English language Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Britain and Ireland === {{See also|English language in England|Estuary English|English language in Northern England|Welsh English|Scottish English|Scots language|Ulster English|Hiberno-English}} {| style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" | {{listen|filename=Alain de Botton on Fear of Failure at Cannes Lions 2012.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with a contemporary [[Received Pronunciation accent]] ([[Alain de Botton]]).|image=none}} | {{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]]).|help=no|image=none}} | {{listen|filename=Russell brand bbc radio4 desert island discs 21 07 2013.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of an [[Essex]] man with a working-class [[Estuary English|Estuary English accent]] ([[Russell Brand]]).|help=no|image=none}} |- | {{listen|filename=Damien hirst bbc radio4 desert island discs 13 05 2013 b01sd0hy.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with a ([[West Yorkshire|West]]) [[Yorkshire accent]] ([[Damien Hirst]]).|help=no|image=none}} | {{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]]).|help=no|image=none}} | {{listen|filename=Rob Brydon BBC Radio4 Front Row 18 Mar 2012 b01dhl11.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with a ([[South Wales|South]]) [[Welsh English|Wales accent]] ([[Rob Brydon]]).|help=no|image=none}} |- | {{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 the many [[Scottish English|accents of Scotland]] ([[Alex Salmond]]).|help=no|image=none}} | {{listen|filename=George Best - The New Elizabethans -20 Jul 2012 - b01kt7cs.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a man with a [[Ulster English|Northern Irish accent]] ([[George Best]]).|help=no|image=none}} | {{listen|filename=Mary Robinson - Desert Island Discs - 28 July 2013.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of a woman with one of the many [[Hiberno-English|accents of the Republic of Ireland]] ([[Mary Robinson]]).|help=no|image=none}} |} [[File:Dialects of English in UK and Ireland.svg|thumb|A map showing the main dialect regions in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Ireland]]]] The fact that English has been spoken in England for 1,500 years explains why England has a great wealth of regional dialects.{{sfn|Trudgill|1999|p=10}} Within the United Kingdom, [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP), an educated accent associated originally with the [[South East of England]], has been traditionally used as a broadcast standard and is considered the most prestigious of British accents. 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 1950-61 [[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}} Nonetheless, this attrition has mostly affected dialectal variation in grammar and vocabulary. In fact, only 3% 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; some traits, though exceedingly common, are nonetheless considered "non-standard" and associated with lower-class speakers and identities. An example of this is [[h-dropping|''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. However, it remains largely absent in broadcasting and among the upper crust of British society.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|page=40}} [[English in England]] can be divided into four major dialect regions: South East English, South West English (also known as [[West Country English]]), Midlands English and [[English language in Northern England|Northern English]]. Within each of these regions, several local dialects exist: within the Northern region, there is a division between the [[Yorkshire dialect|Yorkshire]] dialects, the [[Geordie]] dialect (spoken around [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], in [[Northumbria (modern)|Northumbria]]) and the [[Lancashire dialect|Lancashire]] dialects, which include the urban subdialects of [[Manchester]] ([[Manchester dialect|Mancunian]]) and [[Liverpool]] ([[Scouse]]). Having been the centre of Danish occupation during the Viking invasions of England, 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, South East 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 β 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|/ΛdrΙΛrΙͺΕ/}}), [[T-glottalization|''t''-glottalisation]] (''Potter'' is pronounced with a glottal stop as ''Po'er'' {{IPA|/ΛpΙΚΙ/}}) and [[Th-fronting|''th''-fronting]], or the pronunciation of ''th-'' as {{IPA|/f/}} (''thanks'' pronounced ''fanks'') or {{IPA|/v/}} (''bother'' pronounced ''bover'').{{sfn|Trudgill|1999|pages=80β81}} [[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. 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]] and 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=86β87}}{{sfn|Hickey|2007}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page