“Mazed as a sheep”: Yorkshireman Jonnie Robinson, Lead Curator of Spoken English at the British Library and the newly elected President of the Yorkshire Dialect Society gives his inaugural Presidential address in Bradford on Thursday July 24th.

Jonnie’s first talk to the people of Yorkshire is subtitled “A Thesaurus of English Dialect and Slang with a special reference to contemporary speech in Yorkshire.” A major study bringing together recordings from nationwide surveys and BBC Voice recordings from over 200 locations throughout England, including from Yorkshire will illustrate how Regional speech is alive and well in England, including within 21st century Yorkshire. As one of the country’s leading specialists in modern English dialects, the talk to Dialect Society members and the public is not about the dialects of the past but how people are actually speaking and using dialect at the present time. Accents and dialect continually change, and his talk uses the research from his latest book A Thesaurus of English Dialect and Slang.

Of interest to both Yorkshire folk and the wider public, the talk takes place at the historic Bradford Mechanics Institute Library, 18 Kirkgate, Bradford at 2pm on Thursday July 24th. Tickets including refreshments, are £5

Bradford Mechanics Institute Library is about 7 minutes’ walk from both Forster Square and Interchange Stations in Bradford’s Heritage Quarter at the top end of Kirkgate. Parking available in nearby Broadway Centre.