Yola language

Yola was a branch of Middle English that evolved separately among the English (known as the Old English) who followed the Norman barons Strongbow and Robert Fitzstephen to eastern Ireland in 1169. They became concentrated mainly in County Wexford. Because these "Normans" more freely adopted elements of Irish culture, they were ostracized in England as "more Irish than the Irish themselves".

Their language, later called "Yola" from their word for "old", evolved separately from the mainstream of English. It was mainly spoken in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, two of the seven baronies of Wexford. In the centuries before the Flight of the Earls, most Yola speakers gradually abandoned their language and adopted Irish Gaelic and fully assimilated as ethnic Gaels, but a handful of speakers survived in County Wexford until Yola became extinct in the 19th century.

Linguistic details

As in the Dutch language and south-western varieties of English, most voiceless fricatives in Yola became voiced. The Middle English vowels are well-preserved, with no evidence of the Great Vowel Shift. Yola also contains many borrowings from Irish. All of the language that survives is a 1700-word glossary and a handful of Yola folk songs, the longest of which is given below.

Was Yola an English or a Norse Dialect?

The Vikings conquered much of eastern Ireland and northern England in the late 800s. The Viking area of northern England became known as the "Danelaw". A language similar to Yola was spoken in Dublin (Fingalian), as well as in Wexford.

In the 900s and early 1000s, Wexford and Dublin were also controlled by Vikings. The Viking kings of Dublin often controlled portions of the Danelaw. At least initially, the Irish Vikings spoke Old Norse.

It is plausible that Yola may have been a Norse dialect that developed, under the influence of English, along a parallel track, as opposed to developing from English.

A Yola Song

(May be sung to the tune of Sweet Betsy from Pike)

Fade teil thee zo lournagh, co Joane, zo knaggee?
Th' weithest all curcagh, wafur, an cornee.
Lidge w'ouse an a milagh, tis gaay an louthee:
Huck nigher; y'art scuddeen; fartoo zo hachee?

Well, gosp, c'hull be zeid; mot thee fartoo, an fade;
Ha deight ouse var gabble, tell ee zin go t'glade.
Ch'am a stouk, an a donel; wou'll leigh out ee dey.
Th' valler w'speen here, th' lass ee chourch-hey.

Yerstey w'had a baree, gist ing oor hoane,
Aar gentrize ware bibbern, aamzil cou no stoane.
Yith Muzleare had ba hole, t'was mee Tommeen,
At by mizluck was ee-pit t'drive in.

Joud an moud vrem earchee ete was ee Lough.
Zitch vaperreen, an shimmereen, fan ee-daf ee aar scoth!
Zitch blakeen, an blayeen, fan ee ball was ee-drowe!
Chote well aar aim was t'yie ouz n'eer a blowe.

Mot w'all aar boust, hi soon was ee-teight
At aar errone was var ameing 'ar 'ngish ee-height.
Zitch vezzeen, tarvizzeen, 'tell than w'ne'er zey.
Nore zichel ne'er well, nowe, nore ne'er mey.

(There are nine more verses).

Rough translation into Modern English

An Old Song "A Yola Song"

What ails you so melancholy, quoth John, so cross?
You seem all snappish, uneasy, and fretful.
Lie with us on the clover, 'tis fair and sheltered:
Come nearer; you're rubbing your back; why so ill tempered?

Well, gossip, it shall be told; you ask me what ails me, and for what;
You have put us in talk, till the sun goes to set.
I am a fool and a dunce; we'll idle out the day.
The more we spend here, the less in the churchyard.

Yesterday we had a goal just in our hand.
Their gentry were quaking, themselves could not stand.
If Good-for-little had been buried, it had been my Tommy,
Who by misluck was placed to drive in.

Throngs and crowds from each quarter were at the Lough;
Such vapouring and glittering when stript in their shirts!
Such bawling and shouting, when the ball was thrown!
I saw their intent was to give us ne'er a stroke.

But with all their bravado they were soon taught
That their errand was aiming to bring anguish upon them
Such driving, and struggling, 'till then we ne'er saw
Nor such never will, no, nor never may.

Cardinal numbers in Yola

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
oane	twye	dhree	vowér	veeve	zeese	zebbem	ayght	neene	dhen

References

Poole's Glossary (1867) – Ed. Rev. William Barnes (Editorial 'Observations')
Poole's Glossary (1979) – Ed. Dr. D. O'Muirithe & T.P. Dolan (Corrected Etymologies)

External links

Middle English language | Medieval languages | Languages of Ireland