“Once responses to the survey were collected, Orton’s team created a series of ‘word maps’ capturing the breadth of words used across the country. Rivulet is inspired by the word map for ‘rivulet’, a small stream.
It incorporates record cards which were used to sort and organise and include type written details. I have used a mixture of images found in the archive with colour images found in magazines.”
Emily says
What is in the audiogram?
Dialect words
Survey of English Dialects Questionnaire (1962)
Book 4: Nature
Question 1.1: water, ground
What do you call any running water smaller than a river?
Rivulet
Responses given that are dialect words:
- beck (Northern counties and East Anglia)
- dike (Northern counties, East Anglia and Midlands)
Responses given that are Standard English words:
- stream (submitted across the UK)
- brook (Northern counties and East Anglia)
Survey of English Dialects: the dictionary and grammar, ed. Michael V. Barry (1994)

Title page of the Survey of English Dialects by Harold Orton and Eugen Dieth (1962)
All items held at Special Collections, Leeds University Library.
- ‘Eel Fishing on the River Ure’ (LAVC/PHO/P0437) by Werner Kissling. July 1964. Aysgarth, North Yorkshire.
- ‘Crabbing Crayfish on the River Ure’ (LAVC/PHO/P0443) by Werner Kissling. Askrigg, North Yorkshire.
Images licensed under CC-BY-NC 4.0.