Chapter 2 of The diary of Delia is here in full — 56 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The diary of Delia is here in full — 56 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
NEXT DAY Its a weery world. Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts. “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say. Aroze. Dressed.
Chapter 2 of The diary of Delia is here in full — 56 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/11 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
Having no one else present.
From this reading “Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.”
a Scottish word
From this reading ““O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.”
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading “Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.”
dressed or clothed especially in fine attire; often used in combination
From this reading “Dressed.”
being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop
From this reading “Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.”
plural of “hart” — United States playwright who collaborated with George S. Kaufman (1904-1961)
From this reading “Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.”
immediately following in time or order
From this reading “NEXT DAY Its a weery world.”
employed in accomplishing something
From this reading ““O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “NEXT DAY Its a weery world.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading NEXT DAY Its a weery world.
Having no one else present.
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Aroze.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
a Scottish word
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading NEXT DAY Its a weery world.
dressed or clothed especially in fine attire; often used in combination
From this reading Dressed.
being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
plural of “hart” — United States playwright who collaborated with George S. Kaufman (1904-1961)
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading NEXT DAY Its a weery world.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading NEXT DAY Its a weery world.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
express in words
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
employed in accomplishing something
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading NEXT DAY Its a weery world.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld mother used to say.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading NEXT DAY Its a weery world.
Chapter 2 of The diary of Delia by Onoto Watanna holds 56 sentences, grouped into 12 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 2 holds 56 sentences of The diary of Delia, unabridged, divided into 12 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The diary of Delia by Onoto Watanna exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 56 sentences, grouped into 12 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 12 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 12 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 2 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The diary of Delia by Onoto Watanna on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2061 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61238 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61238, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 171 minutes of reading across 413 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The diary of Delia section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of The diary of Delia to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The diary of Delia, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
