Distinct dialects can give major clues not only to where someone comes from but also to their affluence, gender, and even how they have lived their lives.

Now linguistics experts from Yorkshire are searching for folk who took part in a major study nearly 60 years ago to see how their accents might have changed since childhood.

A 1968 survey carried out by Prof Peter Trudgill in Norwich is recognised as the first of its kind to consider links with social factors such as class and gender.

Now, researchers led by the University of Leeds are revisiting the project to see how accents and dialects in the Norfolk city have changed since that time.

Professor Peter Trudgill, 1968 (courtesy of Peter Trudgill)

placeholder image — Professor Peter Trudgill, 1968 (courtesy of Peter Trudgill)

And they hope to re-record as many of the original participants as they can possibly find, many of whom were children then at the City of Norwich School.

Dr Kerri-Ann Butcher, a lecturer in English Language in the University of Leeds and Bye Fellow at King’s College, Cambridge, is leading the EAST Project.

She said they already have a list of names they can match up as a starting point: “Participants will be able to listen to a recording of their voice from 1968, and we will compare their accent and dialect from 1968 with how they sound today.

"This research will not just apply to Norwich – what we learn can be applied to language change all over the world, as this will be the longest study on lifespan change in a group context so far, tracking up to 58 years of difference.”

The University of Leeds is home to the original Survey of English Dialects, an incredibly famous study which saw recordings and research across more than 300 towns through the 1950s and 1960s.

Prof Trudgill, who met members some decades ago to examine their own record-keeping, said he was particularly inspired by the notes of a "brilliant" researcher known as Stanley Ellis which he still consults to this day.

Now five generations of change are to be examined since his work in 1968, funded by a New Investigator grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Among questions to be considered by linguistics ‘detectives’ are how the original participants' language has changed over time.

They will also look at how drastic changes might be, and what social factors may play a part here. One of the key considerations is the extent to which people can fully change their accent or dialect - do we ever really leave it behind?

For more visit the East Anglian Speech Tracking Project website.