Me (my)

[francescazzurra]

Me (my)

I find sometimes "me" instead of "my" in the texts I read.
Could you tell me the origin if it? Is it an ancient and/or poetic form (as I've always thought) or a still used slang/dialect form?

In this precise case I'm reading and translating a play written in 1984:
At the very beginning there's an old lady from Yorkshire saying:

"This is me diary of important dates"

 

[brian]

I associate it with Irish (and similar) dialects of English. They still say it, too, so it's not outdated.

Also, I'm not sure if it should be considered the same word as me (i.e. objective pronoun) or rather a pronunciation of my that is simply the exact same as me and which is therefore written/transcribed as me.

 

[carola84]

Hi!

In this case, "me" is used because this is how "my" is pronounced in different parts of Britain (although it is often more like a sound between meh and ma!!). It still has the same meaning, the writer is probably just trying to convey the accent this lady has.

 

[Simon Hwang]

In modern English, I have not encourtered any circumstance that me and my can replace each other. My indicates possessive relation while me, only means myself.

Only my opinion.

 

[brian]

Simon, you're right, and that was my point: it's not a matter of me (objective personal pronoun) = my (possessive adjective), but rather a matter of the pronunciation of my being the same as that of me.

Carola, I mentioned Irish only because I have an Irish friend who pronounces my as me, but thinking about it some more, I can definitely think of many British accents where the same thing occurs.

 

[carola84]

Hi Brian,

Yes, there are many parts of Britain where it's pronounced "me"...even sometimes in London if I'm not mistaken, but don't quote me on that!!

 

[Nunty]

Hi Brian,

Yes, there are many parts of Britain where it's pronounced "me"...even sometimes in London if I'm not mistaken, but don't quote me on that!!

I can sort of confirm London, based on my sample of one Londoner friend.

 

[TriglavNationalPark]

Using "me" instead of "my" is also a common way to caricature "pirate speak":

"Shiver me timbers, matey!"

 

[francescazzurra]

This woman is from Yorkshire, could you tell me if "My" can be pronounced "ME" in Yorkshire?
It could be a caricature, yes, but me doubt remains, because there aren't other "dialect" words in the whole play, it's just this "me" twice or three times.
I mean, the author didn't caricature that lady at all in the rest of the play.

 

[carola84]

Not having read the play, I couldn't tell you for sure. I do know however that many (if not most) northern English accents pronounce "my" as "me" and am pretty sure Yorkshire is one of them.

Another reason I believe this is just a way of conveying the accent is that it is the only way in which the sentence makes any kind of sense!! As Simon said, "me" is only ever used for possession.

 

[AliBadass]

How about here in this situation? Has ''me'' been used instead of ''my''? (from the animation ''Free birds'', a man in 1600s is talking to some other men)
Man: ''I've hunted everything that's walked, crawled or flown and I always get me quarry.''

And after that he gives a speech he puts his knife on the map spread on a wooden table a man says: ''oh, that was me good map''.

 

[e2efour]

See I always get me quarry, which contains links to the me pronunciation.