Winter 2021Do you speak ‘Manc’, ‘Lancashire’ or ‘posh’? Findings from largest ever study of Greater Manchester accents and dialects revealed

The Manchester Voices research project, led by sociolinguists at Manchester Metropolitan University, has been looking at how people speak across the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs.

Early findings from the project show that people think the ‘Manc’ accent is situated mostly in the city of Manchester itself, while residents of South Manchester, Trafford and Stockport are more likely to sound ‘posh’.

While residents of the northern boroughs of Bury, Bolton, Rochdale and Oldham are characterised as speaking ‘Lancashire’, Wigan natives have a distinctive dialect all of their own – and are more likely to catch the ‘buz’ or read a ‘bewk’ than their GM neighbours.

Manchester Voices is the most detailed research study of its type, which will culminate in an exhibit at Manchester Central Library, celebrating just how diverse language is in the region.

Over 350 Greater Manchester residents were asked to draw and describe the different accents and dialects on an online map, as well as asking people who were born and raised in one borough to submit a recording of themselves speaking.

Researchers analysed the 80 recordings submitted to the project of people who have lived most of their lives in one borough. Focusing on the pronunciation of specific words – ‘bear/burr’, ‘book/bewk’, ‘school/ skewl’, and ‘bus/buz’ – they found some interesting variances between the boroughs.

• The ‘bewk’ pronunciation of ‘book’ is most often found in Wigan
• People are more likely to catch a ‘buz’ in Oldham or Wigan
• Rochdale and Wigan locals are most likely to say ‘burr’ for ‘bear’
• People from Stockport and Trafford were most likely to say ‘school’, and Wiganers said ‘skewl’ the most.

The analysis also suggested that ‘burr’ and ‘bewk’ may be lessening over time, with younger people and especially young women being more likely to say ‘bear’ and ‘book’.

The Manchester Voices research team comprises academics Dr Rob Drummond, Dr Holly Dann, Dr Sadie Ryan and a group of student research assistants including intern Jack Taylor.

Dr Rob Drummond, Reader in Sociolinguistics at Manchester Metropolitan, said: “We can see important social distinctions reflected in the speech patterns we’re analysing – the distinction between the urban centre and the surrounding boroughs, for example, and generational divides too.”

The Manchester Voices research project is still ongoing, and the research team still want to hear from members of the public to build on these early findings.

To take part, visit manchestervoices.org