Hiberno‐English (sometimes referred to as Irish English[1]) is the dialect of English written and spoken in Ireland (Latin: Hibernia).[2] It comprises a number of sub-dialects, such as Ulster English, Dublin English and Cork English.

English was brought to Ireland as a result of the Norman invasion of the late 12th century. Initially, it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country. By the Tudor period, Irish culture and language had regained most of the territory lost to the colonists: even in the Pale, "all the common folk… for the most part are of Irish birth, Irish habit, and of Irish language".[3] However, the English conquest and colonisation of Ireland in the 16th century marked a revival in the use of English. By the mid-19th century, English was the majority language spoken in the country.[a] It has retained this status to the present day, with even those whose first language is Irish being fluent in English as well.

Modern Hiberno-English has some features influenced by the Irish language and it also retains some archaic English elements. Most of these are more used in the spoken language than in formal written language as used in say the Irish Times, which is much closer to Standard British English, with a few differences in vocabulary. Unlike the United States and Canada, Ireland does not have its own spelling rules and uses British English spelling.

Vocabulary

A number of Irish-language loan words are used in Hiberno-English, particularly in an official state capacity. For example, the head of government is the Taoiseach, the deputy head is the Tánaiste, the parliament is the Oireachtas and its lower house is Dáil Éireann. Less formally, people also use loan words in day-to-day speech, although this has been on the wane in recent decades and among the young.[5]

Some examples include:

WordPart of speech

Meaning

AbúInterjection

Hooray! Used in sporting occasions, espec. for Gaelic games – Kerry abú! – 'hooray for Kerry!'

Amadán[6] Noun Fool

Fáilte NounWelcome – often in the phrase Céad míle fáilte 'A hundred thousand welcomes'

Flaithúlach[7] Adjective GenerousGarsún[8] / gasúr[9] Noun Boy

Gaeltacht NounOfficially designated region where Irish is the primary spoken language

Grá[10] NounLove, affection, not always romantic – 'he has a great grá for whiskey'

Lúdramán[11] Noun FoolPlámás[12] Noun Smooth talk, flattery

Sláinte[13] Interjection

[To your] health!/Cheers!

Derived words from Irish[edit]

Another group of Hiberno-English words are those derived from the Irish language. Some are words in English that have entered into general use, while others are unique to Ireland. These words and phrases are often Anglicised versions of words in Irish or direct translations into English. In the latter case, they often give a meaning to a word or phrase that is generally not found in wider English use.

Some examples include:

Word or Phrase

Part of Speech

Original Irish

Meaning

Arra[14]/ och / musha / yerra[15]

Interjection

Ara / Ach / Muise / Dhera (conjunction

"Yerra, sure if it rains, it rains."

of "A Dhia, ara")

Bockety[16] AdjectiveBacach (lame)

Unsteady, wobbly, broken

Bold[17] Adjective DánaNaughty/badly behaved.

Boreen Noun Bóithrín Small rural road or track

Ceili/Ceilidh[18] Noun Céilidhe

Music and dancing session, especially of traditional music

Colleen Noun Cailín Girl, young woman

Fooster Verb Fústar[19] to busy oneself in a restless way, fidget

Gansey[20] Noun Geansaí[21] Jumper (Sweater)

Give out[22] VerbTabhair amach (lit.)

Tell off, reprimand[23]

Gob[24] Noun GobAnimal's Mouth (Beal = human mouth)

Gombeen[25] Noun GaimbínMoney lender, profiteer. Usually in the phrase 'Gombeen man'

Guards[26] NounGarda Síochána

Police

Jackeen [27] Noun

Nickname for John (i.e. Jack) combined with Irish diminutive suffix "-ín"

A mildly pejorative term for someone from Dublin. Also a self-assertive worthless fellow".[28] Derived from a person who followed the Union Jack during British rule after 1801, a Dublin man who supported the crown. See Shoneen

Shoneen[29] Noun

Seoinín (diminutive of Sean – 'John')

An Irishman who imitates English ways – see Jackeen

Sleeveen[30] Noun SlíbhínAn untrustworthy, cunning person

Soft day[31] Phrase Lá bog (lit.)Overcast day (light drizzle/mist)

Derived words from Old- and Middle-English[edit]

Another class of vocabulary found in Hiberno-English are words and phrases common in Old- and Middle-English, but which have since become obscure or obsolete in the modern English language generally. Hiberno-English has also developed particular meanings for words that are still in common use in English generally.

Some examples include:

WordPart of speech

Meaning Origin/notes

Amn't [32] Verb Am not

Childer[33] Noun Child

Survives from Old-English, genitive plural of 'child'[34]

Cop-on[35] Nounshrewdness, intelligence, being 'street-wise'[36]

Middle English from French cap 'arrest'

Craic[37] Noun

Fun, entertainment. Generally now with the Gaelic spelling in the phrase – 'have the craic' . Also used in Scotland and northern England with spelling 'crack' in the sense 'gossip, chat'

Old English cracian via Gaelic into modern Hiberno-English[38]

Devil[39] Noun Curse (e.g., "Devil take him")[40][41]

middle English

Negation (e.g., for none, "Devil a bit")[42][43]

Eejit[44] Noun

Irish (and Scots) version of 'idiot', meaning foolish person[45]

English from Latin Idiōta

Hames[46] Nouna mess, used in the phrase 'make a hames of'[47]

Middle English from Dutch

Grinds[48] Noun Private tuition[49] Old English grindan

Jaded[50] Adjective

physically tired, exhausted[51] Not in the sense of bored, unenthusiastic, 'tired of' something

Middle English jade

Kip[52] NounUnpleasant, dirty or sordid place[53]

18th-century English for brothel

Mitch Verb to play truant[54] Middle English

Sliced pan[55] Noun(Sliced) loaf of bread

Possibly derived from the French word for bread (pain) or the pan it was baked in.

Yoke[56] NounThing, object, gadget[57]

Old English geoc

Wagon/Waggon[58] Noun

an unpleasant or unlikable woman[59] Middle English

Whisht[60] Interjection

Be quiet[61] Middle English

Others[edit]

In addition to the three groups above, there are also additional words and phrases found in Hiberno-Irish whose

origin is disputed or unknown. While this group may not be unique to Ireland, their usage is not widespread, and could be seen as characteristic of the language in Ireland.

Some examples include:

WordPart of speech

Meaning Origin/notes

Acting the maggot[62] Phrase

Acting the fool, joking.

Banjaxed[63] VerbBroken, ruined, or rendered incapable of use.

Bowsie[64] Nouna rough or unruly person. Cf. Scots Bowsie[65]

Bleb[66][67] Noun, Verb

blister; to bubble up, come out in blisters.

Bucklepper[68] Noun

An overactive, overconfident person

Used by Patrick Kavanagh and Seamus Heaney[69]

Chiseler[70] Noun Child

Cod[71] Noun Foolish person

Usually in phrases like 'acting the cod', 'making a cod of himself'

Culchie[72] NounPerson from the countryside

Person from Kiltimagh, Co Mayo

Delph[73] Noun Dishware

From the name of the original source of supply, Delft in the Netherlands. See Delftware.

FeckVerb, Interjection

an attenuated alternative/minced oath (see feck for more details)

"Feck it!", "Feck off"[74]

Gurrier[75] Nouna tough or unruly young man[76]

perhaps from French guerrier 'warrior', or else from 'gur cake' a pastry previously associated with street urchins. Cf. Scots Gurry[77]

Minerals[78] Noun Soft drinksFrom mineral Waters[citation needed]

Mot NounGirl or young woman, girlfriend

From the Irish word 'maith' meaning good, i.e. good-looking.[79]

Press[80] Noun Cupboard

Similarly, hotpress in Ireland means airing-cupboard Press is an old word for cupboard in Scotland and northern England.

Rake[81] Noun

a many or a lot. Often in the phrase 'a rake of pints'. Cf. Scots rake[82]

Runners[83] Noun Trainers/sneakers

Shore[84] NounStormdrain or Gutter. Cf. Scots shore[85]

Wet the tea[86]/The tea is wet[87]

PhraseMake the tea/the tea is made

Grammar and syntax[edit]

The syntax of the Irish language is quite different from that of English. Various aspects of Irish syntax have influenced Hiberno-English, though many of these idiosyncrasies are

disappearing in urban areas and among the younger population.

