Number of items in collection: 287

The Survey of English Dialects (SED) was a groundbreaking nationwide survey of the vernacular speech of England, undertaken by researchers based at the University of Leeds under the direction of Harold Orton. From 1950 to 1961 a team of fieldworkers collected data in a network of 313 localities across England, initially in the form of transcribed responses to a questionnaire containing over 1300 items. The informants were mostly farm labourers, predominantly male and generally over 65 years old as the aim of the survey was to capture the most conservative forms of folk-speech. Almost all the sites visited by the researchers were rural locations, as it was felt that traditional dialect was best preserved in isolated areas. It was initially the intention to include urban areas at a later date, but this plan had to be abandoned on economic grounds.

Long description:

Recordings in this collection can be played by anyone.

The Survey of English Dialects (SED) was a groundbreaking nationwide survey of the vernacular speech of England, undertaken by researchers based at the University of Leeds under the direction of Harold Orton. From 1950 to 1961 a team of fieldworkers collected data in a network of 313 localities across England, initially in the form of transcribed responses to a questionnaire containing over 1300 items. The informants were mostly farm labourers, predominantly male and generally over 65 years old as the aim of the survey was to capture the most conservative forms of folk-speech. Almost all the sites visited by the researchers were rural locations, as it was felt that traditional dialect was best preserved in isolated areas. It was initially the intention to include urban areas at a later date, but this plan had to be abandoned on economic grounds.

Advances in audio technology during the 1950s made it increasingly possible, and indeed desirable, to record informal conversations on site and several localities were revisited to record original contributors or replacements with similar profiles, a process that continued until 1974. The interviews were unscripted and unrehearsed, encouraging speakers to use their natural speech forms. The length and quality of recording varies and the content focuses on memories of younger days including work, village and family life, traditional farm practice and domestic routine in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The extracts chosen here, just a taste of what is available, were selected to reflect as far as possible the dialect in each of the 288 SED site recordings held in the British Library Sound Archive.

The British Library acknowledges the support of Leeds University Archive of Vernacular Culture.

More resources from the British Library

There are further recordings of accents and dialects on Sounds Familiar, which is an interactive, educational website that explores and celebrates the diversity of British accents and dialects, with access to 78 extracts from recordings of speakers from across the UK and over 600 audio clips that illustrate change and variation in contemporary British English.

All recordings on this site are governed by licence agreements.