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7 February 2011
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We've put together a list of some useful sites about languages and linguistics.

In Your Area
What do you think about your local accent?
Talk about Voices in your area

Did You Know?
Foreign Language Syndrome occurs when people with brain injuries lose the ability to talk in their native accent. After a stroke, George Reynolds developed an Italian accent.
Find out more...

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Linguistic Research
Survey of Regional English (SuRE)
Survey of Regional English (SuRE) - a new investigation into regional and social variation of dialect.
http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/dialect/
university_of_leeds.htm
Association for Language Awareness
Supports initiatives undertaken by organisations with interests in language awareness, and by meetings for practitioners and theorists in all spheres of teaching and learning.
http://www.lexically.net/ala/
British Library, Collect Britain
The way we speak - over 650 recordings of English regional accents and dialects from 1950 to the present day.
http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/dialects/
British Library, Sounds Familiar
Recordings from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland providing a number of examples of RP speech and speakers from the UK's minority ethnic communities.
http://www.bl.uk/soundsfamiliar
Centre for Deaf Studies
Europe's only academic institution dedicated to research and education for the benefit of the deaf community.
http://www.bris.ac.uk/deaf/
Ethnologue - Languages of the world
An encyclopedic reference work cataloging all of the world's 6,912 known living languages.
http://www.ethnologue.com/
Foundation for Endangered Languages
Aims to raise awareness and support the use of endangered languages.
http://www.ogmios.org/home.htm
Hiberno-English archive
Dedicated to the study and promotion of Hiberno-English - how and why Irish people speak the way they do, Irish folklore and the idioms of English as used in Ireland.
http://www.hiberno-english.com/
Initiative B@bel
UNESCO initiative to protect and preserve languages in danger of disappearance and promote multilingualism on the Internet.
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL
_ID=16540&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Language and Global Communication
A research programme studying the impact of multinational corporations, IGOs and NGOs, tourism and advertising, and transnational networks of professionals on linguistic and communicative practices.
http://www.global.cf.ac.uk/
The Survey of English Dialects (SED)
The Survey of English Dialects (SED) - the 'original' language survey project from the University of Leeds that aimed to compile a linguistic atlas of England.
http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/dialect/SED.htm
Urban Dictionary
Slang dictionary with definitions provided by users
http://www.urbandictionary.com/
World Wide Words
Articles on language including Polari, the linguistic legacy of Star Trek, and the spelling of Aluminium versus Aluminum.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm

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Linguistic Research
BBC Vocab
A Window into Welsh - the unique programme which gives you help with Welsh vocabulary.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/vocab/
Blas*
Learn Irish for beginners to intermediate, with audio lessons.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/
blas/learners/index.shtml
Colin and Cumberland
Animated site for beginners of all ages. Learn Irish, Gaelic and Welsh with the pedigree pooch Cumberland and his inherited owner, Colin.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/colinandcumberland
Learn Welsh
Comprehensive learning site including dictionary, spell checker, grammar guide and the intriguing-sounding mutation checker.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/learnwelsh/

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Guide to other non-english languages
Afrikaans
Brief guide to written Afrikaans and pronunciation.
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/afrikaans.htm
Albanian
Includes information on the Gheg and Tosk dialects, history and grammar.
http://www.albanian.com/main/culture/language/
Bahasa Indonesia
Introduction to the national language of the Republic of Indonesia.
http://www.expat.or.id/info/bahasa.html
Esperanto-Asocio de Britio
The official site of the Esperanto Association of Britain (EAB).
http://www.esperanto-gb.org/
Ghanaian Languages
Statistical and linguistic information on the majority of languages spoken in Ghana.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/
tribes/languages.php
Sign Community
A signed site from the British Deaf Association.
http://www.signcommunity.org.uk/
Tamil
Historical and linguistic perspective on Tamil (in English).
http://www.tamilar.org/tamil-history.asp
Telugu
Information on the development of Telugu and other south Indian Dravidian languages.
http://www.engr.mun.ca/~adluri/telugu/
language/script/script1a.html

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Elsewhere on BBCi
E-cyclopedia of teen speak
E-cyclopedia's first annual guide to youth-speak for the not-so-young.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4074004.stm
Esperanto House
Article on Esperanto House, the home of the Esperanto Association of Britain.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/
2004/10/esperanto_update.shtml
See Hear
An introduction to BSL with a list of web resources.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/seehear/info/bsl.shtml
Word Hunt
A BBC TWO series invites you to hunt for words and help rewrite the Oxford English Dictionary.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/wordhunt/

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Radio programmes
Slanguage
Listen to the documentary from 1Xtra about the trends in UK street speech. It's shaped by American and Caribbean culture, even if we don't realise it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/tx/documentaries
/slanguage.shtml
The Routes of English
Listen to the Radio 4 programme on the story of the English language with Melvyn Bragg.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/
Word 4 Word
A series of programmes about language and in particular local language and dialects, and how they are changing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/word4word.shtml
Word of Mouth
Michael Rosen explores the world of words and the way we use them on Radio 4.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/wordofmouth.shtml

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