Help with Late Modern English

G8D7- · 11-08-2011, 11:33 AM

Hey guys, I am trying to find vocabulary used in the 1800's (Late Modern English: 1800-Present). I just need to find words in the 1800's and particularly in Northern England and how people talked. I need to know how Company Owners (exactly as the name; they are owners of companies, pretty much the most wealthiest at the time) talked like and what words they used. Many people in the 'company owners' class could still not read or write.

If anyone can share a link with me or give me a list of words (or the slang; vernacular) used that would be great. I have about 10 pages on the subject now written up but I can't seem to find anything specifically relating to England (Northern England). Early Modern English (1500-1800) is very similar to Late Modern English, thus the latter with many more words of course.

An example of what i'm looking for:

The Northern dialect closely resembles the southern-most Scottish dialects. It retains many old Scandinavian words, such as bairn for child, and not only keeps its r's, but often rolls them. The most outstanding version is Geordie, the dialect of the Newcastle area.

* -er > /æ/, so father > /fædhæ/.
* /ou/ > /o:'/, so that boat sounds like each letter is pronounced.
* talk > /ta:k/
* work > /work/
* book > /bu:k/
* my > me
* me > us
* our > wor
* you plural > youse

Let me be crystal clear, I am NOT asking for anyone to do MY work. I am simply asking for examples and links. Just making sure no one starts a flame war, although I would least expect that to happen on this site.

Thanks in advance!

gospodin · 11-08-2011, 05:22 PM

One of the problems you will run into is that even if you find a list of archaic words used back then, you won't know some of the odd sentence structures of the time. Another thing...back then, slang was as common as it is now, and there are few examples surviving. Best bet would be to check out literature written during those times...Oliver Twist, Sense and Sensibility, any stories of those times. Another problem with that, though, is that many writers wrote "properly", not naturally as is the common way today. Example: You can't deduce that people talked the way Shakespeare wrote, he was very "flowery" in his writing. Many people wrote that way even into the 19th Century, especially in Victorian England. Good luck with your research.

G8D7- · 11-09-2011, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gospodin

One of the problems you will run into is that even if you find a list of archaic words used back then, you won't know some of the odd sentence structures of the time. Another thing...back then, slang was as common as it is now, and there are few examples surviving. Best bet would be to check out literature written during those times...Oliver Twist, Sense and Sensibility, any stories of those times. Another problem with that, though, is that many writers wrote "properly", not naturally as is the common way today. Example: You can't deduce that people talked the way Shakespeare wrote, he was very "flowery" in his writing. Many people wrote that way even into the 19th Century, especially in Victorian England. Good luck with your research.

Yeah, I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. I did find a few 'dictionaries' for the time but the only way to understand the context is by reading some stories.

Thanks for the input

Adrian · 11-09-2011, 07:34 AM

...eeee by gum, there's trouble t'up mill!