The other major influence on Hiberno-English that sets it apart from modern English in general is the retention of words and phrases from Old- and Middle-English.

From Irish[edit]

Reduplication[edit]

Reduplication is an alleged trait of Hiberno-English strongly associated with stage-Irish and Hollywood films.

the Irish ar bith corresponds to English "at all", so the stronger ar chor ar bith gives rise to the form "at all at all".

o "I've no money at all at all." ar eagla go … (lit. "on fear that …") means "in case …".

The variant ar eagla na heagla, (lit. "on fear of fear") implies the circumstances are more unlikely. The corresponding Hiberno-English phrases are "to be sure" and "to be sure to be sure". In this context, these are not, as might be thought, disjuncts meaning "certainly"; they could better be translated "in case" and "just in case". Nowadays normally spoken with conscious levity.

o "I brought some cash in case I saw a bargain, and my credit card to be sure to be sure."

Yes and no[edit]

Irish lacks words that directly translate as "yes" or "no", and instead repeats the verb used in the question, negated if necessary, to answer. Hiberno-English uses "yes" and "no" less frequently than other English dialects as speakers can repeat the verb, positively or negatively, instead of (or in redundant addition to) using "yes" or "no".

"Are you coming home soon?" – "I am." "Is your mobile charged?" – "It isn't."

Recent past construction[edit]

Irish indicates recency of an action by "after" is added to the present continuous (a verb ending in "-ing"), a construction known as the "hot news perfect" or "after perfect".[90][91] The idiom for "I had done X when I did Y" is "I was after doing X when I did Y", modelled on the Irish usage of the compound prepositions i ndiaidh, tar éis, and in éis: bhí mé tar éis/i ndiaidh/in éis X a dhéanamh, nuair a rinne mé Y.

"Why did you hit him?" – "He was after giving me cheek."

A similar construction is seen where exclamation is used in describing a recent event:

"I'm after hitting him with the car!" Táim tar éis é a bhualadh leis an gcarr!

"She's after losing five stone in five weeks!"

When describing less astonishing or significant events, a structure resembling the German perfect can be seen:

"I have the car fixed." Tá an carr deisithe agam. "I have my breakfast eaten." Tá mo bhricfeasta ite agam.

This correlates with an analysis of "H1 Irish" proposed by Adger & Mitrovic,[92] in a deliberate parallel to the status of German as a V2 language.

Reflection for emphasis[edit]

The reflexive version of pronouns is often used for emphasis or to refer indirectly to a particular person, etc., according to context. Herself, for example, might refer to the speaker's boss or to the woman of the house. Use of herself or himself in this way often indicates that the speaker attributes some degree of arrogance or selfishness to the person in question. Note also the indirectness of this construction relative to, for example, She's coming now

"'Tis herself that's coming now." Is í féin atá ag teacht anois.

"Was it all of ye or just yourself?" Ar sibhse go léir ná tusa féin a bhí i gceist?

This is not limited only to the verb to be: it is also used with to have when used as an auxiliary; and, with other verbs, the verb to do is used. This is most commonly used for intensification.

"This is strong stuff, so it is." "We won the game, so we did."

Prepositional pronouns[edit]

There are some language forms that stem from the fact that there is no verb to have in Irish. Instead, possession is indicated in Irish by using the preposition at, (in Irish, ag.). To be more precise, Irish uses a prepositional pronoun that combines ag "at" and mé "me" to create agam. In English, the verb "to have" is used, along with a "with me" or "on me" that derives from Tá … agam. This gives rise to the frequent

"Do you have the book?" – "I have it with me." "Have you change for the bus on you?" "He will not shut up if he has drink taken."

Somebody who can speak a language "has" a language, in which Hiberno-English has borrowed the grammatical form used in Irish.

She does not have Irish. Níl Gaeilge aici. literally "There is no Irish at her".

When describing something, rural Hiberno-English speakers may use the term "in it" where "there" would usually be used. This is due to the Irish word ann (pronounced "oun" or "on") fulfilling both meanings.

"Is it yourself that is in it?" An tú féin atá ann? "Is there any milk in it?" An bhfuil bainne ann?

Another idiom is this thing or that thing described as "this man here" or "that man there", which also features in Newfoundland English in Canada.

"This man here." An fear seo. (cf. the related anseo = here)

"That man there." An fear sin. (cf. the related ansin = there)

Conditionals have a greater presence in Hiberno-English due to the tendency to replace the simple present tense with the conditional (would) and the simple past tense with the conditional perfect (would have).

"John asked me would I buy a loaf of bread." (John asked me to buy a loaf of bread.)

"How do you know him? We would have been in school together." (We went to school together.)

Bring and take: Irish use of these words differs from that of British English because it follows the Gaelic grammar for beir and tóg. English usage is determined by direction; person determines Irish usage. So, in English, one takes "from here to there", and brings it "to here from there". In Irish, a person takes only when accepting a transfer of possession of the object from someone else – and a person brings at all other times, irrespective of direction (to or from).

Don't forget to bring your umbrella with you when you leave.

(To a child) Hold my hand: I don't want someone to take you.

To be[edit]

The Irish equivalent of the verb "to be" has two present tenses, one (the present tense proper or "aimsir láithreach") for cases which are generally true or are true at the time of speaking and the other (the habitual present or "aimsir ghnáthláithreach") for repeated actions. Thus, "you are [now,

or generally]" is tá tú, but "you are [repeatedly]" is bíonn tú. Both forms are used with the verbal noun (equivalent to the English present participle) to create compound tenses.

The corresponding usage in English is frequently found in rural areas, especially Mayo/Sligo in the West of Ireland and Wexford in the south-east, along with border areas of the North and Republic. In this form, the verb "to be" in English is similar to its use in Irish, with a "does be/do be" (or "bees", although less frequently) construction to indicate the continuous, or habitual, present:

"He does be working every day." Bíonn sé ag obair gach lá.

"They do be talking on their mobiles a lot." Bíonn siad ag caint go leor ar a fóin póca.

"He does be doing a lot of work at school." Bíonn sé ag déanamh go leor oibre ar scoil.

"It's him I do be thinking of." Is air a bhíonn mé ag smaoineamh.

From Old- and Middle-English[edit]

In old-fashioned usage, "it is" can be freely abbreviated ’tis, even as a standalone sentence. This also allows the double contraction ’tisn’t, for "it is not".

Irish has separate forms for the second person singular (tú) and the second person plural (sibh). Mirroring Irish, and almost every other Indo European language, the plural you is also distinguished from the singular in Hiberno-English, normally by use of the otherwise archaic English word ye [jiː]; the word yous (sometimes written as youse) also occurs, but primarily only in Dublin and across Ulster. In addition, in some areas in Leinster, north Connacht and parts of Ulster, the hybrid word ye-s, pronounced "yis", may be used. The pronunciation differs with that of the northwestern being [jiːz] and the Leinster pronunciation being [jɪz].

"Did ye all go to see it?" Ar imigh sibh go léir chun é a fheicint?

"None of youse have a clue!" Níl ciall/leid ar bith agaibh! "Are ye not finished yet?" Nach bhfuil sibh críochnaithe

fós? "Yis are after destroying it!" Tá sibh tar éis é a scriosadh!

The word ye, yis or yous, otherwise archaic, is still used in place of "you" for the second-person plural. Ye'r, Yisser or Yousser are the possessive forms, e.g. "Where are yous going?"

The verb mitch is very common in Ireland, indicating being truant from school. This word appears in Shakespeare, but is seldom heard these days in British English, although pockets of usage persist in some areas (notably South Wales, Devon, and Cornwall). In parts of Connacht and Ulster the mitch is often replaced by the verb scheme, while Dublin it is replaced by "on the hop/bounce".

Another usage familiar from Shakespeare is the inclusion of the second person pronoun after the imperative form of a verb, as in "Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed" (Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene IV). This is still common in Ulster: "Get youse your homework done or you're no goin' out!" In Munster, you will still hear children being told, "Up to bed, let ye" [lɛˈtʃi]

For influence from Scotland see Ulster Scots and Ulster English.

