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BBC VOICES RECORDINGS http://sounds.bl.uk

Title:

Blackpool, Lancashire

Shelfmark:

C1190/18/02

Recording date:

21.03.2005

Speakers:

Cowburn, Ruth, b. 1959; female; clairvoyant (mother b. Nantwich, Cheshire)

Petulengro, Carmen, b. 1943 Norfolk; female; clairvoyant (father b. Norwich, traveller; mother b. Kings

Lynn, traveller)

Petulengro, Sarah, b. 1964 female; clairvoyant (mother b. Lincolnshire, clairvoyant)

Petulengro, William, b. 1986 male (mother b. Blackpool, clairvoyant)

The interviewees are all Romani travellers now settled in Blackpool and well-known local clairvoyants.

ELICITED LEXIS

pleased happy; cushy

also supplied baktalo^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘happy/lucky’ learnt from book, not used); “that’s kushti”►

(as term of approval, also used in London, associated with Del Boy1)

tired shattered; “I want to go to bed”

also supplied kinyo►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘tired’); sutti-ish►

(“I’m going to sutti”, Anglo-Romani for ‘I’m

going to sleep’); “I’m going to woodrus”►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘I’m going to bed’)

unwell (none supplied)

also supplied naflo^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘ill’, used by father); wafeddi►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘bad’, also

used of e.g. off food)

hot clammy

also supplied tatto►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘hot’)

cold perished; icy

also supplied shodding⌂

1 Lead character (Derek Edward Trotter) in long-running sit-com Only Fools and Horses first broadcast on BBC in 1981.

○ see English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905)

►see Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984)

^ see Gipsy Gib: A Romany Dictionary (2003) ∆ see New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006)

◊ see Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010)

⌂ no previous source (with this sense) identified


BBC Voices Recordings

annoyed (none supplied)

also supplied hoino►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘angry’); bengalo⌂ (Anglo-Romani for ‘devilish’)

throw (none supplied)

also supplied chiva^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘to throw’); wooser►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘to fling’, used by son-

in-law)

play truant wag (“wag school”)

also supplied ne jaw to congri^2 (Anglo-Romani for ‘not go to school’)

sleep (none supplied)

also supplied sutti►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘to sleep’)

play a game play (of e.g. quoits/cards)

also supplied ?pias^ your lav⌂ (Anglo-Romani for ‘to play’, “go and pias your lav outside” used by

parents)

hit hard pagger∆

also supplied del►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘to hit’, “I’ll del you in a minute”, used frequently)

clothes (none supplied)

also supplied ?tog-eezes►3

(Anglo-Romani for ‘clothes’)

also supplied rokkengries►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘trousers’)

child’s shoe plimsolls (used by grandmother, modern); trainers (modern)

also supplied tikno’s chokkers►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘child’s shoes’)

mother mum (not used, disliked on Mother’s Day cards); mammy (not used, used by Irish

speakers); mummy (used when younger, considered embarrassing when older); mother

(used in public); mam (“me mam and me dad”)

also supplied mai⌂ (disputed); dai

► (Anglo-Romani for ‘mother’, used by father)

gmother (none supplied)

also supplied pori dai►

(Romani for ‘grandmother’)

m partner me husband; partner (modern, “me partner” also used by/of homosexual couple);

boyfriend (“me boyfriend”)

also supplied rommed^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘married’, of husband); romado^ (Anglo-Romani for

‘married’, found in book); posh-monisha^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘half-woman’ [= gay man])

friend (none supplied)

also supplied pral►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘brother’)

gfather (none supplied)

also supplied poro da►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘grandfather’)

forgot name thingummybob∆

also supplied kovvapen►

^4 (of object, “what’s that kovvapen there?”); lesti

► (of person, Anglo-Romani

for ‘he/him’); kovvas►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘things’, “someone’s bought one of them

kovvas”); keke jin►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘don’t know’, “I keke jin who you are”)

kit of tools tackle

trendy chav; hippy

also supplied loovernie^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘prostitute’)

f partner me wife; girlfriend (“me girlfriend”)

2 Gipsy Gib: A Romany Dictionary (2003) records ‘divvuski congri’ as ‘daily church’ [= school].

3 Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984) records ‘togra’ as ‘clothes peg’ and ‘eezes’ as ‘clothes’

4 Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984) records ‘kovva’ as ‘thing’; Gipsy Gib: A Romany Dictionary (2003) records the suffix

as equivalent to English .



also supplied rommed^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘married’, of wife); romado^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘married’,

found in book); juvali^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘wife’ learnt from book, not used)

baby (none supplied)

also supplied tikno►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘child’)

rain heavily (none supplied)

also supplied brishining►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘to rain’)

toilet (none supplied)

also supplied hindy-ker^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘shithouse’); mutter-ker►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘piss-house’)

walkway alley; path; gully○

also supplied drom►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘road’)

long seat bunk

also supplied besh-ta►5

(Anglo-Romani for ‘sit!’)

run water brook

main room living room

also supplied vardo►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘caravan’); ker►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘house’)

rain lightly (none supplied)

also supplied it’s pani-ing►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘watering’); pani down►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘to water

down’); mutter down►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘to piss down’, “oh my God, it’s muttering

down”)

rich (not discussed)

also supplied rai►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘lord’); rauni►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘lady’)

left-handed (not discussed)

unattractive (none supplied)

also supplied wafeddi-dikking►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘bad-looking’, used frequently)

lack money skint; brassic lint

also supplied ne luvvo^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘no money’); ?charo6; choveni^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘poor’,

“choveni choro”)

drunk tiddly (suggested by interviewer); pissed; merry; well on me way

also supplied motti, motto^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘drunk’ in sense of “merry”; “I’m as motti as a jukkel”,

Anglo-Romani for ‘I’m as drunk as a dog’); ?livending7 (Anglo-Romani for ‘drinking’);

motto’d^ (Anglo-Romani for ‘drunk’ in sense of “gone completely”)

pregnant up the duff (local slang not understood at first, “up the duff without a paddle”∆8

); pregnant

(avoided, “very vulgar”); expecting; having a baby; up the pole; she’s got a bun in the oven

also supplied bori►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘pregnant’)

attractive (none supplied)

also supplied kushti-dikking►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘good-looking’)

insane (none supplied)

also supplied dinilo►

(Anglo-Romani for ‘mad/stupid’); puzzer⌂ ( “she’s a puzzery bul”, Anglo-Romani

for ‘she’s a silly arse’)

moody Monty⌂ (idiolectal reference to moody relative, “have you got the Mont on you?”, “you’re

sat there like Monty” used within family for generations to lighten mood); the monk∆

(“have you got the monk on you?”); “have you got the rat up your back?”◊9

5 Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984) records ‘besh’ for ‘sit’ and (p.103) as imperative suffix.

6 Poss. performance error; Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984) records ‘choro’ as ‘poor’.

7 Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984) records ‘livena’ as ‘beer’.

8 New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006) records ‘up shit creek without a paddle’ in sense of ‘in

difficulty’. 9 Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010) records ‘get/have a rat’ in sense of ‘out of sorts’.



also supplied bengalo⌂ (Anglo-Romani for ‘devilish’); beng

⌂ (Anglo-Romani for ‘devil’)

SPONTANEOUS LEXIS

aye = yes (0:21:35 (‘puzzery bul’) (oh well that’s yours) aye, ‘puzzery bul’ ([…] ‘silly arse’ is ‘puzzery

bul’))

beng►

= devil (0:03:39 (yeah) a ‘beng’ means a bad (if someone’s a ‘beng’ they’re a bad person) a

‘beng’ you’re a bad person but I’d say ‘bengalo’ (not bad bad but argumentative) so it’s ‘annoyed’;

0:22:53 (yeah, but well I put ‘bengalo’ down) yeah, a ‘beng’ is somebody that’s angry and moody or that

(yeah, not a nice person) they’re not nice if you go in a shop and the shop assistant’s a bit (off with you

you say, “that’s a bengalo”) (yeah, “that’s a beng”) bit off with you you say, “oh she she’s a beng”)

bengalo^ = devilish (0:03:39 (yeah) a ‘beng’ means a bad (if someone’s a ‘beng’ they’re a bad person) a

‘beng’ you’re a bad person but I’d say ‘bengalo’ (not bad bad but argumentative) so it’s ‘annoyed’;

0:22:53 yeah, but well I put ‘bengalo’ down (yeah, a ‘beng’ is somebody that’s angry and moody or that)

yeah, not a nice person (they’re not nice if you go in a shop and the shop assistant’s a bit) off with you you

say, “that’s a bengalo” (yeah, “that’s a beng”) (bit off with you you say, “oh she she’s a beng”))

bori►

= big (0:09:39 like, one of them looked at me the other day and said, “choomer me bul” and I

looked at them I started to laugh ’cause ‘choomer me bul’ means ‘kiss’ can I say it ‘arse’ […] so I just

replied, “bori bul” that means ‘fat arse’)

bul►

= arse (0:09:39 like, one of them looked at me the other day and said, “choomer me bul” and I

looked at them I started to laugh ’cause ‘choomer me bul’ means ‘kiss’ can I say it ‘arse’ […] so I just

replied, “bori bul” that means ‘fat arse’; 0:21:35 ‘puzzery bul’ (oh well that’s yours) (aye, ‘puzzery bul’)

