HibernoEnglish (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 Tnaiste, the
parliament is the Oireachtas and its lower house is Dil ireann. 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:
Word
Part of
speech
Meaning
Ab Interjection
Hooray! Used in sporting occasions, espec. for
Gaelic games Kerry ab! 'hooray for
Kerry!'
Amadn
[6]
Noun Fool
Filte Noun
Welcome often in the phrase Cad mle
filte 'A hundred thousand welcomes'
Flaithlach
[7]
Adjective Generous
Garsn
[8]
/
gasr
[9]

Noun Boy
Gaeltacht Noun
Officially designated region where Irish is the
primary spoken language
Gr
[10]
Noun
Love, affection, not always romantic 'he
has a great gr for whiskey'
Ldramn
[11]
Noun Fool
Plms
[12]
Noun Smooth talk, flattery
Slinte
[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 of
"A Dhia, ara")
"Yerra, sure if it rains, it
rains."
Bockety
[16]
Adjective Bacach (lame) Unsteady, wobbly, broken
Bold
[17]
Adjective Dna Naughty/badly behaved.
Boreen Noun Bithrn Small rural road or track
Ceili/Ceilidh
[18]
Noun Cilidhe
Music and dancing session,
especially of traditional
music
Colleen Noun Cailn Girl, young woman
Fooster Verb Fstar
[19]

to busy oneself in a restless
way, fidget
Gansey
[20]
Noun Geansa
[21]
Jumper (Sweater)
Give out
[22]
Verb
Tabhair amach
(lit.)
Tell off, reprimand
[23]

Gob
[24]
Noun Gob
Animal's Mouth (Beal =
human mouth)
Gombeen
[25]
Noun Gaimbn
Money lender, profiteer.
Usually in the phrase
'Gombeen man'
Guards
[26]
Noun Garda Sochna Police
Jackeen
[27]
Noun
Nickname for
John (i.e. Jack)
combined with
Irish diminutive
suffix "-n"
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
Seoinn
(diminutive of
Sean 'John')
An Irishman who imitates
English ways see Jackeen
Sleeveen
[30]
Noun Slbhn
An untrustworthy, cunning
person
Soft day
[31]
Phrase L 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:
Word Part of Meaning Origin/notes
speech
Amn't
[32]
Verb Am not

Childer
[33]
Noun Child
Survives from
Old-English,
genitive plural of
'child'
[34]

Cop-on
[35]
Noun
shrewdness, 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]
Negation
(e.g., for none, "Devil a
bit")
[42][43]

middle English
Eejit
[44]
Noun
Irish (and Scots) version
of 'idiot', meaning
foolish person
[45]

English from Latin
Idita
Hames
[46]
Noun
a 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]
Noun
Unpleasant, 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]
Noun Thing, 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:
Word
Part of
speech
Meaning Origin/notes
Acting the
maggot
[62]

Phrase Acting the fool, joking.

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

Bowsie
[64]
Noun
a 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]
Noun
Person 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.
Feck
Verb,
Interjection
an attenuated
alternative/minced
oath (see feck for
more details)
"Feck it!", "Feck off"
[74]

Gurrier
[75]
Noun
a 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 drinks
From mineral
Waters
[citation needed]

Mot Noun
Girl 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]
Noun
Stormdrain or Gutter.
Cf. Scots shore
[85]

