In Wuthering Heights, some of the characters speak exclusively in the local dialect (the case of Joseph), other use it only to a certain extent and in certain situations (Mr Earnshaw, Hindley, Nelly), while there are other characters whose speech develops from a West Yorkshire dialect to Standard English when their social status changes (the case of Heathcliff and Hareton). Emily Brontë “gives her characters distinctive ways of speaking, according to their station in life and according to their aspirations” Wiltshire (2005: )so because all of the characters in the novel have differing backgrounds, there are many different influences on the dialogue of the novel. The language successfully reveals part of each character's background. The main characters using Standard English belong to the middle class as theLintons and the Earnshaws. Servants, representing the lower middle class, used the dialect. One is introduced to the novel through the character of
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Later, when he returns from his long journey away from wuthering heights after Catherine marriage, Ellen describes Heathcliff voice as “foreign in tone” (132) The Earnshaw use the standard language, Mr. Earnshaw, is not given a regional dialect, though his speech does contain the occasional dialect word as in the following conversation with his family following his return from Liverpool: ‘And at the end of it, to be flighted to death!’ (WH, p. 44). (Wiltshire, 2005:21) Mr Earnshaw’s language shows his superior social standing, for his speech is neither wholly dialect nor entirely Standard English. He uses the familiar pronoun ‘thou’ to address his daughter saying: ‘Why canst thou not always be a good lass, Cathy?’(WH, p. 53) however, she replies, ‘Why cannot you always be a good man, father?’ Her speech includes neither dialect words nor local accent, Catherine's speech is typical of a well-to-do young lady who grew up in the
Later, when he returns from his long journey away from wuthering heights after Catherine marriage, Ellen describes Heathcliff voice as “foreign in tone” (132) The Earnshaw use the standard language, Mr. Earnshaw, is not given a regional dialect, though his speech does contain the occasional dialect word as in the following conversation with his family following his return from Liverpool: ‘And at the end of it, to be flighted to death!’ (WH, p. 44). (Wiltshire, 2005:21) Mr Earnshaw’s language shows his superior social standing, for his speech is neither wholly dialect nor entirely Standard English. He uses the familiar pronoun ‘thou’ to address his daughter saying: ‘Why canst thou not always be a good lass, Cathy?’(WH, p. 53) however, she replies, ‘Why cannot you always be a good man, father?’ Her speech includes neither dialect words nor local accent, Catherine's speech is typical of a well-to-do young lady who grew up in the