[…] ‘silly arse’ is ‘puzzery bul’)

choomer►

= to kiss (0:09:39 like, one of them looked at me the other day and said, “choomer me bul”

and I looked at them I started to laugh ’cause ‘choomer me bul’ means ‘kiss’ can I say it ‘arse’ […] so I

just replied, “bori bul” that means ‘fat arse’)

congri^ = school (0:14:27 “ne ne jaw to congri” (jaw to congri) ‘jaw to congri’ means (I put ‘jaw’) ‘jaw’

means ‘go’ (‘go’ I put ‘jaw’)‘congri’ means ‘school’)

court = to go out with, date (0:39:14 I was married for three months and me mother and father didn’t

know and in the olden days the the children didn’t tell their mother and father they was courting; 0:40:54

and I know when I got married I phoned me mam and dad and I mean they knew that I was courting

because me husband come home, like, and they he asked for me which was what travelling boys do they

come home and they ask well a lot of people do they they ask for your hand in marriage and all that)

dik►

= to see, look (0:16:37 it’s like me mother’s sat there now and I would look at me aunt Catherine

and go, “she’s waffedi-dikking, isn’t she?” you know what I mean that’s just (and “dik at her big nok”);

0:17:17 and when they have a few drinks and they s… look at people and say, “what you dikking at?”)

dui►

= two (0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan words their counting is almost the same

as ours, isn’t it, (yeah) ‘yek’ ‘dui’ ‘trin’ (yeah) ‘stor’ ‘panch’ they’re the same now that’s strange, isn’t it,

so it must come from there somewhere)

gadgie∆ = man, derogatory term for non-gypsy/non-Romani (0:13:35 no, for a gaujo you say a ‘gadgie’

(ah yeah, that’s a) that’s when you when you’re being (that’s offensive) when you really (that’s when you

real mean it); 0:13:42 when you really hate a gaujo you say, “oh that gadgie gets on me nerves” it’s like

you’d say ‘hat ‘gypo’, you know, to get the anger out you’d say, “oh that gypo” we would say, “oh that

gadgie”)

gad►

= shirt (0:06:08 your ‘shirt’ is your ‘gad’ your shirt and your ‘trousers’ are your (‘rokkengries’)

‘rokkengries’ (‘rokkengries’) your ‘rokkengries’ (I thought your shirt was your ‘shiv’?) (no, that’s a

‘girl’s blouse’) (that’s a girl’s blouse oh well I was nearly there, weren’t I?))

gaujo►

= non-gypsy, non-Romani (0:13:35 no, for a gaujo you say a ‘gadgie’ (ah yeah, that’s a) that’s

when you when you’re being (that’s offensive) when you really (that’s when you real mean it); 0:13:42



when you really hate a gaujo you say, “oh that gadgie gets on me nerves” it’s like you’d say that ‘gypo’,

you know, to get the anger out you’d say, “oh that gypo” we would say, “oh that gadgie”)

gie○ = to give (0:18:05 gie us a drink, Mark (what do you want?) uh I’m on vodka and orange anything

you like oh you shouldn’t’ve put that on there)

guero►

= person (0:01:03 everything we have is ‘waffedi’, “oh that’s a waffedi guero that’s a waffedi n…

n…” (I I would’ve thought ‘naflo’ would’ve been the worst of the two) I know but a lot of people do say

‘naflo’ (oh aye) ’cause my father does (oh aye, yes))

gypo∆ = derogatory term for gypsy (0:13:42 when you really hate a gaujo you say, “oh that gadgie gets on

me nerves” it’s like you’d say that ‘gypo’, you know, to get the anger out you’d say, “oh that gypo” we

would say, “oh that gadgie”)

jaw^ = to go (0:14:27 “ne ne jaw to congri” (jaw to congri) ‘jaw to congri’ means (I put ‘jaw’) ‘jaw’

means ‘go’ (‘go’ I put ‘jaw’)‘congri’ means ‘school’)

jin►

= to know (0:47:13 (‘word for something whose name you’ve forgotten’?) (“I can’t remember your

name”) “I keke jin who you are” […] for something you don’t know it’s ‘keke jin’ ‘don’t know’, yeah)

joovery►

= lousy (0:44:08 ‘joovery’ (‘joovery’) ‘joovery’ is ‘lousy’)

jukkel►

= dog (0:18:30 (‘motto’ just means ‘merry’ ‘motto’d means ‘completely gone’) well we always

say if you’ve had too much to drink, (you’re ‘motti’) “Im as motti as a jukkel” (yeah) that means ‘I’m as

drunk as a dog’ but I’ve never seen a drunk dog so I don’t know why we say that)

keke►

= no, not (0:03:48 there’s always a degree of it though when me mother looks at me and she gives

me the eyes and she goes, “I’m hoino keke” like that and you’re in a shop and she’s going on and you’re

doing it more to aggravate her and she keeps going, “keke keke” like that and she’s doing the eyes that’s

when you know she’s angry; 0:04:14 well the mother looked at the prices of them and in them days that

was out of the question so she’s saying to the girls, “do you like those dresses keke you look nice in those

dress keke” and all the time she kept saying, “keke” so the girls knew to say they didn’t want the dresses

(yeah, ‘keke’ me mam used to say that); 0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like me son he was out not so long

ago and he he pulled called me over because he was looking for someone for a job or something and uh I

come over and uh I started talking a little bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes she can talk

a little bit of that”, you know, because she’d picked it up from the thing so it’s get it is getting wider, isn’t

it, yeah; 0:47:13 (‘word for something whose name you’ve forgotten’?) (“I can’t remember your name”)

“I keke jin who you are” […] for something you don’t know it’s ‘keke jin’ ‘don’t know’, yeah)

loovernie^ = prostitute (0:40:03 no, you mustn’t put that on ’cause if ever anybody hears me they’ll think

me daughter’s a proper loovernie, won’t they?)

nok►

= nose (0:16:37 (it’s like me mother’s sat there now and I would look at me aunt Catherine and go,

“she’s waffedi-dikking, isn’t she?” you know what I mean that’s just) and “dik at her big nok”)

ne^ = not (0:14:27 “ne ne jaw to congri” (jaw to congri) ‘jaw to congri’ means (I put ‘jaw’) ‘jaw’ means

‘go’ (‘go’ I put ‘jaw’)‘congri’ means ‘school’)

oh aye○ = yes, confirming or contradicting (0:01:03 (everything we have is ‘waffedi’, “oh that’s a waffedi

guero that’s a waffedi n… n…”) I I would’ve thought ‘naflo’ would’ve been the worst of the two (I know

but a lot of people do say ‘naflo’) oh aye (’cause my father does) oh aye, yes; 0:05:16 (but sometimes you

say, “oh that’s kushti”) yeah (that’s like ‘good’) (yeah, ‘that’s kushti’ is ‘good’, isn’t it, ‘good’) (that’s

Rodney10

and Del Boy1 that’s just London) (that is London again, isn’t it?) no, but that is a Romani word,

oh aye (or ‘cushy’ they used to say ‘cushy’, didn’t they?) (yeah, yeah))

panch►

= five (0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan words their counting is almost the

same as ours, isn’t it, (yeah) ‘yek’ ‘dui’ ‘trin’ (yeah) ‘stor’ ‘panch’ they’re the same now that’s strange,

isn’t it, so it must come from there somewhere)

posh-monisha^ = male homosexual (0:35:34 like if two two men come in and you know that they’re gay

they’re ‘posh-monishas’ that’s what they are posh-monishas)

10

Character (Rodney Charlton Trotter) in long-running sit-com Only Fools and Horses first broadcast on BBC in 1981.



proper = complete, utter (0:40:03 no, you mustn’t put that on ’cause if ever anybody hears me they’ll think

me daughter’s a proper loovernie, won’t they?)

real = very, extremely (0:32:06 if it’s raining real heavy I always say, “oh my God, it’s muttering down”)

rivapen^ = dress (0:06:27 a ‘dress’ is a ‘rivapen’ a ‘rivapen’ that’s a dress)

rokker►

= to talk, speak (0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like me son he was out not so long ago and he he

pulled called me over because he was looking for someone for a job or something and uh I come over and

uh I started talking a little bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes she can talk a little bit of

that”, you know, because she’d picked it up from the thing so it’s get it is getting wider, isn’t it, yeah)

Romanes^ = Romany, gypsy language (0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like me son he was out not so long

ago and he he pulled called me over because he was looking for someone for a job or something and uh I

come over and uh I started talking a little bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes she can talk


it, yeah)

shiv⌂ = blouse (0:06:08 (your ‘shirt’ is your ‘gad’ your shirt and your ‘trousers’ are your) (‘rokkengries’)

‘rokkengries’ (‘rokkengries’) (your ‘rokkengries’) I thought your shirt was your ‘shiv’? (no, that’s a

‘girl’s blouse’) that’s a girl’s blouse oh well I was nearly there, weren’t I?)

stor►

= one (0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan words their counting is almost the same



trin►

= three (0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan words their counting is almost the same



tutto►

= your (0:26:41 ‘tutto pani’ is ‘tea’ (yeah, ‘tutto pani’ is a ‘cup of tea’) ‘pani’ is ‘water’ and ‘tutto’

‘your tea’ ‘cup of tea water’)

vardo►

= wagon, caravan (0:29:22 you see in our houses we all got all a lot of windows as many as

windows as you can possibly have without the house falling down so it’s like a vardo (you can see right

round it) so you can see everything)

vast►

= hand (0:47:04 (are there any other words?) your ‘vast’ is your ‘hand’)

waffedi►

= bad, evil (0:16:37 it’s like me mother’s sat there now and I would look at me aunt Catherine

and go, “she’s waffedi-dikking, isn’t she?” you know what I mean that’s just (and “dik at her big nok”))

woodrus►

= bed (0:02:13 like you say, “I’m going to sutti” you say, “I’m going to bed” (to sleep, yeah)

or “I’m going to woodrus”)

yek►

= one (0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan words their counting is almost the same



PHONOLOGY

KIT [ɪ]

(0:08:44 see, the thing [θɪŋg] is gypsies [ʤɪpsɪz] travelled all over, didn’t [dɪnʔ] they, so when they

settled down they settled down over all different [dɪfɹənʔ] places of the world Romania India [ɪndiə]

