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VoicesYou are in: Derby > Voices > Discovering the Derbyshire accent  Discovering the Derbyshire accentAs part of its ambitious Voices project, the 大象传媒 has been examing regional dialects and accents. But is there such a thing as a Derbyshire accent? 大象传媒 Radio Derby's Marsha Ramroop investigates. Most people would have no problem identifying a Newcastle, Liverpool or Birmingham accent - but does Derbyshire have its own accent? Ted Hancock reckons the answer is yes. He's been researching Derbyshire dialects for 40 years. He says: "If you go to Notts, down to Leicester, across to Staffordshire and back up to Sheffield and Manchester, you'll find the dialect is very similar yet totally different. "You can pick words out and people from the different places will say 'we don't say it like that'. So it's a difficult thing to latch onto. You can't learn it the easy way, you've got to pick it up. Ted says the words used commonly by people living in the Peak District have often been around for hundreds of years. He explains: "The Derbyshire dialect is quite broad. A lot of it came from the church. People weren't particularly educated back in the 1700s but they'd learn words like 'thee' and 'thou' which are a couple of the most common words in the Derbyshire dialect." Yet travel round Derbyshire and you'll find quite significant differences in accents and dialects used around the region. Tim Harrison is known as the Cubley bard having written poetry in a South Derbyshire dialect for many years. He said: "I've always been within the Sudbury/Staffordshire border so my accent has probably been affected by influences outside Derbyshire - especially as I spent years working in Uttoxeter." In fact the South Derbyshire accent seems to be confined to a relatively small area of the county - within an eight mile radius of Swadlincote. And then there are the individual towns and villages which have evolved their own unique version of the Derbyshire accent over the years. David Williams grew up in Blackwell, near Alfreton and says his accent often leads to confusion. He said: "Everyone speaks like me round that area. A lot of people say Lancashire, others say Sheffield but there was only one guy who guessed it correctly. "He said to me 'I know exactly where you come from because I've got a friend from there who speaks exactly the same as you.'" And there are distinct differences between the words and phrases used in the Derbyshire Dales, Belper and Amber Valley. Then of course you've got places at the northern tip of the county like Buxton and Chesterfield with their own variations of the Derbyshire accent. Ted Hancock says: "I honestly don't know where I would go to hear the two main Derbyshire accents. "But it's got to be people of my age group, because below that you've now got all this pop talk - and I can't latch on to that." last updated: 16/09/2008 at 12:07 Have Your Say
the derby accent in the south i think from a neutral is more in the vein of a midlands accent(brum) its the people of north derbys that have the true derbyshire accent words such as... thee/tha/look at that their serry/surry/cob a stone/docker / oraite are words that i dont hear so much these days as i hear so many different accents in my local supermarket these days from outside workers that come in to chesterfield.....as we used to be a producing town wich has now died off we had an influx of white collar/prof workers to fill vacancies
My experience is similar to Diane's. I am from Borrowash, a few miles from Derby, and thought that I had quite a strong accent, until I went to school in Ilkeston, where I had the mick taken out of me for talking posh! I was taught English by John Titford, the author of 'Ey up me duck',(a book about the Erewash valley dialect) and the saying about never forgetting a good teacher is so true. He made our english lessons fascinating, by reading out from books in different accents!I still love english, but especially accents and dialogues, because of him....
Im from Glossop and our accent is again totally different from Buxton (about 9 miles away). Its very soft and sounds like amix between North Derbyshie, West Yorkshire ,with a bit of Oldham! However the teenagers insist talking in a mix of fake Mancunian and god knows what else! Teenagers: Glossop is in Derbyshire not Greater Manchester!!!
There is definately a Derbyshire accent although I couldn't place what makes it distinctive. I always thought it varied as there seems to be slight differences in the way pupils pronounce things in the different schools I work in within a 20 mile radius of Derby. They have trouble with my southern/midland accent too! No one can place where I am from. Derbyshire people seem to be very localised, and that will help preserve such localised accents.
I come from derbyshire (chesterfield) and I go to a Notts school most people take the mic out of how I talk and what I say!
Im proud of my accent as its part of who I am and where Im from!
Im from chesterfield but am currently at university in Bournemouth.Most people think i am a Yorkshireman. And i also get called a northerner. Is Chesterfield in a northern town due to the difference in dialect and accent with the rest of Derbyshire?
There are distinctive differences around the county. I am from North Derbyshire and get frustrated when people say I am from Derby. There's a huge difference in the sound of a Buxton accent and a Derby accent! Funny how accent is so strongly linked to roots and identity.
I don't think there is a typical Derbyshire accent - more a North South divide.Originally coming from Chesterfield, and spending many years in Kent, I can always spot a North Derbyshire accent when I hear one, but have difficulty identifying South Derbyshire accents, often confusing them with Nottingham accents..
north derbyshire (chesterfield) people have a definite influence from yorkshire. i would say that north and south chesterfield have thir own variatoins You are in: Derby > Voices > Discovering the Derbyshire accent  Take an online journey with Voices |
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