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Topic 6 (session A) - Style and Style variation > Language Variation: Dialect > Task B

Language Variation: Dialect

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Language Variation: Dialect

Task B - No Mate for the Magpie

Read the extract below from the beginning of the novel No Mate for the Magpie by Frances Molloy and then answer the questions. We have numbered the sentences for ease of reference:

(1) Way a wee screwed up protestant face an' a head of black hair a was born, in a state of original sin. (2) Me ma didn't like me, but who's te blame the poor woman, sure a didn't look like a catholic wain at all.
(3) The state of original sin didn't last long. (4) That's wan good thing about me ma, she maybe didn't like me but by god she done hir duty by me an' didn't lave me lyin' there in the clutches of the divil. (5) That very day a was took te the chapel at the tap of the town be me godmother, that me ma didn't like either, an' hir husband who could have been me uncle if me ma hada married hes brother who was handsome an' beautiful an' iverythin' me da wasn't. (6) But me ma, on a point of principle, jilted him, an' he went te England way a broken heart an' married an oul' woman an' made a lot of money.

(Frances Molloy , No Mate for the Magpie, p. 1)

(Note: Once you have completed each question, click on the actual question to view our response).

1. Translate this passage into Standard English, noting the changes you make as you go.
2. What dialect do you think is being represented?
3. Why is Standard English not being used?
4. Compare the original text with the 'translation' you made in answer one. What linguistic features mark the dialect (look at each sentence carefully in turn)? How many different linguistic levels are involved?
5. How realistic do you think the interpretation of the dialect is?


	Next: Task C - Wuthering Heights

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