| Yorkshire dialect | |
|---|---|
| Native to | England |
| Region | Yorkshire |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | Old English
|
| Dialects | Traditionally divided between the West Riding, the North Riding, and East Riding dialects. Different varieties exist within the various dialects of Yorkshire, shaped by geography & culture. |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Location of Yorkshire within England | |
| Coordinates: 54°N 2°W / 54°N 2°W | |
Yorkshire dialect, also known as Yorkshire English, Broad Yorkshire, Tyke, or Yorkie, is a grouping of several regionally neighbouring historical and modern dialects of English spoken in Yorkshire. Yorkshire experienced drastic dialect levelling in the 20th century, eroding many traditional features, though variation and even innovations persist, at both the whole regional and sub-regional levels. Organisations such as the Yorkshire Dialect Society and the East Riding Dialect Society exist to promote the survival of the more traditional features.
The dialects have been represented in classic works of literature such as Wuthering Heights, Nicholas Nickleby and The Secret Garden, and linguists have documented variations of the dialects since the 19th century. In the mid-20th century, the Survey of English Dialects collected dozens of recordings of authentic Yorkshire dialects.
Based on fragments of early studies on the dialect, there seem to have been few distinctions across large areas: in the early 14th century, the traditional Northumbrian dialect of Yorkshire showed few differences compared to the dialect spoken in Aberdeen, now often considered a separate Scots language. The dialect has been widely studied since the 19th century, including an early work by William Stott Banks in 1865 on the dialect of Wakefield, and another by Joseph Wright who used an early form of phonetic notation in a description of the dialect of Windhill, near Bradford. Significant works that covered all of England include Alexander John Ellis's 1899 book On Early English Pronunciation, Part V, and the English Dialect Dictionary, which was published in six volumes between 1898 and 1905.
Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby (1839) and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847) are notable 19th century works of literature which include examples of contemporary Yorkshire dialects. The following is an excerpt of Brontë's use of contemporary West Riding dialect from Haworth in Wuthering Heights, with a translation to standard English below:
Aw wonder how yah can faishion to stand thear i' idleness un war, when all on 'ems goan out! Bud yah're a nowt, and it's no use talking—yah'll niver mend o'yer ill ways, but goa raight to t' divil, like yer mother afore ye!
I wonder how you can dare to stand there in idleness and worse, when all of them have gone out! But you're a nobody, and it's no use talking—you'll never mend your evil ways, but go straight to the Devil, like your mother before you!
The Survey of English Dialects in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s recorded over 30 examples of authentic Yorkshire dialects which can be heard online via the British Library Sound Archive.
Yorkshire covers a large area, and the dialect is not the same in all areas. In fact, the dialects of the North and East Ridings are fairly different from that of the West Riding, as they display only Northumbrian characteristics rather than the mixture of Northumbrian & Mercian features found in the West Riding. The Yorkshire Dialect Society draws a border roughly at the River Wharfe between two main zones. The area southwest of the river has been influenced by Mercian, originating from the East Midlands dialects during the industrial revolution, whilst that to the northeast, like Geordie, the Cumbrian dialect and the Scots language, is descended more purely from the Northumbrian dialect. The distinction was first made by A. J. Ellis in On Early English Pronunciation. The division was approved of by Joseph Wright, the founder of the Yorkshire Dialect Society and the author of the English Dialect Dictionary. Investigations at village level by the dialect analysts Stead (1906), Sheard (1945) and Rohrer (1950) mapped a border between the two areas. A rough border between the two areas was mapped by the Swiss linguist Fritz Rohrer, having undertaken village-based research in areas indicated by previous statements by Richard Stead and J.A. Sheard, although there were "buffer areas" in which a mixed dialect was used, such as a large area between Leeds and Ripon, and also at Whitgift, near Goole.
One report explains the geographic difference in detail:
This distinction was first recognised formally at the turn of the 19th / 20th centuries, when linguists drew an isophone diagonally across the county from the northwest to the southeast, separating these two broadly distinguishable ways of speaking. It can be extended westwards through Lancashire to the estuary of the River Lune, and is sometimes called the Humber-Lune Line. Strictly speaking, the dialects spoken south and west of this isophone are Midland dialects, whereas the dialects spoken north and east of it are truly Northern. It is likely that the Midland influence came up into the region with people migrating towards the manufacturing districts of the West Riding during the Industrial Revolution.