Russia Bulgaria so we’re all over we could have relations [ʋɪlɛɪʃənz] in Australia for all we know;

0:39:14 I was married for three months and my mother and father didn’t [ ] know and in the olden

days the the children [ʧɪɫʤɹən] didn’t [ ] tell their mother and father they was courting)

give (0:18:05 give [giː] us a drink, Mark (what do you want?) uh I’m on vodka and orange

anything you like oh you shouldn’t’ve put that on there)

DRESS [ɛ]



(0:04:04 it’s like my sister-in-law when [wɛn] they were young they went [wɛnt] into a shop with their

mother and father and they wanted these dresses [dɹɛsəz] and they looked absolutely handsome in them;

0:12:52 (so were you taking offence at Sarah calling you a ‘gaujo’?) no, I was laughing at her I was

laughing at her we don’t take I don’t take offence [əfɛns] she says, eh, believe me we couldn’t repeat on a

the things that she calls me; 0:19:51 we never [nɛvə] ever [ɛvə] use that word it’s like when [wɛn] I first

seen that I was going to say, “can you cross it out can we not do that”)

TRAP [a]

(0:13:42 when you really hate a gaujo you say, “oh that gadgie [gaʤi] gets on my nerves” it’s like you’d

say that ‘gypo’, you know, to get the anger out [aŋgəɹ aʊʔ] you’d say, “oh that gypo” we would say, “oh

that gadgie” [gaʤi]; 0:39:14 I was married [maɹɪd] for three months and my mother and father didn’t

know and in the olden days the the children didn’t tell their mother and father they was courting)

Pakistan (0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan [paːkɪstaːn] words their counting is

almost the same as ours, isn’t it, (yeah) ‘yek’ ‘dui’ ‘trin’ (yeah) ‘stor’ ‘panch’ they’re the same

now that’s strange, isn’t it, so it must come from there somewhere)

LOT~CLOTH [ɒ]

(0:04:04 it’s like my sister-in-law when they were young they went into a shop [ʃɒp] with their mother and

father and they wanted [wɒntəd] these dresses and they looked absolutely handsome in them; 0:19:51 we

never ever use that word it’s like when I first seen that I was going to say, “can you cross [kɹɒs] it out can

we not [nɒʔ] do that”)

wasn’t (0:37:50 you see, we wouldn’t’ve had any of this conversation because we wasn’t [wʊzənʔ]

allowed (to talk about things like that) are we right Catherine (yes, you’re right you’re right)

(yeah) when we was when we was young we didn’t talk about nothing like that)

STRUT [ʊ > ʌ]11

(0:04:04 it’s like my sister-in-law when they were young [jʌŋ] they went into a shop with their mother and

[mʌðəɹ ən] father and they wanted these dresses and they looked absolutely handsome in them; 0:29:49

the bungalow [bʊŋgəlɔʊ] that I had that that was all separate so it doesn’t [dʊnʔ] really bother me;

0:39:14 I was married for three months [mʊnθs] and my mother and [mʊðəɹ ən] father didn’t know and in

the olden days the the children didn’t tell their mother and [mʊðəɹ ən] father they was courting; 0:42:07

well I rung [ɹʊŋ] my mother up [mʊðəɹ ʊp] and I said, “is that you mum?” [mʊm] so she “mummy”

[mʊmi] so she said, “yes” so I says, “I’m married” so she said, “you’re married?” so I said, “yes” she

“well that’s all right, Julie, come [kʊm] home come [kʊm] home and see us” [əz])

ONE (0:02:23 (this isn’t related to Cockney rhyming slang is it?) [...] no, it’s nothing [nʊθɪn] like

that; 0:03:05 ‘cold’ uh but I haven’t got nothing [nʊfɪn] I’ve just got ‘perished’ ’cause that’s what

I say; 0:12:27 and, like, the old ones [ɔʊɫd ənz] they’d be sat down (yeah) and they’d be talking

amongst theirself and we’d be going, “what what?” (yeah); 0:29:16 it’s like you you can’t see

anything, you know, just to be stuck in one [wɒn] room like a living room and then go into the

kitchen you feel cut off; 0:37:50 you see, we wouldn’t’ve had any of this conversation because we

wasn’t allowed (to talk about things like that) are we right Catherine (yes, you’re right you’re

right) (yeah) when we was when we was young we didn’t talk about nothing [nʊfɪn] like that;

0:46:45 I’d say ‘kovvas’ not ‘kovvapen’ I’d say ‘kovvas’ “someone’s bought one [wɒn] of them

kovvas”)

FOOT [ʊ]

(0:23:50 it’s a good [gʊd] way to break the ice if someone’s is moody and you say that to them and it just

wipes it away; 0:38:27 I’ve I can remember though when I was a little girl and I can remember me getting

11

Carmen uses [ʌ]; the other speakers consistently use [ʊ].



in fact I’ve got a photograph took [tʊk] on my birthday and someone bought me this book [bʊk] ‘The Gay

Annual’ but I’m going back (yeah) when I was about eight (yeah) because ‘gay was ‘happy’, weren’t it?

(whereas if you seen that now you’d think,) (yes) (“I’m not letting the children have that”) (exactly))

BATH [a > aː]

(0:12:52 (so were you taking offence at Sarah calling you a ‘gaujo’?) no, I was laughing [lafɪn] at her I

was laughing [lafɪn] at her we don’t take I don’t take offence she says, eh, believe me we couldn’t repeat

on a the things that she calls me; 0:40:43 gypsies always (it was the old-fashioned way) see their children

as being children (yeah) (yes, exactly they don’t acknowledge them) they don’t see them as being grown

up they always want to look after them [aːftəɹ əm] and don’t believe in them going out having girlfriends

and boyfriends (that’s it); 0:40:54 and I know when I got married I phoned my mam and dad and I mean

they knew that I was courting because my husband come home, like, and they he asked [ast] for me which

was what travelling boys do they come home and they ask well a lot of people do they they ask [ask] for

your hand in marriage and all that)

NURSE [əː > eː]

(0:06:08 (your ‘shirt’ [ʃeːt] is your ‘gad’ your shirt [ʃeːt] and your ‘trousers’ are your) (‘rokkengries’)

(‘rokkengries’) (‘rokkengries’) (your ‘rokkengries’) I thought your shirt [ʃəːt] was your ‘shiv’? (no, that’s

a ‘girl’s [gəːɫz] blouse’) that’s a girl’s [gəːɫz] blouse oh well I was nearly there, weren’t I?; 0:19:51 we

never ever use that word [wəːd] it’s like when I first [fəːst] seen that I was going to say, “can you cross it

out can we not do that”)

weren’t12

(0:06:08 (your ‘shirt’ is your ‘gad’ your shirt and your ‘trousers’ are your) (‘rokkengries’)

(‘rokkengries’) (‘rokkengries’) (your ‘rokkengries’) I thought your shirt was your ‘shiv’? (no, that’s a

‘girl’s blouse’) that’s a girl’s blouse oh well I was nearly there, weren’t [wɑːn] I?; 0:28:08 (but

you’re used to it, yeah) but when you lived in a in a trailer or a or a vardo (yeah) that was it (yeah)

everything was all in that contained space, (yeah) wasn’t it, (and a lot smaller than this) (oh aye) and

you’re your beds and everything was there, weren’t [wʊn] it?; 0:38:27 I’ve I can remember though

when I was a little girl and I can remember me getting in fact I’ve got a photograph took on my

birthday and someone bought me this book The Gay Annual’ but I’m going back (yeah) when I was

about eight (yeah) because ‘gay was ‘happy’, weren’t [wʊn] it? (whereas if you seen that now you’d

think,) (yes) (“I’m not letting the children have that”) (exactly))

FLEECE [iː]

(0:12:52 (so were you taking offence at Sarah calling you a ‘gaujo’?) no, I was laughing at her I was

laughing at her we don’t take I don’t take offence she says, eh, believe [bəliːv] me we couldn’t repeat

[ɹɪpiːt] on a the things that she calls me; 0:39:14 I was married for three [θɹiː] months and my mother and

father didn’t know and in the olden days the the children didn’t tell their mother and father they was

courting)

been, seen (0:01:03 (everything we have is ‘waffedi’, “oh that’s a waffedi guero that’s a waffedi

n… n…”) I I would’ve thought ‘naflo’ would’ve been [bɪn] the worst of the two (I know but a lot of

people do say ‘naflo’) oh aye (’cause my father does) oh aye, yes; 0:09:14 like, we’ve been [bɪn] in

Blackpool all our life so we’ve not picked up from anywhere ours are Blackpool words; 0:18:30

(‘motto’ just means ‘merry’ ‘motto’d means ‘completely gone’) well we always say if you’ve had

too much to drink (you’re ‘motti’) “Im as motti as a jukkel” (yeah) that means ‘I’m as drunk as a

dog’ but I’ve never seen [sɪn] a drunk dog so I don’t know why we say that; 0:19:51 we never ever

use that word it’s like when I first seen [sɪn] that I was going to say, “can you cross it out can we

not do that”; 0:30:05 you’ve done the same (yeah) they’ve always been [bɪn] knocked in we’ve

always knocked them in it’s funny, isn’t it?; 0:38:27 (I’ve I can remember though when I was a

12

It is also possible to interpret these utterances as wasn’t with secondary contraction.



little girl and I can remember me getting in fact I’ve got a photograph took on my birthday and

someone bought me this book The Gay Annual’ but I’m going back (yeah) when I was about eight

(yeah) because ‘gay was ‘happy’, weren’t it?) whereas if you seen [sɪn] that now you’d think, (yes)

“I’m not letting the children have that” (exactly); 0:42:21 so me and Mark went round to see her

and my brother come out and he says, “she don’t want to see you” and they was all crying so we

come away and then they settled down so I went back and seen [sɪn] them and she says, “when did

you get married?” I said, “three months ago”)

