Local dialects of English in G. B

Dialects are linguistic varieties which differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar from each other and from Standard English (which is itself a dialect).

The combination of differences in pronunciation and use of local words may make some English dialects almost unintelligible from one region to another.

England.

English dialect includes English-English accents which may be grouped like this:

1) Southern accents (Creater London, Cocney, Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, Avon etc.) There are the special peculiarities of each of them. For ex. Cockney- originally the dialect of the working class of East End London.

- initial h is dropped, so house becomes /aus/ (or even /a:s/).

- /th/ and /dh/ become /f/ and /v/ respectively: think, brother.

- diphthongs change, sometimes dramatically: time > /toim/, brave > /braiv/, etc.

Besides the accent, it includes a large number of slang words

2) Nothern and Midland accents (Yorkshire, West Midland, North-West accents etc.)

For ex., the Yorkshire dialect is known for its sing-song quality, a little like Swedish, and retains its r's.

- initial h is dropped - hope /ope/

- still use “thou” (pronounced /tha/) and thee.

- aught and naught (pronounced /aut/ and /naut/) are used for anything and nothing.

Wales.

It has been strongly influenced by the Welsh language, although it is also influenced today by standard English, due to the large number of English people vacationing and retiring there.

Scotland.

Scotland actually has more variation in dialects than England. They have some common features:

- final /ai/ > /i/, e.g. dee (die), lee (lie)

- /ou/ > /e/, e.g. ake (oak), bate (boat),

- /au/ > /u/, e.g. about, house,

- /o/ > /a:/, e.g. saut (salt), law,

- /ou/ > /a:/, e.g. auld (old), cauld (cold), snaw (snow)

- /æ/ > /a/, e.g. man, lad, sat...

Ireland

Irish English is strongly influenced by Irish Gaelic:

- r after vowels is retained – word

- /th/ and /dh/ > /t/ and /d/

- Use of be or do in place of usually: Ex, I do write... (I usually write)