Paraphrase

[TKK]

Would you please paraphrase the following?

I've always been thinking I knew better than them as belonged to me, and that's a poor sort o' life,
when you can't look to them nearest to you t' help you with a bit better thought than what you've got inside you a'ready.

My points are:
1. I knew better than them as belonged to me,
2. look to them nearest to you t' help you

Here’s the URL.
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/romance/AdamBede/chap54.html

Thanks,

[Pete]

Would you please paraphrase the following?

I've always been thinking I knew better than them as belonged to me, and that's a poor sort o' life,
when you can't look to them nearest to you t' help you with a bit better thought than what you've got inside you a'ready.

My points are:
1. I knew better than them as belonged to me,
2. look to them nearest to you t' help you

Here’s the URL.
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/romance/AdamBede/chap54.html

Thanks,
This is certainly non-standard dialect.

Try:
- I have always thought that <u>I knew more than my relatives</u>. It is not a good situation when you can't <u>count on people who are closest to you to help you</u> understand things better than you do on your own.

[TKK]

Dear Pete,
Thank you very much for your help.

May I ask you two more questions?
1. I could not look on the words "them as belonged to me" as "my relatives",
because this is the first time I met with. How can I translate it as you did? (ways of thinking)
2. Just out of curiosity, do you know who speaks (or use) that kind of dialect? If you do not know, that's OK.

Thanks,

[Pete]

Dear Pete,
Thank you very much for your help.

May I ask you two more questions?
1. I could not look on the words "them as belonged to me" as "my relatives",
because this is the first time I met with. How can I translate it as you did? (ways of thinking)
2. Just out of curiosity, do you know who speaks (or use) that kind of dialect? If you do not know, that's OK.

Thanks,
A more literal paraphrase would probably be, "my people", i.e. "people that belong to me". Actually, I think "my family" would probably give the idea better than the term I used, "my relatives", which seems a bit too broad.

I've only seen writing like that in novels from the 19th century set somewhere in rural England; sorry I can't be more precise than that. I have no idea whether this dialect is still in common use.

[TKK]

Dear Pete,

Thank you very much for your explanation.

Bye,