I grew up mainly in Yorkshire, in the north of England. Yorkshire is an area with a strong local identity. My father was a Yorkshireman, and proud of it … and of course I absorbed the feeling. One part of the Yorkshire identity is the dialect – it is English, but with quite a few strong variations in pronunciation, grammar and usage.

Now, as a kid, I learned the most well-known local song – ‘On Ilka Moor Baht ‘at’ – and 50 years after leaving Yorkshire, I can still sing the song the whole way through. I now learn that it is considered the ‘anthem of Yorkshire’, and is still popular and well-known. The lyrics are in broad Yorkshire dialect, so here they are in succinct format (many of the lines are repeated several times) … with the standard English translation beneath.

Wheear es-ta bin sin Ah saw thee, Ah saw thee?

Where have you been since I saw you, I saw you?

On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at

On Ilkley Moor without a hat

Tha's been a-cooartin' Mary Jane

You've been courting Mary Jane

Tha's bahn to ketch thi deeath o' cowd

You're bound to catch your death of cold

Then we s'll 'e to bury thee

Then we will have to bury you

Then t'wurrums'll come an' eyt thee up

Then the worms will come and eat you up

Then t'ducks'll come an' eyt up t'wurrums

Then the ducks will come and eat up the worms

Then we s'll come an' eyt up t'ducks

Then we will come and eat up the ducks

Then we s'll all 'e etten thee

Then we will all have eaten you

So, you can follow the story, which is worked through in various verses, with a lot of repetition – which is great for communal singing, because everyone can be reminded of the words. And it is a jolly, exuberant tune … as you can hear in this video -

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What changes to standard language can we see in the dialect version? To start with, pronunciation and accent alters words - such as "wheear" instead of 'where'. Then there are changes in usual standard words - consider that standard 'you' is replaced by "thee" (object pronoun) ... "tha" (subject pronoun) ... "thi" (possessive pronoun) - and that these variations are consistent and so must be seen as alternative, parallel grammar rules. Also, colloquial speech compresses and collapses phrasing - consider "Then we s'll 'e to bury thee", where the 'e' has replaced 'have'.

Why does a dialect survive? Clearly, in the 21stC norms of language are affected by the vast range of audio visual sources, amny of which propagate standard forms of the language - which is a different situation from, say, a couple of centuries ago, when language usage was defined by very limited local influences: groups in a small town or village.

Most significantly, dialects - or varieties of a language - contribute to personal social identity. If you speak in that way, then you belong to the group, and they will recognise you. Evidently, many people are perfectly capable of switching varieties: from dialect to standard and back again, depending on context. Such switching is part of social negotiation, and is vital in the process of forming group identities.

Anyway, I do like the Yorkshire dialect, because it's crunchy and strong ... and I do occasionally sing 'Ilkla Moor' in the shower. It still gives me a sense, however remote, of where my roots are.