The Dialect of Cumbria
Cumbrian | Durham-Pitmatic | Isle of Man | Lancastrian | Northumbrian | Westmorland | Yorkshire
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Introduction – History, Origin and Main Sources – Affiliation & Dialects* – Features of Cumbrian Dialect* – Typical Phonetic Realisations of Various Lexical Sets In North Cumbrian Dialect* – Numerals In Several Cumbrian Dialects* – Samples of Cumbrian Poetry and Prose* – Vitality, Preservation and the Future – Conclusion – Books & Resources
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Introduction
Cumbrian is a sub-language of Northern Anglian. It is not to be confused with Cumbric, an extinct Brythonic language spoken in the area during the middle ages. If you wish to find out more about Cumbric you can read about it on Wikipedia here.
The traditional dialectological model generally classifies Cumbrian as merely a northern dialect of English. However, within the broader AlphaLinguist framework, Cumbrian may be more accurately understood as one of the surviving sublanguages of the North Anglian linguistic continuum: a historically coherent regional speech system descending not simply from generic “English”, but specifically from the old Northumbrian branch of Anglo-Saxon. In this interpretation, Cumbrian represents the modern continuation of a linguistic lineage stretching from Old English through Old Northumbrian, into Northern Middle English, and finally into the modern North Anglian sublanguage complex.
History
Historically, the region now known as Cumbria occupied a unique position within Britain. During the early Anglo-Saxon period, much of the area fell within the sphere of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria. The Old English spoken there differed considerably from the West Saxon literary standard that later came to dominate written records. Old Northumbrian possessed distinctive phonological and grammatical traits, many of which survived into later northern speech forms. Following the Viking settlements of the ninth and tenth centuries, the language of the region absorbed substantial Norse influence, particularly in vocabulary and place names. This Norse contribution remains one of the defining characteristics of Cumbrian speech today.
At the same time, Cumbria retained strong connections to the earlier Brittonic Celtic-speaking population. Before Anglian expansion, the area formed part of the old Brythonic-speaking kingdoms collectively associated with Yr Hen Ogledd (“The Old North”). The ancient Cumbric language, closely related to Old Welsh, survived in parts of the region for centuries alongside expanding Anglian speech. Although Cumbric eventually disappeared as a community language, it left a noticeable substrate influence upon local vocabulary and toponymy. Words such as beck (stream), although often reinforced by Norse influence, coexist alongside numerous Celtic-derived place names throughout Cumbria. Names ending in -dale, -fell, and -thwaite often reflect layers of Norse and Celtic interaction within the landscape.
By the Middle English period, the speech of Cumbria had become part of the wider Northern Anglian linguistic zone. This North Anglian continuum extended across much of northern England and southern Scotland, encompassing related forms such as Northumbrian, Geordie, Durham speech, Yorkshire varieties, and Scots. Cumbrian developed distinctive local features within this broader system, shaped by geography, relative isolation, and centuries of interaction between Anglian, Norse, and Celtic populations.
Affiliation & Dialects
Linguistically, Cumbrian is closest to other North Anglian varieties, especially Northumbrian English and Southern Scots. Indeed, many features once extended continuously across the Anglo-Scottish border before modern political boundaries and standardisation processes hardened linguistic divisions. Shared vocabulary, northern vowel systems, grammatical constructions, and Norse-derived elements connect Cumbrian closely with Lowland Scots and the broader northern continuum.
Cumbrian itself contains several subdialect zones. Speech in the western coastal areas differs noticeably from that of the Eden Valley or the southern Lakeland districts. Traditional rural dialects of the central fells preserved older vocabulary and pronunciations long after they had disappeared elsewhere. Barrovian speech in the far south-west, influenced by nineteenth-century industrial migration, differs from the older upland dialects associated with shepherding communities. Historically, speakers from different parts of Cumbria could often identify one another’s origins quite precisely through accent and vocabulary alone.
