CHAPTER II.

THE PHONETIC STRUCTURE.

Ir language may be correctly defined as a synthesis of idea and sound, we have in the phonetic structure of a dialect the body through which the spiritual essence struggles into existence. Taken absolutely, the phoneticism of language is but an imperfect representation of the idea, and written language still more imperfectly represents the sounds it is intended to transfer to our organs. Possibly in the language of books we can much nearer attain the idea of the writer, than the phoneticism of his language.

The disadvantage thus resulting from the defectiveness of written language, is first felt by the student in endeavouring to supplement his knowledge from books; but still more when attempting to convey his own impressions in the orthography that necessity and custom have imposed on the dialect. It is the fate of all uncultivated dialects to be rendered repulsive to strangers by their orthography, and in none is this the case more than in Cumbrian. The varying powers of English characters applied to a difficult phoneticism, would produce abundant confusion, but in addition, every writer has used his own discretion, besides being frequently compelled to vary from every other, by the peculiar pronunciation of his own locality. Should any proper attempt be made at producing a Cumbrian glossary, the orthography would not be one of its least difficulties.

The vocalism of the Cumbrian dialect presents us with two striking phenomena. But before proceeding to describe these,

it will be necessary to establish the names of the vowel sounds, by a comparison of the German or Italian (which are identical) with their English equivalents.*

The broad and narrow pronunciations (or expressions) of the Irish consonants (see page 31) must be again brought in question. The word cen (cean), the head, when pronounced by a native of the west of Ireland, is heard as the English "can," with an audible compression of the first consonant. The broad sound of the final consonant is only to be appreciated, by unaccustomed ears, in contrast with the narrow. Let a native of the south be heard to pronounce the same word, he calls it kyown. From this we learn that the narrow and broad expressions of the consonants are capable of being developed into respectively the short vowels i (ee) and u (oo). In the pronunciation kyown, the former appears as the semivowel y, the latter blended with the a sound, forms the dipthong ow.

It must be observed that i (ee), a (aa), u (oo) are principal Vowels which no language is without; the other two, e (a), o are intermediate sounds that have developed themselves in some languages within the reach of history. The Cumbrian dialect shows the broad and narrow expressions of the initial consonants, developed more or less, almost invariably in conjunction with the intermediate vowels. Examples of these peculiarities are abundant. We find the narrow expression as a y in gyate (gate), hyame (home), and even attaching itself to the initial vowel, or rather enjoying an independent existence in yell (ale), Yamon (Eamont). With all but the guttural consonants this expression is so developed as to be written e or ee, as in leaf (loaf), neam (name), pronounced almost in two syllables. The broad expression is found in such words as cworn (corn), strwoke (stroke), and forms the distinction between Odin and Woden. It exists unwritten in the English "one."

* Wherever it is necessary to use the German vowel, the English equivalent

will be given with it in parenthesis.

There is no doubt the seats of the organic peculiarities whence these phenomena proceed, are, of the broad expression in the lips, of the narrow in the throat.

The narrow expression has found its way very extensively into Anglo-Saxon. We find it in such words as veall or vall, a wall, the difference of orthography being that of dialect. Wherever the vowel was pronounced broad, as in modern English, the narrow expression could have no existence. Many words have developed the narrow expression to the extinction of the radical vowel, as in leaf, modern English "leave;" and the gutturals have been influenced by it in a remarkable manner. The L. caster became the A. S. ceaster, with the narrow expression appearing as an e, which the national organ being unable to accommodate, converted into the palatal ch in chester. The hard g under similar circumstances has been changed into the soft, palatal g. Danish shows the narrow expression only in connexion with gutturals, and developed to a semivowel, written j (i) in hielp, kierne. The narrow expression of the initial guttural is also preserved in French, in such words as guise, guet, kilomètre, cueillir, that is, on hard gutturals before narrow vowels; but it is not so strongly developed as in Danish, and requires no mark in the orthography. Exactly similar in character is the pronunciation of such words as guide (gyide), kindness (kyindness), prevalent in the upper classes of English society. It must be considered as a remnant of a more perfect ancient pronunciation, or as proceeding from recent Norman influence. These peculiarities can scarcely be said to exist in Norse or Islandic.

