From ‘Abbadabba’ to ‘Z-Cars’, this remarkable dictionary records the rich vocabulary that has evolved over the past century and a half, as part of the complex, stratified, multi-faceted and changing culture of Liverpool. The roots/routes, meanings and histories of the words of Liverpool are presented in a concise, clear and accessible format.
From ‘Abbadabba’ to ‘Z-Cars’, this remarkable dictionary records the rich vocabulary that has evolved over the past century and a half, as part of the complex, stratified, multi-faceted and changing culture of Liverpool. The roots/routes, meanings and histories of the words of Liverpool are presented in a concise, clear and accessible format.
This volume investigates the realisation and perception of four phonological variables in Liverpool English (Scouse), with a special focus on their sociolinguistic salience. Younger speakers’ speech is found to be more local, but only for the two salient variables in the sample (NURSE-SQUARE and /k/ lenition), which appear to carry considerable amounts of covert prestige. Local variants of non-salient happy-tensing and velar nasal plus, on the other hand, are actually found to be receding, so at least to a certain extent Scouse also seems to be participating in regional dialect levelling. The importance of salience is also obvious in the perception data, with only the two highly salient stereotypes generating robust effects in a social priming experiment (albeit in the unexpected direction). These results indicate that the investigated variables differ measurably not only in their use in production, but also in terms of how central they are to mental sociolinguistic representations of Scouse. They also tell us more about the way we process, store, and (re-)use sociolinguistic variation in perception. By defining likely contexts for significant priming effects they might finally even help in coming up with a more elaborate
Written by an author brought up in working-class Liverpool in the 1960s and 1970s, Liverpool: A Memoir of Words is a work of creative non-fiction that combines the study of language in Liverpool with social history, the history of the English language and personal memoir. A beautifully written book, based on a lifetime’s academic research, it explores the relationship between language and memory, and demonstrates the ways in which words are enmeshed in history and history in words. Starting with ‘Ace’ and weaving its way alphabetically to ‘Z-Cars’, the work illustrates the deep relationship that has been forged in the past two hundred years or so between a form of language, a place and a social identity. The account is funny, sad, full of surprises and always illuminating. It tells the real history of ‘Scouse’, details the multicultural complexity of Liverpool English, examines the common use of ‘plazzymorphs’, and shows how Liverpudlian words exemplify standard processes of change and development. Neither a memoir, dictionary or history book, this work crosses different fields of knowledge in order to weave an engaging and fascinating story. It is a book that will educate and delight Liverpudlians, students of language and social historians alike.
This book provides a detailed overview of the main phonological, grammatical, lexical and discourse features of Liverpool English (LE). These will be discussed in terms of (1) LE's past, including the origins of the variety, and its relationships with other north-west English dialects and Irish varieties, and (2) ongoing change in LE, including the extent to which LE linguistic features are levelling or diverging from supralocal norms.
Northern English has been the object of much attention linguistically over the last thirty years but scholars have had a tendency to focus on the phonology of the dialects and varieties encountered. The purpose of the present volume is to complement and enrich the existing studies by providing readers with a kaleidoscopic perspective, allowing for a holistic interpretation and understanding of Northern English. It includes studies not only on phonology but also on semantics, syntax and sociolinguistics from a synchronic and diachronic point of view, with a special emphasis on the process of enregisterment. The varieties covered include Scottish Standard English, Shetland and Northern Ireland as well as varieties from the North of England.
Presents a comparison of the development in European and English law of two legal principles, legitimate expectations and proportionality, against the different traditions of administrative law. Looks at case law of the English courts and the European Court of Justice, and explains why English courts have been troubled by legitimate expectations and proportionality and how such difficulties can be resolved. Suggests that problems associated with these principles are connected to different cultural approaches to the appropriate role of law in the modern state. Of interest to administrative lawyers. The author teaches law at the University of Manchester. Distributed by ISBS. c. Book News Inc.
The Committee's report examines the contribution of historic buildings to urban regeneration; the role and effectiveness of public agencies responsible for the built environment; the impact of the planning system and listing of historic buildings on urban regeneration; the role played by government departments to promote the historic environment; and fiscal and legislative reform options. The Committee concludes that regenerating historic buildings can reinforce a sense of local community and act as a catalyst for urban regeneration. However, historic buildings cannot be retained as relics of a bygone age, but new uses and sensitive adaptations allowed where the original use is no longer viable. The report highlights the shortage of conservation officers and the skills deficit in knowledge of regeneration and funding issues. It also call on the DCMS and the ODPM to working more closely together on their cross-cutting responsibilities, in order to boost the potential contributions made by historic buildings to the local economy. The current planning system is also criticised for causing delays and uncertainty, with developers being subject to as many as nine different regimes, including planning controls, listed building consent and conservation area controls.