Geographically, the Cumbrian sublanguage occupies most of the historic county of Cumberland and Westmorland, together with parts of northern Lancashire and adjoining border areas. Its strongest surviving presence is generally found in rural communities, older populations, and smaller towns rather than major urban centres.
Estimating speaker numbers is difficult because most surveys classify speakers simply as “English speakers” with regional accents. If broad competence in traditional vocabulary, grammar, and phonology is included, there may still be several hundred thousand people across Cumbria who retain varying degrees of Cumbrian speech. However, fully traditional forms are now largely confined to older generations, particularly in rural districts.
One of the most famous survivals associated with Cumbrian tradition is the old sheep-counting system, often referred to as “Yan Tan Tethera.” These counting systems were historically used by shepherds across Cumbria, Yorkshire, and adjacent upland regions. A common version runs:
Yan, tan, tethera, methera, pimp, sethera, lethera, hovera, dovera, dick.
These numerals are not derived directly from modern English, but preserve remnants of older Brythonic Celtic counting traditions, likely linked to the extinct Cumbric language. Different valleys preserved slightly different forms, illustrating the remarkable local diversity that once characterised northern speech traditions.
Features of Cumbrian
Typical Realisations of Various Lexical Sets In Northern Cumbrian Dialects
Cumbrian possesses a number of distinctive linguistic features that separate it from Standard English and connect it more closely to the wider North Anglian continuum, including Northumbrian speech and Southern Scots. Many of these characteristics descend ultimately from Old Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon, while others reflect later Norse and Celtic influence. Although modern dialect levelling has weakened some traditional forms, many features remain recognisable throughout Cumbria today.
One of the most noticeable aspects of Cumbrian is its phonology. Traditional speech often preserves hard, clipped northern vowel systems very different from southern English pronunciation. Words such as neet (“night”), reet (“right”), and hoose (“house”) reflect older northern vowel developments shared with Scots and other North Anglian varieties. The definite article may also be reduced in rapid speech, sometimes approaching forms such as t’ or a glottalised consonantal sound, as in t’farm or t’fell. Rhotic pronunciation historically occurred in some districts as well, especially in more isolated rural areas.
Lexically, Cumbrian contains substantial Norse influence due to Viking settlement across north-west England. Everyday words such as beck (stream), fell (mountain), garth (yard), laal (little), bairn (child), and kirk (church) remain important markers of regional speech. Many place names throughout Cumbria also preserve Old Norse elements, including endings such as -thwaite, -by, and -dale. Alongside this Norse layer exists an older Celtic substrate derived from the extinct Cumbric language once spoken in the region. This survives especially in traditional counting systems such as yan, tan, tethera and in various landscape names.
Grammatically, traditional Cumbrian often preserves older northern forms lost in Standard English. Second-person plural distinctions historically survived in forms such as ye or yous. Verbal constructions may differ considerably from southern norms, while older negation patterns and strong verb forms persisted well into the modern era. Certain northern pronouns and prepositional usages also align closely with Scots and older Northern Middle English structures.
Another defining feature of Cumbrian is its remarkable local variation. Speech traditionally differed from valley to valley, particularly in isolated upland communities. Western coastal speech, Lakeland dialects, and Eden Valley varieties each possessed distinct vocabularies and pronunciation patterns. This internal diversity further supports the interpretation of Cumbrian not merely as an “accent”, but as part of a historically complex North Anglian sublanguage system with deep regional roots.
Finally, Cumbrian speech remains strongly tied to landscape, agriculture, and local identity. Traditional vocabulary relating to sheep farming, weather, terrain, and rural life is especially rich. Even where full traditional dialect has declined, many Cumbrian people continue using regional words and pronunciations as markers of cultural identity and belonging.
