Editing English language (section)

== Dialects, accents and varieties ==
{{Main|List of dialects of the English language|World Englishes|regional accents of English}}

Dialectologists identify many [[List of dialects of the English language|English dialects]], which usually refer to regional varieties that differ from each other in terms of patterns of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The pronunciation of particular areas distinguishes dialects as separate [[Regional accents of English|regional accents]]. The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into the two extremely general categories of [[British English]] (BrE) and [[North American English]] (NAE).{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|p=107}} There also exists a third common major grouping of English varieties: Southern Hemisphere English, the most prominent being [[Australian English|Australian]] and [[New Zealand English]].

=== Britain and Ireland ===
{{See also|English language in England|Northern England English|Scots language|Scottish English|Welsh English|Estuary English|Ulster English|Hiberno-English}}

[[File:Dialects of English in UK and Ireland.svg|thumb|left|Map showing the main dialect regions in the UK and Ireland]]

{{listen|filename=Gyles Brandreth BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 14 January 2011 b00x8f2l.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with a '[[Received Pronunciation]]' accent ([[Gyles Brandreth]]).}}
{{Listen|filename=Danny Baker BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 31 Jul 2007 b012wcl4.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with a [[Cockney accent]] ([[Danny Baker]])}}
Since the English language first evolved in Britain and Ireland, the archipelago is home to the most diverse dialects, particularly in England. Within the United Kingdom, the [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP), an educated dialect of [[South East England]], is traditionally used as the broadcast standard and is considered the most prestigious of the British dialects. The spread of RP (also known as BBC English) through the media has caused many traditional dialects of rural England to recede, as youths adopt the traits of the prestige variety instead of traits from local dialects. At the time of the [[Survey of English Dialects]], grammar and vocabulary differed across the country, but a process of lexical attrition has led most of this variation to disappear.{{sfn|Trudgill|1999|p=125}}{{listen|filename=Russell brand bbc radio4 desert island discs 21 07 2013.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of an [[Essex]] male with a working-class [[Estuary English|Estuary accent]] of the region around London ([[Russell Brand]]).}}
{{listen|filename=Lord Prescott BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 19 Feb 2012 b01c6trm.flac||title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with a (West) [[Yorkshire]] accent (Lord [[John Prescott]]).}}Nonetheless, this attrition has mostly affected dialectal variation in grammar and vocabulary, and in fact, only 3 percent of the English population actually speak RP, the remainder speaking in regional accents and dialects with varying degrees of RP influence.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|page=3}} There is also variability within RP, particularly along class lines between Upper and Middle-class RP speakers and between native RP speakers and speakers who adopt RP later in life.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|page=37}} Within Britain, there is also considerable variation along lines of social class, and some traits though exceedingly common are considered "non-standard" and are associated with lower class speakers and identities. An example of this is [[H-dropping]], which was historically a feature of lower-class London English, particularly Cockney, and can now be heard in the local accents of most parts of England—yet it remains largely absent in broadcasting and among the upper crust of British society.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|page=40}}{{listen|filename=John bishop bbc radio4 desert island discs 24 06 2012.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with a contemporary [[Liverpool]] accent ([[John Bishop]]).}}
{{listen|filename=Alex Salmond BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 16 January 2011 b00xgs41.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with one of many [[Scottish English|Scottish]] accents spoken across Scotland ([[Alex Salmond]]).}}
{{listen|filename=Terry Wogan BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 01 Jan 2012 b018w7rj.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with one of many [[Irish accent]]s spoken across Ireland ([[Terry Wogan]]).}}

[[English language in England|English in England]] can be divided into four major dialect regions, [[West Country dialects|Southwest English]], South East English, Midlands English, and [[Northern England English|Northern English]]. Within each of these regions several local subdialects exist: Within the Northern region, there is a division between the Yorkshire dialects and the [[Geordie]] dialect spoken in Northumbria around Newcastle, and the Lancashire dialects with local urban dialects in [[Liverpool]] ([[Scouse]]) and [[Manchester]] ([[Manchester dialect|Mancunian]]). Having been the centre of Danish occupation during the Viking Invasions, Northern English dialects, particularly the Yorkshire dialect, retain Norse features not found in other English varieties.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|p=31}}