FACE [ɛɪ]

(0:23:50 it’s a good way to break [bɹɛɪk] the ice if someone’s is moody and you say [sɛɪ] that to them and

it just wipes it away [əwɛɪ]; 0:37:10 the lines about marriage and living with someone are so definite in

the palm of your hand that is one of the major [mɛɪʤə] lines, (yeah) isn’t it, you couldn’t make [mɛɪk] a

mistake [msɪtɛɪk] there)

always (0:03:48 there’s always [ɔːɫwɪz] a degree of it though when my mother looks at me and she

gives me the eyes and she goes, “I’m hoino keke” like that and you’re in a shop and she’s going on

and you’re doing it more to aggravate her and she keeps going, “keke keke” like that and she’s

doing the eyes that’s when you know she’s angry; 0:30:12 and if anybody buys a house and my dad

goes to visit them the first thing he says, “knock that wall out knock that wall out have your kitchen

there your front room there” always [ɔːwɛɪz] does (yeah))

say, take (0:01:03 everything we have is ‘waffedi’, “oh that’s a waffedi guero that’s a waffedi n…

n…” (I I would’ve thought ‘naflo’ would’ve been the worst of the two) I know but a lot of people

do say [sɛɪ] ‘naflo’ (oh aye) ’cause my father does (oh aye, yes); 0:15:50 yeah, they used to take

[tɛk] the shoes off the horses (shoes off the horses and play quoits) play quoits; 0:28:00 and it’s

what you’re used to you see some people, like, they say, [sɛ] “how can you have your kitchen in

your front room?”)

, they (0:05:16 (but sometimes you say, “oh that’s kushti”) (yeah) (that’s like ‘good’)

(yeah, ‘that’s kushti’ is ‘good’, isn’t it, ‘good’) (that’s Rodney10

and Del Boy1 that’s just London)

(that is London again, isn’t it?) (no, but that is a Romani word, oh aye) or ‘cushy’ they used to say

‘cushy’, didn’t they? [ði] (yeah, yeah); 0:38:27 I’ve I can remember though when I was a little girl

and I can remember me getting in fact I’ve got a photograph took on my birthday [bəːθdiː] and

someone bought me this book The Gay Annual’ but I’m going back (yeah) when I was about eight

(yeah) because ‘gay was ‘happy’, weren’t it? (whereas if you seen that now you’d think,) (yes)

(“I’m not letting the children have that”) (exactly); 0:40:03 no, you mustn’t put that on ’cause if

ever anybody hears me they’ll think my daughter’s a proper loovernie, won’t they? [ði]; 0:42:40

and on my birthday [bəːfdɛ] they bought me this car so I couldn’t really go and run off and get

married)

PALM~START [aː > ɑː]13

(0:09:39 like, one of them looked at me the other day and said, “choomer my bul” and I looked at them I

started [staːʔɪd] to laugh ’cause ‘choomer my bul’ means ‘kiss’ can I say it ‘arse’ [aːs] […] so I just

replied, “bori bul” that means ‘fat arse’ [aːs]; 0:18:05 give us a drink, Mark [mɑːk] (what do you want?)

uh I’m on vodka and orange anything you like oh you shouldn’t’ve put that on there; 0:29:16 it’s like you

you can’t [kaːnt] see anything, you know, just to be stuck in one room like a living room and then go into

the kitchen you feel cut off; 0:37:10 the lines about marriage and living with someone are so definite in the

palm [pɑːm] of your hand that is one of the major lines, (yeah) isn’t it, you couldn’t make a mistake there;

0:39:14 I was married for three months and my mother and father [faːðə] didn’t know and in the olden

days the the children didn’t tell their mother and father [faːðə] they was courting; 0:42:40 and on my

13

Carmen uses [ɑː]; the other speakers consistently use [aː].



birthday they bought me this car [kaː] so I couldn’t really go and run off and get married; 0:06:50 a lot of

the Romani language if you it relates to different parts [paːts] of Europe as well)

THOUGHT [ɔː]

(0:12:52 (so were you taking offence at Sarah calling you a ‘gaujo’?) no, I was laughing at her I was

laughing at her we don’t take I don’t take offence she says, eh, believe me we couldn’t repeat on a the

things that she calls [kɔːɫz] me; 0:13:42 when you really hate a gaujo [gɔːʤə] you say, “oh that gadgie

gets on my nerves” it’s like you’d say that ‘gypo’, you know, to get the anger out you’d say, “oh that

gypo” we would say, “oh that gadgie”; 0:29:22 you see in our houses we all [ɔːɫ] got all [ɔːɫ] a lot of

windows as many as windows as you can possibly have without the house falling [fɔːlɪŋ] down so it’s like

a vardo (you can see right round it) so you can see everything)

Australia (0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they settled

down they settled down over all different places of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so

we’re all over we could have relations in Australia [ɒstɹɛɪliə] for all we know)

GOAT [ʌʊ ~ ɔʊ]

(0:13:42 when you really hate a gaujo you say, “oh [ʌʊ] that gadgie gets on my nerves” it’s like you’d say

that ‘gypo’, [ʤɪpʌʊ] you know, [nʌʊ] to get the anger out you’d say, “oh [ʌʊ] that gypo” [ʤɪpʌʊ] we

would say, “oh [ʌʊ] that gadgie”; 0:29:49 the bungalow [bʊŋgəlɔʊ] that I had that that was all separate

so [sʌʊ] it doesn’t really bother me; 0:31:21 yeah, I would say I would say an ‘alley’ or a a a bit of ‘drom’

but which really that’s a ‘road’, [ɹɔʊd] isn’t it, ‘drom’ is a ‘road’ [ɹɔʊd] so [sɔʊ] it’s not it doesn’t really

mean anything, does it?; 0:38:27 I’ve I can remember though [ðɔʊ] when I was a little girl and I can

remember me getting in fact I’ve got a photograph [fɔʊtəgɹaf] took on my birthday and someone bought

me this book The Gay Annual’ but I’m going [gʊɪn] back (yeah) when I was about eight (yeah) because

‘gay was ‘happy’, weren’t it? (whereas if you seen that now you’d think,) (yes) (“I’m not letting the

children have that”) (exactly); 0:39:14 I was married for three months and my mother and father didn’t

know [nʌʊ] and in the olden [ɔʊɫdən] days the the children didn’t tell their mother and father they was

courting)

(go)ing (to) (0:19:51 we never ever use that word it’s like when I first seen that I was going to

[gʊnə] say, “can you cross it out can we not do that”; 0:20:09 when I first got my shop on North

Pier twenty years ago a woman come in to me and she was worried about her daughter and I says,

“well don’t worry ’cause it I can see it’s going to [gɔnə] be all right you’ve no need to worry”;

0:30:12 and if anybody buys a house and my dad goes [gʊz] to visit them the first thing he says,

“knock that wall out knock that wall out have your kitchen there your front room there” always

does (yeah); 0:38:27 I’ve I can remember though when I was a little girl and I can remember me

getting in fact I’ve got a photograph took on my birthday and someone bought me this book The

Gay Annual’ but I’m going [gʊɪn] back (yeah) when I was about eight (yeah) because ‘gay was

‘happy’, weren’t it? (whereas if you seen that now you’d think,) (yes) (“I’m not letting the children

have that”) (exactly); 0:42:51 so a week run into two week two week run into three week and it was

three months and I thought, “well I’m going to [gʊnə] have to go soon or my husband’s going to

[gʊnə] leave me”)

, plimsolls, so (0:01:03 (everything we have is ‘waffedi’, “oh that’s a waffedi guero

that’s a waffedi n… n…”) I I would’ve thought ‘naflo’ [nafəlʌʊ] would’ve been the worst of the

two (I know but a lot of people do say ‘naflo’ [nafəlɔʊ]) oh aye (’cause my father does) oh aye, yes;

0:02:52 some people say ‘tatto’ [tatʌʊ]) some people say ‘tatto’ [tatə] it’s like ‘potato’ [pətɛɪtə]

and ‘potato’ [pətɛɪtʌʊ]; 0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like my son he was out not so [sə] long ago

and he he pulled called me over because he was looking for someone for a job or something and

uh I come over and uh I started talking a little bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes



she can talk a little bit of that”, you know, because she’d picked it up from the thing so it’s get it is

getting wider, isn’t it, yeah; 0:10:36 my granny always used to say ‘plimsolls’ [plɪmpsəɫz];

0:10:41 in the olden days there wasn’t any ‘trainers’ or ‘plimsolls’ [pɪmsəɫz] there was only shoes

so they was called no, they wasn’t, mother, when you go back to the old times there’s never was

trainers trainers are not a old old thing they was always ‘shoes’; 0:13:42 when you really hate a

gaujo [gɔːʤə] you say, “oh that gadgie gets on my nerves” it’s like you’d say that ‘gypo’, you

know, to get the anger out you’d say, “oh that gypo” we would say, “oh that gadgie”; 0:18:30

‘motto’ [mɒtɔʊ] just means ‘merry’ ‘motto’d [mɒtəd] means ‘completely gone’ (well we always

say if you’ve had too much to drink) (you’re ‘motti’) (“Im as motti as a jukkel”) (yeah) (that means

‘I’m as drunk as a dog’ but I’ve never seen a drunk dog so I don’t know why we say that); 0:29:22

you see in our houses we all got all a lot of windows [wɪndəz] as many as windows [wɪndəz] as

you can possibly have without the house falling down so it’s like a vardo [vaːdə] (you can see right

round it) so you can see everything; 0:29:35 the trailers have got windows [wɪndəz] all the way

round them non-stop so we put as many windows [wɪndəz] in as we can and that’s it)

GOOSE [uː]

