Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

Chaucer’s English Surviving in the Black Country.

The Black Country (South Staffordshire) dialect retains a great number of old words which have now almost vanished from polite English. Thus we have the verb * egg,’ which still means, as in Chaucer, to urge or goad

on. ‘ Glede,’ which Chaucer often uses, is still the familiar name for a glowing ember. ‘ Lig ’ is still employed for ‘ lie,’ in the sense both of recumbency and of falsehood, and is quiet common to hear a schoolboy accuse his deceitful playmate of being a ‘ ligger.’ ‘ Lever ’ is a common Chaucerian derivative from the word ‘lief’ denoting preference; and the modern collier is continually saying he * would liever play than work for less money.’ * Slither,’again, is commonly used for ‘slide,’ both noun and verb. * Wench ’ is employed in its own proper sense, without any suggestion of contempt —indeed, it is a favourite term of endearment, applied alike to the baby girl and to the faithful old wife. ‘ Stent ’ is a frequent name for a set task. ‘To rate’ means, as in Chaucer, not to levy a local tax, but to upbraid. ‘ Mun,’ the local form of ‘ must,’ is another survival frequently met with in the ‘ Canterbury Tales.’ The pluras of ‘ do.’ ‘ go,’ ‘ have,’ and ‘ say,’ viz, ‘ don,’ ‘ gon,’ ‘ han,’ and ‘ sen,’ are found in the same work nearly three hundred times. ‘ Orts' is in every day use for remains of food, and ‘ leasowes ’ for fields. The expression ‘ dout \ i.e. ‘ do out’] the light’ is still common; and ‘ tind,’ for ‘ kindle,’ reminds one of the old tinder box that preceded the lucifer. ‘ Ost,’ a peculiar word meaning to offer, attempt, or pretend to do a thing, seems to defy any successful guess at its etymology ; as also does the word * moither,’ meaning to wander mentally, as in delirium. ‘ Gaffer ’ is still regularly used alike for an employer or a male superior; ‘ doggy ’ is a petty foreman down a pit; while ‘ butty ’ is used to describe a companion, a workmate, or a partner in a mining venture. —Leisure Hour.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KAIST18940706.2.35

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Kaikoura Star, Volume XIV, Issue 753, 6 July 1894, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
341

Chaucer’s English Surviving in the Black Country. Kaikoura Star, Volume XIV, Issue 753, 6 July 1894, Page 6

Chaucer’s English Surviving in the Black Country. Kaikoura Star, Volume XIV, Issue 753, 6 July 1894, Page 6

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert