_bred/|access-date=29 November 2015|work=This is the Westcountry|date=17 February 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208070821/http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/somerset_news/11011425.Ten_words_and_phrases_that_prove_you_re_Somerset_born_and_bred/|archive-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> Some words used aren't even typical of the local dialect. For instance, the word "nowt" is used in the song "Threshing Machine". This word is generally used in more northern parts of England, with the West Country equivalent being "nawt".

===Celtic-language influence===
{{see also|Anglo-Cornish{{!}}Cornish dialect|Brittonicisms in English}}
[[File:Cornish Language Shift.svg|right|thumb|250px|The shifting of the linguistic boundary in Cornwall from 1300 to 1750]]

Although the English language gradually spread into [[Cornwall]] after approximately the 13th century, a complete language shift to English took centuries more. The linguistic boundary between English in the east and Cornish in the west shifted markedly in the county between 1300 and 1750 (see figure). This is not to be thought of as a sharp boundary, and it should not be inferred that there were no Cornish speakers to the east of the line and no English speakers to the west. Nor should it be inferred that the boundary suddenly moved a great distance every 50 years.

During the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]] of 1549, which centred on [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]], many of the Cornish objected to the [[Book of Common Prayer]], on the basis that many Cornish could not speak English. Cornish probably ceased to be spoken as a community language sometime around 1780, with the last monoglot Cornish speaker believed to be [[Chesten Marchant]], who died in 1676 at [[Gwithian]] ([[Dolly Pentreath]] was bilingual). However, some people retained a fragmented knowledge and some words were adopted by dialect(s) in Cornwall.

In recent years, the traffic has reversed, with the revived [[Cornish language]] reclaiming Cornish words that had been preserved in the local dialect into its lexicon, and also (especially "Revived Late Cornish") borrowing other dialect words. However, there has been some controversy over whether all of these words are of native origin, as opposed to imported from parts of England, or the [[Welsh Marches]]. Some modern-day revived Cornish speakers have been known to use Cornish words within an English sentence, and even those who are not speakers of the language sometimes use words from the language in names.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cussel an Tavaz Kernuak|url=http://home.btconnect.com/htm_cornwall/|publisher=The Cornish Language Council|access-date=2 July 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517023038/http://home.btconnect.com/htm_cornwall/|archive-date=17 May 2014}}</ref>

[[Brythonic languages]] have also had a long-term influence on the West Country dialects beyond Cornwall, both as a substrate (certain West Country dialect words and possibly grammatical features) and languages of contact. Recent research on the roots of English proposes that the extent of Brythonic syntactic influence on [[Old English]] and [[Middle English]] may have been underestimated, specifically citing the preponderance of forms of the verbs ''to be'' and ''to do'' in South West England and their grammatical similarity to the [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Cornish language|Cornish]] forms as opposed to the forms in other Germanic languages.<ref>Tristram, Hildegard (2004), [http://ifa.amu.edu.pl/sap/files/40/05Tristram.pdf "Diglossia in Anglo-Saxon England, or what was spoken Old English like?"], in Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, 40, pp 87–110. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103211508/http://ifa.amu.edu.pl/sap/files/40/05Tristram.pdf|date=3 November 2023}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Bos: Cornish verb to be
|-
! Present tense <br/>(short form)
! Present tense <br/>(subjunctive)
! Standard British English
|-
| Ov||Biv||I am (dialect: "I be")
|-
| Os||Bi||You are (dialect: "(Th)ee be")
|-
| Yw||Bo||He/she/it is
|-
| On||Byn||We are
|-
| Owgh||Bowgh||You are (plural)
|-
| Yns||Bons||They are
|}

The [[Anglo-Cornish|Cornish dialect]], or Anglo-Cornish (to avoid confusion with the [[Cornish language]]), has the most substantial Celtic language influence because many western parts were non-English speaking even into the early modern period. In places such as [[Mousehole]], [[Newlyn]] and [[St Ives, Cornwall|St Ives]], fragments of Cornish survived in English even into the 20th century, e.g. some numerals (especially for counting fish) and the Lord's Prayer were noted by W. D. Watson in 1925,<ref name=cornishlangstudy>{{cite web |title=Cornish Language Study |url=https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/21486827/independent-study.pdf |publisher=Cornwall County Council |access-date=5 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805204217/https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/21486827/independent-study.pdf |archive-date=5 August 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Edwin Norris collected the Creed in 1860,<ref name=cornishlangstudy/> and J. H. Nankivel also recorded numerals in 1865.<ref name=cornishlangstudy/> The dialect of [[Penwith|West Penwith]] is particularly distinctive, especially in terms of grammar.{{vague|date=June 2018}} This is most likely due to the late decay of the Cornish language in this area. In Cornwall the following places were included in the [[Survey of English Dialects]]: [[Altarnun]], [[Egloshayle]], [[Gwinear, Cornwall|Gwinear]], [[Kilkhampton]], [[Mullion, Cornwall|Mullion]], [[St Buryan]], and [[St Ewe]].

