regular use of "broad a" (/a:/), where GA (General American) would use /æ/.

"long o" is pronounced /'u/, where GA uses /ou/.

final unstressed i is pronounced /i/, where GA uses /i:).



t between vowels retained as /t/ (or a glottal stop, in its variants), where GA changes it to /d/.



Cockney



Originally the dialect of the working class of East End London.

initial h is dropped, so house becomes /aus/ (or even /a:s/).

/th/ and /dh/ become /f/ and /v/ respectively: think > /fingk/, brother > /brœv'/.

t between vowels becomes a glottal stop: water > /wo?'/.

diphthongs change, sometimes dramatically: time > /toim/, brave > /braiv/, etc. Besides the accent, it includes a large number of slang words, including the famous rhyming slang:

have a butchers -- take a look [from butcher's hook = look]

north and south -- mouth

plates -- feet [from plates of meat = feet]

boat race -- face

skin and blister -- sister

trouble -- wife [from trouble and strife = wife]

dustbin lids -- kids / children

whistle -- suit [from whistle and flute = suit]

oily rag -- fag = cigarette

jam jar -- car

mince pies -- eyes

pen and ink -- stink

porkies -- lies [from pork pies = lies]

titfer -- hat [from tit for tat = hat]

apples and pears -- stairs

Jimmy -- urinate [from Jimmy Riddle = piddle]

Bertie Woofter -- gay man [from Bertie Woofter = poofter]

China -- mate / friend [from China plate = mate]

Khyber -- buttocks [from Khyber Pass = ass]

rabbit and pork -- talk

tea leaf -- thief

taters -- cold [from potato mold = cold]

dog and bone -- phone

loaf -- head [from loaf of bread = head]

brown bread -- dead

elbows and knees -- trees

gold watch -- Scotch

pride and joy -- boy

current bun -- Sun

dicky -- shirt [from dicky dirt = shirt]

pots and pans -- hands

jugs -- ears [from jugs of beers = ears]

ones and twos -- shoes

daisies -- boots [from daisy roots = boots]

bird -- prison [from bird lime = time, as in doing time] (from Kryss Katsiavriades at http://www.krysstal.com/cockney.html)



Estuary English



From London down the Thames and into Essex, Sussex, and even Kent, a new working and middle class dialect has evolved and is rapidly become "the" southern dialect. It combines some of the characteristics of Cockney with RP, but makes much less use of Cockney slang.



t between vowels usually becomes a glottal stop.

/ai/ becomes /oi/: time > /toim/.

RP yu becomes u: after n, t, d... as in American English.

ou > u: (so go becomes /gu:/).

RP yu; becomes u: after n, t, d... as in American English.

r's are not dropped.

initial s often becomes z (singer > zinger).

initial f often becomes v (finger > vinger).

vowels are lengthened.

are > am

am, are (with a continuous sense) > bin

is not > ay

are not > bay

Brummie is the version of West Midlands spoken in Birmingham.



/œ/ > /u/, as in luck (/luk/).

/ou/ > /oi/, as in hole (/hoil/)

Scouse is the very distinctive Liverpool accent, a version of the Lancashire dialect, that the Beatles made famous.

the tongue is drawn back.

/th/ and /dh/ > /t/ and /d/ respectively.

final k sounds like the Arabic q.

for is pronounced to rhyme with fur.



/œ/ > /u/, as in luck (/luk/).

the is reduced to t'.

initial h is dropped.

was > were.

still use thou (pronounced /tha/) and thee.

aught and naught (pronounced /aut/ or /out/ and /naut/ or /nout/) are used for anything and nothing.

-er > /æ/, so father > /fædhæ/.

/ou/ > /o:'/, so that boat sounds like each letter is pronounced.

talk > /ta:k/

work > /work/

book > /bu:k/

my > me

me > us

our > wor

you plural > youse

Wales



Scotland



rolled r's.

