Regional accents of English speakers

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 populations of native English speakers.

British Isles

Main article: British English

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English accents and dialects vary more widely within the UK itself than they do in other parts of the world owing to the longer history of the language within the nations of the UK.

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England

Main article: English English

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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 accent in England is Received Pronunciation, which originates from the educated speech of southeastern England. The London-derived Estuary English is growing in importance as a widespread standard form in the south.

Related Topics:
Shrewsbury - Birmingham - The Wash - Received Pronunciation - Estuary English

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Scotland

Main article: Scottish English

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English as spoken in Scotland should not be confused with Scots which is a language in itself. However, the debt owed by Scottish English to Scots and Gaelic is undeniable.

Related Topics:
Scots - Gaelic

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Wales

Main article: Welsh English

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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 language.

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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.

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Southern Ireland

Main article: Hiberno-English

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Hiberno-English is spoken throughout the Republic of Ireland, except in Counties Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan, which belong linguistically (though not politically) to Northern Ireland.

Related Topics:
Republic of Ireland - Monaghan

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Northern Ireland

The northern Irish accent (Mid Ulster English) is spoken in the historical province of Ulster, i.e. in the U.K. province of Northern Ireland as well as in Counties Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan in the Republic. It also spoken some northern areas of the other provinces such as Louth and Lietrim. It bears many similarities to Scottish English through influence from Ulster Scots, which is distinct and recognized as a variety of Scots.

Related Topics:
Mid Ulster English - Ulster - Northern Ireland - Ulster Scots - Scots

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Some characteristics of the Northern Irish accent include:

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• As in Scotland, the vowels {{IPA|/ʊ/}} and {{IPA|/u/}} are merged, so that look and Luke are homophonous. The vowel is a high central rounded vowel, {{IPA|}}.
• The diphthong {{IPA|/aʊ/}} is pronounced approximately {{IPA|}}, but wide variation exists, especially between social classes in Belfast
• The vowel {{IPA|/eɪ/}} is a monophthong in open syllables (e.g. day {{IPA|}}) but a rising diphthong in closed syllables (e.g. daze {{IPA|}}). But the monophthong remains when inflectional endings are added, thus daze contrasts with days {{IPA|}}.
• The alveolar stops {{IPA|/t, d/}} become dental before {{IPA|}}, e.g. tree and spider
• {{IPA|/t/}} often undergoes flapping to {{IPA|}} before an unstressed syllable, e.g. eighty {{IPA|}}