(0:04:04 it’s like my sister-in-law when they were young they went into a shop with their mother and

father and they wanted these dresses and they looked absolutely [apsəluːtli] handsome in them; 0:28:00

and it’s what you’re used [juːst] to you see some people, like, they say, “how can you have your kitchen in

your front room?” [ɹuːm])

Romania (0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they settled

down they settled down over all different places of the world Romania [ʋɔʊmɛɪniə] India Russia

Bulgaria so we’re all over we could have relations in Australia for all we know)

school (0:14:22 we used to call it ‘wag’ when we was at school [skɪʊɫ]; 0:13:52 (and and do

gypsies Romani people find ‘gypo’ offensive in itself?) (yes they do) yeah, definitely (yeah, yeah, I

don’t like ‘gypo’) (my husband in particular he hates it) yeah, I do I do I hate it ’cause I used to

get called at school [skəuːɫ])

PRICE [aɪ]

(0:04:14 well the mother looked at the prices [pɹaɪsəz] of them and in them days that was out of the

question so she’s saying to the girls, “do you like [laɪk] those dresses keke you look nice [naɪs] in those

dress keke” and all the time [taɪm] she kept saying, “keke” so the girls knew to say they didn’t want the

dresses (yeah, ‘keke’ my mam used to say that); 0:23:50 it’s a good way to break the [aɪs] ice if someone’s

is moody and you say that to them and it just wipes [waɪps] it away)

my (0:04:04 it’s like my [mi] sister-in-law when they were young they went into a shop with their

mother and father and they wanted these dresses and they looked absolutely handsome in them;

0:13:42 when you really hate a gaujo you say, “oh that gadgie gets on my [mɪ] nerves” it’s like

you’d say that ‘gypo’, you know, to get the anger out you’d say, “oh that gypo” we would say, “oh

that gadgie”; 0:16:37 it’s like my [mɪ] mother’s sat there now and I would look at my [mi] aunt

Catherine and go, “she’s waffedi-dikking, isn’t she?” you know what I mean that’s just (and “dik

at her big nok”); 0:23:16 some relation to my [mɪ] granny (yeah) and he was just a very moody

man he was never happy; 0:30:00 well I’ve only had this house but my [mɪ] mother and father’s

had, like, four five houses; 0:34:07 you know my [mɪ] mam’d go mad with me, (no, I’ve never used

‘mum’ but I always say ‘mummy’) “don’t what you calling me that for?”; 0:39:14 I was married

for three months and my [mɪ] mother and father didn’t know and in the olden days the the children

didn’t tell their mother and father they was courting; 0:40:03 no, you mustn’t put that on ’cause if

ever anybody hears me they’ll think my [mɪ] daughter’s a proper loovernie, won’t they?; 0:41:40

and my [mɪ] mother hit the bottle for a week my [mɪ] mother literally drunk for a week; 0:42:40



and on my [mɪ] birthday they bought me this car so I couldn’t really go and run off and get

married)

CHOICE [ɔɪ]

(0:15:50 (yeah, they used to take the shoes off the horses) shoes off the horses and play quoits [kɔɪts] (play

quoits [kɔɪts]); 0:40:54 and I know when I got married I phoned my mam and dad and I mean they knew

that I was courting because my husband come home, like, and they he asked for me which was what

travelling boys [bɔɪz] do they come home and they ask well a lot of people do they they ask for your hand

in marriage and all that)

MOUTH [aʊ]

(0:06:08 your ‘shirt’ is your ‘gad’ your shirt and your ‘trousers’ [tɹaʊzɪz] are your (‘rokkengries’)

‘rokkengries’ (‘rokkengries’) (your ‘rokkengries’) (I thought your shirt was your ‘shiv’?) (no, that’s a

‘girl’s blouse’ [blaʊz]) (that’s a girl’s blouse [blaʊz] oh well I was nearly there, weren’t I?); 0:08:27 and

that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan words their counting [kaʊntɪn] is almost the same as ours, isn’t it,

(yeah) ‘yek’ ‘dui’ ‘trin’ (yeah) ‘stor’ ‘panch’ they’re the same now [naʊ] that’s strange, isn’t it, so it must

come from there somewhere)

down, our(s) (0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan words their counting is almost

the same as ours, [aːz] isn’t it, (yeah) ‘yek’ ‘dui’ ‘trin’ (yeah) ‘stor’ ‘panch’ they’re the same now

that’s strange, isn’t it, so it must come from there somewhere); 0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies

travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they settled down [daːn] they settled down [daʊn] over all

different places of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so we’re all over we could have

relations in Australia for all we know; 0:09:14 like, we’ve been in Blackpool all our [aː] life so

we’ve not picked up from anywhere ours [aːz] are Blackpool words; 0:29:22 you see in our houses

[aːɹ aʊzɪz] we all got all a lot of windows as many as windows as you can possibly have without

the house falling down so it’s like a vardo (you can see right round it) so you can see everything)

NEAR [iə ~ ɪː]

(0:40:03 no, you mustn’t put that on ’cause if ever anybody hears [iəz] me they’ll think my daughter’s a

proper loovernie, won’t they?; 0:20:09 when I first got my shop on North Pier [piə] twenty years [jɪːz] ago

a woman come in to me and she was worried about her daughter and I says, “well don’t worry ’cause it I

can see it’s going to be all right you’ve no need to worry”; 0:38:03 it’d be about thirty year ago [jɪːɹ

əgʌʊ] and we didn’t know anything about people being gay or anything and he’s he was a really [ɹɪːli]

good worker and my dad said, “oh I’m really [ɹɪːli] pleased with you” he said “but I’ll just have to tell

you something” he says, “I’m gay”)

SQUARE [ɛː]

(0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan words their [ðɛː] counting is almost the same as

ours, isn’t it, (yeah) ‘yek’ ‘dui’ ‘trin’ (yeah) ‘stor’ ‘panch’ they’re [ðɛː] the same now that’s strange, isn’t

it, so it must come from there [ðɛː] somewhere [sʌmwɛː])

NORTH~FORCE [ɔː]

(0:27:40 it was, like, four [fɔː] little rooms and so we knocked all the walls out so that we’ve got the

kitchen and the living room all in one so it’s more [mɔː] like a trailer like a caravan; 0:39:14 I was

married for three months and my mother and father didn’t know and in the olden days the the children

didn’t tell their mother and father they was courting [kɔːtɪn])

CURE [ɔː]

(0:06:50 a lot of the Romani language if you it relates to different parts of Europe [jɔːʋəp] as well)

happY [i]




father and they wanted these dresses and they looked absolutely [apsəluːtli] handsome in them; 0:23:16

some relation to my granny [gɹani] (yeah) and he was just a very moody [muːdi] man he was never happy

[ʔapi]; 0:32:06 if it’s raining real heavy [ɛvi] I always say, “oh my God, it’s muttering down”)

lettER [ə]

(0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled all over, [ɔʊvə] didn’t they, so when they settled down they

settled down over [ɔʊvə] all different places of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so we’re all over

[ɔʊvə] we could have relations in Australia for all we know; 0:39:14 I was married for three months and

my mother and father [mʊðəɹ ən faːðə] didn’t know and in the olden days the the children didn’t tell their

mother and father [mʊðəɹ ən faːðə] they was courting)

trousers (0:06:08 your ‘shirt’ is your ‘gad’ your shirt and your ‘trousers’ [tɹaʊzɪz] are your

(‘rokkengries) ‘rokkengries’ (‘rokkengries’) your ‘rokkengries’ (I thought your shirt was your

‘shiv’?) (no, that’s a ‘girl’s blouse’) (that’s a girl’s blouse oh well I was nearly there, weren’t I?))

commA [ə]

(0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they settled down they settled

down over all different places of the world Romania [ʋɔʊmɛɪniə] India [ɪndiə] Russia [ʋʌʃə] Bulgaria

[bʌɫgɛːʋiə] so we’re all over we could have relations in Australia [ɒstʋɛɪliə] for all we know)

horsES [ɪ > ə]


father and they wanted these dresses [dɹɛsəz] and they looked absolutely handsome in them; 0:08:44 see,

the thing is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they settled down they settled down over all

different places [plɛɪsɪz] of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so we’re all over we could have

relations in Australia for all we know; 0:30:00 well I’ve only had this house but my mother and father’s

had, like, four five houses [aʊsɪz])

startED [ɪ > ə]


father and they wanted [wɒntəd] these dresses and they looked absolutely handsome in them; 0:05:04 (but

I only know that ’cause I got it out the book) you’re a cheat she’s cheated [ʧiːtɪd]; 0:09:54 (it’s just funny)

it’s like my son he was out not so long ago and he he pulled called me over because he was looking for

someone for a job or something and uh I come over and uh I started [staːtəd] talking a little bit of

Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes she can talk a little bit of that”, you know, because she’d

picked it up from the thing so it’s get it is getting wider, isn’t it, yeah; 0:23:24 if they were if it were sat

sad they used to say, “oh you’re sat there like Monty” and it’s just been handed [andɪd] down gener… it

must be about six generations, mustn’t it? (oh a long time, yeah, yeah)

mornING [ɪ > ə ~ ]

(0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like my son he was out not so long ago and he he pulled called me over

because he was looking [lʊkɪn] for someone for a job or something [sʌmθɪŋk] and uh I come over and uh

I started talking [tɔːkən] a little bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes she can talk a little bit

of that”, you know, because she’d picked it up from the thing so it’s get it is getting [gɛʔɪn] wider, isn’t it,

yeah; 0:29:22 you see in our houses we all got all a lot of windows as many as windows as you can

possibly have without the house falling [fɔːlɪŋ] down so it’s like a vardo (you can see right round it) so

you can see everything [ɛvɹɪθɪŋk]; 0:38:27 I’ve I can remember though when I was a little girl and I can

remember me getting [gɛʔ ] in fact I’ve got a photograph took on my birthday and someone bought me

this book ‘The Gay Annual’ but I’m going [gʊɪn] back (yeah) when I was about eight (yeah) because ‘gay

was ‘happy’, weren’t it? (whereas if you seen that now you’d think,) (yes) (“I’m not letting [lɛʔ ] the

children have that”) (exactly))



