05 | Dialects

The Sam Cooke Lectures

In this episode, Peter was joined by Alex Broadhead, an English language and literature lecturer at the University of Liverpool and author of The Language of Robert Burns, published by Bucknell University Press.

The podcast serves as a taster in the use of dialects in 18thCentury writing and covers what is meant by the term ‘dialects’, when they start to appear in written texts and also focuses on some interesting examples. Along the way Alex and Pete play the roles of two sisters from a sample dialect text, The Exmoor Scolding, and Alex tests Pete’s ability to guess the meaning of some Dorset dialect words.

The fabulous podcast artwork of Sam Cooke is by Sarah Bilton: @bilton_art on Instagram for commissions.
This podcast was produced by Old Rope. Visit www.oldrope.co.uk for more information, the blog and other podcasts.
SCL Category: Language
Alex's further reading recommendations are:

Dialect in Film and Literature - Jane Hodson
The first textbook to cover dialect representation in both film and literature, "an excellent book from a professor at the University of Sheffield".

The Language of Robert Burns - Style, Ideology and Identity - Alex Broadhead
Alex's own contribution, in which he explores some of these issues in relation to Burns and his own Scottish dialect.
Google Books - Advanced search
Try the advanced search function, set the dates to 1700 - 1800 and type, for example, 'Devon Dialect', Liverpool Dialect', 'Yorkshire Dialect'.