Prev | Current Page 132 | Next

Skeat, Walter William, 1835-1912

"English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day"

Surrey, W. Sussex.
4. N. Gloucester, E. Hereford, Worcester, S. Warwick, N. Oxford,
S.W. Northampton. 5. Most of Oxford. 6. N. Surrey, N.W. Kent.
7. Most of Kent, E. Sussex. 8. W. Somerset, N.E. Devon. 9. Most of
Devon, E. Cornwall. 10. W. Cornwall.


CHAPTER XII
A FEW SPECIMENS

There is a great wealth of modern dialect literature, as indicated
by the lists in the _E.D.D._ Some of these dialect books are poor
and inaccurate, and they are frequently spelt according to no
intelligible phonetic principles. Yet it not unfrequently happens,
as in the works of Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens, that the
dialectal scraps indicate the pronunciation with tolerable fidelity,
which is more than can be said of such portions of their works as are
given in the normal spelling. It is curious to notice that writers in
dialect are usually, from a phonetic point of view, more careful and
consistent in their modes of indicating sounds than are the rest of
us. Sometimes their spelling is, accordingly, very good. Those who are
interested in this subject may follow up this hint with advantage.


Pages:
120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144