"pure" vowels (/e:/ rather than /ei/, /o:/ rather than /ou/)

/u:/ is often fronted to /ö/ or /ü/, e.g. boot, good, muin (moon), poor...

/oi/, /ai/, and final /ei/ > /'i/, e.g. oil, wife, tide...

final /ai/ > /i/, e.g. ee (eye), dee (die), lee (lie)...

/ou/ > /ei/, e.g. ake (oak), bate (boat), hame (home), stane (stone), gae (go)...

/au/ > /u:/, e.g. about, house, cow, now... (often spelled oo or u)

/o/ > /a:/, e.g. saut (salt), law, aw (all)...

/ou/ > /a:/, e.g. auld (old), cauld (cold), snaw (snow)...

/æ/ > /a/, e.g. man, lad, sat...

also: pronounce the ch's and gh's that are silent in standard English as /kh/: nicht, licht, loch...

Present tense: often, all forms follow the third person singular (they wis, instead of they were).

Past tense (weak verbs): -it after plosives (big > biggit); -t after n, l, r, and all other unvoiced consonants (ken > kent); -ed after vowels and all other voiced consonants (luv > luved).

Past tense (strong verbs): come > cam, gang > gaed and many more.

On the other hand, many verbs that are strong in standard English are weak in Scottish English: sell > sellt, tell > tellt, mak > makkit, see > seed, etc.

Past participle is usually the same as the past (except for many strong verbs, as in standard English)

Present participle: -in (ken > kennin)

The negative of many auxiliary verbs is formed with -na: am > amna, hae (have) > hinna, dae (do) > dinna, can > canna, etc.

Irregular plurals: ee > een (eyes), shae > shuin (shoes), coo > kye (cows).

Common diminutives in -ie: lass > lassie, hoose > hoosie...

Common adjective ending: -lik (= -ish)

Demonstratives come in four pairs (singular/plural): this/thir, that/thae, thon/thon, yon/yon.

Relative pronouns: tha or at.

Interrogative pronouns: hoo, wha, whan, whase, whaur, whatna, whit.

Each or every is ilka; each one is ilk ane.

Numbers: ane, twa, three, fower, five, sax, seeven, aucht, nine, ten, aleeven, twal...

Ireland



r after vowels is retained

"pure" vowels (/e:/ rather than /ei/, /o:/ rather than /ou/)

/th/ and /dh/ > /t/ and /d/ respectively.

Use of be or do in place of usually :

or in place of : I do write... (I usually write)



write... (I usually write) Use of after for the progressive perfect and pluperfect:

for the progressive perfect and pluperfect: I was after getting married (I had just gotten married)

getting married (I had just gotten married) Use of progressive beyond what is possible in standard English:

I was thinking it was in the drawer

it was in the drawer Use of the present or past for perfect and pluperfect:

She’s dead these ten years (she has been dead...)

Use of let you be and don’t be as the imperative:

and as the imperative: Don’t be troubling yourself

troubling yourself Use of it is and it was at the beginning of a sentence:

and at the beginning of a sentence: it was John has the good looks in the family

John has the good looks in the family Is it marrying her you want?

marrying her you want? Substitute and for when or as :

for or : It only struck me and you going out of the door

you going out of the door Substitute the infinitive verb for that or if :

or : Imagine such a thing to be seen here!

seen here! Drop if , that , or whether :

, , or : Tell me did you see them

Statements phrased as rhetorical questions:

Isn’t he the fine-looking fellow?

