The enregisterment of “Barnsley” dialect: Vowel fronting and being ‘broad’ in Yorkshire dialects

Abstract

Abstract In this paper I investigate Yorkshire speakers perceptions of Barnsley dialect. Interviews with speakers from different parts of Yorkshire revealed that the most frequently defined variety of “Yorkshire” dialect was “Barnsley”. When demonstrating how this variety differed from other Yorkshire varieties, informants produce a fronted vowel in the first syllable of ‘Barnsley’. I illustrate that this pronunciation has indexical links (Johnstone, Andrus, and Danielson 2006) to social values such as broad and traditional , and that it is enregistered (Agha 2003) as a Barnsley feature. I conclude that language features can index multiple geographical areas simultaneously and that Yorkshire dialect is not only enregistered as a single variety, but also as sub-Yorkshire varieties.