A meeting to discuss the demise of the Manx dialect will take place on Saturday, at 7.30pm, at the Tynwald Hill Inn in St John’s.
It is being organised Ned Kennaugh and John ‘Dog’ Callister who say they are aiming to get together like-minded people for a lively exchange of views and information regarding the demise of the language.
Anyone attending is asked to write down, phonetically, any Manx words or phrases on paper that they remember from their younger days.
John said: ‘Lots of these appear to have been forgotten and listing them would be very useful, both as a reminder when at the meeting, and also they could be kept for as a resource to be looked at later.’
‘It is going to be a friendly gathering to hopefully gauge what we believe is a subject close to many people’s hearts.’
John and Ned were recent guests on a radio show discussing Manx dialect and John said he was told afterwards that the subject brought, by far, the biggest listener reaction on social media to any of the show’s programmes, while on air and following on later.
What Manx dialect words and phrases do you and your family use?
Email newsdesk@newsiom.co.im with your favourites.
Here are examples collated on the Manx English page of Wikipedia.
Across – The UK; referred to as across the water
At – In possession of (from Gaelic usage). He’s got a nice house at him
Aye – Yes
Boy – Common address from one male to another, originally an unmarried male (from Gaelic)
Hey, Boy! is a common greeting between young men.
Bumbee – Bumblebees (which were thought to be bad fairies).
Coalie – A coalfish.
Comeover – Non-native person living in the Isle of Man.
Down is used for going north, up for going south, out for going west. The topology of the Isle of Man means that to go to the flat, glacial plains of the North of the island, one has to go down, whilst going South means climbing the slate uplands. This is in contrast to the English Up North, which new residents are more used to.
Fairy Flower – Red Campion, Silene dioica.
Feller/Fella – A man/mate (fellow), common to other dialects, but much more frequent in Anglo-Manx.
For – towards, to; at the period of; wherefore, the reason why; in order to. Are you for goin’? (From Gaelic usage, erson).
Gilpin – Young fish of indeterminate species, especially Callig.
Herrin – Herring
Himself – The master of the house, the husband. Is himself in? (from Gaelic usage; direct translation of eh hene, ‘himself’, emphatic ‘he’)
In – In existence. The best that’s in (from Gaelic usage; direct translation of oan in it, there (is))
Jinny Nettle – the stinging nettle, Urtica dioica
Lhergy – a hill-slope, or high wasteland. Goin’ down the lhergy means going downhill in life. (from Gaelic Lhiargee or Lhiargagh meaning ‘slope’)
Little People – Fairies, supernatural beings. (from Gaelic usage; direct translation of Deiney Beggey or Mooinjer Veggey, ‘fairies’ or ‘little people’)
Mann – the Isle of Man; e.g., Gaut made it, and all in Mann
Manx and Manks – Pertaining to, or originating from the Isle of Man.
Manxie – A Manx person or a Manx cat.
Mark – A fishing-ground distinguished by landmarks.
Middlin’ – Tolerable, an equivalent of the Manx, castreycair.
Neck – impudence; e.g., Oh, the neck of him!
Skeet – News, gossip, and also to take a look (take a skeet) at something. Direct usage of Manx word ‘skeet’ or ‘steet’.
Scutch – A quantity of something; eg, There were a scutch of people there. (from Gaelic cooid, ‘selection’, ‘amount’, ‘number’)
Snigs – Young eels, or sand-eels
Themselves – Fairies, supernatural beings
Twenty Four – The House of Keys.
Yessir – Recorded by A.W. Moore in 1924 as a ‘disrespectful form of addressing a boy or man’, is used as an informal address to a local acquaintance in modern Anglo-Manx. Early 20th-Century sources suggest that its origin may lie in a contraction of You, Sir, but Gaelic scholars have suggested that it is a hangover from Ussey, the emphatic form of You in Manx Gaelic, which is used in a similar context. Not congruous with Yes, Sir in mainstream English.