Since the 15th century, southeastern England varieties have centred on London, which has been the centre from which dialectal innovations have spread to other dialects. In London, the [[Cockney]] dialect was traditionally used by the lower classes, and it was long a socially stigmatised variety. The spread of Cockney features across the south-east led the media to talk of Estuary English as a new dialect, but the notion was criticised by many linguists on the grounds that London had been influencing neighbouring regions throughout history.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/ee-faqs-jcw.htm |title=Estuary English Q and A – JCW |publisher=Phon.ucl.ac.uk |access-date=16 August 2010 |archive-date=11 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111062912/http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/ee-faqs-jcw.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Roach|2009|p=4}}{{sfn|Trudgill|1999|p=80}} Traits that have spread from London in recent decades include the use of [[Linking and intrusive R|intrusive R]] (''drawing'' is pronounced ''drawring'' {{IPA|/ˈdrɔːrɪŋ/}}), [[t-glottalization|''t''-glottalisation]] (''Potter'' is pronounced with a glottal stop as ''Po'er'' {{IPA|/poʔʌ/}}), and the pronunciation of ''th-'' as {{IPA|/f/}} (''thanks'' pronounced ''fanks'') or {{IPA|/v/}} (''bother'' pronounced ''bover'').{{sfn|Trudgill|1999|pages=80–81}}

[[Scots language|Scots]] is today considered a separate language from English, but it has [[History of the Scots language|its origins]] in early Northern Middle English{{sfn|Aitken|McArthur|1979|page=81}} and developed and changed during its history with influence from other sources, particularly [[Scottish Gaelic|Scots Gaelic]] and Old Norse. Scots itself has a number of regional dialects. And in addition to Scots, [[Scottish English]] comprises the varieties of Standard English spoken in Scotland; most varieties are Northern English accents, with some influence from Scots.{{sfn|Romaine|1982}}

In [[Ireland]], various forms of English have been spoken since the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman invasions]] of the 11th century. In [[County Wexford]], in the area surrounding [[Dublin]], two extinct dialects known as [[Forth and Bargy dialect|Forth and Bargy]] and [[Fingallian]] developed as offshoots from Early Middle English, and were spoken until the 19th century. Modern [[Hiberno-English|Irish English]], however, has its roots in English colonisation in the 17th century. Today Irish English is divided into [[Ulster English]], the Northern Ireland dialect with strong influence from Scots, and various dialects of the Republic of Ireland. Like Scottish and most North American accents, almost all Irish accents preserve the [[Rhoticity in English|rhoticity]] which has been lost in the dialects influenced by RP.{{sfn|Barry|1982|pp=86–87}}{{sfn|Hickey|2007}}

=== North America ===
{{Main|American English|General American|African American Vernacular English|Southern American English|Canadian English|Atlantic Canadian English}}
{{listen|filename=Emery Emery Voice.ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of a [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern U.S.]] male with a [[general American]] accent ([[Emery Emery]]).}}
{{listen|filename=George W. Bush speech on homeland security (June 6, 2002).ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of a [[Texan English|Texan]] male with a [[Southern American English|Southern U.S. accent]] ([[George W. Bush]]).}}
{{listen|filename=Margaret atwood bbc radio4 front row 27 07 2007 b007tjpb.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of an [[Ontario]] woman with a [[Standard Canadian English|standard Canadian accent]] ([[Margaret Atwood]])}}
[[File:Non-RhoticityUSA.png|thumb|left|[[Rhoticity in English|Rhoticity]] dominates in [[North American English]]. ''[[The Atlas of North American English]]'' found over 50% ''non''-rhoticity, though, in at least one local white speaker in each U.S. metropolitan area designated here by a red dot. Non-rhotic [[African American Vernacular English]] pronunciations may be found among [[African Americans]] regardless of location.]]

