January 23, 2011
by Graham
3 Comments
There was some discussion on John Wells’ blog a couple of months ago (here) about traditionally SBE BATH words now being increasingly reported with TRAP. John said “The fact that more younger people than older report a preference for /ɒ/ … Continue reading
January 16, 2011
by Graham
22 Comments
Amanda Vickery, Professor of Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London, from this month, recently presented a TV series on domestic life in Georgian England – At Home with the Georgians. Professor Vickery is a Lancastrian, and her … Continue reading
January 11, 2011
by Graham
2 Comments
Narathiwat, the most south easterly of Thailand’s provinces, is most often in the news because of a long-standing insurgency, but a regular correspondent tells me that a BBC World News report claims three rivers have overflown their banks in the … Continue reading
January 6, 2011
by Graham
3 Comments
The current stand off between the two factions in Ivory Coast has brought the former capital Abidjan into the news again. The French-derived spelling tells us that the nearest English pronunciation of this name should be /æbiˈʤɑːn/, and yet I … Continue reading
December 28, 2010
by Graham
0 comments
In response to a comment made by Michael Lamb to my last post, I blame the producers. There was a time, and I hope that in radio that time is also now, when scripts were sent or taken by hand … Continue reading
December 17, 2010
by Graham
1 Comment
John Maidment has drawn attention to Richard Miles’ yodophobia. I mentioned his pronunciation of confines in my last post, but now, having watched all the series, I can give a list of some, frankly, astonishing pronunciations he has used in … Continue reading
December 10, 2010
by Graham
5 Comments
We’re all used to the phenomenon of nouns becoming differentiated from their homographic verbs by stress movement: dis’pute becoming ‘dispute for instance, and that this is happening despite the best efforts of the Queen’s English Society and its supporters. Now … Continue reading
December 1, 2010
by Graham
2 Comments
I’ve just bought a second-hand dictionary and thesaurus, which has a contents list as follows: “Abbreviations Used in this Book Dictionary Thesuarus Appendices Commonly Misspelt Words Weights and Measures” Strangely enough, “thesaurus” is not included in the list of Commonly … Continue reading
November 24, 2010
by Graham
8 Comments
Simon Armitage is a poet who is now presenting TV documentaries, particularly on what might be called ‘poetic’ subjects. I have recently watched one on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and now one tracing the journey of Ulysses through … Continue reading
November 14, 2010
by Graham
5 Comments
Still watching TV programmes that I’ve previously recorded, I’ve just caught up with two episodes of the BBC series on the Pre-Raphaelites. One of the experts used in the programmes was Alison Smith, Curator at Tate Britain. She had two … Continue reading