‘Ay’up’, Even ‘Emmets’ Now ‘chunter’ in English
Microsoft Invites UK Public to Create Uniquely British Version of Microsoft Office 2007
Reading -UK – 23rd April 2007 - As we celebrate St George’s day, and reflect on what makes us British, Microsoft is launching a project to find quirky words from dialects across the UK to help make its 2007 Microsoft Office system more relevant to the unique regional voices of Britain. So if you know your ‘dander’ from your ‘neb’, just email in your ideas to dialect@microsoft.com and you could find your favourite words in a new dictionary of regional dialects which will available to download online and form part of your personal version of Microsoft Office 2007.
But before any Yorkshire authors start to have a ‘benny’ because they can’t find ‘owt’ from their own county in the new downloadable dictionary, do any of us still speak in local dialects or are they dying out? How many people talk about ‘hoying’ a ball or even taking a ‘crib’ when they have a cup of tea?
To take up Microsoft’s offer to contribute to the new regional dictionaries, Brits must simply state where they live and email their favourite regional dialect words, from ‘barnet’ to ‘barmy’, to dialect@microsoft.com. The words entered will then be judged by expert linguists to create multiple downloadable dialect dictionaries. Once these dictionaries are up and running, writers will be able to type in their own dialects without seeing red lines appear under every word simply because their computer doesn’t recognise it.
Jonathan Robinson, curator of English accents and dialects at The British Library, will judge which of the words will make it into the dictionary. “Britain has a rich heritage of different accents and dialects and, contrary to popular opinion, there is still a great deal of lexical diversity across the UK – where else would you find the words ‘cob’, ‘batch’, ‘bun’, ‘barm cake’, ‘stotty cake’, ‘scuffler’ and ‘bread cake’, all meaning bread roll?” said Jonathan. “But the English language is constantly changing. Due to a complex combination of influences, local words occasionally disappear from common usage or are replaced by others which become absorbed into our everyday vocabulary.”
Darren Strange, Microsoft Office 2007 product manager, will also join Jonathan in judging the contributions to the new online dictionaries.
“Lots of people believe that regional dialects are dying out, but this is a popular misconception,” added Darren. “It’s the diversity of Britain’s dialects that has led us to develop the new dictionaries. So in future, your Microsoft Outlook will be able to recognise emails where you ask your ‘marra’ to get you a ‘buttie’ instead of inserting red lines beneath all the unfamiliar words,” said Darren Strange. “We wanted to give everyone the chance to adapt and personalise their software, and at the same time recognise the diversity of dialects we use here in the UK that makes us completely different to any other country in the world.”
Additional information
How do I make my own contribution to this project?
Just email your contribution, including its definition and details of which part of the UK you think the word comes from if you know, to dialect@microsoft.com and your entry will be reviewed and considered by the judges. If your entry is successful, it will then be incorporated into the local dialect pack and included in the dictionary download, which can be then be downloaded and used in conjunction with Microsoft Office 2007.
When does the email address stop taking contributions?
Microsoft and Jonathan will be judging the entries at the end of May, but the email address will remain open indefinitely as we’re keen to get as many contributions to the dictionaries as possible.
What is on offer in terms of prizes?
Microsoft is offering five copies of Microsoft Office 2007 Professional edition to five people (chosen at random) submitting their words to dialect@microsoft.com, If you contribute more than once, each entry will be treated as a separate entry, so feel free to enter as many times as you like.
How many words will be included in the online dictionaries?
There’s no limit to the number of words Microsoft will include, and all contributions will be considered.
What’s the difference between an accent and a dialect?
An accent is simply variations in the sounds of speech – a different pronunciation of the same word or a distinctive intonation pattern, while a dialect is speech that involves distinctive words, pronunciations and grammatical constructions. Slang and swear words won’t be considered.
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