North American English is fairly homogeneous compared to British English. Today, American accent variation is often increasing at the regional level and decreasing at the very local level,{{sfn|Labov|2012}} though most Americans still speak within a phonological continuum of similar accents,{{sfn|Wells|1982|page=34}} known collectively as [[General American]] (GA), with differences hardly noticed even among Americans themselves (such as [[Midland American English|Midland]] and [[Western American English]]).{{sfn|Rowicka|2006}}{{sfn|Toon|1982}}{{sfn|Cassidy|1982}} In most American and Canadian English dialects, [[rhoticity in English|rhoticity]] (or ''r''-fulness) is dominant, with non-rhoticity (''r''-dropping) becoming associated with lower prestige and social class especially after World War II; this contrasts with the situation in England, where non-rhoticity has become the standard.{{sfn|Labov|1972}}

Separate from GA are American dialects with clearly distinct sound systems, historically including [[Southern American English]], English of the coastal Northeast (famously including [[Eastern New England English]] and [[New York City English]]), and [[African American Vernacular English]], all of which are historically non-rhotic. [[Canadian English]], except for the [[Atlantic provinces]] and perhaps [[Quebec]], may be classified under GA as well, but it often shows the [[Canadian raising|raising of the vowels]] {{IPAc-en|aɪ}} and {{IPAc-en|aʊ}} before [[voiceless consonants]], as well as distinct norms for written and pronunciation standards.{{sfn|Boberg|2010}}

In [[Southern American English]], the most populous American "accent group" outside of GA,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/|title=Do You Speak American: What Lies Ahead|access-date=15 August 2007|publisher=[[PBS]]|archive-date=14 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914172319/http://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/|url-status=live}}</ref> rhoticity now strongly prevails, replacing the region's [[older Southern American English|historical non-rhotic prestige]].<ref>{{citation|title=Rural White Southern Accents|first=Erik R.|last=Thomas|publisher=[[Mouton de Gruyter]]|work=Atlas of North American English (online)|year=2003|url=http://www.atlas.mouton-content.com/secure/generalmodules/varieties/unit0000/virtualsession/vslessons/thomas.pdf|page=16|access-date=11 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222004531/http://www.atlas.mouton-content.com/secure/generalmodules/varieties/unit0000/virtualsession/vslessons/thomas.pdf|archive-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead}} [Later published as a chapter in: Bernd Kortmann and Edgar W. Schneider (eds) (2004). ''A Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multimedia Reference Tool.'' New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 300–324.]</ref>{{sfn|Levine|Crockett|1966}}{{sfn|Schönweitz|2001}} Southern accents are colloquially described as a "drawl" or "twang,"{{sfn|Montgomery|1993}} being recognised most readily by the Southern Vowel Shift initiated by [[monophthong|glide-deleting]] in the {{IPA|/aɪ/}} vowel (e.g. pronouncing ''spy'' almost like ''spa''), the "Southern breaking" of several front pure vowels into a gliding vowel or even two syllables (e.g. pronouncing the word "press" almost like "pray-us"),{{sfn|Thomas|2008|page=95–96}} the [[pin–pen merger]], and other distinctive phonological, grammatical, and lexical features, many of which are actually recent developments of the 19th century or later.{{sfn|Bailey|1997}}

Today spoken primarily by working- and middle-class [[African Americans]], [[African-American Vernacular English]] (AAVE) is also largely non-rhotic and likely originated among enslaved Africans and African Americans influenced primarily by the non-rhotic, non-standard [[older Southern American English|older Southern dialects]]. A minority of linguists,<ref name="Word on the Street">{{cite book|title=Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of a "Pure" Standard English|last=McWhorter|first=John H.|author-link=John McWhorter|publisher=Basic Books|year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Edt7yUD6PkMC|page=162|isbn=978-0-7382-0446-8|access-date=22 November 2015|archive-date=30 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630231501/https://books.google.com/books?id=Edt7yUD6PkMC|url-status=live}}</ref> contrarily, propose that AAVE mostly traces back to African languages spoken by the slaves who had to develop a [[pidgin]] or [[Creole English]] to communicate with slaves of other ethnic and linguistic origins.{{sfn|Bailey|2001}} AAVE's important commonalities with Southern accents suggests it developed into a highly coherent and homogeneous variety in the 19th or early 20th century. AAVE is commonly stigmatised in North America as a form of "broken" or "uneducated" English, as are white Southern accents, but linguists today recognise both as fully developed varieties of English with their own norms shared by a large speech community.{{sfn|Green|2002}}{{sfn|Patrick|2006b}}

