Part of the Calendar Magazine series, this programme features Stanley Ellis of the Yorkshire Dialect Society as he speaks to Robert Hall about the varying dialects of the Yorkshire region, introducing Hall to people who speak those distinct dialects along the way.  They include men from the East Riding, Huddersfield, miners from Kellingley Colliery, and two South Asian children from Leeds.   The film opens with Stanley Ellis, Secretary of the Yorkshire Dialect Society driving a car and...

Part of the Calendar Magazine series, this programme features Stanley Ellis of the Yorkshire Dialect Society as he speaks to Robert Hall about the varying dialects of the Yorkshire region, introducing Hall to people who speak those distinct dialects along the way.  They include men from the East Riding, Huddersfield, miners from Kellingley Colliery, and two South Asian children from Leeds.   The film opens with Stanley Ellis, Secretary of the Yorkshire Dialect Society driving a car and talking to Robert Hall about dialect.  It’s the Society’s 90th birthday, and it is the oldest local dialect society.  They journey to the East Riding, and after getting out of the car, they speak to a man from the area.  They interview him outside a garage or stable.  At points very confused, Hall tries to translate what the man has said, and Ellis explains that a lot of the language takes its origins from Scandinavian words.   Back in the car and journeying to Huddersfield, Ellis explains the clear geographical divide in the Yorkshire Dialect, particularly at Leeds.  In Huddersfield, an older man reads a poem to Ellis and Hall in his lounge.  The man explains the intricacies of the Huddersfield dialect.   Now in a pub, there are a few men seated at a table, and the Kelighley Colliery banner can be seen hanging on the wall.  Ellis and Hall speak to the miners about the different dialects, specifically relating to the language used in relation to the mining industry.  The men explain that the men from South Yorkshire have a very different vocabulary compared to the men from Leeds or Knottingley. At Royal Park Middle School in Leeds, Ellis and Hall talk to two South Asian children about the way they speak.  The young boy explains that his language is a combination of English and his parent’s native language.  Hall notes that he uses local speech and how the dialect will evolve in the future.   The programme ends with close ups of various journals about dialect as Ellis and Hall go through examples of Yorkshire slang.