Essex dialect

Location of Essex within England.

The Essex dialect is a rapidly disappearing dialect similar to some forms of East Anglian English and is now mainly confined to the north and the east of Essex. It shares vast similarities with both Suffolk and Norfolk dialects, with its own peculiarities. With rapid urbanisation in the 20th century as well as the impact of the London overspill, Estuary English, a milder form of the London accent predominant largely along the Thames Estuary and thus the name, has become common, mainly in the southern portion of the county. As a result of the growing London influence, the usage of rural accents everywhere and the rural Essex dialect is now normally, but not always, confined to older generations in some of the areas affected and the dialect itself stands in a vulnerable state in those affected parts of the county. Elsewhere in Essex, the dialect and rural accent continues.

For example, in the coastal town of Harwich the Essex dialect is still common, even among the town's youth, and is a defining feature of the area. Harwich is pronounced as "arridge" in the local dialect and in Manningtree which is very nearby they pronounce Manningtree "mannintree" dropping the g.

Many of the unique patterns of speech, as well as vocabulary were recorded in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries^[1]^[2] The Survey of English Dialects investigated 14 sites in Essex, most of which were in the rural north of the county. This unusually high number was the result of adding the five sites that were originally investigated to nine sites investigated by a Fulbright scholar after the original survey.^[3]

An Essex Dialect Handbook has been published,^[4] however recently, the Essex County Records office have recorded a CD of the sounds of Essex dialect speakers in an effort to preserve the dialect.^[5]^[6]

Pronunciation

The diphthong of [aɪ] which is common amongst East Anglian English and other predominantly English rural dialects, e.g. right > ‘roight’
The shortening of certain elongated vowel sounds from [iː] to [ɪ], e.g. been > ‘bin’, seen > ‘sin’
Yod-dropping is common, as in the Norfolk and Suffolk dialects
Dropping of Ls, e.g. old > ‘owd’

Characteristics

Frequently sounds are elided to allow the easy flow of speech; e.g.,

Wonderful > ‘wunnerful’

Correctly > ‘creckly’

St Osyth > ‘Toosie’ (*meaning 'To Saint', as in the place, Saint Osyth*)

Grammar

Varying use of ‘do’ which is a common trait in Norfolk and Suffolk are exhibited in the Essex dialect.

References

Dialects and accents of Modern English by continent

Europe

United Kingdom

England	Varieties by common name Barrovian Black Country Brummie Bristolian Cheshire Cockney "Mockney" Cornish Cumbrian East Anglian East Midlands Essex Estuary Geordie Kentish Lancastrian Mackem Mancunian Multicultural London Norfolk Northern Pitmatic Potteries Received Pronunciation Scouse Southern Suffolk Sussex West Country "Mummerset" West Midlands Yorkshire Varieties by geographic location East of England Essex Norfolk Suffolk East Midlands North Cheshire Cumbria [Barrow] Lancashire Manchester Merseyside Sunderland Tyneside Yorkshire South Kent Thames Estuary; London [Multicultural London] Sussex West Country Bristol Cornwall Dorset West Midlands Black Country Birmingham Stoke-on-Trent

Northern Ireland	Mid Ulster Ulster Scots

Scotland	Glasgow Highlands Lowlands

Wales	Cardiff Gower

Ireland

Channel Islands

Elsewhere

North and
South
America

United States	Varieties by common name African American Appalachian Baltimorese Boston Cajun California Chicago; Detroit; Great Lakes Chicano Delaware Valley General American High Tider Maine Miami Midland Midwestern New England New Mexican New York; Brooklynese; North Jersey New York Latino Old Southern Ozark Pacific Northwest Pennsylvania Dutch Philadelphia; South Jersey Pittsburghese Rhode Island Southern Texan Upper Midwestern Western Vermont Yat Yeshivish Yooper Varieties by geographic location Delaware Valley; Mid-Atlantic Pennsylvania Dutch Philadelphia Baltimore Midland Midwest Great Lakes; Inland North Upper Midwest Upper Peninsula of Michigan New England Boston Maine Rhode Island Vermont New York City New York Latino North South Acadiana Appalachia Chesapeake; Pamlico Miami New Orleans Ozarks Texas West California New Mexico Pacific Northwest Western Pennsylvania

Canada	Aboriginal Atlantic Cape Breton Newfoundland Lunenburg Standard Ottawa Valley Pacific Northwest Quebec

Caribbean	Bahamas Barbados Dominican Republic Jamaica Puerto Rico Trinidad

Elsewhere	Bermuda Falkland Islands Guyana

Oceania

Australia	Aboriginal Broad; Strine General Southern Torres Strait Western

Elsewhere	Fiji New Zealand Palau Solomon Islands

Other
continents

Africa	Cameroon Ghana Kenya Liberia Malawi Namibia Nigeria Sierra Leone South Africa Afrikaans Black Cape Flats Indian White Uganda

Asia	Bangladesh Brunei Burma or Myanmar Hong Kong India Malaysia Nepal Pakistan Philippines Singapore Sri Lanka

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