Course paper Theme: Dialect words in English Content: Introduction

Chapter 2 Modern English Dialects.
2.1 Classification of modern English dialects.
The classification of modern English dialects presents serious difficulties, because their boundaries are very unstable, and the local standard is more and more invading the area of ​​distribution of dialect speech.
One of the most serious attempts at such a classification was made by A. Ellis.
Although this classification is not without flaws, on the whole it quite accurately reflects the dialect map of modern Great Britain and is accepted as the basis by many dialectologists (see Appendix 2, Fig. 3).
In general terms, based on the scheme of A. Ellis, modern English dialects can be classified as follows:
Northern dialects (Northern), subdivided into three subgroups –
1) Northumberland, sowing. Durham;
2) south. Durham, most of Cumberland, Westmoreland, Sev. Lancashire, the hilly part of the West Riding in Yorkshire;
3) the East Riding and North Riding in Yorkshire;
Middle dialects (Midland), subdivided into ten subgroups:
1) Lincolnshire;
2) southeast. Lancashire, north-east Cheshire, northwest Darbyshire;
3) north-west. Lancashire, south Ribble;
4) middle Lancashire, Isle of Man;
5) south Yorkshire;
6) most of Cheshire, north. Staffordshire;
7) most of Darbyshire;
8) Nottinghamshire;
9) Flint, Denby;
10) east. Shropshire, south Staffordshire, most of Warwickshire, south Darbyshire, Leicestershire;
Eastern dialects (Eastern), subdivided into five subgroups:
1) Cambridgeshire, Rutland, northeast. Northamptonshire;
2) most of Essex, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, middle Northamptonshire;
3) Norfolk and Suffolk;
4) most of Buckinghamshire;
5) Middlesex, SE Buckinghamshire, south Hertfordshire, southwest Essex;
Western dialects (Western), subdivided into two subgroups:
1) app. and southern Shropshire (west of the River Severn);
2) Herfordshire, except east. its parts, Radnor, east. part of Bracknock;