Product Code Database
Yola, more commonly and historically the Forth and Bargy dialect, is an extinct dialect of the Middle English language once spoken in the baronies of Forth and Bargy in County Wexford, Ireland. As such, it was probably similar to the Fingallian dialect of the Fingal area. Both became functionally extinct in the 19th century when they were replaced by modern Hiberno-English. The word yola means in the dialect. In modern times, there have been efforts to Language revival the dialect.
Modern English was widely introduced by British colonists during and after the 17th century, forming the basis for the modern Hiberno-English of Ireland. The new varieties were notably distinct from the surviving relict dialects. As English continued to spread, both Yola and Fingallian died out in the 19th century, though Yola continued to be used as a liturgical language by the churches of Wexford well into the 20th century. To this day the Kilmore Choir sings what were once Yola tunes, now adapted to Standard English.
The speech of Forth and Bargy was the only kind in Ireland included in Alexander John Ellis's work On Early English Pronunciation Volume V, which was the earliest survey of dialects of English. The phonetics of the dialect were taken from a local reverend.
County Wexford native Paddy Berry is noted for his condensed performances of the piece "A Yola Zong", which he has performed for various recordings, the latest of which was in 2017. Various Yola rhymes, passed down from generation to generation, can be heard spoken by a Wexford woman in a documentary recorded in 1969 on the present usage and rememberers of Yola in the former baronies of Forth and Bargy.
Yola Farmstead, a community-operated reenactment of a Forth and Bargy village as it would have been during the 18th century, delivered a speech and performance of a song in Yola at their opening ceremony, featured Yola phrases in their advertisements, and hosted events where participants could learn some of the dialect from linguists and other experts on it. The Yola Farmstead also hosted a memorial event dedicated to Jack Devereux of the Kilmore Choir, which once used Yola extensively in their Christmas services. Devereux was a preservationist of, and well-versed in, Yola; locals considered him to be an expert on the dialect, and a rendition of the Lord's Prayer translated into Yola was read at his memorial.
The Yola Farm has since closed down but since 2021 there have been efforts to reopen it. Wikitongues also has a section dedicated to Yola on its website which hosts language documentation and revitalization resources.
One striking characteristic of Yola was the fact that stress shifted to the second syllable of words in many instances: morsaale "morsel", hatcheat "hatchet", dineare "dinner", readeare "reader", weddeen "wedding", etc. Reprinted 1972 by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, .
Although most of its vocabulary is Old English in origin, Yola contains many borrowings from Irish language and French.
All the Yola are Middle English unless stated otherwise. Yola words derived from a non-standard Middle English form list the variant first, followed by the variant in parentheses.
Use after the mid-19th century
Though the Forth and Bargy dialect ceased to be used as a means of daily communication after the mid-19th century, it continued to see significant usage as a liturgical language, and some personal usage within the linguist community of Ireland, such as Kathleen Browne's letter to Ireland dated to 10 April 1893. Browne was a fluent Yola speaker and wrote a number of articles including "The Ancient Dialect of the Baronies of Forth and Bargy" in 1927.Browne, Brendan (2016). Kathleen A. Browne. The Past: The Organ of the Uí Cinsealaigh Historical Society. No. 32 (2016), pp. 108-115
Phonology
As in the Dutch language, in southwestern varieties of English and (to a lesser extent) in German, most voiceless fricatives in Yola became voiced consonant. The Middle English vowels are well-preserved, having only partially and sporadically undergone the changes associated with the Great Vowel Shift.Hickey, R. (1988). A lost Middle English dialect. Historical Dialectology: Regional and Social, 37, 235.
Orthography
An exact spelling system for Yola has never been codified, beyond general trends listed in Jacob Poole's writings. Most of the spellings are meant as comparisons to standard English ones of his day and the pronunciations are largely reconstructed. The following are listed here:
Note that the spellings can be somewhat inconsistent, due to many words attempting to draw comparison to English cognates and variation within the dialect. Not too much of the above, particularly regarding the vowels, is exactly certain.
+Yola orthography
!Yola spelling
!Phoneme (IPA)
!Example
!Notes
Grammar
Personal pronouns
Yola pronouns were similar to Middle English pronouns.William Barnes, Jacob Poole: A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the Old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland. Formerly collected By Jacob Poole: And now edited, with some Introductory Observations, Additions from various sources, and Notes, By William Barnes. London, 1867
+ Yola personal pronouns
Articles
The definite article was at first a or ee, which was later replaced by the.
Verbs
Yola verbs had some conservative characteristics. The second and third person plural endings were sometimes -eth or -edh as in Chaucerian English. The past participle retained the Middle English "y" prefix as ee.Poole 1867, p.133.
Nouns
Some nouns retained the -en plural of ME children, such as been 'bees' and tren 'trees'.
Vocabulary
The glossary compiled by Jacob Poole provides most of what is known about the Forth and Bargy vocabulary. Poole was a farmer and member of the Quaker (Quakers) from Growtown in the Parish of Taghmon on the border between the baronies of Bargy and Shelmalier.Jacob Poole of Growtown. He collected words and phrases from his tenants and farm labourers between 1800 and his death in 1827.
