The Southwest

The West Country

The West Country is a region with imprecise boundaries. According to Wells (1982: 335–336), three main areas can be identified: The centre of the region is formed by the “cider counties” of Gloucestershire, the former county of Avon, Somerset and Devon. To the East and nearer to London lies “the transitional area of Wessex” (Wells 1982: 335), which comprises Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire and parts of Oxfordshire. To the far West, “Cornwall stands somewhat apart” (Wells 1982: 335). This area differs from the two other areas with regard to its distinctive Celtic background and its Cornish language. Cornish became extinct in the late 18^th century but has been revived to a small degree in recent decades.

 

Trudgill (1999: 76–77) agrees with Wells (1982) in dividing the Southwest into three dialect areas. He differs from Wells with regard to the (northern) extension of this area and its internal structure. Trudgill’s centre, the Central Southwest, comprises most of the central and eastern regions identified by Wells, i.e. Somerset, the former county of Avon, and parts of Gloucestershire, together with parts of the more eastern counties of Wells’ transitional area, i.e. Dorset and Wiltshire, and western districts of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire. In addition, Trudgill distinguishes between the Upper and Lower Southwest. The Upper Southwest covers much of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire as well as areas as far north as Herefordshire and Shropshire up to Shrewsbury. The Lower Southwest is formed by Devon and Cornwall.

 

Another attempt to establish dialect areas in the Southwest has been proposed by Klemola (1994). Klemola’s study is based on cluster analysis making use of SED material for 80 variables (25 phonological, 30 morphosyntactic and 25 lexical) in nine Southwestern counties. The results of this study do not coincide completely with the structures proposed by Wells and by Trudgill but show interesting parallels. Klemola (1994: 373) has found a very stable cluster in a region comprising Eastern Cornwall and Devon (cf. Trudgill’s Lower Southwest). Typical phonological features of this area at the time of the SED fieldwork are initial fricative voicing, /Y(:)/ in GOOSE and /d/ in butter. The second relatively stable cluster is formed at the eastern end of the region comprising Berkshire, Oxfordshire and eastern parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire (cf. Wells’ transitional area). Typical phonological features of this area are the absence of initial fricative voicing, /u(:)/ in GOOSE and /t/ in butter. The internal structure of the “central” areas identified by Klemola is more variable.

الاكثر قراءة في Phonology

Minimal pairs and sets

Aspiration

Assimilations

Phones and allophones

Feature geometry

The Sonority Sequencing Generalization

Finding the underlying form

Bukusu: nasal+consonant combinations

The Northern Cities Shift

Major class features

Standard lexical sets

Allophony in other languages

Place of articulation

Natural classes

Dissimilation

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

الزائرون يحيون ليلة الجمعة الأولى من شهر رجب في رحاب العتبة العباسية المقدسة

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تحصي خدماتها المقدّمة للزائرين بذكرى شهادة الإمام الهادي (عليه السلام) في سامراء

شعبة فاطمة بنت أسد تجري امتحانات الفصل الأول لطالباتها

من رماد الكتب إلى فضاء الرقمنة.. حكاية حفظ ذاكرة الوطن

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

كنز غذائي على طبقك.. ماذا تفعل السبانخ بجسمك؟

ما لا يتوقعه أحد.. "سر غذائي" في الجبن الدسم

لتحسين الهضم والنوم.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول العشاء

10 طرق بسيطة وغير مألوفة لحرق المزيد من السعرات يوميا

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

سابقة بعالم الطيران.. طائرة تقرر الهبوط بنفسها بعد ظرف طارئ

"الإنفلونزا الخارقة" تكتسح دول العالم.. وتثير قلقا كبيرا

مرحلة ما قبل الأعراض.. دواء جديد يستهدف "شرارة" الزهايمر

إزالة ثاني أكسيد الكربون من الغلاف الجوي.. ما دور المحيطات والبحار؟

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Spelling and Pronunciation SUMMARY

American English vs. British English

Morphological Basis of English Spelling

Phoneme–Grapheme Correspondences in English Vowels

Phoneme–Grapheme Correspondences in English Consonants

Spelling and Pronunciation Irregularity of English Spelling

Structural Factors in Second Language Phonology SUMMARY

Perception

Optimality Theory (OT)

Ontogeny Phylogeny Model (OPM)

Markedness

Hypercontrast