Over time, speech has become closer to Standard English and some of the features that once distinguished one town from another have disappeared. In 1945, J. A. Sheard predicted that various influences "will probably result in the production of a standard West Riding dialect", and K. M. Petyt found in 1985 that "such a situation is at least very nearly in existence".
Some features of Yorkshire pronunciation are general features of northern English accents. Many of them are listed in the northern English accents section on the English English page.

The following features are recessive or even extinct; generally, they are less common amongst younger than older speakers in modern Yorkshire:
Some consonant changes amongst the younger generation are typical of younger speakers across England, but are not part of the traditional dialect:
The following are typical of the older generation:
At the time of the Survey of English Dialects, most places in Yorkshire were non-rhotic, but full rhoticity could be found in Swaledale, Lonsdale, Ribblesdale, and the rural area west of Halifax and Huddersfield. In addition, the area along the east coast of Yorkshire retained rhoticity when /r/ was in final position though not when it was in preconsonantal position (e.g. farmer [ˈfaːmɚ]). A 1981 MA study found that rhoticity persisted in the towns of Hebden Bridge, Lumbutts, and Todmorden in Upper Calderdale.
Rhoticity seems to have been more widespread in Yorkshire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: for example, the city of Wakefield was marked as rhotic in the works of A. J. Ellis, and the recording of a prisoner of war from Wakefield in the Berliner Lautarchiv displays rhotic speech, but the speech of Wakefield nowadays is firmly non-rhotic.
These features can be found in the English Accents and Dialects collection on the British Library website. This website features samples of Yorkshire (and elsewhere in England) speech in wma format, with annotations on phonology in X-SAMPA substitutions of IPA phonetic transcription, lexis and grammar.
See also Wells (1982), section 4.4.
A list of non-standard grammatical features of Yorkshire speech is given below. In formal settings, these features are castigated and, as a result, their use is recessive. They are most common among older speakers and among the working class.
In informal Yorkshire speech, negatives may be more contracted than in other varieties of English. These forms are shown in the table below. Although the final consonant is written as [t], this may be realised as [ʔ], especially when followed by a consonant.
| Word | Primary Contraction | Secondary Contraction |
|---|---|---|
| isn't | ɪznt | ɪnt |
| wasn't | wɒznt | wɒnt |
| doesn't | dʊznt | dʊnt |
| didn't | dɪdnt | dɪnt |
| couldn't | kʊdnt | kʊnt |
| shouldn't | ʃʊdnt | ʃʊnt |
| wouldn't | wʊdnt | wʊnt |
| oughtn't | ɔːtnt | ɔːnt |
| needn't | niːdnt | niːnt |
| mightn't | maɪtnt | maɪnt |
| mustn't | mʊsnt | mʊnt (uncommon) |
| hasn't | haznt | ant |
| haven't | havnt | ant |
Hadn't does not become reduced to [ant]. This may be to avoid confusion with hasn't or haven't, which can both be realised as [ant].
The following samples come from the English Dialect Society's 1892 Grammar of the Dialect of Windhill by Joseph Wright, mostly following its narrow phonetic spellings, though with certain symbols updated to align with modern International Phonetic Association conventions, such as short ⟨e⟩ rendered as [ɛ], short ⟨i⟩ as [ɪ], short ⟨u⟩ as [ʊ], etc. and standardised IPA symbols for all consonants.
