A study of the comprehensiveness of the EDD to Traditional Cumbrian (1700–1898) and the usefulness of the EDD to Contemporary Cumbrian (1950–present), when compared against the OED, with the aim of determining the necessity for the EDD’s revision

Wilkinson, Luke Thomas (2019) A study of the comprehensiveness of the EDD to Traditional Cumbrian (1700–1898) and the usefulness of the EDD to Contemporary Cumbrian (1950–present), when compared against the OED, with the aim of determining the necessity for the EDD’s revision. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The dialects of English have been under constant critique since the 16th Century (cf. section 1.2.1.2), labelled as the unsophisticated bastardisations of Standard English. As a result, English dialects have been in a steady state of decline for the last four-hundred years and various authors have endeavoured to preserve as much of their lexis and grammar as possible before they are replaced by the Standard.

Currently, the most complete account of English dialect lexis is Wright’s (1898–1905) English Dialect Dictionary (EDD). However, little research on the comprehensiveness and usefulness of this source has been conducted by the academic community, with the only researcher tackling the issue with intent being Beal (2010b) in her study of Wright’s coverage of Yorkshire dialect lexis. Thus, the researcher saw a gap in the literature which he felt obliged to fill, using the groundwork laid by Beal (2010b) to investigate Wright’s coverage of his own dialect of Cumbrian.

This study will explore English Dialect Dictionary’s (1898–1905) treatment of the Cumbrian dialect in comparison to the Oxford English Dictionary. Two research questions and their complementary time-periods will be referenced throughout this study, focussing on the EDD’s comprehensiveness for Traditional Cumbrian (dating 1700–1898) and the EDD’s usefulness to Contemporary Cumbrian (dating 1950–present).

The methodology for this investigation is based on Beal’s (2010b) study of the EDD’s use of Hunter’s (1829) Hallamshire Glossary. She considered the extent and nature of Wright’s referencing, with the aim of determining the EDD’s comprehensiveness for the Traditional dialect of Yorkshire. Her methodology, with revision, is suitable for this investigation’s needs (cf. section 3).

As will be demonstrated, the EDD proves less comprehensive than the OED for Traditional Cumbrian and less useful than the OED for Contemporary Cumbrian. This contests Wright’s self-proclaimed accolade of being the in-antiquate, “complete vocabulary of all English dialect words” (Wright 1898: v). The findings of this research, as illustrated by the conclusions to section 4.1 through 4.4, illustrate the necessity for the revision of the EDD to rectify the oversights Wright made for Traditional Cumbrian and to include the changes to Contemporary Cumbrian which have occurred since the publication of the EDD’s final volume. These revisions, if conducted systematically for all dialects covered by the EDD, are suggested by the researcher to greatly increase the EDD’s practicality as a tool for the study of all Traditional and Contemporary dialects.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: Cumbrian dialect, dialectology, lexicography.
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics
• Supervisor's Name: Hough, Prof. Carole
• Date of Award: 2019
• Depositing User: Mr Luke Wilkinson
• Unique ID: glathesis:2019-74392
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 09 Oct 2019 07:48
• Last Modified: 01 Nov 2019 08:45
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.74392
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/74392