The sound of the German ö, represented in Danish by the barred o, has no existence in Cumbrian; but the G. ü, or Danish y, is found very nearly in such pronunciations as fyut (foot). The D. barred o (for which the G. ö is substituted in our typography), reappears in Cumbrian generally, if long, converted into the E. a: D. töve, to loiter, C. tave, D. döse, to make dull, C. daze; or D. bröd, bread, C. breed; if short, into u or e: D. mög, dung, C. muck, D. kiöd, flesh, C. ket; or got rid of: D. hoi, high, C. hee, D. dröi, slow, C. dree. The D. y has become, if long, the E. i: D. sysle,

K

THE DIALECT.

to be busy, C. sizle; if short, the E. i. or u: D. lyng, heath, C. ling, D. dyb, deep, C. dub.

The Cumbrian dialect has been under English influence from an early period; that is, words have been taken up from English in abundance, while the dialect still possessed the power of acting on them by a process somewhat resembling assimilation. All the words containing the E. oo, have been so treated: E. foot, C. fyut, E. school, C. scheeul, E. root, C. rute. It is remarkable that broad sounds invariably accompany the E. r; the broad expression being perfectly audible in the pronunciation of such words as beer (pr. bee-ur). On the contrary, the narrow C. vowel in pruve is difficult, if not impossible, to southern English organs.

The comparison of Danish, Cumbrian, and Norse consonants shows a remarkable variation in the final sounds of the two former languages-hard and soft frequently interchanging-and in the same cases an identity between the two latter: D. lede, to seek, C. late, N. leita. But in these cases identity with Norse is likewise identity with modern English: D. fod, C. fyut, E. foot. It is probable that much of what appears Norse, and not Danish, has been derived from the Angles; as there is no doubt that at the first coming of the northern tribes into the peninsulas, their dialects differed slightly, and that the Angles, from their position on the continent, and their modern dialects compared with German, were a mixture of the two Gothic branches, or else did not belong to either.

Some very striking phenomena appear in connexion with the Cumbrian consonants. Anderson's ballads have several instances of the change of k into t: tnop for knop, a tub, tnock, tnow, for knock, know. In the final we have weet for week, by means of which we may explain knot, a hill, from the Celtic cnoc, and the name of the village musicians, the waits, from the wakes or ancient vigils (watchings) of the church. The sounds c (k) and t were considered closely allied by the first Irish scholars, the characters which represent them differing very little: a short cross stroke on the head of the c forms t. The English quilt has become in Cumbrian twilt; but quick, quiet, quadrille, are whick, whiet, whadrille,

indicating a distinction of the time or manner of introduction of the two classes. The D. qvie, cow, is whye; the twilt class must therefore be later than the whick. There is a singular (apparent) corruption of the name of Salkeld (the village) into Saffeld; but it is possible this place may once have been called Salkfield.

The Cumbrian of porridge is poddish, and of cabbage cabbish. Poddish may, however, be a more correct form than porridge; in Lancashire it is pronounced poddige, which points to the French potage as the origin. With this we should compare the Lancashire sumburry for somebody. There is no doubt that a number of words like poddish have entered Cumbria from Lancashire.

The dental th is not to be found among the ancient words of the district. Kirkby Thore is still pronounced Kirkby Fure, for Thursday we find Furesday, Grisenthwaite is very generally converted into Grislefoot, and smuired appears for smothered. The English article "the" suffers elision of its vowel even in the most difficult cases, as, "at th' doctor's." But this should be compared to the modern pronunciation of such words as clothed. In accordance with the above, the pronoun "thee" suffers contraction, and assumes the form of the article: “Did I touch the ?" The Danish t has not suffered in many words; one instance, tygge, to chew, C. cheg, is an English transformation. The apocope of the final d, or even t, in Danish and Cumbrian, is very frequent, but not less so in ancient Irish. Cean, the head, was once cent, but the euphonic n caused the extinction of the radical. At a certain period Danish added d to the orthography of borrowed words that had it not; all such are now lost alike in sound. "Bran new" comes in this way from brand new. Jenny Lind is pronouced Lin in Cumbria as in Scandinavia; the name is to be found in this district, but is written Lynn. In any other position the d is preserved with surprising care, as in the E. Wednesday.

During the European transit of the Hiberno-Celts and Scandinavians, in other words, of those tribes that kept an exclusively northern route, some great changes of the labial organs took place. The Irish and Scandinavian languages lost the initial p, and consequently under this head in their respective dictionaries, there is