English+dialects+and+Accents

= = **ENGLISH DIALECTS AND ACCENTS**

Based on historical dialects (Northumbria, Mercia, Midlands, etc.). In dialect we can find grammatical and lexical variation whereas in the accent we can find phonological variation. The most prestigious British English accent today is the RP (I'll comment later), also BBC English or Queen's English.

**1. Northern Dialects (=Scotland):**


 * Rhotic area. That is to say, __pronunciation__ or /r/
 * Pairs of words like //put / putt// → homophonous and //'bus', 'must'// or //'but'// sound /u/
 * open vowel 'o', //long → /lang///
 * diphtong /ou/ in //house// → ///hu:s///
 * no long vowel 'oo' in //spoon → /spjun///
 * use of pronoun '//thou'//, in Northumberland (Newcastle) '//ye'// that means //you.//
 * Use of 'for to + infinitive': for to get.
 * Some __vocabulary:__
 * bairn – child
 * kug – ear
 * lad – boy
 * lass – girl
 * to delve – to dig

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**2. Midland dialect**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Partly northern, partly southern.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pairs of words like //put / putt →// homophonous and '//bus', 'must'// or //'but'// sound /u/.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">pronounce -ing in wet midlands more than east (dancing, singing)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">some rhotic areas
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">//you// is /jau/
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">the more southern, the more glotal stops in intervocalic /p/, /t/, /k/.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">multiple negation: //I didn't get nothing//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">past tense 'was' → //we was dancing.// There is no conjugation.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Vocabulary__
 * lug – tab – ear
 * armhole – armpit
 * bairn – child
 * wench – lass – girl

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**3. Southern dialects:**

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**3.1.** **Southwest:**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Voicing of 's' to 'z' : //I zee (see). I zay (say)//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">voicing of 'f' to 'v' : //the varmer (farmer)//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">'t' is pronounced 'd' in //city, better.//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rounded u in //boot, rude.// The rounded u is the French /ü/

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**3.2.** **Southeast:**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">More similar to RP
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some diphtongs different: ///ei/ → /ai/// in //Spain, rain, plain.//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Loss of 'l' at the end of words like //school, fool, paul.//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">/p,t,k/ hevaily aspirated.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Glottal stop very common.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">/h/ is sometimes lost (=cockney=the London slang)

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Traditionally several regional dialects, most typical: Northern and Southwest dialects.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**4. Also cities**:

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**4.1.** **Glaswegian (Scotland)**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Iinfluence from Scots and Irish English
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Pronunciation:__
 * 'the' → 'ra', //ra polis (the police), ramorra (tomorrow), murra (mother).//
 * Unstresse final /ou/, in fella (fellow), Glesca (Glascow), awfa (awful), yisfa (useful)
 * 'd' is lost after /l/ and /n/: caul (cold), roon (round), win (wind)
 * Negative: -//nae, -ny// as in cannae (can't), //dinnae (don't)//
 * (Ulster origin) 2nd personal pronoun plural form: //youse, yese, yiz//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vocabulary
 * //bam, bampot, bamstick → idiot//
 * //boggin, bowfin → smelly//
 * //hairy, herry, hingoot → girl//
 * //stocious → drunk//
 * //nooky → sexual//

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**4.2.** **Scouse (Liverpool)**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">working-class accent, influence from Ireland and Wales.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Pronunciation:__
 * alveolar 'r' (rhotic)
 * intervocalic 't' replaced sometimes by 'r' → //marra (matter)//
 * confusion of some consonants /t, d/ in //these three /dese tree///
 * Flat intonation

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**4.3.** **Geordie (Birmingham)**

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**4.4.** **Cockney (London)**