h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I came across this article on Wikipedia (a www based free encylopedia on subjects many and varied) concerning the Westcountry accent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Country_dialects

It highlights a number of interesting areas - including some celtic derived dialect words in Devon.

"In other areas, Celtic vocabulary is less common, but it is notable that "coombe", cognate with Welsh cwm is common in placenames east of the Tamar, especially Devon. Some examples of Brythonic words surviving in Devon dialect include:

Blooth - A blossom (Welsh blodyn)
Goco - A bluebell
Jonnick - Pleasant, agreeable"

Another area of interest (at least to me) is the definition of "Westcountry", and I think this article rings true when it states that:

"..the eastern and north eastern boundaries of the West Country are disputed, with inhabitants of Devon and Cornwall especially not including any counties beyond Somerset and Dorset as part of the West Country."

It is also interesting that the article also suggests that (in particular) the Somerset accent has many early Anglo-Saxon elements.

Did you contribute to the article at all?

I did make one contribution - a link to a Cornish Dialect site.

I see that you are also a contributor.

I see that Wikipedia are asking for references and sources regarding this article. Part of its content seems to come from a BBC web page about the Devon dialect.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series7/devon-dialect.shtml

I remember posting this link in this discussion some time ago, though I did not contribute to the Wikipedia article.

Although the BBC piece does not itself offer hard evidence for its conclusions, it briefly discusses the various influences on Devonian speech; including Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Norman French elements.

There is also a related article by Roger Evans on BBC Somerset that repeats some of the BBC Devon article’s conclusions and may also have been a source for the Wikipedia article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2005/01/18/dont_tell_i_tell_ee_feature.shtml

Roger Evans implies the kinds of speech found in Somerset mirror the borders of the old Celtic west, which were defined by the River Parrett.

“Hence in eastern and central Somerset the dialect is practically Anglo-Saxon. To the west of the Parrett, especially around the Brendon Hills and Exmoor, the dialect is spoken with a Celtic accent and closely resembles that of Devon.”

Although Evans does not specific what exactly a ‘Celtic accent’ is, I presume he means the lighter, more lilting speech you hear as you go further west, rather than the ridiculous ‘ooh-arr’ stereotype often put forward by TV and other media as a Cornish or Devon accent.

>I see that you are also a contributor

Yeah, a while back now. I'd forgotten I made that edit (adding Berkshire to the SW dialect region IIRC).

Interesting comment about the more lilting accents as you get further west. Normally I speak with a generalised southern accent, though I cannot tell my wife and colleagues have commented that when you know I am a Devonian they can hear the slight Devon burr in my speech, and also when I do speak with a Devon accent it is a lot softer than most people expect. Though being from the upper Exe valley I probably sound a bit Somerset to other Devonians, but clearly Devonian to the Somerset folk.

As a quick question, do any of the other contributors to these threads have a strong Devon accent and if they have moved away has it become stronger? Mine deffinately has, but it is not the "ooh-arr oi be drainkin zoider" stereotype, which can be heard but is exagerated by the media. Usually they get East Anglia and Westcountry accents about face.

And here is a query, we are meant to have a soft accent, be a laid back culture etc, so why is pirate speech (see Pirates of the Carribean et al) so Westcountry based? One to ponder.

I'll stop there. I appear to be rambling again.