YDS Membership (Rest of the world)

Why join Yorkshire Dialect Society?

The Society is widely recognised as the oldest surviving dialect society in the world, dedicated specifically to the study and preservation of regional dialect.

We are still active today, publishing journals and holding meetings across the county.

Now more than ever, dialects are changing and being eroded by mass media and imported films, languages, and dialects from across the world.  It has always been so, but societies are now far more aware of the discrimination and bias attached to colour, race, religion, and – how you speak.

Accents today

Here in Yorkshire we’re proud of having a distinct set of accents.  They define our region and ourselves, and (mostly) carry positive connotations.  YDS aims to help keep that distinction, bringing accent to the forefront of discussion, reminding people of the richness of dialect words, and contributing to the evolution of our dialects

For many speakers, Yorkshire dialect is:

• A marker of solidarity
• A signal of regional identity
• An assertion of distinctness

But for others, it can still trigger assumptions rooted in centuries of stereotype.  Judgments attached to accent have consequences — socially and economically.

By joining the Society you help us conserve our intangible heritage, which we do by

• Publishing the acclaimed annual journal Transactions.
• Publishing  Summer Bulletin containing Yorkshire writings, witticism and poetry
• Publishing Tyke Tidings an electronic newsletter
• Holding events which feature the use of dialects and accents in performance.
• Organising courses such as Let’s Talk Tyke 
• Providing speakers for local groups.
• Researching, collating, and preserving publications concerning the history of the dialects.