Northern accents could be gone by 2066

[The Crofted Crest]

MY son, born and bred in Holland, studied in Arnhem. One of the exams for his finals was an English oral. At the end of the exam the examiner who had been flown in from London leaned over the desk and asked, "Why do you talk with a northern accent?"

Kids can make you feel so proud! He got 100%.

 

[newfhouse]

I'm chameleon-like (linguists call it 'accomodation') and will subconsciously adopt accent features of whoever I'm talking to.

Is that you, Steve?

View: https://youtu.be/2ZnoP4sUV90

 

[Drago]

Feel sorry for me. Im lumbered with either a northern isles accent (including still reasonable shetlandic which I only trot out to show Glaswegians who the real soft southerers are), or a public school accent - I didn't get the pith taken too much in the army.

Oh to have been a cockerney!

 

[Blue Hills]

Only read the mirror story but sounds like twaddle to me.
Either a wonky academic study or one warped by journos - they do it a lot.
I'm northern - have never heard the word "backend" used for autumn.
Have you @Accy cyclist ?

 

[yello]

Backend on its own? Our as in backend of summer?

 

[Blue Hills]

Backend on its own? Our as in backend of summer?

quote from the mirror
>>The study predicts that the word "backend" - used to describe autumn in the north - will completely disappear within 20 years.

which makes it sound stand-alone, a noun.
I'm from lancashire but right on the border with yorkshire so grew up with some yorkshire words.
Have never heard it.

 

[BoldonLad]

quote from the mirror
>>The study predicts that the word "backend" - used to describe autumn in the north - will completely disappear within 20 years.

which makes it sound stand-alone, a noun.
I'm from lancashire but right on the border with yorkshire so grew up with some yorkshire words.
Have never heard it.

I am from Tyneside (rather than midlands, ie Yorkshire ), in 74 years, have not heard "backend" used to mean autumn.

 

[Blue Hills]

I am from Tyneside (rather than midlands, ie Yorkshire ),

oy!
I used to work with someone from Northampton who claimed that was north.

 

[PaulSB]

Accents are bound to evolve, but 45 years is far too short to have much impact. I had a "lancashire" accent up to the age of 20, but have lived and worked in london/Kent for the last 50 years and people still detect my accent.

One thing that 2066 will bring will be the biggest celebrations that England have ever seen. Especially if you live near Hastings.

I agree entirely with this but in reverse. I was born and raised in Hampshire and despite 40+ years in Yorkshire and, mainly, Lancashire my accent hasn't changed a bit. I've picked up words and phrases but not the accent. My kids though all speak Lancashire.

A few months back myself and three friends were riding through local lanes. I spotted an old friend I hadn't seen for two years walking ahead of us. I said something on the lines of "Look there's ....." When we stopped she said "The moment I heard your voice I knew it could only be you."

I sometimes wish it would soften into something more local.

 

[Oldhippy]

Watch out for a show featuring Accy and Dr Alice Roberts on the disappearing local dialect of Accrington and surrounding counties.

 

[woodbutchmaster]

I am from Tyneside (rather than midlands, ie Yorkshire ), in 74 years, have not heard "backend" used to mean autumn.

We are the same age, except that l am from the Lincolnshire fens , in my youth when describing to a person who was not familiar with the area l would usually say " l am from the backend of nowhere" or if feeling particularly grumpy, "the arse-end of nowhere"

 

[PaulSB]

quote from the mirror
>>The study predicts that the word "backend" - used to describe autumn in the north - will completely disappear within 20 years.

which makes it sound stand-alone, a noun.
I'm from lancashire but right on the border with yorkshire so grew up with some yorkshire words.
Have never heard it.

That's interesting as I learned the use after moving to Lancashire. I did spend 22 years working for three Cheshire based companies and autumn was always referred to as the "backend."

We used to refer to our crops as "autumn products" but they were grown in the "backend." Bizarre and the joy of language.

I wonder if it's an old Cheshire word? I say "old" because these were family businesses stretching back generations.

 

[Blue Hills]

Interesting, though cheshire never seems quite northern to me - sometimes seems like a bit of surrey transplanted.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I love little linguistic nuggets like backend.

From t’Northern Echo(2002):

It is inevitable, in England, that we discuss the weather as it affects each of the seasons - and our weather probably has more bearing on our perception of the seasons than any officially determined date - although there is an old Yorkshire Dales saying that the year consists of nine months of winter and three months of backend.​

​

The term backend, of course, is one which refers to the autumn and although it does not appear in all the conventional English dictionaries, it does feature in one of my specialist dictionaries of the North Riding dialect.​

​

It seems it has its origins in the Danish bagende which refers to the latter end of any period. People do refer to the backend of the week, for example. On that basis, I suppose we could refer equally to a winter backend, spring backend, summer backend and autumn backend but in this part of the world we tend to associate the word with the latter part of the entire year.​

Certainly in this region, any reference to "t'backend" means autumn - perhaps not the official autumn, but that part of the year before Christmas such as October and November when the nights draw in, the weather becomes cooler and the leaves begin to fall.​

​

It's fair to say that most of us instinctively know when the weather turns "backendish" even if we are not quite sure how, or if, it is associated with any of the equinoctial periods.​

 

[Venod]

Interesting, though cheshire never seems quite northern to me - sometimes seems like a bit of surrey transplanted.

This is another conundrum, where does the North begin ( England not UK} I have always regarded anything South of Sheffield as the Midlands, but don't know if there is an official description.

And where do the Midlands start and end ?