BBC Voices

Conversation in Warleggan about accent, dialect and attitudes to language.

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  • Type

    sound

  • Duration

    01:02:41

  • Shelf mark

    C1190/10/01

  • Recording date

    2004-12-02

  • Is part of (Collection)

    BBC Voices Recordings

  • Recording locations

    Warleggan, Cornwall

  • Interviewees

    Keast, Barbara, (speaker, female, postmistress), Keast, Cyril, 1922 Aug. 28- (speaker, male, carpenter), Wills, Clive, 1962 Aug. 29- (speaker, male, farmer), Wills, Kenneth, (speaker, male, Wills, Ruby, 1928 Sept. 14- (speaker, female, farmer's wife)

  • Interviewers

    Davey, Nina, 1962 Feb. 14- (speaker, female)

  • Producers

    Radio Cornwall

  • Abstract

    [00:00:00] Speakers introduce themselves. Discussion of words used to describe EMOTIONS. Mention things that make them annoyed.[00:07:07] Discussion of words used to mean male partner. Mention nicknames used by parents for Clive and his brother, words used to mean father.[00:09:42] Discussion of words used to describe ACTIONS. Anecdote about playing truant to avoid getting into trouble with parents when younger; teacher correcting his use of teddies for potatoes. Explanation of tip the button, a game played at Christmas time. Anecdote about fighting a man over Barbara.[00:19:12] Discussion of words used to describe CLOTHING. Anecdote about wearing trousers that were too short at his wedding. Mention people who used to wear/make corduroy suits in the past. Comment that Barbara and Ruby have never worn trousers, they only wear skirts. Mention people who used to come round to their house selling clothes. Comment that they wore hobnail boots and leggings to school as children.[00:27:17] Discussion of words used to describe PEOPLE AND THINGS. Description of physical discipline received as children. Anecdote about brother burning cane in fire while mother was out; getting into bed with grandmother when he was in trouble as young child because he felt safer there.[00:37:17] Discussion of words used to describe PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES. Mention different meanings of scat. Comment that they dont see many drunk people in Warleggan.[00:46:51] Discussion of words used to describe WEATHER AND SURROUNDINGS. Description of cold winter in Bodmin Moor in 1947; use of parlour in past; different types of open fire. Anecdote about young man confusing grate with open fire. Mention use of turf to mean peat; cats getting singed because they sat in chimney in cold weather. Description of using outside toilet in past.[00:56:19] Discussion about attitudes towards their own speech. Anecdote about friend recognising her voice instantly despite not having spoken to him for years. Comment that not many people speak like them these days because people move around so much now. Mention that people thought he was foreign when he started new class at school. Discussion about changing speech in different situations/when talking to different people; telephone voice. Preconceptions other people have about their accent; future of Cornish accent; how local population has changed over time.

  • Description

    All five interviewees are friends who have spent their lives on Bodmin Moor. Recording made for BBC Voices project of a conversation guided by a BBC interviewer. The conversation follows a loose structure based on eliciting opinions about accents, dialects, the words we use and people's attitude to language.

  • Texts

    Linguistic description of this item

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Conversation in Warleggan about accent, dialect and attitudes to language.

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