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The regional Accents of English speakers show great variation across the areas where English is spoken as a first language. This article provides an overview of the many identifiable variations in Pronunciation , usually deriving from the Phoneme inventory of the local Dialect , of the local variety of Standard English between various Population s of native English speakers. Local accents are part of local . Non-native speakers of English tend to carry over the Intonation and Phonemic inventory from their Mother Tongue into their English speech. For more details see Non-native Pronunciations Of English . Among native English speakers, many different accents exist. Some regional accents are easily identified by certain characteristics. It should be noted that further variations are to be found within the regions identified below; for example, towns located less than 10 miles from the city of Manchester such as Bolton , Oldham and Salford , each have distinct accents, all of which form the Lancashire accent, yet in extreme cases different enough to be noticed even by a non-local listener. There is also much room for misunderstanding between people from different regions, as the way one word is pronounced in one accent (for example, ''petal'' in American English) will sound like a different word in another accent (for example, ''pearl'' in Scottish English). BRITAIN AND IRELAND ''Main article: British & Irish English '' English accents and dialects vary more widely within the UK and Ireland than they do in other parts of the world owing to the longer history of the language in these countries. England ''Main article: English English '' The main accent groupings within England are between the north and south; the dividing line runs roughly from Shrewsbury to south of Birmingham and then to The Wash . The prestige or posh accent in England is Received Pronunciation , which originates from the educated speech of southeastern England and is referred to as the Southern English accent. The London-derived Estuary English is growing in importance as a widespread standard form in the south. Scotland ''Main article: Scottish English '' The Scottish English Dialect , English as spoken in Scotland, should not be confused with the Scots Language which is a language in itself. However, the debt owed by Scottish English to Scots and the Scottish Gaelic Language is undeniable. Wales ''Main article: Welsh English '' The Welsh accent of English is strongly influenced by the phonology of the Welsh Language , which 20% of the population of Wales still speak as their first or second language. North east Wales however tends to have a North English accent due to a large English population just over the border. Ireland The differences between northern and southern Irish accents are significant enough that it is best to treat them separately. There are, of course, differences within each group as well, but these are often noticeable only to locals. Irish Travellers Irish Travellers have a very distict accent closely realted to a rural Hiberno-English . Even Travellers that were born in and grown up in London have the accent too. They also have their own language which strongly links in with their dialect/accent of English, see Shelta . Connacht , Leinster & Munster ''Main article: Hiberno-English '' Hiberno-English is spoken throughout the Republic Of Ireland , except in Counties Donegal, Monaghan and parts of County Cavan , which belong linguistically to Ulster, the province to which the six counties of Northern Ireland belong. Dublin is notable for having accents different to most of the rest of Ireland (although certain other accents are quite distinctive, for example Kerry , Cork , Cavan , Wexford and Offaly ). There is also stereotypically, a difference between the accents of the Northside and Southside . Ulster The Ulster accent ( Mid Ulster English ) is spoken in the U.K. region of Northern Ireland as well as in Counties Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan in the Republic. It is also spoken in some northern areas of the other provinces such as Louth and Leitrim . It bears many similarities to Scottish English through influence from Ulster Scots , which is distinct and recognized as a variety of Scots . Some characteristics of the Ulster accent include:
NORTH AMERICA ''Main article: North American English '' Canada ''Main article: Canadian English '' Canadian accents vary widely across the country, and the accent of a particular region is often closer to neighbouring parts of the United States. Nevertheless, there are some characteristics that exist across the country, in varying degrees, such as Canadian Raising . Canadian actors and announcers used to aim for a General American accent (similar to that formerly used by actors and announcers in the United States ), to make their pronunciation more acceptable to U.S. listeners. An example of this is the speech of actor Christopher Plummer . There are five main Canadian accents.