Extra uses of the definite article:

He was sick with the jaundice

jaundice Unusual use of prepositions:

Sure there’s no daylight in it at all now

Australian English



billibong -- watering hole

coolabah -- a type of tree

corroboree -- a ceremony

nulla-nulla -- a club

wallaby -- small kangaroo

wombat -- a small marsupial

woomera -- a weapon

wurley -- a simple shelter

billy -- tin pot for making tea

cooee -- call used in the outback

dingo -- native dog

jackeroo -- young station hand

joey -- young kangaroo

jumbuck -- sheep

matilda -- backpack

never-never -- the far outback

squatter -- rancher

station -- ranch

swagman -- bushman or tramp

tucker -- food

Like a greasespot -- hot and sweaty

Like a stunned mullet -- in a daze

Like a dog’s breakfast -- a mess

Up a gumtree -- in trouble

Mad as a gumtree full of galahs -- insane

Happy as a bastard on Fathers’ Day -- very happy

Dry as a dead dingo’s donger -- very dry indeed

aussie -- Australian

chalky -- teacher

chewie -- chewing gum

chockie -- chocoloate

coldie -- a cold beer

cossie -- swimming costume (swimsuit)

footy -- football (Australian rules, of course)

frenchie -- condom

frostie -- a cold beer

garbo -- garbage man

lavvy -- lavatory

lippie -- lipstick

lollies -- sweets

mossie -- mosquito

mushies -- mushrooms

oldies -- one’s parents

rellies -- one’s relatives

sammie -- sandwich

sickie -- sick day

smoko -- cigarette break

sunnies -- sunglasses

New Zealand



South Africa



i - as in bit is pronounced 'uh'

long /a:/ in words like 'past', 'dance'

t in middle of words pronounced as d's ('pretty' becomes '/pridi:/')

donga - ditch, from Xhosa

dagga - marijuana, from Xhoixhoi (?)

kak - bullshit, from Afrikaans

fundi - expert, from Xhosa and Zulu umfundi (student).

Canada



/ai/ and /au/ become /œi/ and /œu/, respectively.

/th/ and /dh/ > /t/ and /d/ respectively.

am, is, are > be's

I like, we like, etc. > I likes, we likes, etc.

