Suffolk dialect

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The Suffolk dialect is rapidly disappearing, as are many regional dialects of modern English, with the advent of increasing social and geographical mobility and the influence of the media. Yet it retains many specific and unique terms and phrases which are instantly recognizable, for instance:

'bor' = boy, equivalent to mate, but can be used for a female as well as a male addressee

'dag' = early morning or evening mist, especially associated with coastal / marsh areas, possibly also general eastern England dialect

'bibble' = (of animals, esp. birds) to drink

'Rope' pronounced "roup" with an emphasis on the 'u'

'Road' also sounds like "rood" and soap sounds like "soup"

'Seen' is pronounced "sin" (a traditional sentence could be "av ya sin er" - 'have you seen her')

'Int' for "have not" as in "I int sin er since yester-di" (I haven't seen her since yesterday)

The Suffolk accent has a strong use of the glottal stop and the intonation has a notable range of rise and fall in pitch and can often sound as if the speaker is asking a question.

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (March 2008)