ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to give some snapshots which illustrate distinctive features of the dialect rather than to give a comprehensive picture. It presents first a commentary on an extract from the Bolton/Worktown Corpus (BWC) designed to provide an insight into some of the salient phonological, grammatical and lexical features of Bolton dialect in the period. Although the borders between vernacular language and regional or local dialect may be porous, there is sufficient evidence of local forms in the BWC data to merit consideration of selected features of Bolton dialect. The link between dialect and identity seems clear, so it is interesting for the purposes that commentators have pointed to a specific link between sport and identity. The factor which links dialect use with the pub and the sports field, the chapter argues that, is identity: there is a vigorous sense of local pride expressed through sport and dialect, but also a robust competitiveness, whether physical or verbal.
