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I'm developing an application that requires samples of various forms of the English language. Each sample must be at minimum 2-3 paragraphs long and preferably be of a conversational manner, for example, it can't just be "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" over and over, neither can it be "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" repeated 100 times.

At the moment the list of language styles I'm looking for includes, but is not limited to, the following (forgive my cringe-worthy attempts at examples):

  • Contemporary (21st Century) every day language - "Hi Bob, how are you?"
  • Pirate speak - "Ahoy there Bob, me hearty, how sails you on the 7 seas today?"
  • Txt / Sms Lanuage - "Hi Bob, how r u?"
  • "Leet/1337 Speak" - "|-|1 7|-|3r3 b0B, |-|0// R j00Z?"
  • Shakespearean / Elizabethan language - "I bequest thee, Bob - tarry a moment and tell me of thy comings and goings."
  • Add your suggestions here...

My question is, where on earth could I obtain such samples of the English language? I welcome users providing samples in their answers(!), or pointing me to resources that may help me.

Short of copying down text from books that use each of these language styles I'm completely stumped about where to obtain the text I'm after.

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This is a tough question to answer. I mean, your choice of styles is pretty arbitrary. It would help to know what you'll be doing with this information -- are you going to analyze difference in letters/parts of speech? Or something else? – Alan Jul 10 '11 at 14:24
Slangatang app anyone? – mplungjan Jul 10 '11 at 16:29
* lorizzle.nl * rinkworks.com/dialect – mplungjan Jul 10 '11 at 16:31
The application analyses patterns in the language and then generates new 'gibberish' phrases that match the given language style. Sad that the question got closed :( – aaronsnoswell Jul 11 '11 at 3:37
@mplingjan your link to the rinkworks dialect thing is very helpful! – aaronsnoswell Jul 11 '11 at 3:51

closed as not constructive by kiamlaluno, Robusto, Alenanno, FumbleFingers, Kosmonaut Jul 10 '11 at 21:32

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2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Head over to Project Gutenberg where you can download over 100,000 free ebooks they have digitised from out of copyright paper books.

We carry high quality ebooks: All our ebooks were previously published by bona fide publishers. We digitized and diligently proofed them with the help of thousands of volunteers.

So, here are some links to the styles you asked for:

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up vote 1 down vote

  • this sounds like a good question for writers.SE They tend to know more about style than here.

  • there is a classic modern French 'novel' by Raymond Queneau called 'Exercises du style' which tells the same very short story numerous times in different styles.

  • what is the purpose of having these several examples? Since you know what they are for you might be able to write them yourself.

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See my comment above, but the application analyses the text and then generates gibberish in a matching language style. – aaronsnoswell Jul 11 '11 at 3:38

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