Norfolk dialect - Definition and Overview

The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect that was once spoken by those living in the county of Norfolk in England. Much of the distinctive vocabulary of Broad Norfolk has now died out, so the accent used in Norfolk is no longer strictly a dialect.

Norfolk is popularised as a yod-dropping dialect where /ju:-/ is pronounced /u:-/. Other features of Norfolk are that "here" and "hair" are homophones whilst "daze" and "days" are not.

There have been attempts to revive the Norfolk dialect. The Friends of Norfolk Dialect (FOND) is a group which formed in 1999 with the aim of preserving and promoting Broad Norfolk. The group campaigns for the recognition of Norfolk as a dialect, and for the teaching of "Norfolk" in schools. FOND aims to produce a digital archive of recordings of people speaking the dialect's traditional words. In July 2001 the group was awarded £4000 from the National Lottery in aid of recording equipment for this purpose.

A typical example of the Norfolk accent and vocabulary can be heard in the songs by Allan Smethurst, aka The Singing Postman. Smethurst's authentic Norfolk accent is well known from the songs he released in the 1960s, such "Hev Yew Gotta Loight Bor?".

The Norfolk dialect should not be confused with Pitcairn-Norfolk, a second language of the Pitcairn Islands, or with Norfuk, the language used on Norfolk Island.

Example vocabulary

Bishy barney bee 

ladybird

Bor (pronounced 'buh' in West Norfolk) 

a term of address, boy or neighbour

Crockin 

crying

Dickey 

donkey

Dodman 

snail

Dudder 

shiver

Gret 

great, big, or significant

Ill a bed an wus up 

Very sick

Loight 

light

Mawkin 

scarecrow

Mawther 

young woman

Rum 

odd

Squit 

nonsense

Troshin 

originally 'threshing,' now working in general

External links

• List of published works in and about the dialect (http://www.uea.ac.uk/~s090/genuki/NFK/norfolk/lang/)
• Friends of Norfolk Dialect (http://www.norfolkdialect.com/)
• BBC information about the FOND group (http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/your/extra/fond.shtml)
• Sound clips of the dialect (http://www.poppyland.co.uk/dialect.htm)
• English to Broad Norfolk machine translation (http://www.whoohoo.co.uk/redirb.asp?985)