X is for Xanadu

There are no local dialect words starting with the letter X, which I'm sure comes as no surprise.  Instead, I will try to eXplain a little about the local accent. 

 

The local accent is usually stereotyped by the media as 'the country bumpkin' accent:

• the letter 'a' in a word is often sounded as an 'e', so 'pillar' becomes 'piller', 'briar' becomes 'brier'
• the letter 'e in a word is usually a broad sound like 'aay', so 'they' becomes 'thaay'
• the letter 'i' in a word is often sounded as an 'e', so 'drink' becomes 'drenk, 'think' becomes 'thenk'
• the letter 'f' in a word is often sounded as a 'v', so 'fox' becomes 'vox', 'full' becomes 'vull'
• the letter 's' in a word is often sounded as a 'z', so 'summer' becomes 'zummer', 'self' becomes 'zelf'

This is really just scratching the surface of the local dialect.  With more outside influences it is constantly changing and it is now much rarer to hear the strong broad accents I heard in my childhood and with the passing of the older generations the use of a lot of the local dialect words is being lost - most of the dialect words I have included in my alphabet posts are no longer in regular use.

 

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So on to Xanadu .....sorry, I've cheated a bit here because the full title is 'The Legend of Xanadu'.  "What's it got to do with local history?" I hear you ask ... well this was a number one UK hit in 1968 for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, a pop group from Wiltshire.  They all came from either Salisbury or Enford, a small village about 15 miles from Salisbury, although Dave Dee completed his education at Adcroft School in Trowbridge.

 

Here's the song for you to enjoy!

 



 

See you tomorrow for the letter Y.