By Gum, I divvent!

August 1, 2004 6:20 AM

English Accents and Dialects. The British Library has compiled an online archive of northern speech dating back to the 19th century. The recordings range from from audio from Victorian cylinder dictaphones to 1950s football fans chanting.
posted by Masi (10 comments total)

I love how people from Burnley say "Buuurrrrnly".
It's mi favourite.
posted by seanyboy at 6:26 AM on August 1, 2004

Wonderful. I wish these were downloadable. If you keep digging, the whole collection is wide in its' nature. Drawings for example.
posted by fluffycreature at 6:49 AM on August 1, 2004

fluffycreature: you CAN download them, by looking at the source and copy & pasting the URL ;)
posted by slater at 6:51 AM on August 1, 2004

Brilliant link. That Burnley supporter's reminicences are priceless.
posted by squealy at 7:35 AM on August 1, 2004

There are a lot of theories about how language spreads as an instrument of empire. By coincidence, I read a fantasic quote last night: "Language is a dialect with a navy."
posted by 327.ca at 8:14 AM on August 1, 2004

This is great. Especially since my mother is from Burnley.
posted by sueinnyc at 2:03 PM on August 1, 2004

Great link. Synchronous subtitles would make it even better. Anyone know of a comparable collection of Northern *New* England accents?
posted by bmckenzie at 6:57 PM on August 1, 2004

That's Weinreich you're quoteing there, 327.ca Ironically, he was talking about Yiddish - A shprakh iz a diyalekt mit an armey un a flot - which never has and never will have either an army or a navy.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:05 PM on August 1, 2004

Top link, cheers. Although to my soft southern ears, some of that was bordering on the unintelligible for me.
posted by johnnyboy at 2:36 AM on August 2, 2004

Hartlepool is my fave, I think.
posted by jpoulos at 8:22 AM on August 2, 2004