ZERO RHOTICITY

PLOSIVES

T

frequent word final T-glottaling (e.g. 0:03:05 ‘cold’ uh but [bəʔ] I haven’t [ ] got [gɒʔ] nothing I’ve

just got [gɒʔ] ‘perished’ ’cause that’s what I say; 0:06:50 a lot [lɒʔ] of the Romani language if you it

relates to different parts of Europe as well; 0:07:48 but [bəʔ] I couldn’t understand them fully I can pick

bits up off them and that’s about [əbaʊʔ] it [ɪʔ] really; 0:09:28 no, not [nɒʔ] really ’cause I don’t really

speak it [ɪʔ] much when I’m out [aʊʔ] but [bəʔ] I do say the odd thing and they go, “oh what [wɒʔ] was

that?” [ðaʔ] and I tell them what it [ɪʔ] was and then, yeah, them say it [ɪʔ] next time; 0:12:52 (so were you

taking offence at Sarah calling you a ‘gaujo’?) no, I was laughing at [aʔ] her I was laughing at [əʔ] her

we don’t take I don’t take offence she says, eh, believe me we couldn’t repeat on a the things that she calls

me; 0:19:51 we never ever use that [ðaʔ] word it’s like when I first seen that [ðaʔ] I was going to say, “can

you cross it [ɪʔ] out [aʊʔ] can we not [nɒʔ] do that” [ðaʔ]; 0:32:33 ‘dai’’s your ‘mother’ (yeah) really

(yeah) it [ɪʔ] sounds like your ‘dad’ but [bəʔ] it’s your mother, isn’t it? [ɪʔ])

frequent word medial & syllable initial T-glottaling (e.g. 0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like my son he was

out not so long ago and he he pulled called me over because he was looking for someone for a job or

something and uh I come over and uh I started talking a little bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker

Romanes she can talk a little bit of that”, you know, because she’d picked it up from the thing so it’s get it

is getting [gɛʔɪn] wider, isn’t it, yeah; 0:38:27 I’ve I can remember though when I was a little [ ] girl

and I can remember me getting [gɛʔ ] in fact I’ve got a photograph took on my birthday and someone

bought me this book ‘The Gay Annual’ but I’m going back (yeah) when I was about eight (yeah) because

‘gay was ‘happy’, weren’t it? (whereas if you seen that now you’d think,) (yes) (“I’m not letting [lɛʔ ] the

children have that”) (exactly); 0:41:40 and my mother hit the bottle [ ] for a week my mother literally

drunk for a week)

frequent T-voicing (e.g. 0:03:05 ‘cold’ uh but I haven’t got nothing I’ve just got ‘perished’ ’cause that’s

what [wɒd] I say; 0:09:28 no, not really ’cause I don’t really speak it much when I’m out but I do say the

odd thing and they go, “oh what was that?” and I tell them what [wɒd] it was and then, yeah, them say it

next time; 0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like my son he was out not so long ago and he he pulled called me

over because he was looking for someone for a job or something and uh I come over and uh I started

talking a little bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes she can talk a little bit of that”, you

know, because she’d picked it [ɪd] up from the thing so it’s get it is getting wider, isn’t it, yeah; 0:23:50

it’s a good way to break the ice if someone’s is moody and you say that to them and it just wipes it [ɪd]

away)

T to R (0:20:03 no, but [bʊɹ ɪts] it’s just a word that we don’t use because it’s the it’s the proper term for

it and it it’s not used in mixed company, you see; 0:40:03 no, you mustn’t put that on [ðaɹ ɒn] ’cause if

ever anybody hears me they’ll think my daughter’s a proper loovernie, won’t they?; 0:41:06 but [bʊɹ ɪʔ]

was like, “well yeah, you can court him but marriage for the next five year is out of the question” ’cause I

was only sixteen)

NASALS

NG

velar nasal plus (0:08:44 see, the thing [θɪŋg] is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they

settled down they settled down over all different places of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so



we’re all over we could have relations in Australia for all we know; 0:22:53 (yeah, but well I put

‘bengalo’ down) yeah, a ‘beng’ [bɛŋg] is somebody that’s angry and moody or that (yeah, not a nice

person) they’re not nice if you go in a shop and the shop assistant’s a bit (off with you you say, “that’s a

bengalo”) (yeah, “that’s a beng”) bit off with you you say, “oh she she’s a beng”)

frequent NG-fronting (e.g. 0:03:05 ‘cold’ uh but I haven’t got nothing [nʊfɪn] I’ve just got ‘perished’

’cause that’s what I say; 0:12:52 (so were you taking offence at Sarah calling you a ‘gaujo’?) no, I was

laughing [lafɪn] at her I was laughing [lafɪn] at her we don’t take I don’t take offence she says, eh, believe

me we couldn’t repeat on a the things that she calls me; 0:32:06 if it’s raining [ɹɛɪnɪn] real heavy I always

say, “oh my God, it’s muttering [mʊtəɹɪn] down”; 0:38:27 I’ve I can remember though when I was a little

girl and I can remember me getting [gɛʔ ] in fact I’ve got a photograph took on my birthday and someone

bought me this book ‘The Gay Annual’ but I’m going [gʊɪn] back (yeah) when I was about eight (yeah)

because ‘gay was ‘happy’, weren’t it? (whereas if you seen that now you’d think,) (yes) (“I’m not letting

[lɛʔ ] the children have that”) (exactly); 0:39:14 I was married for three months and my mother and

father didn’t know and in the olden days the the children didn’t tell their mother and father they was

courting [kɔːtɪn])

with NK (0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like my son he was out not so long ago and he he pulled

called me over because he was looking for someone for a job or something [sʌmθɪŋk] and uh I come over

and uh I started talking a little bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes she can talk a little bit

of that”, you know, because she’d picked it up from the thing so it’s get it is getting wider, isn’t it, yeah;

0:29:22 you see in our houses we all got all a lot of windows as many as windows as you can possibly

have without the house falling down so it’s like a vardo (you can see right round it) so you can see

everything [ɛvɹɪθɪŋk])

N

frequent syllabic N with nasal release (e.g. 0:04:14 well the mother looked at the prices of them and in

them days that was out of the question so she’s saying to the girls, “do you like those dresses keke you

look nice in those dress keke” and all the time she kept saying, “keke” so the girls knew to say they didn’t

[ ] want the dresses (yeah, ‘keke’ my mam used to say that); 0:07:48 but I couldn’t [kʊ ] understand

them fully I can pick bits up off them and that’s about it really; 0:10:41 in the olden [ɔʊ ] days there

wasn’t any ‘trainers’ or ‘plimsolls’ there was only shoes so they was called no, they wasn’t, mother, when

you go back to the old times there’s never was trainers trainers are not a old old thing they was always

‘shoes’; 0:33:56 because, like, it’s like Mother’s Day (yeah) I I have to look for a card with ‘mother’ on

(yeah) I couldn’t [kʊ ] g… I wouldn’t [wʊ ] send my mother a card (well I either get ‘mummy’ or

‘mother’) with when it says ‘mum’; 0:37:10 the lines about marriage and living with someone are so

definite in the palm of your hand that is one of the major lines, (yeah) isn’t it, you couldn’t [kʊ t] make a

mistake there; 0:39:14 I was married for three months and my mother and father didn’t [ ] know and

in the olden days the the children didn’t [ ] tell their mother and father they was courting)

syllabic N with epenthetic schwa (0:39:14 I was married for three months and my mother and father

didn’t know and in the olden [ɔʊɫdən] days the the children didn’t tell their mother and father they was

courting)

FRICATIVES

H

frequent H-dropping (e.g. 0:03:21 uh I just put, “I’m never ‘cold’ ’cause I’m always ‘hot’” [ɒt] (in your

dreams in your dreams, William); 0:13:42 when you really hate [ɛɪt] a gaujo you say, “oh that gadgie gets

on my nerves” it’s like you’d say that ‘gypo’, you know, to get the anger out you’d say, “oh that gypo” we



would say, “oh that gadgie”; 0:13:52 (and and do gypsies Romani people find ‘gypo’ offensive in itself?)

yes they do (yeah, definitely) (yeah, yeah, I don’t like ‘gypo’) my husband [ʌzbənd] in particular he hates

it (yeah, I do I do I hate [ɛɪt] it ’cause I used to get called at school); 0:15:50 yeah, they used to take the

shoes off the horses [ɔːsɪz] (shoes off the horses [ɔːsɪz] and play quoits) play quoits; 0:23:16 some

relation to my granny (yeah) and he was just a very moody man he was never happy [ʔapi]; 0:29:22 you

see in our houses [aʊzɪz] we all got all a lot of windows as many as windows as you can possibly have

without the house falling down so it’s like a vardo (you can see right round it) so you can see everything;

0:30:00 well I’ve only had this house [aʊs] but my mother and father’s had, like, four five houses [aʊsɪz];

0:30:12 and if anybody buys a house [ə ʔaʊs] and my dad goes to visit them the first thing he says, “knock

that wall out knock that wall out have your kitchen there your front room there” always does (yeah);

0:32:06 if it’s raining real heavy [ɛvi] I always say, “oh my God, it’s muttering down”; 0:41:40 and my

mother hit [ɪʔ] the bottle for a week my mother literally drunk for a week)

TH

frequent TH-fronting (e.g. 0:03:05 ‘cold’ uh but I haven’t got nothing [nʊfɪn] I’ve just got ‘perished’

