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Talking for Britain: A Journey through the Nation's Dialects
Contemporary Review, Summer, 2006
Talking for Britain: A Journey through the Nation's Dialects. Simon Elmes. Penguin Books. [pounds sterling]14.99. xvii + 333 pages. ISBN 0-140-51562-3. This book, which draws on the BBC's 'Voices' survey and which was the basis for a Radio Four series, is reassuring. One is reassured that the sometimes overwhelming influence of the BBC (at least at one time), American English and the spread of Estuary English have not destroyed regional dialects.
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The author is fascinated with accent and dialect: how we speak and the words we use. The 'Voices' survey, on which Mr Elmes draws, had over 250 interviews conducted in 2004-5. He divides his text into regions (Cornwall, the West Country, Wales, East Anglia, Yorkshire, Northumbria, London and the South-East and so on) and shows how dialect still survives, nay, thrives: sofa in the Midlands is 'sofee' whilst 'to play' in Yorkshire is 'to laik' or 'to laik out'. To be moody is to be 'carbbit' in Scotland or 'thrawn' in Northern Ireland; to be 'knackered' is to be 'jiggered' in Yorkshire; to be unwell in Cornwall is to be 'wisht' and on and on. As the author writes, 'language ... is a river constantly moving, constantly replenished' and diversity thrives alongside strains of uniformity because many if not most of us are in some sense bilingual'. This book is not only vastly informative but a joy to read. (R.G.C.)
COPYRIGHT 2006 Contemporary Review Company Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
