A question about the novel Sons and Lovers
" An' I'aven't-- that I'aven't. You b'lieve me, I've 'ad very little this day. I have an'all." His voice went tender. "Here, an' I browt thee a bit o'brandysnap, an' a cocoanut for th' children." He laid the gingerbread and the cocoanut, a hairy object, on the table," Nay, tha niver said thankyer for nowt i'thy life, did ter?"

Why are the father's words so weird? Do they mix some old English or something else?
Thanks for your help

Question

A question about the novel Sons and Lovers
" An' I'aven't-- that I'aven't. You b'lieve me, I've 'ad very little this day. I have an'all." His voice went tender. "Here, an' I browt thee a bit o'brandysnap, an' a cocoanut for th' children." He laid the gingerbread and the cocoanut, a hairy object, on the table," Nay, tha niver said thankyer for nowt i'thy life, did ter?"

Why are the father's words so weird? Do they mix some old English or something else?
Thanks for your help

Answer

The words are written that way to reflect his dialect and pronunciation.

Answer

The father lives in Nottingham and D H Lawrence is writing the sounds you would hear , which is the dialect.  you can think of it as written and spoken in Cantonese or Hakka, while the main writing is in Mandarin. It helps to read it aloud. dialect also has some different ways of saying things like tha for you.