North East dialects are continuing to thrive, especially in online sport forums, according to a new book by a University of Sunderland academic.
Dr Mike Pearce's book North East Vernacular English Online, highlights the cultural importance of dialects in constructing place, meaning, and identity within the North East.
Dr Pearce noticed that the local language-rich messages on the online forum Ready to Go presented an excellent opportunity for research.
He said: "One of the things I wanted to show in this book is that many well-known dialect features which have sometimes been seen as ‘old fashioned’ or ‘dying out’ are alive and kicking here.
"Many of these features have survived in the North East and been lost in other parts of England.
"For example, at one point in history every English speaker would have said ‘mooth’ instead of ‘mouth’ and ‘lang’ instead of ‘long’ – and they would have referred to their children as ‘bairns’.”
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Dr Pearce used the Sunderland fans' forum for his book, which is stated to be the most detailed regional English description since the 19th century.
The focus of the book is not solely on the survival of dialects, but also progressive changes and attitudes towards them.
Dr Pearce said: "Research on a data-set like Ready to Go is important because there is sometimes a tendency for people in the region to under-appreciate their everyday way of using English, perhaps even to see it as ‘wrong’ or ‘sub-standard’.
"It’s culturally important, especially in a marginalised peripheral region like the North East, for vernacular culture to be acknowledged and celebrated, which I believe is what this book does."
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