’cause that’s what I say; 0:09:28 no, not really ’cause I don’t really speak it much when I’m out but I do

say the odd thing [fɪŋ] and they go, “oh what was that?” and I tell them what it was and then, yeah, them

say it next time; 0:10:41 in the olden days there wasn’t any ‘trainers’ or ‘plimsolls’ there was only shoes

so they was called no, they wasn’t, mother, [mʊvə] when you go back to the old times there’s never was

trainers trainers are not a old old thing [fɪŋ] they was always ‘shoes’; 0:16:37 it’s like my mother’s

[mʊvəz] sat there now and I would look at my aunt Catherine [kafɹɪn] and go, “she’s waffedi-dikking,

isn’t she?” you know what I mean that’s just (and “dik at her big nok”); 0:39:02 it’s like when my mother

and father [mʊvəɹ ən faːvə] was married so my granny and grandad told me they was married for about a

month [mʊnf] and were still living at home and no one knew; 0:42:40 and on my birthday [bəːfdɛ] they

bought me this car so I couldn’t really go and run off and get married)

LIQUIDS

R

approximant R (0:39:14 I was married [maɹɪd] for three [θɹiː] months and my mother and [mʊðəɹ ən]

father didn’t know and in the olden days the the children [ʧɪɫʤɹən] didn’t tell their mother and [mʊðəɹ

ən] father they was courting; 0:42:07 well I rung [ɹʊŋ] my mother up [mʊðəɹ ʊp] and I said, “is that you

mum?” so she “mummy” so she said, “yes” so I says, “I’m married” [maɹɪd] so she said, “you’re

married?” [maɹɪd] so I said, “yes” she “well that’s all right, [ɔːɫ ɹaɪʔ] Julie, come home come home and

see us”)

labiodental R (0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they settled down

they settled down over all different places of the world Romania [ʋɔʊmɛɪniə] India Russia [ʋʌʃə] Bulgaria

[bʌɫgɛːʋiə] so we’re all over we could have relations [ʋɪlɛɪʃənz] in Australia for all [fəʋ ɔːɫ] we know;

0:09:28 no, not really [ʋɪːli] ’cause I don’t really [ʋɪːli] speak it much when I’m out but I do say the odd

thing and they go, “oh what was that?” and I tell them what it was and then, yeah, them say it next time)

L

clear onset L (0:04:04 it’s like [laik] my sister-in-law [sɪstəɹɪnlɔː] when they were young they went into a

shop with their mother and father and they wanted these dresses and they looked [lʊkt] absolutely

[apsəluːtli] handsome in them)



dark coda L (0:00:25 in a hospital [hɒsp ] you say, “oh they look naflo” they look ‘unwell’ [ʊnwɛɫ]

which they would be unwell [ʊnwɛɫ] if they was in a hospital [hɒspɪtəɫ]; 0:14:22 we used to call [kɔːɫ] it

‘wag’ when we was at school [skɪʊɫ]; 0:39:14 I was married for three months and my mother and father

didn’t know and in the olden [ɔʊɫdən] days the the children [ʧɪɫʤɹən] didn’t tell [tɛɫ] their mother and

father they was courting)

syllabic L with lateral release (0:00:25 in a hospital [hɒsp ] you say, “oh they look naflo” they look

‘unwell’ which they would be unwell if they was in a hospital; 0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled

all over, didn’t they, so when they settled [ ] down they settled [ ] down over all different places

of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so we’re all over we could have relations in Australia for all

we know; 0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like my son he was out not so long ago and he he pulled called me

over because he was looking for someone for a job or something and uh I come over and uh I started

talking a little [lɪd ] bit of Romanes and he said, “keke rokker Romanes she can talk a little [ ] bit of

that”, you know, because she’d picked it up from the thing so it’s get it is getting wider, isn’t it, yeah;

0:20:36 they say ‘up the duff without a paddle’ [pad ] or something like that; 0:42:21 so me and Mark

went round to see her and my brother come out and he says, “she don’t want to see you” and they was all

crying so we come away and then they settled [ ] down so I went back and seen them and she says,

“when did you get married?” I said, “three months ago”)

schwa insertion before syllabic L (0:00:25 in a hospital you say, “oh they look naflo” they look ‘unwell’

which they would be unwell if they was in a hospital [hɒspɪtəɫ])

GLIDES

J

yod dropping with N, T (0:04:14 well the mother looked at the prices of them and in them days that was

out of the question so she’s saying to the girls, “do you like those dresses keke you look nice in those dress

keke” and all the time she kept saying, “keke” so the girls knew [nuː] to say they didn’t want the dresses

(yeah, ‘keke’ my mam used to say that); 0:23:59 “have you got the Mont on you?” (yeah) well they change

their tune [tuːn] then, you see; 0:39:02 it’s like when my mother and father was married so my granny and

grandad told me they was married for about a month and were still living at home and no one knew [nuː];

0:40:54 and I know when I got married I phoned my mam and dad and I mean they knew [nuː] that I was

courting because my husband come home, like, and they he asked for me which was what travelling boys

do they come home and they ask well a lot of people do they they ask for your hand in marriage and all

that)

ELISION

prepositions

frequent of reduction (e.g. 0:01:03 (everything we have is ‘waffedi’, “oh that’s a waffedi guero that’s a

waffedi n… n…”) I I would’ve thought ‘naflo’ would’ve been the worst of [ə] the two (I know but a lot of

[ə] people do say ‘naflo’) oh aye (’cause my father does) oh aye, yes; 0:06:50 a lot of [ə] the Romani

language if you it relates to different parts of [ə] Europe as well; 0:09:08 they come over from India and

then some of [ə] the words got used from there and some got used from Romania it just depends, don’t it

really?; 0:15:13 the thing that come to mind with me was that the old and um uh a lot of [ə] the men now

play quoits; 0:29:22 you see in our houses we all got all a lot of [ə] windows as many as windows as you

can possibly have without the house falling down so it’s like a vardo (you can see right round it) so you

can see everything; 0:37:10 the lines about marriage and living with someone are so definite in the palm



of [ə] your hand that is one of the major lines, (yeah) isn’t it, you couldn’t make a mistake there; 0:46:45

I’d say ‘kovvas’ not ‘kovvapen’ I’d say ‘kovvas’ “someone’s bought one of [ə] them kovvas”)

frequent with reduction (e.g. 0:15:13 the thing that come to mind with [wɪ] me was that the old and um

uh a lot of the men now play quoits; 0:22:53 (yeah, but well I put ‘bengalo’ down) yeah, a ‘beng’ is

somebody that’s angry and moody or that (yeah, not a nice person) they’re not nice if you go in a shop

and the shop assistant’s a bit (off with you you say, “that’s a bengalo”) (yeah, “that’s a beng”) bit off

with [wɪ] you you say, “oh she she’s a beng”; 0:33:56 because, like, it’s like Mother’s Day (yeah) I I have

to look for a card with [wɪ] ‘mother’ on (yeah) I couldn’t g… I wouldn’t send my mother a card (well I

either get ‘mummy’ or ‘mother’) with [wɪ] when it says ‘mum’; 0:34:07 you know my mam’d go mad with

[wɪ] me, (no, I’ve never used ‘mum’ but I always say ‘mummy’) “don’t what you calling me that for?”;

0:38:03 it’d be about thirty year ago and we didn’t know anything about people being gay or anything and

he’s he was a really good worker and my dad said, “oh I’m really pleased with [wɪ] you” he said “but I’ll

just have to tell you something” he says, “I’m gay”)

negation

frequent secondary contraction (e.g. 0:00:33 ‘waffedi’ it’s the same sort of meaning, isn’t [ɪnt] it, really

but we say (‘waffedi’’s more ‘bad’ than ‘ill’) more ‘bad’ than ‘ill’, yeah; 0:05:16 (but sometimes you say,

“oh that’s kushti”) (yeah) (that’s like ‘good’) yeah, ‘that’s kushti’ is ‘good’, isn’t [ɪnt] it, ‘good’ (that’s

Rodney10

and Del Boy1 that’s just London) (that is London again, isn’t [ɪn] it?) (no, but that is a Romani

word, oh aye) (or ‘cushy’ they used to say ‘cushy’, didn’t [dɪnʔ] they?) (yeah, yeah); 0:07:28 I don’t know

really it’s just it’s just funny, isn’t [ɪn] it, like we say pani but they’ll add, like, an ‘E’ on to the end of it so

it’s, like, ‘pani’ you know what I mean and it’s just sounds different but it’s sort of the same language;

0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t [dɪnʔ] they, so when they settled down they

settled down over all different places of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so we’re all over we

could have relations in Australia for all we know; 0:16:37 it’s like my mother’s sat there now and I would

look at my aunt Catherine and go, “she’s waffedi-dikking, isn’t [ɪnʔ] she?” you know what I mean that’s

just (and “dik at her big nok”); 0:18:05 give us a drink, Mark (what do you want?) uh I’m on vodka and

orange anything you like oh you shouldn’t’ve [ʃʊnʔə] put that on there; 0:29:49 the bungalow that I had

that was that was all separate so it doesn’t [dʊnʔ] really bother me; 0:30:05 you’ve done the same (yeah)

they’ve always been knocked in we’ve always knocked them in it’s funny, isn’t [ɪnt] it?; 0:31:21 yeah, I

would say I would say an ‘alley’ or a a a bit of ‘drom’ but which really that’s a ‘road’, isn’t [ɪn] it, ‘drom’

is a ‘road’ so it’s not it doesn’t [dʊnʔ] really mean anything, does it?; 0:32:33 ‘dai’’s your ‘mother’

