Editing British English (section)

=== Research ===
Following its last major [[survey of English Dialects]] (1949–1950), the [[University of Leeds]] has started work on a new project. In May 2007 the [[Arts and Humanities Research Council]] awarded a grant to Leeds to study British regional dialects.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050313183453/http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~smlsaj/ Professor Sally Johnson] biography on the [[Leeds University]] website</ref><ref name=MEO>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061003092355/http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/press_releases/current/voices.htm Mapping the English language—from cockney to Orkney], [[Leeds University]] website, 25 May 2007.</ref>

The team are{{efn|name=note}} sifting through a large collection of examples of regional slang words and phrases turned up by the "Voices project" run by the [[BBC]], in which they invited the public to send in examples of English still spoken throughout the country. The BBC Voices project also collected hundreds of news articles about how the British speak English from swearing through to items on language schools. This information will also be collated and analysed by Johnson's team both for content and for where it was reported. "Perhaps the most remarkable finding in the Voices study is that the English language is as diverse as ever, despite our increased mobility and constant exposure to other accents and dialects through TV and radio".<ref name=MEO/> When discussing the award of the grant in 2007, [[University of Leeds|Leeds University]] stated:
{{blockquote|that they were "very pleased"—and indeed, "well chuffed"—at receiving their generous grant. He could, of course, have been "bostin" if he had come from the [[Black Country]], or if he was a [[Scouser]] he would have been well "made up" over so many spondoolicks, because as a [[Geordie]] might say, £460,000 is a "canny load of chink".<ref name=Indi-20070601>McSmith, Andy. ''Dialect researchers given a "canny load of chink" to sort "pikeys" from "chavs" in regional accents'', [[The Independent]], 1 June 2007. Page 20</ref>}}