INVENTION, hunter and apple are three of the most popular words used by some of Oxfordshire’s youngest writers.
More than 74,000 children sent in stories to BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words short story competition, 1,162 of them from Oxfordshire.
Oxford University Press has carried out an analysis of the language used by the youngsters.
Mum and friend were in the top 10 nouns used by children nationwide, with door the most common.
In Oxfordshire entries, the top 10 was as follows: invention, hunter, inventor, apple, thump, army, cage, planet, van and alien.
Samantha Armstrong, of OUP, said: “We feel like we’re on a voyage of discovery.
“It’s so exciting to see children using language confidently, even taking it into new directions.”
Google and app appeared in stories, along with names for creatures such as the sharkbaragator: part shark, part bear, part alligator.
Stories were written by children aged 13 or under and judged by authors David Walliams, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Charlie Higson, Lauren Child and Andy Stanton. The winners will be revealed on Chris Evans’s Radio 2 breakfast show from the Hay Literature Festival tomorrow.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel