November 2005

This page is the idea of my son, Stuart, who suggested that it might be a good idea, in view of the time span involved in the construction of new pages, to produce a regular update on the progress being made. He also proposed the inclusion of other available information which might be of interest to devotees of Yorkshire dialect.

Website development
The first pages of the Yorkshire dialect words glossary are now on-line. They can be accessed through the "Description" page or by clicking here. As stated previously this is a a long-term project with no set date for completion.

Sound files based on SED recordings of mid-20th century Yorkshire dialect have now been acquired. Permission for their use has kindly been granted by Dr Clive Upton of the University of Leeds and The Curator of the Collect Britain website, Jonathan Robinson.

Laura Rupp of the Department of English Language and Culture, Vrije University, Amsterdam has recently supplied me with a paper on Definite Article Reduction details of which are to be added this site in due course.

Yorkshire Dialect Society
The Society has recently set up a new official web site which may be accessed by clicking here or by typing in the following address: http://www.ydsociety.org.uk

The AGM is to take place at Ilkley on 8th April 2006. Full details forthcoming.

The Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture
The Leeds Archive has now developed its own website which contains, among other things, details of the project's progress, information relating to the nature of the contents and how to make contact. To access the site please click here .

John Waddington-Feather's Yorkshire Dialect
This excellent little book has actually been translated into Japanese by Professor Aiwa Iwamoto. Anyone wishing to know further details of the English version should click here

Proposed developments
Material is constantly being collected in relation to various aspects of Yorkshire dialect for use in future projects or to supplement material already contained in the existing web pages. The following outlines proposed future developments (not in order of priority):

Urban Dialects
Dr Sali Tagliamonte (York University) has recently e-mailed me more linguistic material for inclusion on the site.

The Normans
More needs to be said about this group, especially in relation to their influence on Yorkshire dialect.

List of abbreviations and symbols
It might prove useful to provide details of the symbols and abbreviations employed within the site.

Old Norse
It would be interesting to say more about the Old Scandinavian languages and enquiries are currently being undertaken to see what information is available.

Yorkshire
It occurs to me that, as this site is being accessed from all over the world, there will be readers who know nothing about Yorkshire. It would be helpful to them if some background material were to be provided.

The Great Vowel Shift
It is proposed to set up a page dealing with this phenomenon as soon as more material on the Yorkshire aspect is to hand.

Historical Settlement of Yorkshire
It is intended to expand the section devoted to the Historical Settlement of Yorkshire. The aim is to provide an etymology for every place-name in the county. As with the proposed word glossary, this project will be completed in the fullness of time.