1. History

Figure 1. Forth and Bargy shown within Ireland

The language was spoken in County Wexford, particularly in the baronies of Forth and Bargy. This was the first area English-speakers came to in the Norman invasion of Ireland, supporting the theory that it evolved from the Middle English introduced in that period. As such it is thought to have been similar to Fingallian, which was spoken in the Fingal region north of Dublin. Middle English, the mother tongue of the "Old English" community, was widespread throughout southeastern Ireland until the 14th century; as the Old English were increasingly assimilated into Irish culture, their original language was gradually displaced through Gaelicisation. After this point, Yola and Fingallian were the only attested relicts of this original form of English.^[1][2]

Modern English was widely introduced by British colonists during and after the 17th century, forming the basis for the modern Hiberno-English of Ireland. The new varieties were notably distinct from the surviving relict dialects.^[1][2] As English continued to spread, both Yola and the Fingallian died out in the 19th century, though Yola continued to be used as a liturgical language by the churches of Wexford well into the 20th century, to this day the Kilmore Choir sings what were once Yola tunes, now anglicized.

The speech of Forth and Bargy was the only kind in Ireland included in Alexander John Ellis's work On Early English Pronunciation Volume V, which was the earliest survey of “dialects of English”. The phonetics of the language were taken from a local reverend.^[3]

2. Phonology

As in the Dutch language, in southwestern varieties of English and (to a lesser extent) in German, most voiceless fricatives in Yola became voiced. The Middle English vowels are well-preserved, having only partially and sporadically undergone the changes associated with the Great Vowel Shift.^[4]

One striking characteristic of Yola was the fact that stress shifted to the second syllable of words in many instances: morsaale "morsel", hatcheat "hatchet", dineare "dinner", readeare "reader", weddeen "wedding", etc.^[5]

3. Grammar

3.1. P631ronouns

Yola pronouns were similar to Middle English pronouns.^[6]

3.2. Articles

The definite article was at first a or ee, which was later replaced by the.

3.3. Verb

Yola verbs had some conservative characteristics. The second and third person plural endings were sometimes -eth as in Chaucerian English. The past participle retained the Middle English "y" prefix as "ee".^[7]

3.4. Nouns

Some nouns retained the -en plural of ME children, such as been 'bees' and tren 'trees'.

4. Vocabulary

The glossary compiled by Jacob Poole provides most of what is known about the Forth and Bargy vocabulary. Poole was a farmer and member of the Religious Society of Friends from Growtown in the Parish of Taghmon on the border between the baronies of Bargy and Shelmalier.^[8] He collected words and phrases from his tenants and farm labourers between 1800 and his death in 1827.

Although most of its vocabulary is Anglo-Saxon in origin, Yola contains many borrowings from Irish and French.

4.1. Interrogative words

4.2. Prepositions

4.3. Pronouns and determiners

4.4. Other words

4.5. Cardinal numbers

5. Modern South Wexford English

Figure 2. Traditional thatched cottage near Bannow Bay in Bargy. By Pam Brophy, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9136615

Figure 3. Yola farm refurbished in Tagoat, County Wexford. By Christophe Krief - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35137949

Diarmaid Ó Muirithe travelled to South Wexford in 1978 to study the English spoken there.^[9] His informants ranged in age between 40 and 90. Among the long list of words still known or in use at that time are the following:

• Amain: ‘going on amain’ = getting on well
• Bolsker: an unfriendly person
• Chy: a little
• Drazed: threadbare
• Fash: confusion, in a fash
• Keek: to peep
• Saak: to sunbathe, to relax in front of the fire
• Quare: very, extremely
• Wor: seaweed

Amain is a Norman word which means 'of easy use'.

6. Examples

6.1. A Yola song

The following is a song in Yola with a rough translation into English.

6.2. Address to Lord Lieutenant in 1836

Congratulatory address in the dialect of Forth and Bargy, presented to the Earl of Mulgrave, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on his visit to Wexford in 1836. Taken from the Wexford Independent newspaper of 15 February 1860. The paper's editor Edmund Hore wrote:

The most remarkable fact, in reality, in connexion with the address is this. In all probability it was the first time regal or vice-regal ears were required to listen to words of such a dialect; and it is even still more probable that a like event will never happen again; for if the use of this old tongue dies out as fast for the next five-and-twenty years as it has for the same bygone period, it will be utterly extinct and forgotten before the present century shall have closed.