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

Phrase
Make 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 is, and in is: bh m tar is/i
ndiaidh/in is X a dhanamh, nuair a rinne m 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!" Tim tar is 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." T an carr deisithe agam.
"I have my breakfast eaten." T 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 fin at ag teacht anois.
"Was it all of ye or just yourself?" Ar sibhse go lir n tusa fin a bh 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 m "me" to create agam. In English, the
verb "to have" is used, along with a "with me" or "on me" that derives from
T 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. Nl 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 t fin at 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 tg. 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 lithreach") for cases which are generally true
or are true at the time of speaking and the other (the habitual present or
"aimsir ghnthlithreach") for repeated actions. Thus, "you are [now, or
generally]" is t t, but "you are [repeatedly]" is bonn t. 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." Bonn s ag obair gach l.
"They do be talking on their mobiles a lot." Bonn siad ag caint go leor
ar a fin pca.
"He does be doing a lot of work at school." Bonn s ag danamh go
leor oibre ar scoil.
"It's him I do be thinking of." Is air a bhonn m 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 tisnt, for "it is
not".
Irish has separate forms for the second person singular (t) 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 [ji]; 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 [jiz]
and the Leinster pronunciation being [jz].
"Did ye all go to see it?" Ar imigh sibh go lir chun a fheicint?
"None of youse have a clue!" Nl ciall/leid ar bith agaibh!
"Are ye not finished yet?" Nach bhfuil sibh crochnaithe fs?
"Yis are after destroying it!" T sibh tar is 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" [lti]
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 [] 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 [] (as in word-initial position). A uvular [] is
found in north-east Leinster.
[94]
/r/ is pronounced as a postalveolar tap
[] in conservative accents. Mchel 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 [].
[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 (// and //); after a vowel, they may be dental
fricatives or dental stops ([t] and [d] respectively) depending on
speaker. Some dialects of Irish have a "slender" (palatalised) d as //
and this may transfer over to English pronunciation. In still others,
both dental fricatives are present since slender dental stops are lenited
to [] and [].
The distinction between // and /o/ in horse and hoarse is preserved,
though not usually in Dublin or Belfast.
A distinction between []-[]-[] 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: [bot], and [ken].
The /a/ in "night" may be pronounced in a wide variety of ways, e.g.
[], [], [] and [], the latter two being the most common in
middle class speech, the former two, in popular speech.
The // in "boy" may be pronounced [] (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 [] in
putt and the [] 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 [i] in RP are pronounced with [e], for example
meat, beat.
In words like took where "oo" usually represents //, speakers may use
/u/. 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
//.
/e/ often becomes // in words such as gave and came (becoming
"gev" and "kem")
Consonant clusters ending in /j/ often change.
[citation needed]

o /dj/ becomes /d/, e.g. dew/due, duke and duty sound like
"jew", "jook" and "jooty".
o /tj/ becomes /t/, 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]

// 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 [] and []. New Dublin speakers often realise this
phoneme even higher, as [].
// as in thought: In Local and Mainstream accents, this vowel is
usually a lengthened variant of the corresponding LOT set (i.e. [a] in
Local and [] in Mainstream.) In New Dublin accents, this sound can
be as high as [o].
// as in strut: in Local Dublin, this sound merges with the sound in
foot, so that strut is pronounced [strt]. In Mainstream, a slight
distinction is made between the two, with the vowel for strut varying
greatly from [] to []. In New Dublin this vowel can shift forward,
toward [].
/o/ 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 [o ~ ], whereas Mainstream
features a tighter diphthong: [o]. New Dublin has a slightly fronter
realisation, ranging to [].
/u/ as in goose. Local Dublin features a unique, palatised realisation
of this vowel, [u], so that food sounds quite similar to feud. In
Mainstream and New Dublin, this sound ranges to a more central
vowel, [].
/a/ as in price: Traditionally this vowel ranges in pronunciation from
[i] in Local Dublin speech to [ai] in Mainstream Dublin. Among
speakers born after 1970, the pronunciation [] often occurs before
voiced consonants and word-finally.
/a/ as in mouth is usually fronted, to [u] in Mainstream and New
Dublin and more typically [u] in Local.
// as in choice: This sound ranges greatly, from [a] in Local Dublin
to a high-back realisation [o] in New Dublin. Mainstream Dublin
more typically tends toward [].
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 ([]), whereas
Mainstream Dublin has a velarised alveolar approximant [] (which also
may be found in Local Dublin) and New Dublin features a retroflex
approximant, [].
[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 /r/ in "lettER" is either lowered to
[()] or in some speakers may be backed and raised to [()]. In
Mainstream Dublin, this sound is gently rhotic ([]), while New Dublin
features a retroflex approximant []. Other rhotic vowels are as follows:
// as in start: This vowel has a uniquely high realisation in Local
Dublin, ranging to []. In Mainstream Dublin, this sound is more
typically [a], whereas New Dublin can feature a more back vowel,
[]
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, [o], while "north" words feature a low monophthong,
[a]. Mainstream Dublin contrasts these two vowels slightly, as []
and [o], while in New Dublin, these two phonemes are merged to
[o].
// as in nurse. In local Dublin, this phoneme is split, either
pronounced as [] or []. In this accent, words written as "-ur" are
always pronounced as [], while words written as either "-er" or "-ir"
are pronounced as [], unless "-er" or "-ir" follows a labial consonant
(e.g. bird or first), when this sound has the [] realisation. In
Mainstream and New Dublin this distinction is seldom preserved, with
both phonemes typically merging to [].
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 [skul] = [skuwl]
Mean [min] = [mjn]
Five [fav] = [fjv]
Consonants[edit]
Final "t" is heavily lenited in Local Dublin English so that "sit" can be
pronounced [sh], [s] or even [s].
Intervocalically, "t" can become an alveolar approximant in Local
Dublin, e.g. "not only" = [na onli], while in New and Mainstream
varieties it can become an alveolar tap [], similar to American and
Australian English.
and , 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 [sn].
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 [], it is more common that a speaker will use an
alveolar tap [] or the alveolar trill [r]
[citation needed]
(hereafter, r will
be used to denote any rhotic consonant).
o While other dialects have merged //, //, // before /r/, Scottish
English makes a distinction between the vowels in herd, bird,
and curd.
o Many varieties contrast /o/ and // 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 /k/ 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 //) 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 //, instead transferring Scots /u/. Phonetically,
this vowel may be pronounced [] or even []. 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 //-// 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
// (as in kit) or /i/ (as in fleece).
[18]

