I am puzzled as to how anyone can teach a West Riding version of the Yorkshire dialect (‘Are we reyt?’: the course that aims to revive the Yorkshire dialect, 15 October). The West Riding stretched from Sheffield in the south to somewhere around Dent in the north, and the range of dialects contained in this area was wide and varied.
Sheffield’s dialect, with its use of de and dar instead of thee and thar, was vastly different from the Leeds/Bradford dialect, with its many glottal stops. Indeed Sheffielders were often known as “dee-dars” for this reason. The Barnsley dialect was as different again. Keighley I cannot speak for.
Alan Whitehouse
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