In other areas, Celtic vocabulary is less common; some possible examples of Brythonic words surviving in the Devon dialect include:
* Goco&nbsp;— A bluebell
* Jonnick&nbsp;— Pleasant, agreeable

==Characteristics==
===Phonology===
* West Country accents are [[rhotic accent|rhotic]] like most [[Canadian English|Canadian]], [[American English|American]], [[Hiberno-English|Irish]] and [[Scottish English|Scottish accents]], meaning that the historical loss of syllable-final /r/ did not take place, in contrast to non-rhotic accents like [[Received Pronunciation]]. Often, this {{IPAc-en|r}} is specifically realised as the [[retroflex approximant]] {{IPA|[ɻ]}},<ref name="University of Edinburgh">{{cite web|title=Accents of English from Around the World|editor=Heggarty, Paul |display-editors=etal |publisher=University of Edinburgh|year=2013|url=http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/research/gsound/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426131610/http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/research/gsound/|archive-date=26 April 2016}}</ref> which is typically lengthened at the ends of words. This rhoticity  can be attributed to the relative isolation of the [[South West England|South West]] from the rest of [[England]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Country English |url=https://dialectandheritage.org.uk/stories/spotlight-on-the-south-west/west-country-english/#:~:text=Because%20they%20are%20relatively%20isolated,like%20water%2C%20park%20and%20first. |access-date=3 December 2024 |website=Dialect and Heritage Project}}</ref> Rhoticity appears to be declining in both [[Real-time sociolinguistics|real]] and [[Apparent-time hypothesis|apparent time]] in some areas of the West Country, for example [[Dorset]].<ref>Piercy, Caroline (2012) [https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol18/iss2/10 "A Transatlantic Cross-Dialectal Comparison of Non-Prevocalic /r/"], University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 18: Iss. 2, Article 10.</ref>
* {{IPAc-en|aɪ}}, as in ''guide'' or ''life'', more precisely approaches {{IPA|[ɒɪ]}}, {{IPA|[ɑɪ]}}, or {{IPA|[əɪ]}}.<ref name=wellsjc/><ref name ="University of Edinburgh"/>
* {{IPAc-en|aʊ}}, as in ''house'' or ''cow'', more precisely approaches {{IPA|[æy]}} or {{IPA|[ɐʏ~ɐʊ]}},<ref name ="University of Edinburgh"/> with even very front and unrounded variants such as {{IPA|[ɛɪ]}}.<ref name=wellsjc/>
* Word-final "-ing" {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ŋ}} in polysyllabic words is typically realised as {{IPA|[ɪn]}}.
* {{IPAc-en|æ}}, as in ''trap'' or ''cat'', is often open {{IPA|[æ~a]}}, the more open variant is fairly common in urban areas but especially common in rural areas.<ref name=wellsjc/>
** The [[trap–bath split|{{sc2|TRAP–BATH}} split]] associated with [[Estuary English|London English]] may not exist for some speakers or may exist marginally based simply on a length difference. In other words, some may not have any contrast between {{IPA|/æ/}} and {{IPA|/ɑː/}}, for example making ''palm'' and ''Pam'' [[homophone]]s (though some pronounce the {{IPA|/l/}} in ''palm'').<ref>Hughes, Arthur, Peter Trudgill, and Dominic Watt. ''English Accents and Dialects''. 5th ed. Croydon: Hodder Education, 2012, p. 62. Print</ref> For some West Country speakers, the vowel is even the same in the {{sc2|TRAP}}, {{sc2|BATH}}, {{sc2|PALM}}, and {{sc2|START}} word sets: {{IPA|[a]}}.<ref name=wellsjc/> The split's "bath" vowel (appearing as the letter "a" in such other words as ''grass'', ''ask'', ''path'', etc.) can also be represented by the sounds {{IPAblink|æː}} or {{IPAblink|aː}} in different parts of the West Country (RP has {{IPA|[ɑː]}} in such words); the isoglosses in the ''Linguistic Atlas of England'' are not straightforward cases of clear borders. Short vowels have also been reported, e.g., {{IPA|[a]}}.<ref name=wellsjc>Wells, J.C. (1982). ''Accents of English 2: The British Isles''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 343–345. Print.</ref><ref>{{citation|last1=Collins|first1=Beverley|last2=Mees|first2=Inger M.|year=2013|orig-year=First published 2003|title=Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students|edition=3rd|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-50650-2|page=171|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faVJTQIw9eQC}}</ref>
* [[h-dropping]]: initial {{IPA|/h/}} can often be omitted so "hair" and "air" become homophones. This is common in working-class speech in most parts of England.
* [[T-glottalization|t-glottalisation]]: use of the glottal stop {{IPA|[ʔ]}} as an allophone of {{IPA|/t/}}, generally when in any syllable-final position.
* The word-final letter "y" is pronounced {{IPA|[ei]}} or {{IPA|[ɪi]}};<ref name ="University of Edinburgh"/> for example: ''party ''{{IPA|[ˈpʰäɻʔei]}}, ''silly ''{{IPA|[ˈsɪlei]}} etc.
* The [[Survey of English Dialects]] found that Cornwall retained some older features of speech that are now considered "Northern" in England. For example, a close {{IPA|/ʊ/}} in ''suck, but, cup'', etc. and sometimes a short {{IPA|/a/}} in words such as ''aunt''.
* [[Phonological history of English consonants#Initial fricative voicing|Initial fricative consonants can be voiced]], particularly in more traditional and older speakers, so that "s" is pronounced as [[Standard English]] "z" and "f" as [[Standard English]] "v".<ref name ="University of Edinburgh"/> This feature is now exceedingly rare.<ref name=wellsjc/>
* In words containing "r" before a vowel, there is frequent [[metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]]&nbsp;– "gurt" (great), "Burdgwater" (Bridgwater) and "chillurn" (children)
* "l" sounds are vocalised (pronounced like "w") when not followed by a vowel, so "all old people" is {{IPA|[uːɫ ɔʊb pʰiːpʰu]}}.
**As a result, the [[English-language vowel changes before historic /l/#Fool–fall merger|''fool-fall'']] merger is common, with both pronounced {{IPA|/fuː(l)/}}.
* In [[Bristol]], a terminal "a" can be realised as the sound {{IPA|[ɔː]}}&nbsp;– e.g. ''cinema'' as "cinemaw" and ''America'' as "Americaw"&nbsp;– which is often perceived by non-Bristolians to be an intrusive "l", known as the [[Culture in Bristol#Dialect|"Bristol l"]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |title=Dialect Contact, Dialectology and Sociolinguistics |url=http://digitum.um.es/jspui/bitstream/10201/1672/1/112477.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402164426/https://digitum.um.es/jspui/bitstream/10201/1672/1/112477.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=30 May 2023 |publisher=University of Fribourg}}</ref> Hence the old joke about the three Bristolian sisters Evil, Idle and Normal{{spaced ndash}}i.e.: Eva, Ida, and Norma. The name ''Bristol'' itself (originally ''Bridgestowe'' or ''Bristow'') is often claimed to have originated from this local pronunciation, though this is contested.<ref>[https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/why-is-bristol-called-history-3532222  Tristan Cork, "The theories behind why Bristol is called Bristol", ''Bristol News'', 16 November 2019]. Retrieved 28 December 2023</ref>

