September 20, 2013
by Graham
6 Comments
Ed’s comment to my last post allows me to widen the discussion from the specific question of th > f in modern English, and its history, to that of how much linguists/dialectologists/orthoepists – call them/us what you will – have … Continue reading
April 28, 2013
by Graham
6 Comments
I’ve been watching Lucy Worsley’s latest TV series on the monarchy – “Fit to Rule”. Dr Worsley is the Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, and this is not the first series she has presented. They all seem well researched, … Continue reading
March 3, 2013
by Graham
7 Comments
Almost all the British papers have carried the story this week that Gladstone Primary School in Peterborough has not a single native English speaking pupil out of 450. Predictably the story as run by the Daily Mail and the Daily … Continue reading
August 3, 2012
by Graham
5 Comments
Dictionaries which try to show the pronunciation of words can basically use one of two methods: either they can use a respelling system (this was the only possibility for dictionaries compiled up to the middle of the 19th century), or … Continue reading
February 11, 2012
by Graham
8 Comments
The realisation of /θ/ as /f/ in English (and similarly for its voiced equivalent) has long been thought of as a Cockney trait, made fun of by generations of comedians, and bemoaned by countless traditionalists as heralding the demise of … Continue reading
July 28, 2010
by Graham
1 Comment
Over the last couple of weeks, the name of the tragic child James Bulger has come back into the news after nearly twenty years, because one of his killers, Jon Venables, has been found guilty of child pornography crimes. As … Continue reading
April 20, 2010
by Graham
13 Comments
I notice that BBC Radio 4 announcers regularly pronounce Ms O’Leary’s family name as /əʊˈlɛəri/. I suppose from her accent that this is what she calls herself, but I’m wondering if following suit when one does not have an Irish … Continue reading
February 3, 2010
by Graham
13 Comments
I thought Uttoxeter deserved a post of its own, because it also raises a transcription and dialect question. Both /ʊ/ and /ʌ/ have been quoted, by Michael Lamb and John Maidment, as possible pronunciations of the initial sounds, and I … Continue reading