Overview

A thesaurus of present-day vernacular English from Berwick-upon-Tweed to the Channel Islands, this unique record of everyday English celebrates established regional dialects, emerging new varieties and colloquial forms young and old. Based on a prestigious nationwide survey, BBC Voices Recordings, it documents the linguistic landscape of England, Wales and the Channel Islands in the 21st century, and includes over 3000 separate entries, drawn from over 200 locations across the country. Each entry contains information about the term's origins, location and the social distribution of its users. With links to original sound files and cross-references to complementary dictionary sources, it is an authoritative reference work for academic linguists, but its accessible presentation also makes it suitable for creative audiences and non-specialist language enthusiasts seeking authentic, up-to-date information on British English dialect and slang, and for English language teachers and learners as an invaluable educational tool.

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9781108473231

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Reviews

'With a focus on dialect and informal language use in locations across England and Wales, this Thesaurus combines material from major projects by the BBC, the British Library, and the University of Leeds. It provides a unique resource for those interested in contemporary language variation, and is accessible to a wide audience, ranging from older school students to more advanced researchers.' Lesley Milroy, Professor Emerita of Linguistics, University of Michigan 'You would have to be 'mazed as a sheep' to attempt what Jonnie Robinson has achieved in the A Thesaurus of English Dialect and Slang. It lays out the lexical riches of the BBC Voices survey interviews in beautiful clarity, according to region, locality, and semantic themes, accompanied by revealing comments from the speakers interviewed and etymological context researched by the author. It is a major resource, meticulously realized, and a testament to the continuing vitality of regional British English.' Rob Penhallurick, Reader in English Language, Department of English, Swansea University

Author Information

Jonnie Robinson is the British Library's Lead Curator of Spoken English. He has worked on two prestigious nationwide surveys of vernacular English: the Survey of English Dialects and BBC Voices. He co-curated the Library's 2010 exhibition, Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices and created the British Accents and Dialects website.

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