===Vocabulary===
{{wiktionary category 2}}
* Some of the vocabulary used relates to English words of a bygone era, e.g. the verb "to hark" (as in "'ark a'ee"), "thee" (often abbreviated to "'ee"), the increased use of the infinitive form of the verb "to be" etc.

[[File:Cornish time dreckly.jpg|thumb|right|"D'reckly" on souvenir clocks in [[Cornwall]]]]
Some of these terms are obsolete, but some are in current use.
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|-
!Phrase || Meaning
|-
|acker (North Somerset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight) || friend
|-
|[[:wiktionary:afeared|afear'd]] (Dorset) || to be afraid, e.g. Dorset's official motto, "Who's afear'd".
|-
|Alaska (North Somerset) || I will ask her
|-
|Allernbatch (Devon) || old sore
|-
|Alright me Ansum? (Cornwall & Devon) || How are you, my friend?
|-
|Alright me Babber? (Somerset), Gloucestershire and [[Bristol]] || Similar to "Alright me ansum".
|-
|Alright my Luvver? || (just as with the phrase "alright mate", when said by a person from the West Country, it has no carnal connotations, it is merely a greeting. Commonly used across the West Country)
|-
|[[:wiktionary:anywhen|anywhen]] (Hampshire, Isle of Wight) || at any time
|-
|[[:wiktionary:happen|'appen]] (Devon) || perhaps, possibly
|-
|Appleknocker (Isle of Wight) || a resident of the Isle of Wight.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://h2g2.com/entry/A62441507/conversation/view/F15914705/T7272057 |title=H2g2 - A Conversation for Talking Point: Slang |access-date=2015-07-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715033649/http://h2g2.com/entry/A62441507/conversation/view/F15914705/T7272057 |archive-date=15 July 2015}}</ref>
|-
|Bad Lot (North Somerset) || e.g. "They'm a bad lot, mind"
|-
|baint (Dorset) || am not e.g. "I baint afear'd o' thic wopsy".
|-
|bauy, bay, bey (Exeter) || boy
|-
|Benny (Bristol) || to lose your temper (from a character in ''[[Crossroads (soap opera)|Crossroads]]'')
|-
|Billy Baker (Yeovil) || woodlouse
|-
|blige (Bristol) || blimey
|-
|Boris (Exeter) || daddy longlegs
|-
|Bunny (West Hampshire/East Dorset) || steep wooded valley
|-
|Caulkhead (Isle of Wight) || a long-standing island resident, usually a descendant of a family living there. This refers to the island's heavy involvement in the production of [[rope]] and caulk.
|-
|[[:wiktionary:cheers|cheers]] (Dorset/Wiltshire/Gloucestershire) || Goodbye or see you later, e.g. Bob: I've got to get going now, Bar. Bar: Ah? Cheers then, Bob.
|-
|cheerzen/Cheers'en (Somerset, Bristol) || Thank you (from Cheers, then)
|-
|chinny reckon (North Somerset) || I do not believe you in the slightest (from older West Country English ''ich ne reckon'' 'I don't reckon/calculate')
|-
|chine (East Dorset/Isle of Wight) || steep wooded valley
|-
|chiggy wig (Dorset)
|Woodlouse
|-
|chuggy pig (North Somerset) || woodlouse
|-
|chump (North Somerset) || log (for the fire)
|-
|chuting (North Somerset) || (pronounced "shooting") guttering
|-
|comical (North Somerset, Isle of Wight) || peculiar, e.g. 'e were proper comical
|-
|combe (Devon,Somerset,Wiltshire, Isle of Wight) (pronounced 'coombe') || steep wooded valley
|-
|coombe (Devon, North Somerset, Dorset) || steep wooded valley. Combe/Coombe is the second most common placename element in Devon and is equivalent to the Welsh cwm.
|-
|coupie/croupie (North Somerset,Wiltshire, Dorset, Isle of Wight & Bristol) || crouch, as in the phrase coupie down
|-
|crowst (Cornwall) || a picnic lunch, crib
|-
|cuzzel (Cornwall) || soft
|-
|daddy granfer (North Somerset) || woodlouse
|-
|daps (Bristol, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire) || sportshoes (plimsolls or trainers) (also used widely in [[South Wales]])
|-
|Diddykai, Diddycoy, Diddy (Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire) || Gypsy, Traveller
|-
|dimpsy (Devon) || describing the state of twilight as in its getting a bit dimpsy
|-
|dizzibles (Isle of Wight) || state of undress (from French deshabille)
|-
|doughboy (Dorset, Somerset) || dumpling
|-
|Dreckley (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset & Isle of Wight) || soon, like mañana, but less urgent (from directly once in common English usage for straight away or directly) I be wiv 'ee dreckley or ee looked me dreckly in the eyes.