Southern English engages in r-dropping, that is, r's are not pronounced after vowels, unless followed by another vowel. Instead, vowels are lengthened or have an /'/ off-glide, so fire becomes /fai'/, far becomes /fa:/, and so on.The English of well-bred Londoners, especially graduates of the public schools (e.g. Eton and Harrow) and "Oxbridge" universities, was the origin of "the Queen's English," also known as(RP), BBC, or "posh."This dialect is very similar to the Southern:The dialect of the East Midlands, once filled with interesting variations from county to county, is now predominantly RP. R's are dropped, but h's are pronounced. The only signs that differentiate it from RP:This is the dialect of Ozzie Osbourne! While pronunciation is not that different from RP, some of the vocabulary is:This dialect, spoken north and east of Liverpool, has the southern habit of dropping r's. Other features:The Yorkshire dialect is known for its sing-song quality, a little like Swedish, and retains its r's.The Northern dialect closely resembles the southern-most Scottish dialects. It retains many old Scandinavian words, such as bairn for child, and not only keeps its r's, but often rolls them. The most outstanding version is, the dialect of the Newcastle area.Welsh English is characterized by a sing-song quality and lightly rolled r's. It has been strongly influenced by the Welsh language, although it is increasingly influenced today by standard English, due to the large number of English people vacationing and retiring there.Scotland actually has more variation in dialects than England! The variations do have a few things in common, though, besides a large particularly Scottish vocabulary:There are several "layers" of Scottish English. Most people today speak standard English with little more than the changes just mentioned, plus a few particular words that they themselves view as normal English, such as to jag (to prick) and burn (brook). In rural areas, many older words and grammatical forms, as well as further phonetic variations, still survive, but are being rapidly replaced with more standard forms. But when a Scotsman (or woman) wants to show his pride in his heritage, he may resort to quite a few traditional variations in his speech. First, the phonetics:Plus, the grammar:And finally, the many unique words: lass, bairn (child), kirk (church), big (build), bonny, greet (weep), ingle (household fire), aye (yes), hame (home)... As you can see, Scottish English in its original glory is as near to being different language as one can get, rather than simply another dialect of English. See Clive P L Young's Scots Haunbuik at http://www.electricscotland.com/tourist/sh_gram.htm for more detail.There are also several urban dialects, particularly in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The thick dialect of the working class of Edinburgh can be heard in the movieIn the Highlands, especially the Western Islands, English is often people's second language, the first being Scottish Gaelic. Highland English is pronounced in a lilting fashion with pure vowels. It is, actually, one of the prettiest varieties of English I have ever heard.English was imposed upon the Irish, but they have made it their own and have contributed some of our finest literature. Irish English is strongly influenced by Irish Gaelic:The sentence structure of Irish English often borrows from the Gaelic:As with the English of the Scottish Highlands, the English of the west coast of Ireland, where Gaelic is still spoken, is lilting, with pure vowels. It, too, is particularly pretty.Australian English is predominantly British English, and especially from the London area. R’s are dropped after vowels, but are often inserted between two words ending and beginning with vowels.The vowels reflect a strong “Cockney” influence: The long a (/ei/) tends towards a long i (/ai/), so pay sounds like pie to an American ear. The long i (/ai/), in turn, tends towards oi, so cry sounds like croy. Ow sounds like it starts with a short a (/æ/). Other vowels are less dramatically shifted.Even some rhyming slang has survived into Australlian English: Butcher’s means look (butcher’s hook); hit and miss means piss; loaf means head (loaf of bread); Noah’s ark means shark; Richard the third means turd, and so on.Like American English has absorbed numerous American Indian words, Australian English has absorbed many Aboriginal words:...not to mention such ubiquitous words as kangaroo, boomerang, and koala!Aborigine and colonialist myths blended easily, and there are a number of fearsome creatures. For example, the bunyip lives near bilibongs and eats children. Also living in bilibongs is the mindi, a hairy snake. A yowie is the Australian version of Sasquatch. And the min-min light is their version of a will-o-the-wisp.Many common words refer to the traditions of the bushman or bushie -- the early explorers and settlers of the outback (wilderness). You can find many of these in Australia’s national song, Waltzing Matilda.Colorful expressions also abound:Another characteristic of Australian English is abbreviated words, often ending in -y, -ie, or -o:And, of course, there are those peculiarly Australian words and expressions, such as g’day (guhdoy to American ears), crikey, fair dinkum, no worries, Oz, Pavlova, and Vegemite!New Zealand English is heard by Americans as "Ozzie Light." The characteristics of Australian English are there to some degree, but not as intensely. The effect for Americans is uncertainty as to whether the person is from England or Australia. One clue is that New Zealand English sounds "flatter" (less modulated) than either Australian or British English and more like western American English.South African English is close to RP but often with a Dutch influence. English as spoken by Afrikaaners is more clearly influenced by Dutch pronunciation. Just like Australian and American English, there are numberous words adopted from the surrounding African languages, especially for native species of animals and plants. As spoken by black South Africans for whom it is not their first language, it often reflects the pronunciation of their Bantu languages, with purer vowels. Listen, for example, to Nelson Mandela or Bishop Tutu.Alan Millar of South Africa wrote me with some additional information:Dialects also varies slightly from east to west: In Natal (in western South Africa), /ai/ is pronounced /a:/, so that why is pronounced /wa:/.On top of all this, the dialects of the ethnic group referred to in South Africa as "Coloured" (i.e. of mixed racial backgrounds) have a dialect quite distinct from the dialects of "white" South Africans.Alan also suggests that South African has a "flatter" (less modulated) sound, similar to that of New Zealand as contrasted with Australian English.Canadian English is generally similar to northern and western American English. The one outstanding characteristic is called Canadian rising:Americans can listen to the newscaster Peter Jennings -- one of the best voices on the telly! -- for these sounds.One unusual characteristic found in much Canadian casual speech is the use of sentence final "eh?" even in declarative sentences.Most Canadians retain r's after vowels, but in the Maritimes, they drop their r's, just like their New England neighbors to the south.Newfoundland has a very different dialect, called Newfie, that seems to be strongly influenced by Irish immigrants: