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List of contents
Preface: The Voices Project; Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations and Transcription Conventions; Introduction; Part I. A Thesaurus of the BBC Voices Recordings in England, Wales and the Channel Islands: 1. How You Feel; 2. What You Do; 3. What You Wear; 4. What You Call Them; 5. Inside and Outside; 6. Getting Personal; Part II. An Inventory of the BBC Voices Recordings Survey in England, Wales and the Channel Islands: A. North East; B. Yorkshire and Humber; C. North West; D. East Midlands; E. West Midlands; F. East Anglia; G. South West; H. South East; I. London; J. Wales; K. Channel Islands; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
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.
Summary
Based on a prestigious nationwide survey, this thesaurus provides authentic, up-to-date information on British English dialect and slang. It is presented clearly and accessibly, making it an invaluable reference tool for both academic linguists and English language teachers and learners, creative audiences and non-specialist enthusiasts.
Additional text
'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