Interrogative words
+Yola interrogative words how fowe
howwou
howhaa hou
foo (Doric Scots)hoe wo/woans what fa(a)de whad (what) what whit
fit (Doric Scots)wat wat when fan/ phen/ van whanne when whan
fan (Doric Scots)wannear wanneer where fidi/ vidie/ vidy whider wheer whaur
faur (Doric Scots)wêr wo/woneem which wich
wilkwhilch which whilk hokker welk who fo/ vo hwā (Old English) who/whoa wha
fa (Doric Scots)wa wer/wel/wokeen why fart(h)oo wherto (why) why why
fit wye (Doric Scots)wêrom worüm
Prepositions
+Yola prepositions about abut, abouten abouten abaat aboot om/rûn üm/rund above aboo abuven aboon abuin boppe baven against ayenst ayens agean/agen agin tsjin gegen among amang, mang amang amang amang mank/tusken mang/twüschen around arent around araand aroond om üm at ad(h) ed (at) at at by bi before avar avore (afore) afoor, befoor afore foar vöör below/beneath/under aloghe alow below/beneeath/under ablo/aneath/unner ûnder (to)neddern/nedder, ünnen/ünner beside besidh(e), besithe beside beside/aside aside njonken blangen between/betwixt betweesk/beteesh betwix between/atween/betwixt/atwixt atween/atweesh (be)tusken twüschen by be(e), bie, by by by/bi by by bi for for, var, vor vor (for) for for foar för from vre(a)m/ vreem/ vrim/ vrom vram (fram) fra/thra/throo frae fan van, von, vun next, next to neeshte, nishte next next neist nêst neven in i/ee/a, in(g), yn(g) in in/i in yn in out udh, ut(h) out aat oot út ut, uut over ow(e)r, oer over ovver/ower/o'er ower oer över through draugh, trugh thrugh through/thrugh throch troch dörch, dör, döör upon apan, (a)paa upon upon/upo' upon/upo' op up, op with wee, wi, wough with wi wi mei mit
Determiners
+Yola determiners all aul all all aw al all any aany
aughtany
aughtony ony elts enig each, every earch(a)/ earchee/ erich/ iverich everich eeach, ivvery ilk, ilka/ivery eltse elk, jeed/jeedeen few vew(e) few few, a two-or-thry few/a wheen min wenig neither nother nóhwæþer (Old English) nawther naither noch noch none, nothing noucht, nodhing naught, nothing noan, nowt nane, nocht nimmen, neat nüms, nix other (th)o(o)ree another other ither oar anner some zim/ zum sum some some guon welke that d(h)cka that that dat dit, düt this d(h)icke this this dizze disse, düsse
Other words
+other Yola words day dei, die day day day dei Dag lá fear vear
ferdefǽr (Old English)
feerdfear fear frees Forcht, Bang, Angst eagla friend vriene frind (frend) friend fere freon Fründ cara land loan(e) lond (land) land laund lân Land talamh, tír old yola, yole eold (Old English eald) owd auld âld oold, oll- sean, seanda, aosta sun zin synne (sunne) sun sun sinne Sünn grian thing dhing thing thing hing ting Ding rud, ní go goe goan go/goa gae/gang/gan gean gaan dul (go), imeacht (go away), gabháil (go along) Wexford Weis(e)forthe/Weis(e)ford Veisafjǫrðr (Old Norse) Wexford Wexford Wexford Wexford Loch Garman
Cardinal numbers
+Yola cardinal numbers
! #!! Yola
!Yola etymon!! West Frisian
Modern South Wexford English
Diarmaid Ó Muirithe travelled to South Wexford in 1978 to study the English spoken there. His informants ranged in age between 40 and 90. Among the long list of words still known or in use at that time are the following:
Amain is a Norman word which means 'of easy use'.
Examples
A Yola song
The following is a song in Yola with a rough translation into English.
Address to Lord Lieutenant in 1836
Congratulatory address in the dialect of Forth and Bargy, presented to the Earl of Mulgrave, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on his visit to Wexford in 1836. Taken from the Wexford Independent newspaper of 15 February 1860. The paper's editor Edmund Hore wrote:
"The maiden of Rosslare"
This following is a Yola poem from an original document containing accents to aid pronunciation;
"A song of Barony Forth"
This following is a Yola poem taken from Kathleen Brownes glossary of Forth and Bargy
"Three old maidens"
This following is a Yola poem taken from Kathleen Brownes glossary of Forth and Bargy
Notes
(2025). 9780198856153, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198856153
(2025). 9780843401219, The Educational Company of Ireland. ISBN 9780843401219
External links
Categories: Languages Attested From The 12th Century, Languages Extinct In The 20th Century, County Wexford, Anglic Languages, Middle English, Extinct Germanic Languages, Extinct Languages Of Europe, Languages Of The United Kingdom, Languages Of The Republic Of Ireland, Medieval Languages, Normans In Ireland
|
|
