I am puzzled as to how anyone can teach a West Riding version of the Yorkshire dialect (‘Are we reyt?’: the course that aims to revive the Yorkshire dialect, 15 October). The West Riding stretched from Sheffield in the south to somewhere around Dent in the north, and the range of dialects contained in this area was wide and varied.
Sheffield’s dialect, with its use of de and dar instead of thee and thar, was vastly different from the Leeds/Bradford dialect, with its many glottal stops. Indeed Sheffielders were often known as “dee-dars” for this reason. The Barnsley dialect was as different again. Keighley I cannot speak for.
Alan Whitehouse
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Your article about dialect in Yorkshire, where the pronunciation “reyt” replaces “right”, reminded me of a teacher failing to engender enthusiasm for a school gala in front of an audience of coalminer parents. “Do you want a fete or not?” he finally cried in exasperation, at which half of the audience stood up and began rolling up their sleeves.
Philip Clarke
East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire
• Are classes really needed? I grew up in Walsall, live in Nottingham, and have a business to which I travel often in Scarborough. I greet everyone with a cheery “na then”. I didn’t need classes to pick that up.
Pete Lavender
Nottingham
• Having been evacuated during the second world war to Huddersfield, I love everything from Yorkshire – including my husband. On Saturdays, I am delighted that the Yorkshire pronunciation of “one”, to rhyme with “gone”, is kept alive by the announcer of the football results on the BBC’s Final Score.
Pat Robson
Bath
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