In order for a person not acquainted with the pronunciation of the dialect to form anything like an idea of it, it is first necessary to speak slowly, and remember that the letter a has invariably the same sound, like a in 'father.' Double ee sounds as e in 'me,' and most words of two syllables the long accent is placed on the last. To follow the English pronunciation completely deprives the dialect of its peculiarities.

To's Excellencie Constantine Harrie Phipps, y' Earle Mulgrave, Lord Lieutenant-General and General Governor of Ireland. Ye soumissive Spakeen o'ouz Dwelleres o' Baronie Forthe, Weisforthe.

MAI'T BE PLEASANT TO TH' ECCELLENCIE, – Wee, Vassalès o' 'His Most Gracious Majesty', Wilyame ee Vourthe, an, az wee verilie chote, na coshe an loyale dwellerès na Baronie Forthe, crave na dicke luckie acte t'uck neicher th' Eccellencie, an na plaine garbe o' oure yola talke, wi vengem o' core t’gie oure zense o' y gradès whilke be ee-dighte wi yer name; and whilke we canna zei, albeit o' 'Governere,' 'Statesman,' an alike. Yn ercha an aul o' while yt beeth wi gleezom o' core th' oure eyen dwytheth apan ye Vigere o'dicke Zouvereine, Wilyame ee Vourthe, unnere fose fatherlie zwae oure daiez be ee-spant, az avare ye trad dicke londe yer name waz ee-kent var ee vriene o' livertie, an He fo brake ye neckarès o' zlaves. Mang ourzels – var wee dwytheth an Irelonde az ure generale haime – y'ast, bie ractzom o'honde, ee-delt t’ouz ye laas ee-mate var ercha vassale, ne'er dwythen na dicke waie nar dicka. Wee dwyth ye ane fose dais be gien var ee gudevare o'ye londe ye zwae, – t'avance pace an livertie, an, wi'oute vlynch, ee garde o' generale reights an poplare vartue. Ye pace – yea, we mai zei, ye vaste pace whilke bee ee-stent owr ye londe zince th'ast ee-cam, proo'th, y'at wee alane needeth ye giftes o’generale rights, az be displayte bie ee factes o'thie goveremente. Ye state na dicke daie o'ye londe, na whilke be nar fash nar moile, albiet 'constitutional agitation,' ye wake o'hopes ee-blighte, stampe na yer zwae be rare an lightzom. Yer name var zetch avancet avare ye, e’en a dicke var hye, arent whilke ye brine o'zea an ye craggès o'noghanes cazed nae balke. Na oure gladès ana whilke we dellt wi' mattoke, an zing t'oure caulès wi plou, wee hert ee zough o'ye colure o' pace na name o' Mulgrave. Wi Irishmen owre generale hopes be ee-bond – az Irishmen, an az dwellerès na cosh an loyale o' Baronie Forthe, w’oul daie an ercha daie, our meines an oure gurles, praie var long an happie zins, shorne o'lournagh an ee-vilt wi benisons, an yerzel an oure gude Zovereine, till ee zin o'oure daies be var aye be ee-go t'glade.

