Category Archives: Dialects

Chambers Dictionary update

Posted on September 2, 2006 by Kevin

I posted two months ago about America’s Merriam-Webster dictionary update (New dictionary words (first post)). Now Britain’s Chambers Dictionary has announced new words for the tenth edition, due out around October 2006. Chambers is known for having some offbeat definitions, … Continue reading →

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Cattle herd speaking with accent

Posted on August 23, 2006 by Kevin

Cows in Somerset, England, seem to have picked up the local accent of their human caretakers. Their moos have a strong West Country “-r” (the coastal region’s accent is thought to be the origin of stereotyped pirate talk “Arr!”). The … Continue reading →

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Council(l)ors may need counsel(l)ing

Posted on August 11, 2006 by Kevin

City council members in Boston, Massachusetts, can’t agree if they’re “councilors” or “councillors.” The traditionalists are retaining older and British-style councillor; younger members and followers of Microsoft Word U.S.-English spell check are going for councilor. I can see the case … Continue reading →

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Standard Appalachian English

Posted on July 20, 2006 by Kevin

Here’s an article (http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&%09s=1045855935235&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189249849&path=%21health%21healthology) [EDIT (3/26/2010): dead link] about Appalachian English. It gives some history and dispels the frozen-in-time-English myth (note: Cajun isn’t frozen-in-time-French either). It includes a good general quote about dialects: [Dennis] Preston, the Michigan State University linguist, … Continue reading →

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Wigan, U.K., embraces dialect, sells shirts

Posted on July 15, 2006 by Kevin

After being somewhat embarrassed in the past about their regional dialect, the town of Wigan, Greater Manchester, in northwest England will produce tourism merchandise that translates some expressions. Wiganworld has even more Wigan words. Some of the expressions are rather … Continue reading →

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New dictionary words (first post)

Posted on July 7, 2006 by Kevin

American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster (THE “Webster’s” before the trademark was lost) announced some new words for the 2006 update of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Editon. They don’t mention this there, but an Associated Press article says that the verb … Continue reading →

Posted in Dialects, Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE, Language-Sites, Words / Dictionaries | 1 Comment