[from A Vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx Dialect, 1924]

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHONETICS

By EDMUND GOODWIN

LIKE the dialect speakers of elsewhere, the Manxman uses his dialect to full extent only when in free converse with his social equals. It must be borne in mind that there are different strata of dialect according to the different status of the speakers. The farmer may be quite as Manx in accent and speech as his manservant, but his choice of words and his pronunciation of them will differ from the broader enunciation of his uneducated labourer. The dialect varies to some slight extent from parish to parish and from individual to individual, but in the main the same turns of phrase and the same foundational stock of words pervade the whole Island.

An examination of Dr. Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary plainly shows that the Anglo-Manx dialect has very close affinity with the dialect of South-West Lancashire. The inhabitants of the Isle of Man must have learnt their English from natives of that district, and they have retained many Lancashire peculiarities of word-form and word-usage. But it must not be forgotten that the old Manx-Gaelic language has had a strong influence in modifying the pronunciation of the English spoken in the Isle of Man. This Gaelic influence is still more apparent in the word-order of the sentences and the form of the idioms. It is an influence similar in many points to that which Irish-Gaelic has had on the English that is spoken in Ireland. But it is in the matter of voice-inflexion that the old Celtic Manx language has left its deepest and most permanent impression. This characteristic intonation, which so far shows little sign of disappearing, enables Manx people who chance to meet accidentally in any part of the globe to recognize at once their fellow islanders.

This vocabulary of Anglo-Manx may, in a manner, be considered as supplementary to Dr. Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary. Our hearty thanks are due to the author of that monumental work for his kind permission to make use of his paradigms and explanations of his phonetic notation.

We are grateful veih diunid y chree to every Manx person who, wittingly or unwittingly, has supplied us with examples of English as spoken in the Isle of Man.

The phonetic alphabet used in Dr. Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary has the advantage of being easily understood by people who may not have time for an exhaustive study of Phonetics.

I. CONSONANTS.

The only consonants which require to be specially mentioned are :—

In forming the sounds tþ and dð, both of which are unknown in standard English, the tongue touches the back of the upper front teeth and the forepart of the gum-palate.

II. VOWELS.

The simple short vowels are :—

ù, a sound formed with the lips more open than for ii. it is heard in Lancashire in such words as full, come, up.

ê, the neutral or obscure vowel like the a in sofa, or the e in literary English matter.

The simple long vowels are :—

The diphthongs are :—

ai like the i in mine.
ai = à + i.
ei = æ + i, like the dipthongized a in Southern literary English late.
ia like the ea in fear.
oi ,, oy ,, boy.
ou ,, dipthongized ow in Southern literary ‘English ( with the first element more open).
ùi = ù + i.

The stress is always on the first element of the diphthongs.

A point ( ') after a vowel indicates that the vowel bears the chief stress in the word, e. g. [bitwî'n] 'between'. Words of more than one syllable are understood to be stressed on the first syllable unless the contrary is indicated,