The Horsham Society recently presented a talk to the Broadbridge Heath Women's Institute, focusing on Horsham's history. Only one of the thirty attendees was native to Horsham, demonstrating widespread internal migration within Britain. Just three were originally from Sussex, raising questions about regional identity and the fate of the Sussex accent.
Historically, accents indicated social class. Pronunciations were associated with educated elites or servant classes. Before the Second World War, accents associated with Oxford and Cambridge implied superiority. Estuarine accents usually meant poorer folk. Increased national mobility and global communication have blurred these distinctions, fostering broader acceptance of linguistic variations. Accents, slang, dialects, patois, and creoles reflect evolving linguistic traditions.
English has a Germanic structure enriched by Latin vocabulary. Borrowings from over 300 tongues and simplifications have made English globally dominant. The BBC once speculated that English might evolve into distinct variants across regions, akin to the fragmentation of Latin.
Sussex-born individuals in the 1950s would have revealed a vibrant regional dialect. One attendee recalled the family gardener with a strong Sussex accent, whose vocabulary can be found in the 1957 "Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect." Terms like "costrel" (a labourer's bottle) and "fag-hook" (a long-handled bill hook) reflect agricultural roots, now redundant due to mechanisation.
Some regional Sussex words still live on. Readers might readily recall that we refer to the lane ways between burgess plots as 'twittens'. An obvious example is Morth Gardens in Horsham connecting the Causeway to Denne Road.
Modern communication has profoundly changed Horsham. Global connections dominate professional and personal lives, intertwining financial markets and mass media. Horsham exemplifies the "global village," where migration has created a diverse community. Few residents are truly native, yet a neutral language unites them, fostering integration and mutual acceptance.
Horsham's transformation reflects broader trends worldwide. People migrate, adapt, and contribute to the cultural fabric of their new homes. Despite challenges to global cooperation, connectivity binds communities across continents, encouraging understanding and collaboration. Horsham stands as a testament to the resilience and inclusivity of human migration and exchange.