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8 - English in Wales

from Part I - English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2024

By
Heli Paulasto
Edited by
Susan Fox
Susan Fox
Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
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Summary

This chapter presents on overview of present-day Welsh English(es) with a focus on regional variation and diachronic developments over the past fifty years. The Anglicisation of Wales has progressed in several phases over the centuries, which is why the accents and dialects of English in Wales are regionally distinctive, the Welsh language and neighbouring English English dialects impacting them to different degrees. The chapter takes the Survey of Anglo-Welsh dialects (Parry 1999) as a starting point and uses corpus and survey data compiled in the twenty-first century as well as recent research publications, thereby examining the main trends of development in the different domains of English. Phonological variation and change are described across a broad North–South continuum, whereas in morphosyntax the greatest differences can be found between the predominantly English-speaking Southeast and the bilingual, historically Welsh-dominant North and West Wales. In regional lexicon, sociolinguistically and nationally salient items are relatively few, originating from both Welsh and English. Finally, the chapter draws attention to recent research, and highlights some caveats and future directions for the study of English in Wales.

Keywords

Welsh EnglishWalesphonologymorphosyntaxlexicondiscourse pragmaticsvariationchangelanguage and dialect contactsociolinguistics
Type
Chapter
Information
Language in Britain and Ireland , pp. 208 - 228
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • English in Wales
  • Edited by Susan Fox, Universität Bern, Switzerland
  • Book: Language in Britain and Ireland
  • Online publication: 17 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108769617.011
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  • English in Wales
  • Edited by Susan Fox, Universität Bern, Switzerland
  • Book: Language in Britain and Ireland
  • Online publication: 17 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108769617.011
Available formats
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  • English in Wales
  • Edited by Susan Fox, Universität Bern, Switzerland
  • Book: Language in Britain and Ireland
  • Online publication: 17 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108769617.011
Available formats
×