English Translation

To his Excellency, Constantine Henry Phipps, Earl of Mulgrave, Lord Lieutenant-General, and General Governor of Ireland. The humble Address of the Inhabitants of the Barony of Forth, Wexford.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY – We, the subjects of his Most Gracious Majesty, William IV., and, as we truly believe, both faithful and loyal inhabitants of the Barony of Forth, beg leave at this favourable opportunity to approach your Excellency, and in the simple dress of our old dialect to pour forth from the strength (or fulness) of our hearts, our sense (or admiration) of the qualities which characterise your name, and for which we have no words but of 'Governor,' 'Statesman,' &c. In each and every condition it is with joy of heart that our eyes rest upon the representative of that Sovereign, William IV., under whose paternal rule our days are spent; for before your foot pressed the soil, your name was known to us as the friend of liberty, and he who broke the fetters of the slave. Unto ourselves – for we look on Ireland to be our common country – you have with impartial hand ministered the laws made for every subject, without regard to this party or that. We behold in you one whose days are devoted to the welfare of the land you govern, to promote peace and liberty – the uncompromising guardian of the common right and public virtue. The peace – yes, we may say the profound peace – which overspreads the land since your arrival, proves that we alone stood in need of the enjoyment of common privileges, as is demonstrated by the results of your government. The condition, this day, of the country, in which is neither tumult nor disorder, but that constitutional agitation, the consequence of disappointed hopes, confirms your rule to be rare and enlightened. Your fame for such came before you even into this retired spot, to which neither the waters of the sea below nor the mountains above caused any impediment. In our valleys, where we were digging with the spade, or as we whistled to our horses in the plough, we heard the distant sonnd of the wings of the dove of peace, in the word Mulgrave. With Irishmen our common hopes are inseparably bound up – as Irishmen, and as inhabitants, faithful and loyal, of the Barony Forth, we will daily and every day, our wives and our children, implore long and happy days, free from melancholy and full of blessings, for yourself and our good Sovereign, until the sun of our lives be gone down the dark valley (of death).

"The maiden of Rosslare"

This following is a Yola poem from an original document containing accents to aid pronunciation;

6.3. Pronunciation

Consonants:

• ⟨ch⟩ is pronounced as tch, example ich (pronounced itch) ([tʃ])
• ⟨gh⟩ – a guttural sound the same as the ⟨gh⟩ in lough ([ɣ] or [x])

Vowels:

• ⟨eou⟩ (ɛu)
• ⟨oo⟩ (o as in boot) ([uː])
• ⟨ee⟩ (e as in bee) ([iː])
• ⟨aa⟩ (as in man but longer) ([aː])
• ⟨a⟩ is in "cat" ([a])
• ⟨á⟩ as in "father" ([ɑ])
• ⟨e⟩ as in "let" ([ɛ])
• ⟨é⟩ as in "may" ([e])
• ⟨i⟩ as in "bit" ([ɪ])
• ⟨í⟩ (ee) as in "bee" ([i])
• ⟨o⟩ as in "spot" ([ɔ])
• ⟨ó⟩ as in "boat" (cot–coat merger) ([o])
• ⟨u⟩ as in "boot", but shorter ([u])
• ⟨ú⟩ as in "boot' ([u])
• ⟨y⟩ as a mix between the i in spin and the ee in "bee' (possibly [ʏ])
• ⟨ý⟩ an oiy sound not in English ([ɑi])
• ⟨e⟩ at the end of a word is pronounced, but only short (examples: ross-laar-e (rosslaaré), moidh-e (mýdhe))

7. Revival and Use after the Mid 19th Century

Though Yola ceased to be used as a means of daily communication post the mid 19th century, it continued to see significant usage as a liturgical language, and some personal usage within the linguist community of Ireland, such as Kathleen Browne’s letter to Ireland dated to 10 April 1893. County Wexford native Paddy Berry is noted for his condensed performances of the piece "A Yola Zong" which he has performed for various recordings, the latest of which was in 2017.^[10] Various Yola rhymes, passed down from generation to generation, can be heard spoken by a Wexford woman in a documentary recorded in 1969 on the present usage and rememberers of Yola in the former baronies of Forth and Bargy.^[11] Yola Farmstead, a community-operated reenactment of a Forth and Bargy village as it would have been during the 18th century, delivered a speech and performance of a song in Yola at their opening ceremony, featured Yola phrases in their advertisements, and hosted events where participants could learn some of the language from linguists and other experts on it. The Yola Farmstead also hosted a memorial event dedicated to Jack Devereux of the Kilmore Choir, which once used Yola extensively in their Christmas services.^[12] Devereux was a preservationist of, and well-versed in Yola, locals considered him to be the last native speaker of the language, and at said memorial a rendition of the Lord's Prayer, translated into Yola was read. The Yola Farm has since closed down but there have been efforts beginning in 2021 of reopening it.^[13] Wikitongues also has a section dedicated to Yola on their website which hosts language documentation and revitalization resources.^[14] There also exists various groups focused on reviving the Yola language.^[15][16]

8. Notes