|-
|drive (Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset & Wiltshire) || any driver of a taxi or bus. A common gesture when disembarking from a bus is "Cheers drive!"
|-
|[[Emmet (Cornish)|Emmet]] (Cornwall and North Somerset) || tourist or visitor (derogatory)
|-
|et (North Somerset) || that, e.g. Giss et peak (Give me that pitchfork)
|-
|facety/facetie (Glos.) || stuck up, entitled, snobbish e.g. She's a right facety one (she is very snobbish)
|-
|gallybagger (Isle of Wight) || scarecrow
|-
|Geddon alt; geddy on (Crediton, Devon) || Get on, e.g. geddon chap! enthusiastic encouragement or delight
|-
|gert lush (Bristol) || very good
|-
|gleanie (North Somerset) || [[guinea fowl]]
|-
|gockey (Cornwall) || idiot
|-
|gramersow (Cornwall) || woodlouse
|-
|granfer || grandfather
|-
|granfergrig (Wiltshire) || woodlouse
|-
|grockle (Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire,west Hampshire and the Isle of Wight) || tourist, visitor or gypsy (derogatory)
|-
|grockle shell (Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight) || caravan or motor home (derogatory)
|-
|grockle can (Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight) || a [[bus]] or a [[coach (bus)|coach]] carrying tourists (derogatory)
|-
|gurt (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Bristol,Wiltshire, South Glos and the Isle of Wight) || big or great, used to express a large size often as extra emphasis That's a gurt big tractor!.
|-
|haling (North Somerset) || coughing
|-
|(h)ang' about (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire & the Isle of Wight) || Wait or Pause but often exclaimed when a sudden thought occurs.
|-
|hark at he (Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight) (pronounced 'ark a' 'ee) || listen to him, often sarcastic.
|-
|headlights (Cornwall) || light-headedness, giddiness
|-
|hilts and gilts (North Somerset) || female and male piglets, respectively.
|-
|hinkypunk || [[Will o' the wisp]]
|-
|hucky duck (Somerset, particularly [[Radstock]]) || Aqueduct (Aqueduct was a rather new-fangled word for the Somerset colliers of the time and got corrupted to 'Hucky Duck'.)
|-
|huppenstop (North Somerset) || raised stone platform where milk churns are left for collection&nbsp;— no longer used but many still exist outside farms.
|-
|ideal (Bristol,North Somerset) || idea; In Bristol there is a propensity for local speakers to add an l to words ending with a
|-
|In any case
|-
|[[Janner]] (Devon, esp. Plymouth) || a term with various meanings, normally associated with Devon. An old term for someone who makes their living off of the sea. [[Plymouth|Plymothians]] are often generally referred to as Janners, and supporters of the city's football team [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]] are sometimes also referred to thus. In Wiltshire, a similar word ' jidder ' is used&nbsp;— possible relation to 'gypsy'.
|-
|Janny Reckon (Cornwall and Devon) || Derived from Chinny Reckon and Janner, and is often used in response to a wildly exaggerated fisherman's tale.
|-
|Jasper (Devon, Wiltshire, West Hampshire) || [[wasp]].
|-
|keendle teening (Cornwall) || candle lighting
|-
|[[Kerning (dairy)|kern]] (Somerset) || to thicken, particularly in reference to dairy products — '[[strained yogurt|kerned yogurt]]'
|-
|Kimberlin ([[Isle of Portland|Portland]]) || someone from [[Weymouth, Dorset|Weymouth]] or further away&nbsp;— not a Portlander
|-
|Love, My Love, Luvver || Terms of endearment when used on their own. Can also be joined to a greeting and used towards strangers, e.g. "Good morning my luvver" may be said by a shop keeper to a customer. See also "Alright my Luvver?".
|-
|Ling (Cornwall) || to throw ''Ling 'ee 'ere'' — Throw it here
|-
|Madderdo'ee (Cornwall) || Does it matter?
|-
|maid (Dorset, Devon) || girl
|-
|maggoty (Dorset) || fanciful
|-
|mackey (Bristol) || massive or large, often to benefit
|-
|mallyshag (Isle of Wight) || caterpillar
|-
|mang (Devon) || to mix
|-
|[[:wiktionary:mush#Etymology 5|mush]] (Dorset, Gloucestershire, south Hampshire) || friendly greeting as in mate
|-