Other grammatical influences[edit]

Now is often used at the end of sentences or phrases as a semantically empty word, completing an utterance without contributing any apparent meaning. Examples include "Bye now" (= "Goodbye"), "There you go now" (when giving someone something), "Ah now!" (expressing dismay), "Hold on now" (= "wait a minute"), "Now then" as a mild attention-getter, etc. This usage is universal among English dialects, but

occurs more frequently in Hiberno-English. It is also used in the manner of the Italian 'prego' or German 'bitte', for example a barman might say "Now, Sir." when delivering drinks.

So is often used for emphasis ("I can speak Irish, so I can"), or it may be tacked onto the end of a sentence to indicate agreement, where "then" would often be used in Standard English ("Bye so", "Let's go so", "That's fine so", "We'll do that so"). The word is also used to contradict a negative statement ("You're not pushing hard enough" – "I am so!"). (This contradiction of a negative is also seen in American English, though not as often as "I am too", or "Yes, I am".) The practice of indicating emphasis with so and including reduplicating the sentence's subject pronoun and auxiliary verb (is, are, have, has, can, etc.) such as in the initial example, is particularly prevalent in more northern dialects such as those of Sligo, Mayo, Cavan, Monaghan and other neighbouring counties.

Sure is often used as a tag word, emphasising the obviousness of the statement, roughly translating as but/and/well. Can be used as "to be sure", the famous Irish stereotype phrase. (But note that the other stereotype of "Sure and …" is not actually used in Ireland.) Or "Sure, I can just go on Wednesday", "I will not, to be sure." "Sure Jaysus [Jesus]" is often used as a very mild expletive to express dismay. The word is also used at the end of sentences (primarily in Munster), for instance "I was only here five minutes ago, sure!" and can express emphasis or indignation.

To is often omitted from sentences where it would exist in British English. For example, "I'm not allowed go out tonight", instead of "I'm not allowed to go out tonight".

Will is often used where British English would use "shall" ("Will I make us a cup of tea?"). The distinction between "shall" (for first-person simple future, and second- and third-person emphatic future) and "will" (second- and third-person simple future, first-person emphatic future), maintained by

many in England, does not exist in Hiberno-English, with "will" generally used in all cases.

Once is sometimes used in a different way from how it is used in other dialects; in this usage, it indicates a combination of logical and causal conditionality: "I have no problem laughing at myself once the joke is funny." Other dialects of English would probably use "if" in this situation.

Pronunciation[edit]

Hiberno-English retains many phonemic differentiations that have merged in other English accents.

With some local exceptions, /r/ occurs postvocally, making most Hiberno-English dialects rhotic.[93] The exceptions to this are most notable in Dublin and some smaller eastern towns like Drogheda. In Dublin English, a retroflex [ɻ] is used (much as in American English). This has no precedent in varieties of southern Irish English and is a genuine innovation of the past two decades. Mainstream varieties still use a non-retroflex [ɹ] (as in word-initial position). A uvular [ʁ] is found in north-east Leinster.[94] /r/ is pronounced as a postalveolar tap [ɾ] in conservative accents. Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh and Jackie Healy-Rae are both good examples of this.

/t/ is not pronounced as a plosive where it does not occur word-initially in some Irish accents; instead, it is often pronounced as a slit fricative [θ̠�].[93]

The distinction between w /w/ and wh /hw/, as in wine vs. whine, is preserved.

There is some variation with the consonants that are dental fricatives in other varieties (/θ̠/ and /ð/); after a vowel, they may be dental fricatives or dental stops ([t ̪ʰ] and [d ̪] respectively) depending on speaker. Some dialects of Irish have a "slender" (palatalised) d as /ðʲ/ and this may transfer over to English pronunciation. In still others, both dental fricatives are present since slender dental stops are lenited to [θ̠ʲ] and [ðʲ].

The distinction between /ɒː/ and /oː/ in horse and hoarse is preserved, though not usually in Dublin or Belfast.

A distinction between [ɛɹ]-[ɪɹ]-[ʌɹ] in herd-bird-curd may be found.

/l/ is never velarised, except in (relatively recent) South Dublin English, often derisively termed D4 English, after the area where the accent predominates.

The vowels in words such as boat and cane are usually monophthongs outside Dublin: [boːt], and [keːn].

The /aɪ/ in "night" may be pronounced in a wide variety of ways, e.g. [əɪ], [ɔɪ], [ʌɪ] and [ɑɪ], the latter two being the most common in middle class speech, the former two, in popular speech.

The /ɔɪ/ in "boy" may be pronounced [ɑːɪ] (i.e. the vowel of thought plus a y) in conservative accents (Henry 1957 for Co. Roscommon, Nally 1973 for Co. Westmeath).

In some varieties, speakers make no distinction between the [ʌ] in putt and the [ʊ] in put, pronouncing both as the latter. Bertz (1975) found this merger in working-class Dublin speech, and a fluctuation between merger and distinction in General Dublin English (quoted in Wells 1982). Nevertheless, even for those Irish people who, say, have a different vowel sound in put and cut, pairs such as putt and put, look and luck may be pronounced identically.

In some highly conservative varieties, words spelled with ea and pronounced with [iː] in RP are pronounced with [eː], for example meat, beat.

In words like took where "oo" usually represents /ʊ/, speakers may use /uː/. This is most common in working-class Dublin accents and the speech of North-East Leinster.

Any and many is pronounced to rhyme with nanny, Danny by very many speakers, i.e. with each of these words pronounced with /a/ or /ɛ/.

/eɪ/ often becomes /ɛ/ in words such as gave and came (becoming "gev" and "kem")

Consonant clusters ending in /j/ often change.[citation needed]

o /dj/ becomes /dʒ/, e.g. dew/due, duke and duty sound like "jew", "jook" and "jooty".

o /tj/ becomes /tʃ/, e.g. tube is "choob", tune is "choon"

o The following show neither dropping nor coalescence:

/kj/ /hj/ /mj/

The naming of the letter H as "haitch" is standard, while the letter R is called "or", the letter A is often pronounced "ah", and the letter Z is often referred to as "e-zed" in working-class Dublin and Belfast accents or parodies of same. Some words gain a syllable in Irish speech, like film, which becomes "fillum".

Dublin[edit]

Dublin has a number of dialects which differ significantly based on class and age group. These are roughly divided into three categories: "local Dublin", or the broad-working class dialect (sometimes referred to as the "working-class", or "inner city" accent); "mainstream Dublin", the typical accent spoken by middle-class or suburban speakers; and "new Dublin", an accent among younger people (born after 1970). Features include:[95]

/ɒ/ as in lot has a variety of realisations. In Local, this vowel is often quite front and unrounded, ranging to [a]. In Mainstream, the sound varies between [ɑ] and [ɒ]. New Dublin speakers often realise this phoneme even higher, as [ɔ].

/ɔ/ as in thought: In Local and Mainstream accents, this vowel is usually a lengthened variant of the corresponding LOT set (i.e. [aː] in Local and [ɒː] in Mainstream.) In New Dublin accents, this sound can be as high as [oː].

/ʌ/ as in strut: in Local Dublin, this sound merges with the sound in foot, so that strut is pronounced [strʊt]. In

Mainstream, a slight distinction is made between the two, with the vowel for strut varying greatly from [ʌ] to [ɤ]. In New Dublin this vowel can shift forward, toward [ɪ].

/oʊ/ as in goat: in Dublin English, unlike other Hiberno-Englishes, this vowel is almost always diphthongised. Local Dublin features a low inglide, rendering this sound as [ʌo ~ ʌɔ], whereas Mainstream features a tighter diphthong: [oʊ]. New Dublin has a slightly fronter realisation, ranging to [əʊ].

/uː/ as in goose. Local Dublin features a unique, palatised realisation of this vowel, [ʲu], so that food sounds quite similar to feud. In Mainstream and New Dublin, this sound ranges to a more central vowel, [ʉ].

/aɪ/ as in price: Traditionally this vowel ranges in pronunciation from [əi] in Local Dublin speech to [ai] in Mainstream Dublin. Among speakers born after 1970, the pronunciation [ɑɪ] often occurs before voiced consonants and word-finally.