/s/ is often used in plural nouns where southern English has /z/
(baths, youths, etc.); with and booth are pronounced with //. (See
Pronunciation of English th.)
In colloquial speech, the glottal stop may be an allophone of /t/ after
a vowel, as in [br]. These same speakers may "drop the g" in the
suffix -ing and debuccalise // to [h] in certain contexts.
// may be more open [] for certain speakers in some regions, so that
it sounds more like [] (although // and // do not merge). Other
speakers may pronounce it as [], just like in many other accents, or
with a schwa-like ([]) quality. Others may pronounce it almost as []
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 /dpjut/ for deputy, proven /provn/
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
//-vowel in words like cut, but /kt/, /bt/. Long final vowels occur such as
/i:/ in sorry /sri:/. 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 // may well predominate.
Morphology Multiple negation is found as in We dont 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 // is pronounced as a more central near-open front
unrounded vowel [].
[1]
In Cardiff, bag is pronounced with a long
vowel [a].
[2]
In Powys, a pronunciation resembling its New Zealand
and South African analogue is sometimes heard, i.e. trap is
pronounced /trp/
[3]

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

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

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

The vowel of "bus" // is pronounced []
[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 // 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 [ ],
[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 [], the same vowel as
that of bus
[7]

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

The vowel of car is often pronounced as a more central open back
unrounded vowel [ ]
[8]
and more often as a long open front
unrounded vowel /a/
[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 []
[9]

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

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

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

Diphthongs[edit]
Fronting diphthongs tend to resemble Received Pronunciation, apart
from the vowel of bite that has a more centralised onset []
[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
[o ]
o The word town is pronounced similarly to the New Zealand
pronunciation of tone, i.e. with a near-open central onset [ ]
o The /ju/ of RP in the word due is usually pronounced as a true
diphthong [ ]
Consonants[edit]
A strong tendency (shared with Scottish English and some South
African accents) towards using an alveolar tap [] (a 'tapped r') in
place of an approximant [] (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 //, 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 [m.ni]
[17]

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

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

Also in northern accents, /l/ is frequently strongly velarised []. 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 [] 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 [] or lowered [] 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 [] as well in broad Cockney.
[30][31][32]

Broad // 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
[klm].
[33]
/t/ may also be flapped intervocalically, e.g. utter [a].
London /p, t, k/ are often aspirated in intervocalic and final
environments, e.g., upper [ap], utter [at], rocker [k], up
[ap], out [ t], rock [k], 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 // can become [f] in any environment. [fn] "thin", [mfs]
"maths".
o // can become [v] in any environment except word-initially
when it can be [, , d, l, , ]. [d] "they", [bv]
"bother".
[39][40]

Yod-coalescence in words such as tune [tn] or reduce [ds]
(compare traditional RP [tjun, djus]).
[41]

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

Diphthong alterations:
[44]

o /i/ [i~i]:
[45][46]
[bi] "beet"
o /e/ [~a]:
[47]
[b] "bait"
o /a/ [] or even [] 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 [ ~ ]. This means that pairs such as laugh-life, Barton-
biting may become homophones: [lf], [bn]. But this
neutralisation is an optional, recoverable one:
[48]
[b] "bite"
o // [ ~o]:
[48]
[tos] "choice"
o /u/ [] or a monophthongal [], perhaps with little lip
rounding, [] or []:
[45][49]
[b] "boot"
o // this diphthong typically starts in the area of the London
//, [ ~]. The endpoint may be [], but more commonly it is
rather opener and/or lacking any lip rounding, thus being a
kind of centralized [ ]. The broadest Cockney variant
approaches [a]. There's also a variant that is used only by
women, namely [ ~ ]. In addition, there are two
monophthongal pronunciations, [ ] as in 'no, nah' and [],
which is used in non-prominent variants.
[50]
[k ] "coat"
o /a/ may be [] or a monophthongal [~a]:
[51]
[tn]
"town"
o // and [] have somewhat tenser onsets than in RP: [i],
[ ]
[52]

Other vowel differences include
o // may be [] or [], with the latter occurring before voiced
consonants, particularly before /d/:
[32][53]
[bk] "back", [bd]
"bad"
o // may be [e], [e], or [] before certain voiced consonants,
particularly before /d/:
[32][54][55][56]
[bed] "bed"
o // may be a somewhat less open []:
[32]
[k] "cot"
o // has a fully back variant, qualitatively equivalent to
cardinal 5, which Beaken (1971) claims characterizes "vigorous,
informal" Cockney.
[32]

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

o // [ ] or a quality like that of cardinal 4, [a]:
[32][57]

[damtap] "jumped up"
o // [o] or a closing diphthong of the type [o~o] when in
non-final position, with the latter variants being more common
in broad Cockney:
[58][59]
[sos] "sauce"-"source", [lod] "lord",
[wo] "water"
o // [] or a centring diphthong of the type [~w] when
in final position, with the latter variants being more common in
broad Cockney; thus [s] "saw"-"sore"-"soar", [l] "law"-"lore",
[w] "war"-"wore". The diphthong is retained before
inflectional endings, so that board and pause can contrast with
bored [bd] and paws [pz].
[59]
// has a somewhat tenser
onset than the cardinal //, that is [ ].
[52]

o // becomes something around [~o] or even [a] 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 [hli] vs. holy [h li]. The development of L-
vocalization (see next section) leads to further pairs such as sole-
soul [s] vs. so-sew [s ], bowl [b] vs. Bow [b ], shoulder
[d] vs. odour [ d], while associated vowel
neutralisations may make doll a homophone of dole, compare
dough [d ]. 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 [mow] for Millwall. The actual
realization of a vocalized /l/ is influenced by surrounding vowels and it
may be realized as [u], [], [o] or []. 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" ([]) 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 //: e.g., salt and sort become homophones
(although the contemporary pronunciation of salt /slt/
[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: [mdn] Morden vs. [mdn]
Malden.
o A preceding // is also fully absorbed into vocalised /l/. The
reflexes of earlier /l/ and earlier /(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, /f/. 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
/~i~/ and /~u~/. Thus rill, reel and real fall together in
Cockney as []; while full and fool are [fo~fu] and may
rhyme with cruel [ku]. Before clear (i.e., prevocalic) /l/ the
neutralisations do not usually apply, thus [sli] silly but [siln]
ceiling-sealing, [fli] fully but [fuln] fooling.
o In some broader types of Cockney, the neutralisation of
/~u~/ before non-prevocalic /l/ may also involve //, so
that fall becomes homophonous with full and fool [fo].
o The other pre-/l/ neutralisation which all investigators agree on
is that of /~e~a/. Thus, Sal and sale can be merged as
[s], fail and fowl as [f], and Val, vale-veil and vowel as
[v]. The typical pronunciation of railway is [w].
o According to Siversten, // and /a/ 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 [-], 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 [-]. 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 /~~/. It leads to
the possibility of doll, dole and dull becoming homophonous as
[d] or [da]. 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 // and //, so that well
and whirl become homophonous as [w].
Cockney has been occasionally described as replacing // 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 []. In broad Cockney
this can be lowered to [].
[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 () 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
/kn/).
Yod-coalescence, i.e., the use of the affricates [d] and [t] 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], [], or [] where RP uses [] in the
final positions or in a final consonant cluster, for example whole
(pronounced /ho/).
The whollyholy 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. [] 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 [] with [] 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. Youve 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 isnt prounounced
(mother sounds like muhthuh).
Trap-bath split, meaning that certain a words, like bath, cant, 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 d (close to American die) and
Cockney buy verges near IPA b (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? (sounds to
outsiders like beuh).
L-vocalization: The l at the end of words often becomes a vowel sound
Hence pal can seem to sound like pow. (Ive seen this rendered in IPA
as /w/, /o,/ and //.)
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 rs.
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.