Pronounced difference in manner of speaking

FURTHER to the debate on “koine” or a lingua franca to replace the Queen’s English, like John Gordon [Yorkshire Post, June 13] I am intrigued by Robert Craig’s nomination of the North Yorkshire dialect.

I am more fascinated by accent than vocabulary but that is a personal interest. North and East Yorkshire people are lovely folk; more friendly and approachable than us cussed Tykes from the West and South of the county.

However I am not keen on the way they speak and I “herp” I will not upset too many Hull people by saying that their accent is always good for a laugh.

English as was articulated by Halifax’s Wilfred Pickles, Bradford’s JB Priestley and Barnsley’s Brian Glover would fit the bill for me. The Sheffield accent, as amusing as Hull in its way, is a curious anomaly in South Yorkshire.

It is a shame, though, that the Queen’s English has fallen out of favour.

Her Majesty’s clipped tones are perfectly intelligible to all of us; even a youngster brought up on Ian McMillan’s other language “Deep Tarn” (Yorkshire Post, June 12). Not that there’s anything wrong with Deep Tarn. I speak it fluently and often use it spontaneously with people I know very well to add a nuance of feeling. Sadly, both Received Pronunciation and local dialect are already being replaced by the sort of stuff spoken by educated young people of today with their strange intonations and inabili’y to resist the ubiqui’ous glo’al stop. For a start, just listen to Ed Miliband.