/aʊ/ as in mouth is usually fronted, to [æu] in Mainstream and New Dublin and more typically [ɛu] in Local.

/ɔɪ/ as in choice: This sound ranges greatly, from [aɪ] in Local Dublin to a high-back realisation [oɪ] in New Dublin. Mainstream Dublin more typically tends toward [ɒɪ].

Rhoticity[edit]

See also: Rhoticity in English

Rhoticity and rhotic consonants vary greatly in Dublin English. In Local Dublin, "r" can often be pronounced with an alveolar tap ([ɾ]), whereas Mainstream Dublin has a velarised alveolar approximant [ɹˠ] (which also may be found in Local Dublin) and New Dublin features a retroflex approximant, [ɻ].[96][97]

Post-vocalically, Dublin English maintains three different standards. Local Dublin is often non-rhotic (giving lie to the repeated claim that Hiberno-English is universally rhotic), although some variants may be variably or very lightly rhotic. In non-rhotic varieties, the /ər/ in "lettER" is either lowered to

[ɐ(ɹ)] or in some speakers may be backed and raised to [ɤ(ɹ)]. In Mainstream Dublin, this sound is gently rhotic ([əɹ]), while New Dublin features a retroflex approximant [əɻ]. Other rhotic vowels are as follows:

/ɑɹ/ as in start: This vowel has a uniquely high realisation in Local Dublin, ranging to [ɛː]. In Mainstream Dublin, this sound is more typically [aːɹ], whereas New Dublin can feature a more back vowel, [ɑːɻ]

The "horse-hoarse" distinction in other Irish dialects is heavily preserved in Local Dublin, but only slightly maintained in Mainstream and New varieties. In Local, "force" words are pronounced with a strong diphthong, [ʌo], while "north" words feature a low monophthong, [aː]. Mainstream Dublin contrasts these two vowels slightly, as [ɒːɹ] and [oːɹ], while in New Dublin, these two phonemes are merged to [oːɻ].

/ɜɹ/ as in nurse. In local Dublin, this phoneme is split, either pronounced as [ɛː] or [ʊː]. In this accent, words written as "-ur" are always pronounced as [ʊː], while words written as either "-er" or "-ir" are pronounced as [ɛː], unless "-er" or "-ir" follows a labial consonant (e.g. bird or first), when this sound has the [ʊː] realisation. In Mainstream and New Dublin this distinction is seldom preserved, with both phonemes typically merging to [ɚ].

Dublin Vowel Lengthening[edit]

In Local Dublin, long monophthongs are often diphthongised, and while some diphthongs are tripthongised. This process can be summarised with these examples:

School [skuːl] = [ˈskʲuwəl] Mean [miːn] = [ˈmɪjən] Five [faɪv] = [ˈfəjəv]

Consonants[edit]

Final "t" is heavily lenited in Local Dublin English so that "sit" can be pronounced [sɪh], [sɪʔ] or even [sɪ].

Intervocalically, "t" can become an alveolar approximant in Local Dublin, e.g. "not only" = [na ɹ ʌonli], while in New and Mainstream varieties it can become an alveolar tap [ɾ], similar to American and Australian English.

θ̠ and ð, as in "think" and "this", usually become alveolar stops [t] and [d] in Local Dublin English, while Mainstream and New Dublin maintains the more standard dentalised stops common in other varieties of Hiberno-English.

In Local Dublin, stops are often elided after sonorants, so that, for example sound is pronounced [sɛʊn].

Scottish English

Scottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language.[1] It is not the same as Scottish Gaelic, which is a Celtic language. The main, formal variety is called Scottish Standard English[2][3] or Standard Scottish English,[4] often abbreviated to SSE.[5] SSE may be defined as "the characteristic speech of the professional class [in Scotland] and the accepted norm in schools".[6]

In addition to distinct pronunciation, grammar and expressions, Scottish English has distinctive vocabulary, particularly pertaining to Scottish institutions such as the Church of Scotland, local government and the education and legal systems.

Scottish Standard English is at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum, with focused broad Scots at the other.[7] Scottish English may be influenced to varying degrees by Scots.[1][8] Many Scots speakers separate Scots and Scottish English as different registers depending on social circumstances.[9] Some speakers code switch clearly from one to the other while others style shift in a less predictable and more fluctuating manner.[9] Generally there is a shift to Scottish English in formal situations or with individuals of a higher social status.[10]

Background[edit]

Scottish English results from language contact between Scots and the Standard English of England after the 17th century. The resulting shifts to English usage by Scots-speakers resulted in many phonological compromises and lexical transfers, often mistaken for mergers by linguists unfamiliar with the history of Scottish English.[11] Furthermore, the process was also influenced by interdialectal forms, hypercorrections and spelling pronunciations.[12] (See the section on phonology below.)

History

Convention traces the influence of the English of England upon Scots to the 16th-century Reformation and to the introduction of printing.[13] Printing arrived in London in 1476, but the first printing press was not introduced to Scotland for another 30 years.[14] Texts such as the Geneva Bible, printed in English, were widely distributed in Scotland in order to spread Protestant doctrine.

King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603. Since England was the larger and richer of the two Kingdoms, James moved his court to London in England. The poets of the court therefore moved south and "began adapting the language and style of their verse to the tastes of the English market".[15] To this event McClure attributes "[t]he sudden and total eclipse of Scots as a literary language".[15] The continuing absence of a Scots translation of the Bible meant that the translation of King James into English was used in worship in both countries.

The Act of Union of 1707 amalgamated the Scottish and English Parliaments. However the church, educational and legal structures remained separate. This leads to important professional distinctions in the definitions of some words and terms. There are therefore words with precise definitions in Scottish English which have either no place in English English or have a different definition. This is crucial and is one of the

reasons why a professional person qualified in England (except for medical professionals) may only be admitted to a profession in Scotland by further examination.[citation needed]

Phonology[edit]

The speech of the middle classes in Scotland tends to conform to the grammatical norms of the written standard, particularly in situations that are regarded as formal. Highland English is slightly different from the variety spoken in the Lowlands in that it is more phonologically, grammatically, and lexically influenced by a Gaelic substratum. Similarly the English spoken in the North-East of Scotland tends to follow the phonology and grammar of Doric.

While pronunciation features vary among speakers (depending on region and social status), there are a number of phonological aspects characteristic of Scottish English:

Scottish English is a rhotic accent, meaning /r/ is pronounced in the syllable coda. Unlike Received Pronunciation, /r/ is rarely an alveolar approximant [ɹ], it is more common that a speaker will use an alveolar tap [ɾ] or the alveolar trill [r][citation needed] (hereafter, ⟨r⟩ will be used to denote any rhotic consonant).

o While other dialects have merged /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /ʌ/ before /r/, Scottish English makes a distinction between the vowels in herd, bird, and curd.

o Many varieties contrast /o/ and /ɔ/ before /r/ so that hoarse and horse are pronounced differently.

o /or/ and /ur/ are contrasted so that shore and sure are pronounced differently, as are pour and poor.

o /r/ before /l/ is strong. An epenthetic vowel may occur between /r/ and /l/ so that girl and world are two-syllable words for some speakers. The same may occur between /r/ and /m/, between /r/ and /n/, and between /l/ and /m/.

There is a distinction between /w/ and /hw/ in word pairs such as witch and which.

The phoneme /x/ is common in names and in SSE's many Gaelic and Scots borrowings, so much so that it is often taught to incomers, particularly for "ch" in loch. Some Scottish speakers use it in words of Greek origin as well, such as technical, patriarch, etc.;(Wells 1982, 408) that is not precisely a hyperforeignism, as the chi represented by the "ch" in these words is in fact pronounced /x/ in Modern Greek and even in Late Koine Greek, but was pronounced /kʰ/ in the Ancient Greek from which the words or their roots are borrowed.[citation needed]

/l/ is usually velarised (see dark l) except in borrowings like "glen" (from Scottish Gaelic "gleann") which had unvelarised l in their original form. In areas where Scottish Gaelic was spoken until relatively recently (such as Dumfries and Galloway) and in areas where it is still spoken (such as the West Highlands), velarisation of /l/ may be absent in many words in which it is present in other areas, but remains in borrowings that had velarised /l/ in Gaelic, such as "loch" (Gaelic "loch") and "clan" (Gaelic "clann").