| West Riding dialect (Windhill), c. 1892 | Standard English | |
|---|---|---|
| I met him ivvery day. | [a mɛr ɪm ˈɪvrɪ dɛə] | I met him every day. |
| We'll go when ta'rt ready | [wɪl ɡʊə wɛn tət ˈrɛdɪ] | We'll go when you're ready. |
| Well as I wor sayin', shoo'd tell ye hah, wheer, an' when shoo fand t'drukken hahnd 'at shoo calls her husband. | [wɛl əz a wə sɛ(ə)ɪn ʃuːd tɛl jə aː wɪə(r) ən wɛn ʃə fanˈdːrʊkŋ̩ aːnd ət ʃə kɔəlz ər ˈʊzbn̩] | Well as I was saying, she would tell you how, where, and when she found the drunken hound that she calls her husband. |
| Ye see nah 'at I'm reyt abaht that little lass comin' fro t'schooil yonder. Shoo's goin dahn t'rooad theer threw t'red gate o' t'lefthand side o' t'way. Suar eniff, t'barn's goan streyt up to t'door o' t'reng hahse. | [jə siː naː ət ɪm rɛɪ̯t ə'baːt ðat ˈlɪtl̩ las ˈkʊmɪn frətˈskuɪl ˈjɒndə(r)], [shʊz gu(ə)ɪn daːnˈtrʊəd ðɪə θrɪʊ̯ˈtrɛd geət əˈtlɛftand saɪd əˈtwɛə], [sɪʊ̯ər ɪˈnɪf tbaːnz gʊən strɛɪ̯t ʊp tə dːʊər əˈtrɛŋ aːs] | You see now that I'm right about that little girl coming from the school over there. She's going down the road there through the red gate at the lefthand side of the way. Sure enough the child's gone straight up to the door of the wrong house. |
| They don't call it t'greasy miln for nowt. Tuesday's awlus been my weshin' day for these six year back or more. I awlus put t'tloaze to steep t'neet afore an' get up at five o'clock i' t'mornin. | [ðə dʊənt kɔəl ɪˈtɡrɪəzɪ mɪln fə nɒʊ̯t. ˈtɪʊ̯zdəz ˈɔləs biːn maɪ̯ ˈwɛʃɪn dɛə fə ðɪəz sɪks jɪə bak ə mʊə(r)], [a ˈɔləs pʊˈtːlʊəz tə stiːp ˈtniːt əˈfʊə(r) ən gɛt ʊp ət faɪ̯v əˈtlɒk ɪˈtmɔənɪn] | They don't call it the greasy mill for nothing. Tuesday's always been my washing day for these six years back or more. I always put the clothes to steep the night before and get up at five o'clock in the morning. |
| I suppose I've as mitch reyt to hing my tloaze aht as tha hez ta hing thine. | [a spʊəz av əz mɪtʃ rɛɪ̯t tə ɪŋ maɪ̯ tlʊəz ʊp əz ða ɛz tə ɪŋ ðaɪ̯n] | I suppose I've as much right to hang my clothes out as you have to hang yours. |
| I could hardly believe my awn een. | [a kəd ˈaːdlɪ bəˈliːv mɪ ɔən iːn] | I could hardly believe my own eyes. |
| I doan't knaw what t'man did wi't. Uz at's done so mitch for him may go to t' dogs for owt he cares . | [a dʊənt nɔə wɒˈtːman dɪd wɪt], [ʊz əts dʊn sə mɪtʃ fɒr ɪm mə ɡʊə tə dːɒɡz fər ɒʊ̯t iː kɛəz] | I don't know what the man did with it. We who have done so much for him may go to the dogs for aught (anything) he cares. |
| Shoo wor that badly whol they thowt shoo'd nivver mend. | [ʃuː wə ðat ˈbadlɪ wɒl ðə θɒʊ̯t ʃəd ˈnɪvə mɛnd] | She was so ill that they thought she would never get better. |
The following samples come from Cambridge Press's 1915 Dialect of Hackness by George Herbert Cowling, mostly following its narrow phonetic spellings, though with certain symbols updated to align with modern International Phonetic Association conventions, such as short ⟨i⟩ rendered as [ɪ] and short ⟨u⟩ as [ʊ].
| North Riding dialect (Hackness), c. 1915 | Standard English | |
|---|---|---|
| I's gyin when I's weel ineäf. | [ɑz gɑɪn wen ɑz wɪjɫ ɪˈniəf] | I'm going when I'm well enough. |
| They carried her i' t' hoose iv a fit. | [ðə ˈkɑɹɪd əɹ ɪˈtʊws ɪv ə fɪt] | They carried her into the house in a fit. |
| Gif thoo'd ha' telled him, he'd ha' comed. | [gɪf ˈðʊwd ə teɫd ɪm ˈɪd ə kʊmd] | If you would have told him, he would have come. |
| Thoo knaws I's a chap at likes sense, same as thy faither. | [ðʊw nɔːz ɑz ə tʃɑp ət ɫɛjks sens siəm əz ðɪ ˈfɛəðə(ɹ)] | You know I'm a man that likes sense, the same as your father. |
| T' moral o' this tale is fost, at neäbody owt tae think hissen a better chap nor other fowk, and mak fun on 'em. | [ˈtmɔɹəɫ ə ðɪs tiəɫ ɪz fɔst ɑt ˈniəbɔdɪ ɔwt tɪ θɪŋk ɪzˈsen ə ˈbet̪θə tʃɑp nəɹ ˈʊðə fɔwk ən mɑk fʊn ɔn əm] | The moral of this tale is, first, that nobody ought to think himself a better chap than other folk, and make fun of them. |
| Is't better nor I iver thowt? Nay, it's war. | [ɪst ˈbet̪θə nəɹ ɑ ɪvə θɔwt], [niə ɪts wɑːɹ] | Is it better than I ever thought? No, it's worse. |
| T' prickly-backt urchin war allus even wiv him. Ivery time at t' awd hare cam tae t' top or t' bottom of t' furrow, t' urchin or his wife shooted: 'Here I is.' | ['tprɪklɪ bɑkt 'ɔtʃn̩ wər 'ɔːləs 'ɪjvn̩ wɪv ɪm], ['ɪvrɪ tɑːm ət tɔːd ɛə kɑm tɪ'tːɔp ə'tbɔdm̩ ə'tfɔɹə 'tɔtʃn̩ əɹ ɪz wɛjf ˈʃʊwtɪd iəɹ ɑ ɪz] | The hedgehog was always even with him. Every time that the old hare came to the top or the bottom of the furrow, the hedgehog or his wife shouted: 'Here I am.' |
| I's nut quite fit. I hate tae deä things iv a despert hurry. I'll just gang away yam and hev a bite, and I'll meet thee up here iv aboot hauf an hoor. | [ɑz nʊt kwɛjt fɪt], [ɑ ɛət tɪ diə θɪŋz ɪv ə 'despət 'ɔɹɪ], [ɑɫ dʒʊst gɑn əˈwɛə jɑm, ən ev ə bɛjt ən ɑɫ mɪjt ðɪj ʊp iəɹ ɪv ə'bʊwt ɔːf ən ʊwəɹ] | I'm not quite ready. I hate to do things in a great hurry. I'll just go away home and have a bite, and I'll meet you up here in about half an hour. |
The following pronunciations come from Wright's A Grammar of the Dialect of Windhill and Cowling's The Dialect of Hackness, as introduced in the previous section.
| Standard English | West Riding dialect (Windhill) | North Riding dialect (Hackness) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | I | [aɪ̯] (stressed) [a]/[ɪ](unstressed) | I | [ɑː]
(stressed) [ɑ] (unstressed) |
| Thou | Thou/Thah/Tha | [ðaː] (stressed)/
[ða] (unstressed) |
Thou/Thoo | [ðʊw] (stressed)
[ðʊ] (unstressed) |
| We | We | [wiː]
(Stressed) [wɪ] (unstressed) |
We | [wɪj]
(Stressed) [wɪ] (unstressed) |
| This | This (here) | [ðɪs (iə(r))] | This (here) | [ðɪs (iə(ɹ))] |
| That | That (theer) | [ðat (ðiə(r))] | That (theer) | [ðɑt (ðiə(ɹ))] |
| Who | Who | [ʊə] | Wheä | [wiə] |
| What | What | [wɒt] | What | [wɑt] |
| Not | Nut/Noan | [nət]/[nʊən] | Nut | [nʊt] |
| All | All | [oəl] | All | [ɔːɫ] |