|[[:wiktionary:nipper|nipper]] (Isle of Wight/Gloucestershire) || a young boy, also a term of endearment between heterosexual men used in the same way as 'mate'.
|-
|Now we're farming. (Somerset) || Term to describe when something is proceeding nicely or as planned, used in a similar way to the phrase 'now we're cooking with gas'.
|-
|old butt (Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean) || friend
|-
|Ooh Arr (Devon) || multiple meanings, including "oh yes". Popularised by [[the Wurzels]], this phrase has become stereotypical, and is used often to mock speakers of West Country dialects. In the modern day Ooh Ah is commonly used as the correct phrase though mostly avoided due to stereotypes.
|-
|Ort/Ought Nort/Nought (Devon) || Something / "Nothing I a'en got ought for'ee" = "I have nothing for you", "'Er did'n give I nought" = "He gave me nothing"
|-
|Overner (Isle of Wight) || not from the Island, a mainland person. Extremely common usage
|-
|Overlander (Isle of Wight)|| a non-resident of the Island, an outsider. Overner (see above) is the abbreviated form of this word, and 'Overlander' is also used in parts of Australia.
|-
|Parcel of ol' Crams (Devon) || "a phrase with which the native sum up and dismisses everything that he ... (a) cannot comprehend, (b) does not believe, (c) has no patience with, or (d) is entertained by but unwilling to praise."<ref>Jan Stewer (A. J. Coles) (1980). "''A Parcel of Ol' Crams'', London, Herbert Jenkins Limited, Author's Note.</ref>
|-
|piggy widden (Cornwall) || phrase used to calm babies
|-
|pitching (Bristol,Somerset, Wiltshire) || settling on the ground (of snow)
|-
|[[:wiktionary:plim#English|plim up]], plimmed (North Somerset,west Hampshire) || swell up, swollen
|-
|poached, -ing up (North Somerset but also recently heard on ''[[The Archers]]'') || cutting up, of a field, as in the ground's poaching up, we'll have to bring the cattle indoors for the winter.
|-
|proper job || (Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, Isle of Wight) Something done well or a general expression of satisfaction.
|-
|pummy (Dorset) || Apple pumace from the cider-wring (either from pumace or [[French language|French]] pomme meaning apple)
|-
|scag (North Somerset) || to tear or catch ("I've scagged me jeans on thacky barbed wire. I've scagged me 'ook up 'round down 'by Swyre 'ed")
|-
|scrage || a scratch or scrape usually on a limb [https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2005/01/07/voices_haveyoursay_feature.shtml BBC Voices Project]
|-
|scrope (Dorset) || to move awkwardly or clumsily through overgrowth or vegetation.
|-
|skew-whiff (Dorset & Devon) || crooked, slanting, awry.
|-
|slit pigs (North Somerset) || male piglets that have been castrated
|-
|smooth (Bristol & Somerset) || to stroke (e.g. cat or dog)
|-
|Sound (Devon & North Gloucestershire) || many meanings, but mainly to communicate gratitude, appreciation and/or mutual respect.
|-
|[[:wiktionary:somewhen|somewhen]] (Dorset, Isle of Wight) || At some time (still very commonly used). Occasionally used elsewhere, though considered informal, it has an equivalent in German as ''[[:wiktionary:irgendwann|irgendwann]]''.
|-
|sprieve (Wiltshire) || Dry after a bath, shower or swim by evaporation.
|-
|spuddler (Devon) || Somebody attempting to stir up trouble. e.g. That's not true, you spuddlin' bugger!
|-
|thic (Dorset, North Somerset) || that&nbsp;— said knowingly, i.e. to make dialect deliberately stronger. E.g. Get in thic bed!
|-
|thic/thac/they thiccy/thaccy/they (Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire) || This, that, those. e.g. ''Put'n in thic yer box.'' Put it in this box here. ''Whad'v'ee done wi' thaccy pile o'dashels?'' What have you done with that pile of thistles
|-
|tinklebob (Dorset) || an icicle.
|-
|wambling (Dorset) || wandering, aimless (see [[A Pair of Blue Eyes]] by [[Thomas Hardy]])
|-
|wuzzer/wazzin (Exeter) || Was she?/Was he?
|-
|Where's it to? (Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire) || Where is it? e.g. Dorchester, where's it to? It's in Dorset.
|-
|wopsy (Devon & Dorset) || a wasp.
|-
|[[:wiktionary:young'un|young'un]] || any young person "Ow be young un?" or "Where bist goin' youngun?"
|-
|zat (Devon) || soft
|}