/p/, /t/ and /k/ are not aspirated.[16]

Vowel length is generally regarded as non-phonemic, although a distinctive part of Scottish English is the Scots vowel length rule (Scobbie et al. 1999). Certain vowels (such as /i/, /u/, and /æ/) are generally long but are shortened before nasals and voiced plosives. However, this does not occur across morpheme boundaries so that crude contrasts with crewed, need with kneed and side with sighed.

Scottish English has no /ʊ/, instead transferring Scots /u/. Phonetically, this vowel may be pronounced [ʉ] or even [ʏ]. Thus pull and pool are homophones.

Cot and caught are not differentiated in most Central Scottish varieties, as they are in some other varieties.[17]

In most varieties, there is no /æ/-/ɑː/ distinction; therefore, bath, trap, and palm have the same vowel.[17]

The happY vowel is most commonly /e/ (as in face), but may also be /ɪ/ (as in kit) or /i/ (as in fleece).[18]

/θ̠s/ is often used in plural nouns where southern English has /ðz/ (baths, youths, etc.); with and booth are pronounced with /θ̠/. (See Pronunciation of English th.)

In colloquial speech, the glottal stop may be an allophone of /t/ after a vowel, as in [ˈbʌʔər]. These same speakers may "drop the g" in the suffix -ing and debuccalise /θ̠/ to [h] in certain contexts.

/ɪ/ may be more open [ë ̞] for certain speakers in some regions, so that it sounds more like [ɛ] (although /ɪ/ and /ɛ/ do not merge). Other speakers may pronounce it as [ɪ], just like in many other accents, or with a schwa-like ([ə]) quality. Others may pronounce it almost as [ʌ] in certain environments, particularly after /w/ and /hw/.

Scotticisms[edit]

Scotticisms are idioms or expressions that are characteristic of Scots, especially when used in English.[19] They are more likely to occur in spoken than written language.[20]

Examples include:

What a dreich day! meaning "What a dull, miserable, overcast day" (of weather)

I'm feeling quite drouthy meaning "I'm feeling quite thirsty"

That's a right (or real) scunner! meaning "That's extremely off-putting"

It's a fair way to Skye from here meaning "It's a good distance to Skye from here"

The picture still looks squint meaning "The picture still looks askew/awry"

You'd better just caw canny meaning "You'd better just go easy/Don't overdo it"

It's a sair fecht meaning "It's a real struggle/It's hard going"

His face is tripping him meaning "He's looking fed up"

Just play the daft laddie meaning "Act ingenuously/feign ignorance"

You're looking a bit peely-wally meaning "You're looking a bit off-colour"

That's outwith my remit meaning "It's not part of my job to do that"

It depends on what the high heid yins think meaning "It depends on what the heads of the organisation/management think"

I'll come round (at) the back of eight meaning "I'll come round just after eight o'clock"

We're all Jock Tamson's bairns, stock phrase meaning "None of us is better than anyone else" (i.e. socially superior)

I kent his faither, stock phrase meaning "he started off as humbly as the rest of us before achieving success"

You're standing there like a stookie meaning "you stand there as if incapable of stirring yourself" (like a plaster statue, a stucco figure)[21]

He's a right sweetie-wife meaning "He likes a good gossip"

I didn't mean to cause a stooshie meaning "I didn't mean to cause a major fuss/commotion"

She was a bit pit oot when I told her meaning "She was a bit upset when I told her"

I'm swithering whether to go meaning "I'm in two minds/uncertain as to whether to go"

Ach, away ye go! stock phrase meaning "Oh, I don't believe you"

Scotticisms are generally divided into two types:[22] covert Scotticisms, which generally go unnoticed as being particularly Scottish by those using them, and overt Scotticisms, usually used for stylistic effect, with those using them aware of their Scottish nature.

Lexical[edit]

An example of "outwith" on a sign in Scotland

Scottish English has inherited a number of lexical items from Scots,[23] which are comparatively rare in other forms of standard English.[citation needed]

General items are wee, the Scots word for small (also common in New Zealand English); bairn for child (from Common Germanic,[24] cf modern Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish barn); bonnie for pretty, attractive, (or good looking, handsome, as in the case of Bonnie Prince Charlie); braw for fine; muckle for big; pinkie for little finger, janitor for school caretaker (these last two are also standard in American English), outwith, meaning 'outside of'; cowp for tip or spill, fankle for a tangled mess. Kirk for church has parallels in other Germanic languages (cf kirche which was also found in archaic names of some ancient churches in e.g. London). Examples of culturally specific items are Hogmanay; caber, haggis, bothy; scone; oatcake; tablet; rone (roof gutter); teuchter, ned, numpty (witless person) and landward (rural); It's your shot for "It's your turn"; and the once notorious but now redundant tawse.

The diminutive ending "-ie" is added to nouns to indicate smallness, as in laddie and lassie for a young boy and young girl. Other examples are peirie (child's wooden spinning top) and sweetie (piece of confectionary). The ending can be added to many words instinctively, e.g. bairn (see above) can become bairnie, a small shop can become a wee shoppie.

The use of "How?" meaning "Why?" is distinctive of Scottish, Northern English and Northern Irish English. "Why not?" is often rendered as "How no?".

There is a range of (often anglicised) legal and administrative vocabulary inherited from Scots[25] e.g. depute /ˈdɛpjut/ for deputy, proven /ˈproːvən/ for proved (standard in American English), interdict for '"injunction" and sheriff-substitute for "acting sheriff'". In Scottish education a short leet is a list of selected job applicants, and a remit is a detailed job description.

Often, lexical differences between Scottish English and Southern Standard English are simply differences in the distribution of shared lexis, such as stay for "live" (as in: where do you stay?).

Grammatical

The progressive verb forms are used rather more frequently than in other varieties of standard English, for example with some stative verbs (I'm wanting a drink). The future progressive frequently implies an assumption (You'll be coming from Glasgow?).

In some areas perfect aspect of a verb is indicated using "be" as auxiliary with the preposition "after" and the present participle: for example "He is after going" instead of "He has gone" (this construction is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic).

The definite article tends to be used more frequently in phrases such as I've got the cold/the flu, he's at the school, I'm away to the kirk.

Speakers often use prepositions differently. The compound preposition off of is often used (Take that off of the table). Scots commonly say I was waiting on you (meaning "waiting for you"), which means something quite different in Standard English.

In colloquial speech shall and ought are scarce, must is marginal for obligation and may is rare. Many syntactical features of SSE are found in other forms of English, e.g. English language in England and North American English:

What age are you? for "How old are you?" My hair is needing washed or My hair needs washed for

"My hair needs washing" or "My hair needs to be washed".[26]

I'm just after telling you for "I've just told you". Amn't I invited? for Am I not invited?

Note that in Scottish English, the first person declarative I amn't invited and interrogative Amn't I invited? are both possible. Contrast English language in England, which has Aren't I? but no contracted declarative form. (All varieties have I'm not invited.)

Welsh English

Features of Welsh English The English spoken in Wales is not as deviant with respect to more standard forms of English, especially when it is compared to either Scottish or Irish English. There is little in the syntax which is specifically Welsh so that the main features are phonological with one or two morphological characteristics and a few lexical items such as bach and gel as terms of endearment.

Phonology The most general feature of Welsh English is the lilting intonation due to the rise-fall at the end of statements as opposed to the fall in other forms of English. Long vowels tend to occur only in stressed syllables. There is little distinction in length among low vowels so that words like grand and grass sound as if they had the same vowel. A central schwa is found for the /ʌ/-vowel in words like cut, but /kət/, /bət/. Long final vowels occur such as /i:/ in sorry /sɒri:/. Yod before /u:/ is often deleted as in regulate /reguleit/.