| Many | Monny | [ˈmɒnɪ] | Monny | [ˈmɔnɪ] |
| One | One | [wʊn] | Yan
(substantive) Yaa (determiner) |
[jɑn]
(substantive) [jɑː] (determiner) |
| Big | Big | [bɪɡ] | Big | [bɪɡ] |
| Long | Leng/Long | [leŋ]/[lɒŋ] | Lang | [ɫɑŋ] |
| Small/Little | Small/Little | [smoəl]/[ˈlɪtl̩] | Laatle | [ˈɫɑːtɫ̩] |
| Woman | Woman | [ˈwʊmən] | Woman/Wench | [ˈwʊmən]/[wenʃ] |
| Man | Man | [man] | Man/Carl | [mɑn]/[kɑːɫ] |
| Dog | Dog | [dɒɡ] | Dog/Hoond | [dɔɡ]/[ʊwnd] |
| Root | Rooit | [ruɪt] | Reät | [ɹiət] |
| Skin | Skin/Hide | [skɪn]/[aɪ̯d] | Skin | [skɪn] |
| Blood | Blooid | [bluɪd] | Bleäd | [bɫiəd] |
| Bone | Boan | [bʊən] | Beän | [biən] |
| Hair | Hair | [eə(r)] | Hair | [ɛə(ɹ)] |
| Head | Heead | [ɪəd] | Heäd/Noddle | [iəd]/[nɔdl̩] |
| Ear | Ear | [ɪə(r)] | Ear/Lug | [iə(ɹ)]/[ɫʊɡ] |
| Eye | Ee | [iː] | Ee | [ɪj] |
| Nose | Noase | [nʊəz] | Nose/Neäse | [nuəz]/[niəz] |
| Tooth | Tooith | [tuɪθ] | Teäth | [tiəθ] |
| Claw | Claw | [tloə] | Claw | [kɫɔː] |
| Foot | Fooit | [fuɪt] | Feät | [fiət] |
| Belly | Belly/Guts | [bɛlɪ]/[ɡʊts] | Belly/Weäm | [beɫɪ]/[wiəm] |
| Breast | Breast | [brɛst] | Breest | [bɹɪjst] |
| Heart | Heart | [aːt] | Heart | [ɑːt] |
| To drink | To drink/
To sup |
[tə drɪŋk]/
[tə sʊp] |
Tae drink/
Tae sup |
[tɪ d̪ðɹɪŋk]/
[tɪ sʊp] |
| To eat | To eyt | [tə eɪ̯t] | Tae it | [tɪ ɪt] |
| To know | To knaw | [tə noə] | Tae knaw | [tɪ nɔː] |
| To die | To dee | [tə diː] | Tae dee | [tɪ dɪj] |
| To walk | To walk | [tə woək] | Tae walk | [tɪ wɔːk] |
| To work | To work | [tə wəːk] (noun: [waːk]) | Tae work | [tɪ wɔɹk] (noun: wɑːk) |
| To come | To come | [tə kʊm] | Tae come | [tɪ kʊm] |
| To lie (down) | To lig | [tə lɪɡ] | Tae lig | [tɪ ɫɪɡ] |
| To give | To give | [tə ɡɪ(v)] | Tae gi(v)e | [tɪ ɡɪ(v)] |
| Moon | Mooin | [muɪn] | Meän | [miən] |
| Water | Watter | [ˈwɒtə(r)] | Watter | [wɑt̪θə(ɹ)] |
| Stone | Stoan | [stʊən] | Steän | [stiən] |
| Earth | Eearth | [ɪəθ] | Yeth, Oth | [jeθ], [ɔθ] |
| Smoke | Rick | [rɪk] | Smewk/Reek | [smiwk]/[ɹɪjk] |
| Fire | Fire | [faɪ̯ə(r)] | Fire | [fɛjə(ɹ)] |
| Ash | Ass | [as] | Ass | [ɑs] |
| Path | Path | [paθ] | Path/Trod | [pɑθ]/[t̪θɹɔd] |
| Red | Red | [rɛd] | Reäd | [ɹiəd] |
| Yellow | Yolla | [jɒlə] | Yallow/Blake | [jɑɫə]/[bɫiək] |
| Night | Neet | [niːt] | Neet | [nɪjt] |
| Hot | Hut | [ʊt] | Heat | [iət] |
| Cold | Cowd | [kɒʊ̯d] | Cawd | [kɔːd] |
| New | New | [niʊ̯] | New | [niw] |
| Good | Gooid | [ɡuɪd] | Good(ish) | [ɡʊd(ɪʃ)] |
Wilfred Pickles, a Yorkshireman born in Halifax, was selected by the BBC as an announcer for its North Regional radio service; he went on to be an occasional newsreader on the BBC Home Service during World War II. He was the first newsreader to speak in a regional accent rather than Received Pronunciation, "a deliberate attempt to make it more difficult for Nazis to impersonate BBC broadcasters", and caused some comment with his farewell catchphrase "... and to all in the North, good neet".