=== Australia and New Zealand ===
{{Main|Australian English|New Zealand English}}
{{listen|filename=AustraliaPart2.ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of a male with a [[Australian English|general Australian accent]].}}
{{listen|filename=Geoffrey Rush bbc radio4 front row 01 05 2013.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a [[Queensland]] male with a cultivated Australian accent ([[Geoffrey Rush]]).}}
{{listen|filename=Mark Hanna Voice Audio.ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of a male with a [[New Zealand English|New Zealand accent]].}}
Since 1788, English has been spoken in [[Oceania]], and [[Australian English]] has developed as a first language of the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Australian continent, its standard accent being [[General Australian]]. The [[New Zealand English|English of neighbouring New Zealand]] has to a lesser degree become an influential standard variety of the language.{{sfn|Eagleson|1982}} Australian and New Zealand English are each other's closest relatives with few differentiating characteristics, followed by [[South African English]] and the English of southeastern England, all of which have similarly non-rhotic accents, aside from some accents in the [[South Island]] of New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand English stand out for their innovative vowels: many short vowels are fronted or raised, whereas many long vowels have diphthongised. Australian English also has a contrast between long and short vowels, not found in most other varieties. Australian English grammar aligns closely to British and American English; like American English, collective plural subjects take on a singular verb (as in ''the government is'' rather than ''are'').{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=16–21}}{{sfn|Burridge|2010}} New Zealand English uses front vowels that are often even higher than in Australian English.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=24–26}}{{sfn|Maclagan|2010}}{{sfn|Gordon|Campbell|Hay et al.|2004}}

=== Southeast Asia ===
{{Main|Philippine English|Singapore English}}
The first significant exposure of the [[Philippines]] to the English language occurred in 1762 when the [[British occupation of Manila|British occupied Manila]] during the [[Seven Years' War]], but this was a brief episode that had no lasting influence. English later became more important and widespread during American rule between 1898 and 1946, and remains an official language of the Philippines. Today, the use of English is ubiquitous in the Philippines, from [[Road signs in the Philippines|street signs]] and marquees, government documents and forms, courtrooms, the media and entertainment industries, the business sector, and other aspects of daily life. One such usage that is also prominent in the country is in speech, where most [[Filipinos]] from [[Manila]] would use or have been exposed to [[Taglish]], a form of code-switching between [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]] and English. A similar code-switching method is used by urban native speakers of [[Visayan languages]] called [[Bislish]].

=== Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia ===
{{See also|South African English|Nigerian English|Caribbean English|Indian English|Pakistani English}}
{{listen|filename=South African English.ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of a male with a [[South African English|South African accent]].}}

English is spoken widely in southern Africa and is an official or co-official language in several countries. In [[South Africa]], English has been spoken since 1820, co-existing with [[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]] and various African languages such as the [[Khoe languages|Khoe]] and [[Bantu languages]]. Today, about 9 percent of the South African population speaks [[South African English]] (SAE) as a first language. SAE is a non-rhotic variety, which tends to follow RP as a norm. It is alone among non-rhotic varieties in lacking intrusive r. There are different L2 varieties that differ based on the native language of the speakers.{{sfn|Lanham|1982}} Most phonological differences from RP are in the vowels.{{sfn|Lass|2002}} Consonant differences include the tendency to pronounce /p, t, t͡ʃ, k/ without aspiration (e.g. ''pin'' pronounced {{IPA|[pɪn]}} rather than as {{IPA|[pʰɪn]}} as in most other varieties), while r is often pronounced as a flap {{IPA|[ɾ]}} instead of as the more common fricative.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=30–31}}

