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Import/Export
Melvyn Bragg
visits Liverpool, home of Scouse, an Irish-based variant of
northern English made famous by the Beatles and countless comedians.
By the mid nineteenth century the port of Liverpool ranked second
to London and became home to immigrants from all over the world,
who imported many new words into English.
You may need to download
the free to hear the clips.
Irish
origins
During the nineteenth
century, merchants from Scandinavia, the Middle and Far East
settled in Liverpool. But it was the Irish, fleeing the Famine
in the mid nineteenth century, who proved the most influential
linguistically. They brought with them the language of Ireland
along with their love of poetry and music. These combined with
the local version of English to form a Liverpool dialect of
their own, known as Scouse, which has now become synonymous
with the city as Dr Gerry Knowles of Lancaster University explains.
Liverpool
and the slavery triangle
Liverpool has
one of the oldest black communities, dating back to the eighteenth
century - a shameful chapter in the city's history. It was a
leading port in the three-way trade exporting goods to West
Africa for slaves, who were then shipped to the West Indies
in return for sugar. In more recent times immigrants from West
Africa and the Caribbean have chosen to settle in the Toxteth
area of Liverpool, bringing new expressions with them. Lawrence
Westgaph explained to Melvin Bragg that the black community
is not always aware of the origins of these words.
Asian
influence
There is a well-established
Chinese community in the city dating back to the last century,
when merchants arrived from all over the Far East and the subcontinent.
Many Indian words have entered English from the colonial era
and now Asian immigrants to Britain have evolved their own form
of English, popularly known as Binglish. This is explored in
the works of Jatinder Verma, Artistic Director of the London-based
Tara Arts, who sees it as a sign of vitality.
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