Within this group there are myriad smaller regional accents, many sounding anywhere from "American" (though one must hesitate to classify them this way, as there are many differences between the American and Canadian accents) to slightly British (in a few locales in Southern Ontario, as well as in British Columbia 's Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island ). Most Canadians, especially those speaking with a Central/Western accent deny they have an accent at all. United States ''Main article: American English '' There is great variation among accents of English spoken in the United States; accents are perhaps more variable in the U.S. than in any other English-speaking country besides the , not all use the " Flat A " in words like ''half'' and ''can't'', not all have lost the Phonemic Differentiation between the vowels of ''father'' and ''bother'' or the vowels of ''cot'' and ''caught'' or the consonants of ''wine'' and ''whine'', and so forth. General American is the name given to the accent used by most TV network announcers; it is most similar to the local accents of Iowa and adjacent parts of Nebraska , and Illinois . General American makes a good reference accent, and a good goal for foreigners learning American English, because it is generally regarded as a "neutral" accent (when most Americans say someone "doesn't have an accent" they mean he or she has a General American accent). West Indies and Bermuda For discussion, see: SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE Australia ''Main article: Australian English Phonology '' The Australian accent varies between social classes and from state to state. Many dispute this theory and say that it is more the lexis that varies between states, as well as the pronunciation of certain words, the most cited example being 'castle'. However, many Australians can identify another's socio-economic status, subculture, and area of residence simply through everyday conversation. Generally, accents are found to be strongest in the more remote and rural areas. Note that while to many foreigners deem both Australian and New Zealand accents to be similar, many differences are evident - particularly in the pronunciation of vowels. New Zealand ''Main article: New Zealand English '' The New Zealand accent is distinguished from the Australian one by the presence of short or "clipped" vowels, also encountered in South African English . New Zealanders, according to Australians, pronounce "fish and chips" as "fush and chups", "yes" as "yiss" and "sixty six" as "suxty sux". To American ears, the New Zealand soft "s" sounds slushy, more like "sh", so that "consumer" sounds like "con-SHOO-mer". This is attributable to the influence of Scottish English speech patterns. Geographical variations appear slight, and mainly confined to individual special local words. One group of speakers, however, hold a recognised place as "talking differently": the South of the South Island (Murihiku) harbours a "Celtic fringe" of people speaking with a "Southland burr" in which a back-trilled 'r' appears prominently. The area formed a traditional repository of immigration from Scotland. The trilled 'r' is also used by some Māori, who may also pronounce 't' and 'k' sounds almost as 'd' and 'g'. This is also encountered in South African English, especially among Afrikaans speakers. South Atlantic Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands have a large non-native born population, mainly from England, but also from Saint Helena . In rural areas, the Falkland accent tends to be stronger. The accent has resemblences to both Australia-NZ English, and that of Norfolk in England. Saint Helena "Saints", as Saint Helenan islanders are called, have a variety of different influences on their accent. To outsiders, the accent has resemblences to the accents of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Television is a reasonably recent arrival there, and is only just beginning to have an effect. Southern Africa South Africa ''Main article: South African English '' South Africa has 11 official languages, one of which is English. Afrikaners ( Boers ), descendants of mainly Dutch settlers, tend to pronounce English phonemes with a strong Afrikaans inflection, which is very similar to Dutch. Native English speakers in South Africa have an accent that generally resembles British Received Pronunciation modified with varying degrees of Germanic inflection (caused by the Afrikaner influence). Native English speakers in South Africa also insert a number of Afrikaans loanwords into their speech. Zimbabwe In Zimbabwe , native English speakers (mainly the white minority) have a similar speech pattern to South Africa , hence 'Zimbabwe' is pronounced as ''zom-baw-bwi'', as opposed to the more correct African pronunciation ''zeem-'''bah'''-bwe''. Namibia Namibia n English tends to be strongly influenced by that of South Africa ASIA Hong Kong ''Main article: Hong Kong English '' The accent of English spoken in Hong Kong follows mainly British, with rather strong influence from Cantonese on the Pronunciation s of a few consonants and vowels, and sentence grammar and structure. In recent years there are some Canadian and Australian influences, attributable to the return to Hong Kong of persons who had emigrated to these countries. American influence in Vocabularies and Spelling s is also substantial through Multinational Conglomerate s and Hollywood movies. Indian Subcontinent ''Main article: Indian English '' A number of distinct dialects of English are spoken on the Indian subcontinent. Accents originating in this part of the world tend to display two distinctive features:
Malaysia and Singapore English is the Lingua Franca of Singapore, a former British colony. It also is the most frequently used language in the homes of about 23% of Singaporeans (see http://www.singstat.gov.sg/papers/c2000/adr-literacy.pdf). The Singaporean and Malaysian accents are fairly similar and the distinctions between the two are analogous to that between the American and Canadian accents. The Singaporean/Malaysian accent is so distinctive that it is one of the ways Singaporeans and Malaysians recognize one another when they are overseas. The Singaporean/Malaysian accent appears to be a melding of British, Chinese, and Malay influences. Many Singaporeans and Malaysians adopt different accents and usages depending on the situation, for example an office worker may speak with less coloquialism and with a more British accent at the job than with friends or while out shopping. ''See also British And Malaysian English Differences , Manglish , and Singlish (Singapore Colloquial English)''.
Philippines Philippine English is more influenced by American English than other Asian varieties of English. EXTERNAL LINKS
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