Welsh - the Celtic language - is found in two major varieties, a northern and a southern one. The north of Wales tends to be more rural and the south, certainly in the regions of Swansea and Cardiff, is mainly urban. In keeping with the division for Welsh there are some distinctions between the English spoken in the north and that in the south of the country. Southern Welsh English is h-less where Northern Welsh English tends to be h-ful, i.e. /h/ occurs in initial position. In the south a clear /l/ is commonly used for all types of English /l/ - i.e. in syllable-initial and in syllable-final positions which have a clear and a dark /l/ in Received Pronunciation respectively - whereas in the north the velar /ɫ/ may well predominate.

Morphology Multiple negation is found as in We don’t speak no English in the home. As is frequently used as a relative pronoun, The woman as went abroad. Them acts as a demonstrative adjective Them men who sing so well. Unstressed do can be employed to express a durative aspect as in Irish English (see above) The children do be playing in the yard after school. Fronting as a means of topicalisation is quite acceptable, Books on linguistics he is keen on reading.

Welsh English, Anglo-Welsh, or Wenglish (see below) refers to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and grammar, there is a variety of accents found across Wales from the Cardiff dialect to that of the South Wales Valleys and to West Wales.

In the east and south east, it has been influenced by West Country dialects due to immigration,[citation needed] while in North Wales, the influence of Merseyside English is becoming increasingly prominent.

Pronunciation[edit]

Vowels[edit]

Short monophthongs[edit]

The vowel of cat /æ/ is pronounced as a more central near-open front unrounded vowel [æ ̈].[1] In Cardiff, bag is pronounced with a long vowel [aː].[2] In Powys, a pronunciation resembling its New Zealand and South African analogue is sometimes heard, i.e. trap is pronounced /trɛp/[3]

The vowel of end /ɛ/ is a more open vowel and thus closer to cardinal vowel [ɛ] than RP [1]

The vowel of "kit" /ɪ/ often sounds closer to the schwa sound of above, an advanced close-mid central unrounded vowel [ɘ̟" ][1]

The vowel of hot /ɒ/ is raised towards /ɔ/ and can thus be transcribed as [ɒ# ] or [ɔ̞][1]

The vowel of "bus" /ʌ/ is pronounced [ɜ][4] and is encountered as a hypercorrection in northern areas for foot.[5] It is sometimes manifested in border areas of north and mid Wales as an open front unrounded vowel /a/ or as a near-close near-back vowel /ʊ/ in northeast Wales, under influence of Cheshire and Merseyside accents.[6]

In accents that distinguish between foot and strut , the vowel of foot is a more lowered vowel [ɤ̈],[4] particularly in the north[6]

The schwa of better may be different from that of above in some accents; the former may be pronounced as [ɜ], the same vowel as that of bus[7]

The schwi tends to be supplanted by an /ɛ/ in final closed syllables, e.g. brightest /ˈbɾəi.tɛst/. The uncertainty over which vowel to use often leads to 'hypercorrections' involving the schwa, e.g. programme is often pronounced /ˈproː.ɡrəm/[2]

The vowel of car is often pronounced as a more central open back unrounded vowel [ɑ̈][8] and more often as a long open front unrounded vowel /aː/[5]

In broader varieties, particularly in Cardiff, the vowel of bird is similar to South African and New Zealand, i.e. a lowered close-mid front rounded vowel [ø ̞][9]

Most other long monophthongs are similar to that of Received Pronunciation, but words with the RP /əʊ/ are sometimes pronounced as [oː] and the RP /eɪ/ as [eː]. An example that illustrates this tendency is the Abercrave pronunciation of play-place [ˈpleɪˌpleːs][10]

In northern varieties, coat and caught/court are often merged into /kɔːt/[2]

In Rhymney, the diphthong of there is monophthongised [ɛː][11]

Diphthongs[edit]

Fronting diphthongs tend to resemble Received Pronunciation, apart from the vowel of bite that has a more centralised onset [æ ̈ɪ][12]

Backing diphthongs are more varied:[13]

o The vowel of low in RP, other than being rendered as a monophthong, like described above, is often pronounced as [oʊ# ]

o The word town is pronounced similarly to the New Zealand pronunciation of tone, i.e. with a near-open central onset [ɐʊ# ]

o The /juː/ of RP in the word due is usually pronounced as a true diphthong [ëʊ# ]

Consonants[edit]

A strong tendency (shared with Scottish English and some South African accents) towards using an alveolar tap [ɾ] (a 'tapped r') in place of an approximant [ɹ] (the r used in most accents in England).[14]

Rhoticity is largely uncommon, apart from some speakers in Port Talbot who supplant the front vowel of bird with /ɚ/, like in many varieties of North American English [15] and accents influenced by Welsh [16]

Some gemination between vowels is often encountered, e.g. money is pronounced [ˈmɜ.nːiː][17]

In northern varieties influenced by Welsh, pens and pence merge into /pɛns/ and chin and gin into /dʒɪn/[17]

In the north-east, under influence of such accents as Scouse, ng -coalescence does not take place, so sing is pronounced /sɪŋɡ/[18]

Also in northern accents, /l/ is frequently strongly velarised [ɫː]. In much of the south-east, clear and dark L alternate much like they do in RP[19]

The consonants are generally the same as RP but Welsh consonants like [ɬ] and [x] are encountered in loan words such as Llangefni and Harlech[17]

Distinctive vocabulary and grammar[edit]

See List of English words of Welsh origin

Aside from lexical borrowings from Welsh like bach (little, wee), eisteddfod, nain and taid (grandmother and grandfather respectively), there exist distinctive grammatical conventions in vernacular Welsh English. Examples of this include the use by some speakers of the tag question isn't it? regardless of the form of the preceding statement and the placement of the subject and the verb after the predicate for emphasis, e.g. Fed up, I am or Running on Friday, he is.[17]

In South Wales the word "where" may often be expanded to "where to", as in the question, "Where to is your Mam?". The word "butty" is used to mean "friend" or "mate"[20] yet in the north is more commonly understood to mean a sandwich.

There is no standard variety of English that is specific to Wales, but such features are readily recognised by Anglophones from the rest of the UK as being from Wales, including the (actually rarely used) phrase look you which is a translation of a Welsh language tag.[17]

Orthography[edit]

Spellings are almost identical to other dialects of British English. Minor differences occur with words descended from Welsh which aren't Anglicised as in many other dialects of English, e.g. in Wales the valley is always "cwm", not the Anglicised version "coombe". As with other dialects of British English, -ise endings are preferred, i.e. "realise" instead of "realize". However, both forms are acceptable. For words ending in 'yse' or 'yze', the 'yse' endings are compulsory, as with other dialects of British English, i.e. "analyse", not "analyze".

Cockney

The term Cockney has had several distinct geographical, social, and linguistic associations. Originally a pejorative applied to all city-dwellers, it was eventually restricted to Londoners and particularly to the "Bow-bell Cockneys":[1] those born within earshot of Bow Bells, the bells of St Mary-le-

Bow in east London's Cheapside district. More recently, it is variously used to refer to those in London's East End, or to all working-class Londoners generally.

Linguistically, Cockney English refers to the accent or dialect of English traditionally spoken by working-class Londoners. In recent years, many aspects of Cockney English have become part of general Southeast English speech, producing a variant known as Estuary English.

Typical features[edit]

As with many accents of the United Kingdom, Cockney is non-rhotic. A final -er is pronounced [ə] or lowered [ɐ] in broad Cockney. As with all or nearly all non-rhotic accents, the paired lexical sets commA and lettER, PALM/BATH and START, THOUGHT and NORTH/FORCE, are merged. Thus, the last syllable of words such as cheetah can be pronounced [ɐ] as well in broad Cockney.[30][31][32]

Broad /ɑː/ is used in words such as bath, path, demand . This originated in London in the 16th-17th centuries and is also part of Received Pronunciation (RP).[33]

T-glottalization : use of the glottal stop as an allophone of /t/ in various positions,[34][35] including after a stressed syllable. Glottal stops also occur, albeit less frequently for /k/ and /p/, and occasionally for mid-word consonants. For example, Richard Whiteing spelt "Hyde Park" as Hy′ Par′. Like, "lie" and light can be homophones. "Clapham" as [ˈkl ̥ɛʔm ̩].[33] /t/ may also be flapped intervocalically, e.g. utter [ˈaɾɐ]. London /p, t, k/ are often aspirated in intervocalic and final environments, e.g., upper [ˈapʰɐ], utter [ˈatˢɐ], rocker [ˈɹɒkʰɐ], up [apʰ], out [ˈæə+ tˢ], rock [ɹɒkʰ], where RP is traditionally described as having the unaspirated variants. Also, in broad Cockney at least, the degree of aspiration is typically greater than in RP, and may often also involve some degree of affrication: affricatives may be encountered in initial, intervocalic, and final position.[36][37]

o This feature results in Cockney being often mentioned in textbooks about Semitic languages while explaining how to pronounce the glottal stop.