Some dialect words now appear mainly, or solely, in place names, such as "batch" (North Somerset, = hill but more commonly applied to Coalmine spoil heaps e.g. Camerton batch, Farrington batch, Braysdown batch), "[[tyning]]", "hoe" (a bay). The suffix "-coombe" is quite commonly used in West Country place names (not so much in Cornwall), and means "valley".

===Grammar===
* The second person singular ''thee'' (or ''ye'') and ''thou'' forms used, ''thee'' often [[contraction (grammar)|contracted]] to'' 'ee''.
* ''Bist'' may be used instead of ''are'' for the second person, e.g.: ''how bist?'' ("how are you?") This has its origins in the [[Old English Language|Old English]]&nbsp;– or [[Old English Language|Anglo-Saxon]]&nbsp;– language; compare the modern German {{lang|de|Wie bist du?}} (a literal translation of "How are you?", not used as a greeting).
* Use of masculine (rather than neuter) pronouns with non-animate referents, e.g.: ''put'ee over there'' ("put it over there") and ''{{'}}e's a nice scarf'' ("That's a nice scarf").
* An ''a-'' prefix may be used to denote the past participle; ''a-went'' ("gone").
* Use of ''they'' in conjunction with plural nouns, where Standard English demands ''those'' e.g.: ''They shoes are mine'' ("Those shoes are mine" / "They are mine"). This is also used in [[Modern Scots#Other pronouns|Modern Scots]] but differentiated ''thae''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/getent4.php?query=thae&sset=1&fset=20&printset=20&searchtype=full&dregion=entry&dtext=both |title=SND: thae |publisher=Dsl.ac.uk |access-date=2013-04-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309020220/http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/getent4.php?query=thae&sset=1&fset=20&printset=20&searchtype=full&dregion=entry&dtext=both |archive-date=9 March 2012}}</ref> meaning those and ''thay'' the plural of ''he'', ''she ''and ''it'', both from the Anglo-Saxon ''þā'' 'they/those', the plural form of {{lang|ang|sē}} 'he/that', {{lang|ang|sēo}} 'she/that' and ''þæt'' 'it/that'.
* In other areas, ''be'' may be used exclusively in the present tense, often in the present continuous; ''Where be you going to?'' ("Where are you going?")
* The use of ''to'' to denote location. ''Where's that to?'' ("Where's that [at]?"). This is something that can still be heard often, unlike many other characteristics. This former usage is common to [[Newfoundland English]], where many of the island's modern-day descendants have West Country origins&nbsp;— particularly Bristol&nbsp;— as a result of the 17th–19th century migratory fishery.
*Use of the past tense ''writ'' where Standard English uses ''wrote''. e.g.: ''I writ a letter'' ("I wrote a letter").
*Nominative pronouns as indirect objects. For instance, ''Don't tell I, tell'ee!'' ("Don't tell me, tell him!"), "'ey give I fifty quid and I zay no, giv'ee to charity inztead" ("They gave me £50 and I said no, give it to charity instead"). When in casual Standard English the [[oblique case]] is used, in the West Country dialect the object of many a verb takes the [[nominative case]].

