The Survey of English Dialects

The Survey of English Dialects was a research project conducted in the mid-20th century to document regional speech patterns across England. Linguists visited rural communities, recorded local speakers, and collected examples of their vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical habits. The goal was to preserve and analyze the diverse ways English was spoken in different areas before these dialects changed or disappeared. This comprehensive collection helped scholars understand the regional variations in English and provided valuable insights into the language's history and development.