Nikki Gittins, a graphic designer from Ludlow, England has begun The Local Language Project to compile a record of the dialects of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. So far Gittins has gathered 400 words in a study that is thought to be the first of it’s kind in over a century. Local dialects in Britain often stem from the trade the area is historically rooted in. The counties involved are steeped in agriculture and Gittins has found that many of the areas unique words and phrases indeed stem from farming. Gittins is quoted as saying:

The aim of the project was to originally get the younger generation interested in the dialect of the Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire area, but as research progressed so did the aims.

Gittins found that there was a popularly held belief in the area that the younger generation were using their local dialect less frequently. The reason she gave for this was:

With advancements in technology, language could now be learnt nationally and internationally rather than from the local community. The youth of the area were learning words from their peers rather than their elders.

Gittins noticed that the areas she was focusing on not only had unique words used within the local community but also different spellings.

“There are three accepted ways to spell yogurt – with the others being yoghurt and yoghourt,” she said. “But through a variety of tests over the counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire, through different demographics, I have found 100 per cent of Herefordians tested spelt it ‘yoghurt’ and 99 per cent of Salopians tested spelt it ‘yogurt’. ”

via: Shropshire Star