Numerals In Cumbrian Dialect
Samples of Cumbrian Dialect
| Jwohnny, Git Oot Git oot wid the’, Jwohnny, thoo’s nobbut a fash: Thoo’ll cum till thoo raises a desperat clash, Thoo’s here ivvery day just to put yan aboot, An’ thoo moiders yan terrably – Jwohnny, git ootª What says t’e? I’s bonnie? Whey! That’s nowte ‘at’s new. Thoo’s wantin’ a sweetheart? — Thoo’s hed a gay fewª An’ thoo’s cheatit them, yan efter t’ t’udder, neá doobt: But I’s nút to be cheatit seá — Jwohnny, git ootª There’s plenty o’ lads I’ beäth Lamplugh an’ Dean As yabble as thee, an’ as weel to be seen: An’ I med tak’ my pick amang o’ there aboot– Does t’é think I’d ha’e thee, than? Hut, Jwohnny, git ootª What? Nuât yan amang them ‘at likes mé sa weel? Whey, min – ther’e Dick Walker an’ Jonathon Peel Foorsettin’ mé ola’s i’t’ lonnins aboot, Beàth wantin’ to sweetheart mé—Jwohnny, git ootª What? — Thoo will hev a kiss? — Ah, but tak’t if thoo dar I tell the’, I’ll squeel, if thoo tries to cu’ naâr. Tak’ care o’ my collar – Thoo byspel, I’ll shoot. Nay, thoo sha’n’t hev anudder – Noo Jwohnny, git oot Git oot wid the’, Jwohnny – Thoo’s tew’t me reet sair: Thoo’s brocken my comb, an’ thoo’s toozelt my hair. I will’nt be kiss’t, thoo unmannerly loot Was t’ere ivver sec impidence! Jwohnny, git oot Git oot wid the’, Jwohnny – I tell the’, be deùn. Does t’e think I’ll tak’ up wid Ann Dixon’s oald sheùn? Thoo ma’ ga till Ann Dixon, an’ pu’ hur aboot, But thoo s’alln’t pu’ me, sèa Jwohnny, git ootª Well That’s sent him off, an’ I’s sworry it hes: He ned ken a lass nivver means hoaf ‘at she says. He’s a reet canny fellow, hooivver I floot, An’ it’s growin’ o’ wark to say Jwohnny, git oot | Love in Cumberland Wa, Jwohn, what’n mannishment’s ‘tis ‘At too’s gawn to dee for a hizzy Aw hard o’ this torrable fiss, An’ aw’s cum’t to advise tha’, – ‘at is ee. Mun, thoo’ll nobbet lwose tee gud neame Wi’ gowlin’ an’ whingin sea mickle: Cockswunturs! Min beyde aboot heame, An’ let her e’en ga to auld Nickle. Thy plew-geer’s aw liggin how-strow, An’ somebody’s stown thee thy couter: Oh faiks! Thou’s duin little ‘at dow To fash theesel ivver aboot her. Your Seymey has broken car stang, An’ mendit it wid a clog-coaker: Pump-tree’s geane aw wheyt wrang, An’ they’ve sent for auld Tom Stawker. Young filly’s dung oure the lang stee An’ leam’d peer Andrew the theeker: Thee mudder wad suffer’t for tee An haw hadn’t happ’n’t to cleek her. Thoo’s spoilt for aw manner o’ wark: Thoo nobbet sits peghan an’ pleenan. Odswucke, man ! doff that durty sark, An’ pretha gi’e way git a clean anª An’ then gow to Carel wi’ me,- Let her gang to knock-cross wid her seworuin, See clanken at market we’ll see, A’ll up’od ta’ forgit her ‘or mwornin’ |
Vitality, Preservation and the Future
Today, Cumbrian faces many of the same pressures confronting regional speech systems throughout Britain. Since the nineteenth century, education, mass media, urbanisation, and the dominance of Standard English have produced extensive dialect levelling. Younger speakers often retain only fragments of traditional vocabulary or accent features. Nevertheless, Cumbrian has by no means disappeared. Local identity remains strong, and interest in regional heritage has increased significantly in recent decades.
