FROME Family History Group learned about the history of the Somerset dialect at a meeting in September.
Chris Featherstone reports, “The Frome Family History Group met on 27th September after their summers break. The speaker was Tony Painter who entertained us with an often amusing but always thought provoking talk on West Country dialects.
“Tony began by playing recordings of two people, one from Somerset and one from Wiltshire, to emphasise the difference.
“Both were very difficult to understand but the difference was clear, and the need for a more uniform form of speech as society became more integrated and people travelled much further, became apparent.
“In the Somerset dialect, we can find the remnants of Anglo-Saxon. The pronunciation is an ancient one where S is often, but not always, sounded as a Z; F sounds as a V and vowel sounds gain an R.
“Two folklorists still well known today are Iona and Peter Opie who wrote ‘The law and language of school children’ published in 1959. Tony illustrated many words from children’s games that are still used in playgrounds today.
“There are many local words that describe activities in a particular industry as well as unlucky words and taboo words particularly for dangerous occupations such as fishing and mining.
“Words for birds and animals vary enormously, a polly dish wash is a local term for a pied wagtail, and an emmet is an ant and an evet, a newt. If you were watching the snow settle it is pitching and if you are feeling unwell you are daddiky.
“The evening finished with a recording of a poem by William Barnes recorded in his native dialect.
“Tony was thanked for a very enjoyable evening and flowers were presented to Sue Simpson who has returned to the group following a long illness. Our next meeting is on Tuesday 25th October which will be a members evening looking into the 1911 census in detail.
“Our Saturday morning advice session continues on the first Saturday in the month and is open to everyone. New members are always welcome at both our evening talks and the Saturday sessions but please book a computer with the library staff if you would like to come along on a Saturday morning.”