Th -fronting :[38]

o /θ̠/ can become [f] in any environment. [fɪn] "thin", [mɛfs] "maths".

o /ð/ can become [v] in any environment except word-initially when it can be [ð, ð ̞, d, l, ʔ, ∅]. [dæɪ] "they", [ˈbɒvə] "bother".[39][40]

Yod-coalescence in words such as tune [tʃʰʉːn] or reduce [ɹɪˈdʒʉːs] (compare traditional RP [ˈtjuːn, ɹɪˈdjuːs]).[41]

H -dropping . Sivertsen considers that [h] is to some extent a stylistic marker of emphasis in Cockney.[42][43]

Diphthong alterations:[44]

o /iː/ → [əi~ɐi]:[45][46] [bəiʔ] "beet"o /eɪ/ → [æɪ~aɪ]:[47] [bæɪʔ] "bait"o /aɪ/ → [ɑɪ] or even [ɒɪ] in "vigorous, dialectal"

Cockney. The second element may be reduced or absent (with compensatory lengthening of the first element), so that there are variants such as [ɑ" ə~ɑ" ː]. This means that pairs such as laugh-life, Barton-biting may become homophones: [lɑːf], [bɑːʔn ̩]. But this neutralisation is an optional, recoverable one:[48]

[bɑɪʔ] "bite"o /ɔɪ/ → [ɔ# ɪ~oɪ]:[48] [ˈtʃʰoɪs] "choice"o /uː/ → [əʉ] or a monophthongal [ʉː], perhaps with

little lip rounding, [ɨː] or [ʊː]:[45][49] [bʉːʔ] "boot"o /əʊ/ → this diphthong typically starts in the area of

the London /ʌ/, [æ �~ɐ]. The endpoint may be [ʊ], but more commonly it is rather opener and/or lacking any lip rounding, thus being a kind of centralized [ɤ̈]. The broadest Cockney variant approaches [aʊ]. There's also a variant that is used only by women, namely [ʌø ~ œ ̈ø]. In addition, there are two monophthongal pronunciations, [ʌ̈ː] as in 'no, nah' and [œ ̈], which is used in non-prominent variants. [50] [kʰɐɤ̈ʔ] "coat"

o /aʊ/ may be [æə] or a monophthongal [æː~aː]:[51] [tˢæən] "town"

o /ɪə/ and [ɛə] have somewhat tenser onsets than in RP: [iə], [ɛ# ə][52]

Other vowel differences includeo /æ/ may be [ɛ] or [ɛɪ], with the latter occurring

before voiced consonants, particularly before /d/:[32]

[53] [bɛk] "back", [bɛːɪd] "bad"o /ɛ/ may be [eə], [eɪ], or [ɛɪ] before certain voiced

consonants, particularly before /d/:[32][54][55][56] [beɪd] "bed"

o /ɒ/ may be a somewhat less open [ɔ]:[32] [kʰɔʔ] "cot"o /ɑː/ has a fully back variant, qualitatively equivalent

to cardinal 5, which Beaken (1971) claims characterizes "vigorous, informal" Cockney.[32]

o /ɜː/ is on occasion somewhat fronted and/or lightly rounded, giving Cockney variants such as [ɜ" ː], [œ ̈ː].[32]

o /ʌ/ → [ɐ" ] or a quality like that of cardinal 4, [a]:[32][57] [dʒamʔˈtˢapʰ] "jumped up"

o /ɔː/ → [oː] or a closing diphthong of the type [oʊ~ɔo] when in non-final position, with the latter variants being more common in broad Cockney:[58][59] [soʊs] "sauce"-"source", [loʊd] "lord", [ˈwoʊʔə] "water"

o /ɔː/ → [ɔː] or a centring diphthong of the type [ɔə~ɔwə] when in final position, with the latter variants being more common in broad Cockney; thus [sɔə] "saw"-"sore"-"soar", [lɔə] "law"-"lore", [wɔə] "war"-"wore". The diphthong is retained before inflectional endings, so that board and pause can contrast with bored [bɔəd] and paws [pʰɔəz].[59] /ɔə/ has a somewhat tenser onset than the cardinal /ɔ/, that is [ɔ# ə].[52]

o /əʊ/ becomes something around [ɒʊ~ɔo] or even [aɤ] in broad Cockney before dark l. These variants are retained when the addition of a suffix turns the dark l clear. Thus a phonemic split has occurred in London English, exemplified by the minimal pair wholly [ˈhɒʊli] vs. holy [ˈhɐɤ̈li]. The development of L-vocalization (see next section) leads to further pairs such as sole-soul [sɒʊ] vs. so-sew [sɐɤ̈], bowl

[bɒʊ] vs. Bow [bɐɤ̈], shoulder [ˈʃɒʊdə] vs. odour [ˈɐɤ̈də], while associated vowel neutralisations may make doll a homophone of dole, compare dough [dɐɤ̈]. All this reinforces the phonemic nature of the opposition and increases its functional load. It is now well-established in all kinds of London-flavoured accents, from broad Cockney to near-RP.[60]

Vocalisation of dark L , hence [ˈmɪowɔː] for Millwall. The actual realization of a vocalized /l/ is influenced by surrounding vowels and it may be realized as [u], [ʊ], [o] or [ɤ]. It is also transcribed as a semivowel [w] by some linguists, e.g., Coggle and Rosewarne.[61] Relatedly, there are many possible vowel neutralisations and absorptions in the context of a following "dark L" ([ɫ]) or its vocalised version; these include:[62]

o In broad Cockney, and to some extent in general popular London speech, a vocalised /l/ is entirely absorbed by a preceding /ɔː/: e.g., salt and sort become homophones (although the contemporary pronunciation of salt /sɒlt/[63] would prevent this from happening), and likewise fault-fought-fort, pause-Paul's, Morden-Malden, water-Walter. Sometimes such pairs are kept apart, in more deliberate speech at least, by a kind of length difference: [ˈmɔʊdn ̩] Morden vs. [ˈmɔʊːdn ̩] Malden.

o A preceding /ə/ is also fully absorbed into vocalised /l/. The reflexes of earlier /əl/ and earlier /ɔː(l)/ are thus phonetically similar or identical; speakers are usually ready to treat them as the same phoneme. Thus awful can best be regarded as containing two occurrences of the same vowel, /ˈɔːfɔː/. The difference between musical and music-hall, in an H-dropping broad Cockney, is thus nothing more than a matter of stress and perhaps syllable boundaries.

o With the remaining vowels a vocalised /l/ is not absorbed, but remains phonetically present as a

back vocoid in such a way that /Vl/ and /V/ are kept distinct.

o The clearest and best-established neutralisations are those of /ɪ~iː~ɪə/ and /ʊ~uː~ʊə/. Thus rill, reel and real fall together in Cockney as [ɹɪɤ]; while full and fool are [foʊ~fʊu] and may rhyme with cruel [ˈkʰɹʊu]. Before clear (i.e., prevocalic) /l/ the neutralisations do not usually apply, thus [ˈsɪli] silly but [ˈsɪilɪn] ceiling-sealing, [ˈfʊli] fully but [ˈfʊulɪn] fooling.

o In some broader types of Cockney, the neutralisation of /ʊ~uː~ʊə/ before non-prevocalic /l/ may also involve /ɔː/, so that fall becomes homophonous with full and fool [fɔo].

o The other pre-/l/ neutralisation which all investigators agree on is that of /æ~eɪ~aʊ/. Thus, Sal and sale can be merged as [sæɤ], fail and fowl as [fæɤ], and Val, vale-veil and vowel as [væɤ]. The typical pronunciation of railway is [ˈɹæʊwæɪ].

o According to Siversten, /ɑː/ and /aɪ/ can also join in this neutralisation. They may on the one hand neutralise with respect to one another, so that snarl and smile rhyme, both ending [-ɑɤ], and Child's Hill is in danger of being mistaken for Charles Hill; or they may go further into a fivefold neutralisation with the one just mentioned, so that pal, pale, foul, snarl and pile all end in [-æɤ]. But these developments are evidently restricted to broad Cockney, not being found in London speech in general.

o A neutralisation discussed by Beaken (1971) and Bowyer (1973), but ignored by Siversten (1960), is that of /ɒ~əʊ~ʌ/. It leads to the possibility of doll, dole and dull becoming homophonous as [dɒʊ] or [da�ɤ]. Wells' impression is that the doll-dole neutralisation is rather widespread in London, but that involving dull less so.

o One further possible neutralisation in the environment of a following non-prevocalic /l/ is that

of /ɛ/ and /ɜː/, so that well and whirl become homophonous as [wɛʊ].