Revitalisation efforts remain relatively modest compared to movements associated with Scots, Cornish, or Welsh, yet there are growing attempts to document and preserve Cumbrian speech. Dialect societies, local authors, oral history projects, and online communities continue recording traditional words, expressions, and pronunciations. Some schools and cultural organisations have also shown interest in incorporating local linguistic heritage into educational materials. Digital media may paradoxically provide new opportunities for survival by allowing dispersed speakers and enthusiasts to share recordings, texts, and research.
The future of Cumbrian remains uncertain. As a fully autonomous community language, its long-term survival is fragile. However, as a regional sublanguage embedded within local identity and historical consciousness, it still retains cultural vitality. Increasing dissatisfaction with overly simplistic models of “Standard English plus dialects” may also encourage renewed scholarly attention to northern linguistic diversity. Within the AlphaLinguist framework, Cumbrian is not merely an accent or a handful of quaint rural expressions, but the surviving descendant of an ancient North Anglian linguistic tradition whose roots extend back over a millennium.
Books & Resources
📚Bibliography (APA)
Beal, J. C. (2004). English dialects in the North of England: Phonology. In B. Kortmann & E. Schneider (Eds.), A handbook of varieties of English (pp. 113–133). Mouton de Gruyter.
Bogg, E. (1922). Dialect of the West Riding of Yorkshire and North Lancashire. London: Simpkin.
Brilioth, B. (1913). A grammar of the dialect of Lorton. Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, A. J. (1889). On early English pronunciation (Vol. 5). Trübner & Co.
Glauser, J. (2007). The Scottish dialect landscape. Peter Lang.
Görlach, M. (1990). Studies in the history of the English language. Universitätsverlag Winter.
Hough, C. (2003). The Oxford companion to names. Oxford University Press.
Jones, M. C., & Esch, E. (2002). Language change: The interplay of internal, external and extra-linguistic factors. Mouton de Gruyter.
Orton, H., & Dieth, E. (1962–1971). Survey of English dialects. E.J. Arnold.
Page, R. I. (1973). An introduction to English rune studies. Methuen.
Rydland, K. (1998). The language of northern England. Scandinavian University Press.
Trudgill, P. (1999). The dialects of England. Blackwell.
Wakelin, M. F. (1977). English dialects: An introduction. Athlone Press.
Wales, K. (2006). Northern English: A social and cultural history. Cambridge University Press.
Wyld, H. C. (1927). A history of modern colloquial English. Basil Blackwell.
🌐Web Resources
Cumbrian Dialect Blog – https://leeucollection.com/UK/blog/cumbrian-dialect
Cumbrian Dialect: Words, Phrases and Stories {Book} – https://www.cumbriaguru.com/products/cumbrian-dialect-words-phrases-and-stories-from-the-lake-district/
GonMad Cumbrian Dictionary & Phrase Book – https://www.cumbriandictionary.co.uk/
How to speak Lake District – Understanding the Cumbrian Dialect – https://lakedistrict.gov.uk/blog/how-to-speak-lake-district-understanding-the-cumbrian-dialect/
Keswick Lakeland Society – Cmbrian Dialect Words – https://www.keswick.org/whats-on/visit-keswick-blog/a-guide-to-our-dialect-and-slang
Lakeland Dialect Society – Cumbrian Dialect Glossary – https://lakelanddialectsociety.co.uk/dialect/glossary
Norwegian and Cumbrian/Westmorland dialect (@ Antimoon) – https://www.antimoon.com/forum/t2280.htm
Sally’s Cottages – The Cumbrian Dialect – https://www.sallyscottages.co.uk/guides/cumbrian-dialect
The Old (Cumbrian) Language (@ Iownestfarm) – https://www.lownestfarm.co.uk/olden/dialect.htm
Wikipedia – Cumbrian Dialect – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbrian_dialect
▶️Youtube Resources
Cumbria and Yorkshire – (An Older Dialect Comparison by Simon Roper) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov0OEAF5Fv8