The director Ken Loach has set several of his films in South or West Yorkshire and has stated that he does not want actors to deviate from their natural accent. The relevant films by Loach include Kes (Barnsley), Days of Hope (lead actor from Denby Dale), The Price of Coal (South Yorkshire and Wakefield), The Gamekeeper (Sheffield), Looks and Smiles (Sheffield) and The Navigators (South and West Yorkshire). Loach's films were used in a French dialectological analysis on changing speech patterns in South Yorkshire. Loach said in his contribution that the speech in his recently released film The Navigators was less regionally-marked than in his early film Kes because of changing speech patterns in South Yorkshire, which the authors of the article interpreted as a move towards a more standard dialect of English.
Dialect of the northern dales featured in the series All Creatures Great and Small.
A number of popular bands hail from Yorkshire and have distinctive Yorkshire accents. Singer-songwriter YUNGBLUD, originating from Doncaster, preserves a strong Yorkshire accent. Louis Tomlinson, who was a member of One Direction, is from Yorkshire and in his solo music his accent is often heard. Joe Elliott and Rick Savage, vocalist and bassist of Def Leppard; Alex Turner, vocalist of the Arctic Monkeys; Jon McClure, of Reverend and The Makers; Jon Windle, of Little Man Tate; Jarvis Cocker, vocalist of Pulp; and Joe Carnall, of Milburn and Phil Oakey of The Human League are all known for their Sheffield accents, whilst The Cribs, who are from Netherton, sing in a Wakefield accent. The Kaiser Chiefs originate in Leeds, as does the Brett Domino Trio, the musical project of comedian Rod J. Madin. Graham Fellows, in his persona as John Shuttleworth, uses his Sheffield accent, though his first public prominence was as cockney Jilted John. Toddla T, a former DJ on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, has a strong Sheffield accent and often used on air the phrase "big up thysen" (an adaptation into Yorkshire dialect of the slang term "big up yourself" which is most often used in the music and pop culture of the Jamaican diaspora). Similarly, grime crews such as Scumfam use a modern Sheffield accent, which still includes some dialect words.
The Lyke Wake Dirge, written in old North Riding Dialect, was set to music by the folk band Steeleye Span. Although the band was not from Yorkshire, they attempted Yorkshire pronunciations in words such as "light" and "night" as /li:t/ and /ni:t/.
Actor Sean Bean normally speaks with a Yorkshire accent in his acting roles, as does actor Matthew Lewis, famously known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films.
Wallace of Wallace and Gromit, voiced by Peter Sallis, has his accent from Holme Valley of West Yorkshire, despite the character living in nearby Lancashire. Sallis has said that creator Nick Park wanted a Lancashire accent, but Sallis could only manage to do a Yorkshire one.
The late British Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes originated from Mytholmroyd, close to the border with Lancashire, and spent much of his childhood in Mexborough, South Yorkshire. His own readings of his work were noted for his "flinty" or "granite" voice and "distinctive accent" and some said that his Yorkshire accent affected the rhythm of his poetry.
The soap opera Emmerdale, formerly Emmerdale Farm, was noted for use of broad Yorkshire, but the storylines involving numerous incomers have diluted the dialect until it is hardly heard.
In the ITV Edwardian/interwar period drama Downton Abbey, set at a fictional country estate in North Yorkshire between Thirsk and Ripon, many of the servants and nearly all of the local villagers have Yorkshire accents. BBC One series Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, both from creator Sally Wainwright of Huddersfield, also heavily feature Yorkshire accents.
In the HBO television series Game of Thrones, many of the characters from the North of Westeros speak with Yorkshire accents, matching the native dialect of Sean Bean, who plays Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark.
Several of the dwarfs in the Peter Jackson film adaptation of The Hobbit, namely Thorin Oakenshield, Kíli and Fili, speak with Yorkshire accents.
The character of the Fat Controller in the Thomas and Friends TV series, as voiced by Michael Angelis, has a broad Yorkshire accent.
"On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at", a popular folk song, is sung in the Yorkshire dialect and accent and considered to be the unofficial anthem of Yorkshire.
Actress Jodie Whittaker keeps her native Yorkshire accent in her role as the Thirteenth Doctor in Doctor Who.
The freeware action game Poacher by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw features Yorkshireman as a protagonist and majority of the in-game dialogues is done in Yorkshire dialect.
Studies have shown that accents in the West Riding (that is, mostly, modern West and South Yorkshire), and by extension local dialects, are well-liked among Britons and associated with common sense, loyalty, and reliability.
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5 YouTube videos | |
Several nineteenth-century books are kept in specialist libraries.