(yeah) really (yeah) it sounds like your ‘dad’ but it’s your mother, isn’t [ɪn] it?; 0:37:50 you see, we

wouldn’t’ve had any of this conversation because we wasn’t allowed (to talk about things like that) are we

right Catherine (yes, you’re right you’re right) (yeah) when we was when we was young we didn’t [dɪnʔ]

talk about nothing like that; 0:42:40 and on my birthday they bought me this car so I couldn’t [kʊnʔ]

really go and run off and get married)

simplification

frequent word final consonant cluster reduction (e.g. 0:05:16 (but sometimes you say, “oh that’s

kushti”) yeah (that’s like ‘good’) (yeah, ‘that’s kushti’ is ‘good’, isn’t it, ‘good’) (that’s Rodney10

and Del

Boy1 that’s just London) that is London again, isn’t [ɪn] it? (no, but that is a Romani word, oh aye) (or

‘cushy’ they used to say ‘cushy’, didn’t they?) yeah, yeah; 0:06:08 (your ‘shirt’ is your ‘gad’ your shirt

and your ‘trousers’ are your) (‘rokkengries’) (‘rokkengries’) (‘rokkengries’) (your ‘rokkengries’) I

thought your shirt was your ‘shiv’? (no, that’s a ‘girl’s blouse’) that’s a girl’s blouse oh well I was nearly

there, weren’t [wɑːn] I?; 0:07:28 I don’t know really it’s just it’s just funny, isn’t [ɪn] it, like we say pani

but they’ll add, like, an ‘E’ on to the end of it so it’s, like, ‘pani’ you know what I mean and it’s just



sounds different but it’s sort of the same language; 0:07:48 but I couldn’t [kʊ ] understand them fully I

can pick bits up off them and that’s about it really; 0:08:27 and that’s like the Indians, no, the Pakistan

words their counting is almost the same as ours, isn’t [ ] it, (yeah) ‘yek’ ‘dui’ ‘trin’ (yeah)’ stor’

‘panch’ they’re the same now that’s strange, isn’t [ ] it, so it must come from there somewhere; 0:09:08

they come over from India and then some of the words got used from there and some got used from

Romania it just depends, don’t [dɔʊn] it really?; 0:28:08 (but you’re used to it, yeah) but when you lived

in a in a trailer or a or a vardo (yeah) that was it (yeah) everything was all in that contained space, (yeah)

wasn’t it, (and a lot smaller than this) (oh aye) and you’re your beds and everything was there, weren’t

[wʊn] it?; 0:31:21 yeah, I would say I would say an ‘alley’ or a a a bit of ‘drom’ but which really that’s a

‘road’, isn’t [ɪn] it, ‘drom’ is a ‘road’ so it’s not it doesn’t really mean anything, does it?; 0:32:33 ‘dai’’s

your ‘mother’ (yeah) really (yeah) it sounds like your ‘dad’ but it’s your mother, isn’t [ɪn] it?)

syllable deletion (0:09:54 (it’s just funny) it’s like my son he was out not so long ago and he he pulled

called me over because he was looking for someone for a job or something and uh I come over and uh I

started talking a little bit of Romanes [ɹʌmnɪs] and he said, “keke rokker Romanes [ɹʌmnəs] she can talk


it, yeah; 0:20:03 no, but it’s just a word that we don’t use because it’s the it’s the proper term for it and it

it’s not used in mixed company, [kʊmpni] you see)

L-deletion (0:05:04 but I only [ʌʊni] know that ’cause I got it out the book (you’re a cheat she’s cheated);

0:10:41 in the olden [ɔʊ ] days there wasn’t any ‘trainers’ or ‘plimsolls’ there was only [ɔʊni] shoes so

they was called no, they wasn’t, mother, when you go back to the old times there’s never was trainers

trainers are not a old [ɔʊd] old [ɔʊd] thing they was always ‘shoes’; 0:30:00 well I’ve only [ɔʊni] had this

house but my mother and father’s had, like, four five houses; 0:30:12 and if anybody buys a house and my

dad goes to visit them the first thing he says, “knock that wall out knock that wall out have your kitchen

there your front room there” always [ɔːwɛɪz] does (yeah))

frequent TH-deletion (e.g. 0:04:04 it’s like my sister-in-law when they were young they went into a shop

with their mother and father and they wanted these dresses and they looked absolutely handsome in them

[əm]; 0:04:14 well the mother looked at the prices of [əm] them and in them [ðɛm] days that was out of the

question so she’s saying to the girls, “do you like those dresses keke you look nice in those dress keke”

and all the time she kept saying, “keke” so the girls knew to say they didn’t want the dresses (yeah, ‘keke’

my mam used to say that); 0:07:48 but I couldn’t understand them [əm] fully I can pick bits up off them

[əm] and that’s about it really; 0:09:39 like, one of them [əm] looked at me the other day and said,

“choomer my bul” and I looked at them [əm] I started to laugh ’cause ‘choomer my bul’ means ‘kiss’ can

I say it ‘arse’ […] so I just replied, “bori bul” that means ‘fat arse’; 0:23:50 it’s a good way to break the

ice if someone’s is moody and you say that to them [əm] and it just wipes it away; 0:29:35 the trailers

have got windows all the way round them [əm] non-stop so we put as many windows in as we can and

that’s it; 0:30:05 you’ve done the same (yeah) they’ve always been knocked in we’ve always knocked them

[əm] in it’s funny, isn’t it?; 0:30:12 and if anybody buys a house and my dad goes to visit them [əm] the

first thing he says, “knock that wall out knock that wall out have your kitchen there your front room

there” always does (yeah); 0:40:43 gypsies always (it was the old-fashioned way) see their children as

being children (yeah) (yes, exactly they don’t acknowledge them [əm]) they don’t see them [əm] as being

grown up they always want to look after them [əm] and don’t believe in them [əm] going out having

girlfriends and boyfriends (that’s it))

V-deletion (0:01:03 (everything we have is ‘waffedi’, “oh that’s a waffedi guero that’s a waffedi n…

n…”) I I would’ve [wʊdə] thought ‘naflo’ would’ve [wʊdə] been the worst of the two (I know but a lot of

people do say ‘naflo’) oh aye (’cause my father does) oh aye, yes; 0:18:05 give [giː] us a drink, Mark

(what do you want?) uh I’m on vodka and orange anything you like oh you shouldn’t’ve [ʃʊnʔə] put that



on there; 0:34:07 you know my mam’d [maməd] go mad with me, (no, I’ve never used ‘mum’ but I always

say ‘mummy’) “don’t what you calling me that for?”)

W-deletion (0:15:19 so and that to me that that’s an old-fashioned (yeah) Romani game what the men

used to play of a night when they used to come home from work you’d be out in a field the women’d

[wɪmɪnəd] be, like, washing up and seeing to the children the men’d [mɛnəd] have a game of quoits

(that’s right) so that come to mind so I did write that down)

LIAISON

frequent linking R (e.g. 0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they

settled down they settled down over all different places of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so

we’re all over we could have relations in Australia for all [fəʋ ɔːɫ] we know; 0:13:42 when you really hate

a gaujo you say, “oh that gadgie gets on my nerves” it’s like you’d say that ‘gypo’, you know, to get the

anger out [aŋgəɹ aʊʔ] you’d say, “oh that gypo” we would say, “oh that gadgie”; 0:29:22 you see in our

houses [aːɹ aʊzɪz] we all got all a lot of windows as many as windows as you can possibly have without

the house falling down so it’s like a vardo (you can see right round it) so you can see everything; 0:35:09

no, but a lot of people because in this day and age they live together so it’s their ‘partner’, isn’t it?

[paːʔnəɹ ɪntɪʔ]; 0:38:03 it’d be about thirty year ago [jɪːɹ əgʌʊ] and we didn’t know anything about people

being gay or anything [əɹ ɛnɪθɪn] and he’s he was a really good worker and my dad said, “oh I’m really

pleased with you” he said “but I’ll just have to tell you something” he says, “I’m gay”; 0:39:14 I was

married for three months and my mother and father [mʊðəɹ ən faːðə] didn’t know and in the olden days

the the children didn’t tell their mother and father [mʊðəɹ ən faːðə] they was courting; 0:40:43 gypsies

always (it was the old-fashioned way) see their children as being children (yeah) (yes, exactly they don’t

acknowledge them) they don’t see them as being grown up they always want to look after them [aːftəɹ əm]

and don’t believe in them going out having girlfriends and boyfriends (that’s it); 0:41:40 and my mother

hit the bottle for a [fəɹ ə] week my mother literally drunk for a [fəɹ ə] week)

zero linking R (0:08:44 see, the thing is gypsies travelled all over, didn’t they, so when they settled down

they settled down over all [ɔʊvə ɔːɫ] different places of the world Romania India Russia Bulgaria so we’re

all [wə ɔːɫ] over we could have relations in Australia for all we know; 0:19:51 we never ever [nɛvə ɛvə]

use that word it’s like when I first seen that I was going to say, “can you cross it out can we not do that”;

0:23:16 some relation to my granny (yeah) and he was just a very moody man he was never happy [nɛvə

ʔapi])

intrusive R (0:13:52 (and and do gypsies Romani people find ‘gypo’ offensive in itself?) (yes they do)

yeah, definitely (yeah, yeah, I don’t like ‘gypo’) (my husband in particular he hates it) yeah, I [jɛːɹ aɪ] do I

do I hate it ’cause I used to get called at school; 0:18:05 give us a drink, Mark (what do you want?) uh

I’m on vodka and orange [vɒdkəɹ ən ɒɹɪnʒ] anything you like oh you shouldn’t’ve put that on there;

0:31:21 yeah, I [jɛːɹ aɪ] would say I would say an ‘alley’ or a a a bit of ‘drom’ but which really that’s a

‘road’, isn’t it, ‘drom’ is a ‘road’ so it’s not it doesn’t really mean anything, does it?)

+/- VOICE

house + (0:29:22 you see in our houses [aʊzɪz] we all got all a lot of windows as many as windows

as you can possibly

bbc voices recordings - sounds...petulengro, william, b. 1986 male (mother b. blackpool,...

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