Oliver Twist: Dialect 1 key example

The Dodger speaks English, but a version of it that he picked up as a poor young pickpocket in London. Even his translation to Oliver requires some parsing for most modern English speakers. Basically, he means that someone is going to steal rich people's pocket handkerchiefs and watches, so it might as well be Oliver and his new friends. Fagin calls the Dodger's short speech "the catechism of his trade." A catechism is a series of questions and answers that convey the central principles of Christianity, and Christian children are often taught to recite it as part of their religious education. Fagin's comment is a bit of a joke, but it suggests that the Dodger's speech patterns are emblematic of his indoctrination into thievery. The Dodger is Oliver's initial guide not only into a pauper's London, but more specifically into the criminal subculture of London. The fact that Oliver can't understand the Dodger at first when he refers to pocket handkerchiefs and watches as "fogles and tickers" reinforces that Oliver is not yet at home in this subculture.

Many characters who are not criminals speak in some sort of dialect. In general, the wealthier a character is, the closer their speech is to standard English. But a sort of dialect is also used to bolster the anti-Semitic depiction of Barney, one of Fagin's associates who is also Jewish. Barney's speech would not be considered a dialect by linguists, but Dickens uses creative spelling to emphasize that he speaks "through his nose"—he has particular difficulty pronouncing the letters s, m, and n. Dickens seems to be making an unsettling joke based on the stereotype that a Jewish person's nose is their defining feature. Like the Dodger, Barney's speech is emblematic of the class of person the novel supposes him to be.