==Social stigma and future of the dialect==
Owing to the West Country's agricultural history, the West Country accent has for centuries been associated with farming, and consequently with a lack of education and rustic simplicity. This can be seen in literature as early as the 18th century, for instance in [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan]]'s play ''[[The Rivals]]'', set in the Somerset city of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].

As more and more of the English population moved into towns and cities during the 20th century, non-regional, [[Standard English]] accents increasingly became a marker of personal social mobility. Universal primary education was also an important factor as it made it possible for some to move out of their rural environments into situations where other modes of speech were current.

A West Country accent continues to be a reason for denigration and stereotype:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Real-life-drama/story-11308430-detail/story.html |title=This is Bristol; real life drama |publisher=Thisisbristol.co.uk |access-date=2 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714203158/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Real-life-drama/story-11308430-detail/story.html |archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref>
{{blockquote | The people of the South West have long endured the cultural stereotype of 'ooh arr'ing carrot-crunching yokels, and Bristol in particular has fought hard to shake this image off | Anonymous editorial | ''Bristol Post'', 7 August 2008}}

In the early part of the twentieth century, the journalist and writer Albert John Coles used the pseudonym [[Jan Stewer]] (a character from the folk song [[Widecombe Fair (song)|Widecombe Fair]]) to pen a long-running series of humorous articles and correspondences in Devon dialect for the ''[[Western Morning News]]''. These now preserve a record of the dialect as recalled with affection in the period.<ref>Cock, Douglas J (1980). Jan Stewer: A West Country Biography. Bradford-on-Avon: Moonraker press. The dust cover of The Shop with Two Windows references The Daily Herald</ref> The tales perpetuate – albeit sympathetically – the rustic uneducated [[stereotype]] as the protagonist experiences the modern world.

There is a popular prejudice that stereotypes speakers as unsophisticated and even backward, due possibly to the deliberate and lengthened nature of the accent. This can work to the West Country speaker's advantage, however: recent studies of how trustworthy Britons find their fellows based on their regional accents put the West Country accent high up, under southern [[Scottish English]] but a long way above [[Cockney]] and [[Scouse]]. Recent polls put the West Country accent as third and fifth most attractive in the British Isles respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/West-Country-accent-sexiest-Britain/story-18790359-detail/story.html|title=West Country accent 3rd sexiest in Britain|website=bristolpost.co.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705074247/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/West-Country-accent-sexiest-Britain/story-18790359-detail/story.html|archive-date=5 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/sexy-West-Country-accent-YouGov-compile-sexiest/story-25702024-detail/story.html|title=How sexy is the West Country accent? YouGov compile "sexiest UK accents" survey|website=northdevonjournal.co.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324065154/http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/sexy-West-Country-accent-YouGov-compile-sexiest/story-25702024-detail/story.html|archive-date=24 March 2015}}</ref>

