dialect

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Cockney Accents Are Fading Out


Certain
English
Accents Are
Dying Out
new study

Certain English Accents Are Dying Out

A new study found that younger sets from southeast England have three main dialects

(Newser) - England's many colorful accents may not be apparent to an untrained ear, but locals can easily distinguish what region someone comes from the minute they open their mouth. Researchers out of the University of Essex are keeping tabs on dialect changes in southeast England, the BBC reports, and recently...

Not Only Do Fish 'Talk,' They Have Accents

Marine biologist launches study on the regional dialects of cod

(Newser) - Not only do cod "speak" to each other, but they have "regional fish accents"—kind of like the aquatic version of a southern drawl—and that could be bad news for fish-and-chips lovers, Wired reports. According to the Boston Globe , marine biologist Steve Simpson recently started a...

ISIS: Destroying the Language of Jesus?

Aramaic is under threat as ISIS invades northern Iraq

(Newser) - Islamic militants may have an unexpected victim in northern Iraq: an ancient collection of dialects and languages that's been around for over 3,000 years, Foreign Policy reports. Called Aramaic, it was flourishing among Assyrian Christians in the Nineveh plain of Iraq until ISIS invaded earlier this month and...

Paw-Paw French Dialect Disappearing in Missouri

Al Jazeera America looks at fading tradition

(Newser) - A little bit of history is petering out in eastern Missouri—a dialect known as paw-paw French introduced centuries ago by settlers in the region. In a story on the decline in the community of Old Mines, Al Jazeera America figures the number of speakers left is in the "...

Rare Dialect Dying in US: Texas-German?

Last speakers in their 60s, as professor tries to preserve it

(Newser) - Another unique American dialect is fading into obscurity, and it's a safe bet that most never knew it existed in the first place: "Texas German." It's so unusual that University of Texas linguist professor Hans Boas tells the BBC he has "found no two speakers...

Backwoods Dialect in US Is Pikin' to the Dusties*
Backwoods Dialect in US
Is Pikin' to
the Dusties*
in case you missed it

Backwoods Dialect in US Is Pikin' to the Dusties*

*In other words, it's about to die

(Newser) - It's called Boontling, and the back-country dialect has been spoken for 160 years or so in Boonville and the surrounding hamlets of California's Mendocino County. But because so little "bahl harpin'" (fluent speaking) is going on today, Boontling is "pikin' to the dusties," or...

Discomgollifusticated? Check This Dictionary of Vernacular

(Newser) - The Dictionary of American Regional English, a 40-year lexicographical labor of love, will be competed next year, Good reports—with compilers finally making it to Z. The tome, which revels in local disparities, has been a boon not only to word lovers; it helped bring down the Unabomber through his...

7 Stories