English Dialects Robin Hood What Did He Talk Like?

Check this clip out Kevin Costener

Try this clip of Richard Greene from the 1950s Robin Hood

How to talk Nottingham? Imagine Robin Hood using one of the most famous Nottingham phrases to meet his Merry Men. "ay up mi' duck

When I first lived in Nottingham I found it very strange to be called 'duck' by burly men. The phrase is simply a friendly way of saying hello. So imagine the next Hollywood Blockbuster script.

"Ay Up Robin, what yu' got theer gizza glegg" - hello Robin what have you brought with you may I have a look?

"A farnd it up a Jittey when I was chased by the Sherriffs rammel" - i found it in an alleyway when I was chased by the Sheriff's men

"Wee ent arf hadabarni" - we had a really serious argument and the Sheriff asked Little John...

"ooworreewee?" - who was he with?

he replied

"immazza wokwee" - the man I work with

The Blog May Contain Notts reveals perhaps the most important secret of the Nottingham accent. Hollywood tek note.

This is rule 4!

REPLACE WORDS THAT END IN 'Y' AND 'IE' WITH 'EH'

'Eh' is a pronounced short 'e' as in 'egg' so, if you want to speak Nottnum propleh then just follow rule 4 and you realleh will sound like a local.

Another Nottingham accent trick is to turn a long 'A' like those found in words make and take into a short 'E' so that you get 'mek' and tek'. This rule doesn't apply to cakes which becomes 'ceks' and is term that refers to clothing and usually more specifically pants or trousers, as in the phrase "hurry up and get your 'ceks' on we are going to the pub!"

Perhaps one of the most telling and difficult examples of the Nottingham accent is what happens to the pronunciation of words like difficult. Explaining this properly in writing (did you try your new Nottingham accent just then!) is very difficult.

The part of the word that is affected is the syllable that contains the vowel and the 'lt' ending. This happens with words like 'milk' too. The change is very subtle and yet very specific.

The vowel becomes as subtle 'oa' sound. So difficult becomes 'difficoalt' and milk becomes 'moalk'. A further layer of subtle change is added as the 'oalt' element becomes emphasized and slightly lengthened. so that is sounds as if a 'u' has been added too! This is really diffi coa ult to grasp , but put me in a room full of people pretending to speak with a Nottingham accent and this will really sort the Sneintons from the Arnolds.

Imagine you were going to meet your fellow outlaws down the local pub. It would be unlikley that this would be The Trip To Jerusalem seen here on Stuart Frew's Blog because it is right at the foot of Castle Rock and too close to the Sheriff's H.Q. above.

So what would you say when you met them. A really common phrase in Nottingham is to call any male a 'youth' regrdless of age. This threw me when I first moved to Nottingham. Being called a 'youth' aged 5 years old was wierd, and being called it now some decades on is weirder still!.

The word 'youth' is pronounced is a very special Nottingham way. It sounds more like Yoo-Uth

Conversations can run like this:

Ay Up youth - hello mate, where yow bin till nar? where have you been until now Didyuh gudarn? did you go down - this last phrase is a specific and direct reference to attending the local Soccer match

Rosie and Julie were two characters that featured on nottingham radio station Radio Trent now known as Trent FM. Rosie and Julie Talk

Check out the work of local radio host and broadcaster Simon Parry on Justin Case tribute site. Thanks to Simon for providing the Rosie and Julie link.

The Nottingham idiom is famed for things such as muddling lend and borrow and bought and brought. As in "can you borrow me a pencil", and "she brought me a present for my birthday".

In clip you will also hear the word 'sen' for self', Mondeh for Monday, Silleh for Silly, and Stabbo for the district of Stapleford. Enjoy and remember its Roseh and Juleh

"Little John can yuh borrow me some arrers?"

The untowed storeh of 'ow a yooth became a legund.

"Am 'ere to speauk for Sir Walter loxleh"

"Am tryin' to bowld fu'the feewchuh"

"Yu' gorra set yuh foundashuns as strong as a pint of Mansfield"

"The laws of this land are like clocking on at the Raleigh factory"

"A king who demands loyalteh, but offers diddleh in return"

"Yu build a countreh like yu' build a push bike, from the graand up"

"Gee everywun a goo and yoll become rock hard"

Hear the Nottingham accent as it is spoken today. This is a great recording. The Nottingham accent of Frances Edna Conway

Ey Up Mi Duck!:
Dialect of Derbyshire and the East Midlands
(Local Dialect)

Joy James is a Nottingham actress who specialises in the Nottingham accent accent