English Varieties and Accents
Did you know that there are over 160 different dialects of the English language? That’s right, this global language has been shaped by a ton of factors, like geography, history, culture, education and social class. While this is true for all languages, English has so many because it is spoken as a first or bilingual language in many places in the world.
English started out in England and Scotland. British English (for short) has around 50 regional dialects/ accents, ranging from the Cockney of working-class Londoners to the broad accents of the West Country, the Irish-Scotch English of Northern Ireland to the standard Received Pronunciation (RP) accent used by many broadcasters and educated people in Great Britain. RP is the Standard English of England. Each area of Great Britain – and the World – has its own variant of the standard, like Northern, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish Standard English, and elsewhere Irish Standard, Cultivated Australian, etc.
But it’s not just the Brits who have their own flavours of English. North Americans have their own distinctive pronunciations, grammar, and vocabulary, with at least 15 varieties spoken in the USA and Canada. The equivalent of RP in the US and Canada is called GA “General American”, though the standards are somewhat different in the USA as opposed to Canada. In terms of population, the USA and Canada together number form the largest number of native speakers of English; however, in international terms, their Standards are common, GA, RP, and Opceanic English (South Africa, Australia, New Zealand). All areas have their “quirks”. For example, Aussies, Scots, and New Zealanders have unique features like using diminutives (think “barbie” for barbecue), many areas have strong Irish-Scottish influence, lending them what is called “rising inflection”, typical of many parts of the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland and parts of England. There are plenty of varieties out there, Canadian, Newfoundland, Southern American, Geordie, Dublin, South African English, Indian English, and Nigerian English … each with their own unique linguistic characteristics and accents.
