[Omah]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I'm about an hour away, I've got a Black Country accent but that's very similar to a Brummie accent anyway.

Oh no it isn't :

In common with most parts of the UK, the extent to which the Black country accent and dialect are used varies from person to person and across the Black Country itself, with some elements of the dialect being stronger in some towns than others. Local dialect was, and probably still is to a lesser degree quite distinctive between the different towns and villages of the Black Country. Although most outsiders to the Black Country cannot tell this difference, Black Country folk can quite fiercely defend the difference between the accents.

Thus while a single example of Black Country dialect is hard to give, as different areas of the Black Country differ with colloquialisms, examples include babby" for baby, "alf baerked" for stupid, "argy-bargy" for fight and "bostin" to mean "very good".

The word endings with 'en' are still noticeable in conversation as in 'gooen' for going, callen for calling. The vowel 'a' is pronounced as 'o' as in 'sond' for sand, 'hond' for hand, 'opple' for apple, 'sponner' for spanner, and 'mon' for man. Other pronunciations are 'winder' for window, 'fer' for far, and 'loff' for laugh

The traditional Black Country dialect preserves many archaic traits of Early Modern English and even Middle English, and can be very confusing for outsiders. Thee, Thy and Thou are still in use, as is the case in parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. "'Ow B'ist", meaning "How are you?" is a greeting possibly contracted from "How be it with thou?", with the typical answering being "'Bay too bah", meaning "I am not too bad" contracted from "I be not too bad". "I haven't seen her" becomes "I ay sid 'er". Black Country dialect often uses "ar" where other parts of England use "yes" (this is common as far away as Yorkshire). Similarly, the local version of "you" is pronounced /ˈjaʊ/ "yow", rhyming with "now". The local pronunciation "goo" (elsewhere "go") or "gooin'" is similar to that elsewhere in the Midlands. It is quite common for broad Black Country speakers to say agooin where others say going.

Despite the close proximity, many inhabitants of the Black Country resist hints at any relationship to people living in Birmingham, which may be called "Brum-a-jum" (Birmingham's colloquial name is Brummagem, a corruption of its older name of Bromwicham – and hence West Bromwich) or Birminam (missing the g and h out and saying it the way it's spelt). Residents of Birmingham (Brummies) meanwhile often refer to their Black Country neighbours as "Yam Yams", a reference to the use of "Yow am" ( or yow'm) instead of "You are".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_C...ountry_dialect

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Omah

Oh no it isn't :



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_C...ountry_dialect

I do know my accent thank you very much, you don't need to bring Wikipedia into it. With the exception of the vocabulary, The Black Country accent is quite similar to the Brummie accent. If you talk to an older person though you can really tell the difference. I don't like being called a Brummie as I'm not but I accept that nowadays the accents are similar.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I do know my accent thank you very much, you don't need to bring Wikipedia into it. With the exception of the vocabulary, The Black Country accent is quite similar to the Brummie accent. If you talk to an older person though you can really tell the difference. I don't like being called a Brummie as I'm not but I accept that nowadays the accents are similar.

Oh no, they're not :

If someone speaks with a strong Brummie accent then they are often percieved as not very bright or as one academic research suggests - a police suspect with a Brummie accent sounds guilty!

Unfortunately this stigma applies to the Black Country accent too. Speakers from Wolverhampton, Dudley or Walsall are often assumed to be Brummies by default whereas in reality the accents are different.

http://www.birminghamuk.com/birminghamaccent.html

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Omah

Oh no, they're not :



http://www.birminghamuk.com/birminghamaccent.html

Quote whatever articles you like, I live here. I hear the similarities and differences every day.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

Quote whatever articles you like, I live here. I hear the similarities and differences every day.

Proximity is not the best argument for objectivity .....

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Omah

Proximity is not the best argument for objectivity .....

Relying on Wikipedia isn't a winning strategy either. The Black Country accent is distinct to the Brummie accent but nowadays it's more interchangeable apart from the words people from the BC use. The vocabulary is the thing that really seperates the accent but unless you live here then I'd probably say it's quite hard to tell the difference between the two. Most people outside of the West Midlands would consider both accents one and the same.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

Relying on Wikipedia isn't a winning strategy either.

Luckily, I'm originally from Coventry and have worked extensively in Birmingham and in the Black Country but live elsewhere nowadays, so I have inside experience of most of that regions accents and dialects, while now having the comparative experience of accents and dialects from living in several other several other regions, including the South-West, the North-West and Wales .....