The Southwest

The West Country

The West Country is a region with imprecise boundaries. According to Wells (1982: 335–336), three main areas can be identified: The centre of the region is formed by the “cider counties” of Gloucestershire, the former county of Avon, Somerset and Devon. To the East and nearer to London lies “the transitional area of Wessex” (Wells 1982: 335), which comprises Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire and parts of Oxfordshire. To the far West, “Cornwall stands somewhat apart” (Wells 1982: 335). This area differs from the two other areas with regard to its distinctive Celtic background and its Cornish language. Cornish became extinct in the late 18^th century but has been revived to a small degree in recent decades.

Trudgill (1999: 76–77) agrees with Wells (1982) in dividing the Southwest into three dialect areas. He differs from Wells with regard to the (northern) extension of this area and its internal structure. Trudgill’s centre, the Central Southwest, comprises most of the central and eastern regions identified by Wells, i.e. Somerset, the former county of Avon, and parts of Gloucestershire, together with parts of the more eastern counties of Wells’ transitional area, i.e. Dorset and Wiltshire, and western districts of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire. In addition, Trudgill distinguishes between the Upper and Lower Southwest. The Upper Southwest covers much of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire as well as areas as far north as Herefordshire and Shropshire up to Shrewsbury. The Lower Southwest is formed by Devon and Cornwall.

Another attempt to establish dialect areas in the Southwest has been proposed by Klemola (1994). Klemola’s study is based on cluster analysis making use of SED material for 80 variables (25 phonological, 30 morphosyntactic and 25 lexical) in nine Southwestern counties. The results of this study do not coincide completely with the structures proposed by Wells and by Trudgill but show interesting parallels. Klemola (1994: 373) has found a very stable cluster in a region comprising Eastern Cornwall and Devon (cf. Trudgill’s Lower Southwest). Typical phonological features of this area at the time of the SED fieldwork are initial fricative voicing, /Y(:)/ in GOOSE and /d/ in butter. The second relatively stable cluster is formed at the eastern end of the region comprising Berkshire, Oxfordshire and eastern parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire (cf. Wells’ transitional area). Typical phonological features of this area are the absence of initial fricative voicing, /u(:)/ in GOOSE and /t/ in butter. The internal structure of the “central” areas identified by Klemola is more variable.