Omniglot - the blog

Dialect quiz

Simon on 21 Jan 2007

Language and English and Quiz questions | Comments (10)

10 Responses to “Dialect quiz”

1. Mark Dallas on 21 Jan 2007 at 2:54 pm #

   1) Yorkshire; 2) Kent; 3) Northern Ireland/Ulster; 4) Glasgow (I think they’re talking about the Gorbals—where my dad, G.R.H.S., grew up); 5) Skye?/Western Isles; 6) Cork? (somewhere in the Rep. of Ireland); 7) obviously Wales, but the young girls sound like they’re somewhere near N.E. Wales, maybe Wrexham?

2. Declan on 21 Jan 2007 at 3:58 pm #

   6) Kerry or Tippeary area, south west Ireland anyway I think.

3. Joseph Staleknight on 22 Jan 2007 at 2:33 am #

   I know none of them are Cockney… and that’s it. :(

4. Ben L. on 22 Jan 2007 at 7:56 am #

   Interesting note: learning Mandarin I find it helpful to have recordings a bit louder than I would normally choose to listen to US English recordings, perhaps to catch sounds critical to the meaning that I might otherwise miss. I found myself wishing for the same thing here!

   So does this mean that we should speak louder to non-native speakers to be understood better? I always thought this was just a reflexive and none-to-useful habit, but perhaps (assuming the person in question can understand the language at all) there is some credence to it after all…

5. Lillian Sagtit on 22 Jan 2007 at 10:35 am #

   I am sorry, I don’t have a email addres. I think that all of them are from somewhere in England, they sound like an English voices.

6. Lillian Sagtit on 22 Jan 2007 at 10:36 am #

   Am I correct?

7. Davo on 22 Jan 2007 at 10:37 am #

   Alot of my relatives, on my Dad’s side come from England, but I do not have a clue!!!

8. Paul on 22 Jan 2007 at 12:10 pm #

   Curses … I must get a computer with speakers.

9. Simon on 22 Jan 2007 at 12:51 pm #

   Mark - 1) isn’t Yorkshire, 4) isn’t Glasgow, 6) isn’t Cork, and 7) is North Wales, though not Wrexham. The others are correct.

   Lillian - some of the people in the recordings are from England, others are from Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

   Ben - I tend to speak more slowly and clearly when speaking English to non-native speakers, though it depends how well they speak English. I also try use relatively simple words and to avoid using slang and idioms. I’m not sure if it’s necessary or helpful to speak louder - that’s the stereotypical kind of thing monoglot English speakers often do.

10. Simon on 22 Jan 2007 at 5:45 pm #

    Here are the answers:
    Clip 1 - North West of England (Kirkoswald, Cumbria)
    Clip 2 - South East of England (Boughton Monchelsea, Kent)
    Clip 3 - Northern Ireland (Rosemont, Derry)
    Clip 4 - South East of Scotland (Edinburgh, Lothian)
    Clip 5 - North West of Scotland (Fort William, Inverness-shire)
    Clip 6 - South Wales (Johnston, Pembrokeshire)
    Clip 7 - North Wales (Bethesda, Gwynedd)