Northumbrian burr explained

The Northumbrian burr is the distinctive uvular pronunciation of R in the traditional dialects of Northumberland, Tyneside ('Geordie'), and northern County Durham, now remaining only among speakers of rural Northumberland, excluding Tyne and Wear. It is one of the few rhotic dialects left in England.[1]

Pronunciation

According to Påhlsson (1972),[2] the Burr is typically pronounced as a voiced uvular fricative, often with accompanying lip-rounding (pronounced as /[ʁ(ʷ)]/). Approximant pronounced as /[ʁ̞]/, voiceless fricative pronounced as /[χ]/, tapped pronounced as /[ɢ̆]/ and trilled pronounced as /[ʀ]/ uvular pronunciations occur occasionally. The data for Northumberland and northern Durham in the Survey of English Dialects (gathered in the 1950s) suggest that in addition to full pronunciation in syllable onset, uvular pronounced as //r// in these dialects was usually maintained in syllable coda position, typically as the uvularization of the preceding vowel.[3]

Effects on neighbouring sounds

The Northumbrian Burr has affected the pronunciation of adjacent vowels, particularly those that precede it, which were subject to 'Burr Modification':

In addition, Harold Orton reported that the Burr caused retraction of following alveolar consonants to post-alveolar or retroflex position.[5]

History

Since uvular R is not typical of other English dialects, it may be assumed that this pronunciation is an innovation in the northeast of England. When it occurred and whether the development is connected with the spread of guttural R throughout much of Western Europe are both unknown.

Heslop (1892)[6] refers to the suggestion by James Murray that the Burr originated in the speech of Harry Hotspur, which Shakespeare describes as peculiar in some way:

However, Shakespeare's text does not indicate what was distinctive about Hotspur's speech so that may not be connected with the Northumbrian Burr.

The first definite reference to distinctive pronunciation of R in Northeastern England was made by Hugh Jones in 1724,[7] slightly predating the more well known description of it by Daniel Defoe, who wrote, in his A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain,[8] that:

Around the turn of the 20th century, the Burr was recorded by Alexander J. Ellis[9] and by Joseph Wright.[10] Ellis said that the Burr was also known as the pronounced as /[kʁʊp]/.[11] He divided his sites in Northumberland and north Durham into "Burr Strong", "Burr Weak" and "No Burr".[12]

In the 20th century, it was recorded throughout much of the Northeast in the Orton Corpus.[13]

Audio recordings

Audio recordings were made in the 1950s for the Survey of English Dialects which feature the Northumbrian Burr, all of which are publicly available online:

Current status

The Northumbrian Burr, like many traditional dialect features in England, has largely disappeared from the dialects of northeast England, and it is no longer found in Tyneside English. Nevertheless, some older speakers, especially in northern Northumberland, still use it regularly.[19]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fss/projects/linguistics/innovators/northern/documents/Watt.pdf
  2. Påhlsson, C. (1972) The Northumbrian Burr. Lund: Gleerup.
  3. Orton, H. and Halliday, W. (1962) Survey of English Dialects (B): The Basic Material, Vol. 1, The Six Northern Counties and the Isle of Man. Leeds: Arnold & Son.
  4. Wells, J. (1982) Accents of English, 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  5. Orton, H. (1939) "ɹɛtɹoʊflɛks kɒnsənənts ɪn ɪŋglɪʃ" [Retroflex consonants in English]. Maître Phonétique 67: 40–41.
  6. Heslop, O. (1892–94) Northumberland Words: A Glossary of Words Used in the County of Northumberland and on the Tyneside, p. xxiv. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.
  7. Wales, K. (2006) Northern English: A Social and Cultural History, p. 101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Defoe, D. (1724–27) A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain, vol. iii:232-33. London: Dent (1974).
  9. Ellis, A. (1889) On Early English Pronunciation, Part V: The Existing Phonology of English Dialects Compared with that of West Saxon. New York: Greenwood Press.
  10. Wright, J. (1905). The English Dialect Grammar. Oxford/London/Edinburgh/Glasgow/New York/Toronto: Henry Frowde.
  11. Book: Ellis, Alexander John. On early English pronunciation: with especial reference to Shakspere and Chaucer, containing an investigation of the correspondence of writing with speech in England from the Anglosaxon period to the present day. 1889. 641.
  12. Book: Ellis, Alexander John. On early English pronunciation: with especial reference to Shakspere and Chaucer, containing an investigation of the correspondence of writing with speech in England from the Anglosaxon period to the present day. 1889. 643.
  13. Rydland, K. (1998) The Orton Corpus: A Dictionary of Northumbrian Pronunciation, 1928–1939. Oslo: Novus Press.
  14. Web site: Wark, Northumberland - Survey of English Dialects - Accents and dialects British Library - Sounds. 2021-01-21. sounds.bl.uk.
  15. Web site: Thropton, Northumberland - Survey of English Dialects - Accents and dialects British Library - Sounds. 2021-01-21. sounds.bl.uk.
  16. Web site: Lowick, Northumberland - Survey of English Dialects - Accents and dialects British Library - Sounds. 2021-04-27. sounds.bl.uk.
  17. Web site: Earsdon, Northumberland - Survey of English Dialects - Accents and dialects British Library - Sounds. 2021-04-27. sounds.bl.uk.
  18. Web site: Embleton, Northumberland - Survey of English Dialects - Accents and dialects British Library - Sounds. 2021-07-22. sounds.bl.uk.
  19. Wells, J., op.cit., pp. 368ff., 374.

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