{{listen|filename=Chimamanda_Ngozi_Adichie_bbc_radio4_front_row_03_05_2013.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a woman with an educated [[Nigerian English|Nigerian accent]] ([[Chimamanda Adichie]])}}
Nigerian English is a [[List of dialects of the English language|dialect of English]] spoken in [[Nigeria]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861683342/Nigerian_English.html|title=Nigerian English|work=Encarta|publisher=Microsoft|access-date=17 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909162439/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861683342/Nigerian_English.html|archive-date=9 September 2010}}</ref> It is based on British English, but in recent years, because of influence from the United States, some words of American English origin have made it into Nigerian English. Additionally, some new words and collocations have emerged from the language, which come from the need to express concepts specific to the culture of the nation (e.g. ''senior wife''). Over 150&nbsp;million Nigerians speak English.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Adegbija |first1=Efurosibina |title=Lexico-semantic variation in Nigerian English |journal=World Englishes |date=1989 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=165–177 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-971X.1989.tb00652.x}}</ref>

Several varieties of English are also spoken in the Caribbean islands that were colonial possessions of Britain, including Jamaica, and the [[Leeward Islands|Leeward]] and [[Windward Islands]] and [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Barbados]], the [[Cayman Islands]], and [[Belize]]. Each of these areas is home both to a local variety of English and a local English-based creole, combining English and African languages. The most prominent varieties are [[Jamaican English]] and [[Jamaican English Creole|Jamaican Creole]]. In Central America, English-based creoles are spoken in on the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Panama.{{sfn|Lawton|1982}} Locals are often fluent both in the local English variety and the local creole languages and [[code-switching]] between them is frequent, indeed another way to conceptualise the relationship between Creole and Standard varieties is to see a spectrum of social registers with the Creole forms serving as "basilect" and the more RP-like forms serving as the "acrolect", the most formal register.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|page=115}}

Most Caribbean varieties are based on British English and consequently, most are non-rhotic, except for formal styles of Jamaican English which are often rhotic. Jamaican English differs from RP in its vowel inventory, which has a distinction between long and short vowels rather than tense and lax vowels as in Standard English. The diphthongs {{IPA|/ei/}} and {{IPA|/ou/}} are monophthongs {{IPA|[eː]}} and {{IPA|[oː]}} or even the reverse diphthongs {{IPA|[ie]}} and {{IPA|[uo]}} (e.g. ''bay'' and ''boat'' pronounced {{IPA|[bʲeː]}} and {{IPA|[bʷoːt]}}). Often word-final consonant clusters are simplified so that "child" is pronounced {{IPA|[t͡ʃail]}} and "wind" {{IPA|[win]}}.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=117–18}}{{sfn|Lawton|1982|page=256–60}}{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=115–16}}

{{listen|filename=Vandana Shiva BBC Radio4 Saving Species 23 Dec 2011 b010x8sq.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a [[North India]]n woman with an [[Indian English|Indian accent]] ([[Vandana Shiva]])}}
As a historical legacy, [[Indian English]] tends to take RP as its ideal, and how well this ideal is realised in an individual's speech reflects class distinctions among Indian English speakers. Indian English accents are marked by the pronunciation of phonemes such as {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} (often pronounced with retroflex articulation as {{IPA|[ʈ]}} and {{IPA|[ɖ]}}) and the replacement of {{IPA|/θ/}} and {{IPA|/ð/}} with dentals {{IPA|[t̪]}} and {{IPA|[d̪]}}. Sometimes Indian English speakers may also use spelling based pronunciations where the silent {{angbr|h}} found in words such as ''ghost'' is pronounced as an Indian [[Breathy voice|voiced aspirated]] stop {{IPA|[ɡʱ]}}.{{sfn|Sailaja|2009|pages=19–24}}

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