On 3 Apr 2019 at 5:20pm gradysez wrote:
Thank you for this website. I am recording an audiobook set in your area and I am wary of taking local place names at face value. I would be glad of any local pronunciations. I think I’ve got the Cuilfail Tunnel now: Koolfail seems favourite. Others appear obvious but I’ve been in that trap before so if anyone can help me with Tarring, Withiyam, Southease, Caburn, Glynde and Wolstonbury I’d be most grateful. Thank you. Mike
On 3 Apr 2019 at 6:13pm Tipex wrote:
Malling is pronounced to rhyme with "calling" and Seaford pronounced Seafoord. Good luck with the book.
On 3 Apr 2019 at 10:27pm A Person wrote:
Kay burn, South ease, [glaind] (if you can read IPA) or Glynde (where the Ly is like Nigh or Fly).
On 3 Apr 2019 at 10:47pm gradysez wrote:
Thank you so much. That’s really helpful. If you don’t mind I will probably plague you with a few more requests over the next week or two.
Cheers,
Mike Grady
On 4 Apr 2019 at 7:27am nancy wrote:
Oafem not Offham. Telscum not Telscombe. Horsted Canes not Keynes and Fo-ington not Folkington.
On 4 Apr 2019 at 7:42am Sussex Jim wrote:
Don't forget ORLfriston; which both local and national newsreaders pronounce as AL-friston.
On 4 Apr 2019 at 8:16am Earl of Lewess wrote:
And Berwick should be Ber-wick, not Berrick, but like Seaford, the wrong pronunciation is far more common.
On 4 Apr 2019 at 9:14am gradysez wrote:
Gosh thank you all so much. These are very good tips and save me a lot of embarrassment! I learned to ask for help when working in Yorkshire where Slaithwaite is really Slaw-it.
Thanks again
Mike
On 4 Apr 2019 at 9:24am Ed Can Do wrote:
Ber-wick? Literally nobody pronouces it that way, including everyone who actually lives there and the Gage family who own it. It's Berrick and if you pronounce it Ber-wick people will think you're an idiot.
On 4 Apr 2019 at 1:49pm Basil wrote:
'Berwick (pronounced BURwick or, more recently, BErrick) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England.'
E V Lucas, “Highways and Byways of Sussex” by (Macmillan & Co, 1904)
On 4 Apr 2019 at 2:43pm tobnac wrote:
Also East Hoath-ly, Arding-ly, Chidding-ly - all rhyme with die.
On 4 Apr 2019 at 8:35pm sunshine wrote:
And don’t forget ‘deee efff ell’
On 4 Apr 2019 at 10:29pm gradysez wrote:
This is gold. Thanks for being so generous with your time, Everyone. I’ve got a few more to ask about in a couple of days.
Mike
On 5 Apr 2019 at 10:24am Tom Pain wrote:
That Lucas book is a real gem, Basil. I've been dipping into it for years. Pronounciations change over the years. Selmeston, simson to Lucas was saarmstn to an old resident I knew in the seventies. He and an old boy in Glynde were the last people I heard speaking real old Sussex,mellow ,round as the hills and broad as the Levels. How much we've lost.
On 5 Apr 2019 at 10:43am gradysez wrote:
The book I’m recording is set in around Lewes in 1937 and the British Library Sound Archive has an interview with a local farmer who was born in 1899 talking about his work. I doubt if anyone still talks with that dialect. So I am most grateful for all your good sense regarding these matters. Sorry to start a riot over the Berwick pronunciation! Not my intention at all. Just happy with your invaluable help.
Mike
On 5 Apr 2019 at 6:48pm JillG wrote:
I'd learnt way back, when I was living up that way, that West Hoathly is pronounced Hoath-lye but East Hoathly is pronounced Hoath-lee; seems a good perverse Sussex differentiation, but I note @tobnac's post. Certainly Arding-lye, Chidding-lye etc etc. Any thoughts?
On 7 Apr 2019 at 12:59pm gradysez wrote:
What’s not to love about the perverse English language? Thanks again. I am nearly finished perusing this book for place names. You’ve covered most of them and given me many that don’t appear. Again, I am truly grateful for your thoughtfulness
Mike
On 9 Apr 2019 at 1:15am gradysez wrote:
On the last lap of this fine audiobook recording now. And I have a few more pronunciations of local words and names to ask you about. How would I say Herstmonceux, Helligly Firle, Cliffe or Withyham if I was local to Lewes in 1937? Am I right in thinking that almost any place ending ‘gly’ would rhyme with sky?
And there are some local words of which the pronunciation seems obvious but I would appreciate a bit of local know how. Dubersome. Brabagious. Bummblesome. Gifty. Impersome. Grummut.
And some names I haven’t come across before: Marcery. ( With a ‘C’). Burcis.
And some rivers: Adur. Arun. Rother.
In advance, many thanks for your kindness
Mike