The West Country accent is probably most represented in film as "[[pirate accent|pirate speech]]"{{spaced ndash}}that cartoon-like "Ooh arr, me 'earties! Sploice the mainbrace!" way of talking is very similar.<ref name="Konstam"/> This may be a result of the strong (both legal and outlawed) [[seafaring]] and [[fisherman]] tradition of the West Country. Edward Teach ([[Blackbeard]]) was a native of Bristol,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Robert E. |title=Blackbeard, the pirate: a reappraisal of his life and times |date=1974 |publisher=Blair |isbn=978-0-89587-032-2 |location=Winston-Salem, N.C}}</ref> and [[privateer]] and English hero Sir [[Francis Drake]] hailed from [[Tavistock, Devon|Tavistock]] in Devon. [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s [[operetta]] ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' may also have added to the association. West Country native [[Robert Newton]]'s performance in the 1950 [[Disney]] film ''[[Treasure Island (1950 film)|Treasure Island]]'' is credited with popularising the stereotypical West Country "pirate voice".<ref name="Konstam">{{cite book|author=Angus Konstam|title=Piracy: The Complete History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USiyy1ZA-BsC&pg=PA313|year=2008|publisher=Bloomsbury USA|isbn=978-1-84603-240-0|page=313}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://wordsmith.org/words/buccaneer.html |title=A.Word.A.Day – buccaneer |publisher=Wordsmith.org |date=2006-09-07 |access-date=2013-04-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401190759/http://wordsmith.org/words/buccaneer.html |archive-date=1 April 2013}}</ref> Newton's strong West Country accent also featured in ''[[Blackbeard the Pirate]]'' (1952).<ref name="Konstam"/>

==See also==
*[[Bristolian dialect]]
*[[Cornish dialect]]
*[[Cornish language]]
*[[Dorset dialect]]
*[[History of the English language]]
*[[International Talk Like a Pirate Day]]
*[[Shakespeare in Original Pronunciation|Shakespeare In Original Pronunciation]]
*[[Janner]]
*[[Jan Stewer]]
*[[Late West Saxon]]
*[[List of Cornish dialect words]]
*[[Mummerset]]
*[[Newfoundland English]]
*[[South West England]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* M. A. Courtney; T. Q. Couch: ''Glossary of Words in Use in Cornwall''. West Cornwall, by M. A. Courtney; East Cornwall, by T. Q. Couch. London: published for the English Dialect Society, by Trübner & Co., 1880
* John Kjederqvist: "The Dialect of Pewsey (Wiltshire)", ''Transactions of the Philological Society 1903–1906''
* Etsko Kruisinga: ''A Grammar of the Dialect of West Somerset'', Bonn, 1905
* Clement Marten: ''The Devonshire Dialect'', Exeter, 1974
* Clement Marten: ''Flibberts and Skriddicks: Stories and Poems in the Devon Dialect'', Exeter, 1983
* Mrs. Palmer: ''A Devonshire Dialogue In Four Parts. To Which is added a Glossary for the most part by the late Rev. John Phillips''. Edited by Mrs. Gwatkin. London and Plymouth, 1839. 
* "A Lady": [[Mary Palmer]]: ''[https://archive.org/details/adialogueindevo00palmgoog/page/n36 A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect]'' (in three parts) by A Lady to which is added a Glossary by J. F. Palmer, London & Exeter, 1837
* Norman Rogers: ''Wessex Dialect'', Bradford-on-Avon, 1979
* Bertil Widén: ''Studies in the Dorset Dialect'', Lund, 1949

==External links==
* [http://www.bl.uk/soundsfamiliar Sounds Familiar?]{{spaced ndash}}Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
* Bristol
**[https://web.archive.org/web/20160324195001/http://www.thedialectdictionary.com/view/letter/Bristol/ Bristol Dialect/Glossary]. Archived from [http://www.thedialectdictionary.com/view/letter/Bristol/ the original] on 24 March 2016.
* Cornwall
**[http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~marcie/kernow/language.html Cornish Dialect Dictionary]
**[https://archive.org/stream/specimensofcorni00sand/specimensofcorni00sand_djvu.txt ''Cornish Provincial Words'', by "Uncle Jan Trenoodle", 1845?]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20070314000437/http://www.freewebs.com/englishdialects/southwest4entries.htm''Poetry from South West England'', by "Les Merton", 2006]
* Devon
**[http://www.john.lerwill.btinternet.co.uk/personal/dialect.htm A Devon Dialect Vocabulary]
**[https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/voices2005/features/devon_dialect.shtml BBC Devon: Dialect (with pronunciation)]
* Somerset
**{{cite web|url=http://www.john.lerwill.btinternet.co.uk/personal/dialects.htm|title=A Somerset Dialect|archive-url=https://archive.today/20060426224910/http://www.john.lerwill.btinternet.co.uk/personal/dialects.htm|archive-date=26 April 2006|url-status=dead}}
**[https://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/voices2005/index.shtml Somerset voices]
**Wadham Pigott Williams, ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25212 A Glossary of Provincial Words & Phrases in use in Somersetshire]'', Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer, 1873
* Wessex
**[http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~ttha/Resources/glossary.htm 1902 Wessex Dialect Glossary]
**[http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/books/synmic/pdf/kortmann.pdf Dialect Syntax in the South West of England (pdf)]

{{English dialects by continent}}

[[Category:English language in England]]
[[Category:Languages of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 6th century]]
[[Category:West Country|English]]