Cockney has been occasionally described as replacing /ɹ/ with /w/. For example, thwee (or fwee) instead of three, fwasty instead of frosty. Peter Wright, a Survey of English Dialects fieldworker, concluded that this was not a universal feature of Cockneys but that it was more common to hear this in the London area than anywhere else in Britain.[64] This description may also be a result of mishearing the labiodental R as /w/, when it is still a distinct phoneme in Cockney.

An unstressed final -ow may be pronounced [ə]. In broad Cockney this can be lowered to [ɐ].[31][32] This is common to most traditional, Southern English dialects except for those in the West Country.[65]

Grammatical features:[42]

o Use of me instead of my, for example, "At's me book you got 'ere". Cannot be used when "my" is emphasised; e.g., "At's my book you got 'ere" (and not "his").

o Use of ain't Use of double negatives, for example "I ditn't see

nuffink."[66]

Most of the features mentioned above have, in recent years, partly spread into more general south-eastern speech, giving the accent called Estuary English; an Estuary speaker will use some but not all of the Cockney sounds.[67][68][69]

Frequent use of the phrase to "get the hump" or "have the hump" (pronounced "'ave the 'ump", a primarily Cockney phrase that refers to being grumpy with someone else on account of feeling wronged by the other person.[70][71]

Estuary English

Features

Estuary English is characterised by the following features:

Non-rhoticity . Use of intrusive R: pronouncing an "r" sound when no r is

present to prevent consecutive vowel sounds A broad A (ɑː) in words such as bath, grass, laugh, etc. T glottalisation : realising non-initial, most commonly

final, /t/ as a glottal stop instead of an alveolar stop, e.g. can't (pronounced /kɑːnʔ/).

Yod -coalescence , i.e., the use of the affricates [dʒ] and [tʃ] instead of the clusters [dj] and [tj] in words like dune and Tuesday. Thus, these words sound like June and choose day, respectively.

L -vocalisation , i.e., the use of [o], [ʊ], or [ɯ] where RP uses [ɫ] in the final positions or in a final consonant cluster, for example whole (pronounced /hoʊ/).

The wholly–holy split.[5]

Use of question tags.

Despite the similarity between the two dialects, the following characteristics of Cockney pronunciation are generally not considered to be present in Estuary English:[2][6][7]

H -dropping , i.e., Dropping [h] in stressed words (e.g. [æʔ] for hat)

Double negation . However, Estuary English may use never in cases where not would be standard. For example, "he did not" [in reference to a single occasion] might become "he never did".

Replacement of [ ɹ ] with [ ʋ ] is not found in Estuary, and is also very much in decline amongst Cockney speakers.

However, the boundary between Estuary English and Cockney is far from clear-cut,[8][9] hence even these features of Cockney might occur occasionally in Estuary English.

In particular, it has been suggested that th -fronting is "currently making its way" into Estuary English, for example those from Isle of Thanet often refer to Thanet as "Plannit Fannit" (Planet Thanet).[7]

London accent[edit]

The term "Estuary English" can also be considered a milder (closer to RP) variety of the "'London Accent". The spread of the London Accent extends many miles outside London and all of the neighbouring home counties surrounding London have residents who moved from London and took their London Accent with them. The London Accent or its Londonised milder variant, called “Estuary English”, can be heard in all of the New Towns, coastal resorts, and larger regional cities within 50 to 100 miles (80 to 160 km) of London in southern England

British Accents

The United Kingdom is probably the most dialect-obsessed nation in the world. With countless accents shaped by thousands of years of history, there are few English-speaking nations with as many varieties of language in such a small space.

(NOTE: This page uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For information about this notation, please visit my page of IPA Resources.)

Here is a list of the most important types of British English. While this is not a complete list by any means, it will give you an overview of the accents and dialects most often discussed on this site and elsewhere.

Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation is the closest to a “standard accent” that has ever existed in the UK. Although it originally derives from London English, it is non-regional. You’ve probably heard this accent countless times in Jane Austen adaptations, Merchant Ivory films, and Oscar Wilde plays. It emerged from the 18th- and 19th-Century aristocracy, and has remained the “gold standard” ever since.

Features:

Non-rhoticity, meaning the r at the ends of words isn’t prounounced (mother sounds like “muhthuh”).

Trap-bath split, meaning that certain a words, like bath, can’t, and dance are pronounced with the broad-a in father. (This differs from most American accents, in which these words are pronounced with the short-a in cat.

The vowels tend to be a bit more conservative than other accents in Southern England, which have undergone significant vowel shifting over the past century.

Cockney

Cockney is probably the second most famous British accent. It originated in the East End of London, but shares many features with and influences other dialects in that region.

Features:

Raised vowel in words like trap and cat so these sounds like “trep” and “cet.”

Non-rhoticity: see explanation above under Received Pronunciation, above.

Trap-bath split: see explanation above under Received Pronunciation.

London vowel shift: The vowel sounds are shifted around so that Cockney “day” sounds is pronounced IPA dæɪ (close to American “die”) and Cockney buy verges near IPA bɒɪ (close to American “boy”).

Glottal Stopping: the letter t is pronounced with the back of the throat (glottis) in between vowels; hence better becomes IPA be?ə (sounds to outsiders like “be’uh”).

L-vocalization: The l at the end of words often becomes a vowel sound Hence pal can seem to sound like “pow.” (I’ve seen this rendered in IPA as /w/, /o,/ and /ɰ/.)

Th-Fronting: The th in words like think or this is pronounced with a more forward consonant depending on the word: thing becomes “fing,” this becomes “dis,” and mother becomes “muhvah.”

Estuary English (Southeast British)

Estuary is an accent derived from London English which has achieved a status slightly similar to “General American” in the US. Features of the accent can be heard around Southeast England, East Anglia, and perhaps further afield. It is arguably creeping into the Midlands and North.

Features:

Similar to Cockney, but in general Estuary speakers do not front th words or raise the vowel in trap. There are few hard-and-fast rules, however.

Glottal stoppingof ‘t’ and l-vocalization (see above) are markers of this accent, but there is some debate about their frequency.

Welsh English

This refers to the accents and dialects spoken in the country of Wales. The speech of this region is heavily influenced by the Welsh language, which remained more widely spoken in modern times than the other Celtic languages.

Features:

Usually non-rhotic. English is generally modelled after Received Pronunciation

or related accents, but with many holdovers from the Welsh language.

Syllables tend to be very evenly stressed, and the prosody of the accent is often very “musical”.

The letter r is often trilled or tapped. Some dialect words imported from the Welsh language.

Scottish English

This is the broad definition used to describe English as it is spoken in the country of Scotland. Note that Scottish English is different than Scots, a language derived from Northumbrian Old English that is spoken in Scotland as well. That being said, Scots has a strong influence on how English in Scotland is spoken.

Features:

Rhotic, with trilled or tapped r’s. Glottal stopping of the letter t when in between vowels

(similar to Cockney and related accents). Monopthongal pronounciations of the /ei/ and /ou/

dipthongs, so that that face becomes IPA fe:s and goat becomes IPA go:t.