Voices is the biggest dialect survey this country has ever known. Leeds University have enlisted the help of the 成人论坛 to gather as many different words as possible and a good chunk of the material is being stored in the National Sound Archive Museum for posterity. The Voices producer for 成人论坛 Cornwall is Nina Davey. She explains more about the project and why she decided to get involved: I've always been interested in language and the words and phrases we use and how they are derived. I love is to hear how words roll off the tongue. Have you noticed some words demand extra attention and need to be savoured like 'He's a pilchard! or ' Coosey on down with me'.
 | | Voices producer Nina Davey |
My favourite accent is a fruity Cornish voice. I could spend hours listening to Timothy Hoskin from the Marazion Apollo Choir, his voice is a lively mix of both old fashioned and modern Cornish interspersed with Cornish words like Drone and Buzza. I'm really grateful to all the people who have helped me so far and given up their evenings to allow me to record them. It's great to be the fly on the wall listening to fascinating conversations amongst families in their own homes. Voices is a rare insight into how we speak naturally. Have you noticed we change our voices to adapt to our surroundings like when we're on the telephone or meeting someone for the first time, or even being on the radio! I feel very priviledged to be part of this massive concern and would love to hear from you. What words do you use that other people comment on? Do you feel you speak a different language from other people? Do people have trouble understanding you? Perhaps you can tell me about someone in your village who has an interesting voice or uses lovely phrases? Please let me know, I'd love to hear from you and then together we can make history.
Get involved in Voices 2005 - Send Nina an email now with your local dialect. email:
nina.davey@bbc.co.uk | 
