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D) Dialectal Words

This group of words is obviously opposed to the other groups of the non-literary English vocabulary and therefore its stylistic functions can be more or less clearly defined. Dialectal words are those which in the process of integration of the English national language remained beyond its literary boundaries, and their use is generally confined to a definite locality. We exclude here what are called social dialects or even the still looser application of the term as in expressions like poetical dialect or styles as dialects.

With reference to this group there is a confusion of terms, particularly between the terms dialectal, slang and vernacular. In order to ascertain the true value and the stylistic functions of dialectal words it is necessary to look into their nature. For this purpose a quotation from Cecil Wyld's "History of Modern Colloquial English" will be to the point.

"The history of a very large part of the vocabulary of the present-day English dialects is still very obscure, and it is doubtful whether much of it is of any antiquity. So far very little attempt has been made to sift the chaff from the grain in that very vast receptacle of the English Dialect Dictionary, and to decide which elements are really genuine 'corruptions' of words which the yokel has heard from educated speakers, or read, misheard, or misread, and ignorantly altered, and adopted, often with a slightly twisted significance. Probably many hundreds of 'dialect' words are of this origin, and have no historical value whatever, except inasmuch as they illustrate a general principle in the modification of speech. Such words are not, as a rule, characteristic of any Regional Dialect, although they may be ascribed to one of these, simply because some collector of dialect forms has happened to hear them in a particular area. They belong rather to the category of 'mistakes' which any ignorant speaker may make, and which such persons do make, again and again, in every part of the country."

We are not concerned here with the historical aspect of dialectal words. For our purpose it will suffice to note that there is a definite similarity of functions in the use of slang, cockney and any other formof non-literary English and that of dialectal words. All these groups when used in emotive prose are meant to characterize the speaker as a person of a certain locality, breeding, education, etc.

There is sometimes a difficulty in distinguishing dialectal words from colloquial words. Some dialectal words have become so familiar in good colloquial or standard colloquial English that they are universally accepted as recognized units of the standard colloquial English. To these words belong lass, meaning 'a girl or a beloved girl' and the corresponding lad, 'a boy or a young man', daft from the Scottish and the northern dialect, meaning of unsound mind, 'silly'; fash also Scottish, with the meaning of 'trouble, cares'. Still they have not lost their dialectal associations and therefore are used in literary English with the above-mentioned stylistic function of characterization.

Of quite a different nature are dialectal words which are easily recognized as corruptions of standard English words, although etymologically they may have sprung from the peculiarities of certain dialects. The following words may serve as examples: hinny from honey; tittle apparently from sister, being a childish corruption of the word; cutty meaning a 'testy or naughty girl or woman'.

Most of the examples so far quoted come from the Scottish and the northern dialect. This is explained by the fact that Scotland has struggled to retain the peculiarities of her language, claiming it to be independent. Therefore many of the words fixed in dictionaries as dialectal are of Scottish origin.

Among other dialects used for stylistic purposes in literature is the southern dialect (in particular that of Somersetshire). This dialect has a phonetic peculiarity that distinguishes it from other dialects, viz. initial [s] and [f] are voiced, and are written in the direct speech of characters as [z] and [v], for example: 'volk' ( folk ), 'vound' ( found ), 'zee' ( see ), 'zinking' ( sinking ). To show how the truly dialectal words are intermingled with all kinds of improprieties of speech, it will be enough to quote the following excerpt from Galsworthy's "A Bit of Love."

"Mrs. Burlacomble: Zurely! I give ' im a nummltafore ' e gets up; an ' ' e ' as ' isbrekjusreg ' lar at nine. Must feed un up. He'm on 'is feet all day, goin' to zee folk that wldden want to zee an angel, they ' m that busy; an ' when ' e comes in ' e 'll play ' is flute there. He ' mwastin’ away for want of ' i s wife. That's what'tis. On ' ' im so zweet -spoken, tu, 'tis a pleasure to year ' im — Never zays a word!"

Dialectal words are only to be found in the style of emotive prose, very rarely in other styles. And even here their use is confined to the function of characterizing personalities through their speech. Perhaps it would not be a false supposition to suggest that if it were not for the use of the dialectal words in emotive prose they would have already disappeared entirely from the English language. The unifying tendency of the literary language is so strong that language elements used only in dialect are doomed to vanish except, perhaps those which, because of their vigour and beauty, have withstood the integrating power of the written language.

Writers who use dialectal words for the purpose of characterizing the speech of a person in a piece of emotive prose or drama, introduce them into the word texture in different ways. Some writers make an unrestrained use of dialectal words and also slang, jargonisms and professionalisms, not only in characterization, but also in their narrative. They mistake units of language which have not yet established them" selves in standard English for the most striking features of modern English. An over-abundance of words and phrases of what we call non-literary English not only makes the reading difficult, but actually contaminates the generally accepted norms of the English language.

Other writers use dialectal words sparingly, introducing only units which are understandable to the intelligent English reader, or they make use of units which they think Will enrich the standard English vocabulary. Among words which are easily understood by the average Englishman are: maister, weel, eneugh, laird, naething and the like, characteristic of Scottish.

Dialectal words, unlike professionalisms, are confined in their use to a definite locality and most of the words deal, as H. C. Wyld points out, with the everyday life of the country.

"Such words will for the most part be of a more or less technical' character, and connected With agriculture, horses, cattle and sport."

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