English English
English English is a term that has been applied to the English language as spoken in England. In English speaking countries outside the UK, the term "British English" is more frequently used for this variety of English; however, Peter Trudgill in Language in the British Isles introduced the term English English (EngEng), and this term is now generally recognised in academic writing in competition with Anglo-English and English in England.
In this usage the term British English has a wider meaning, and is usually (but not always) reserved to describe the features common to English English, Welsh English, Hiberno-English, and Scottish English. According to Tom McArthur in the Oxford Guide to World English (p. 45), the phrase British English shares "all the ambiguities and tensions in the word British, and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity".
The term is used in Britain.
General features
The British Isles are one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the English-speaking world. Significant changes in dialect (pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary) may occur within one region. The four major divisions are normally classified as Southern English dialects, Midlands English dialects, and Northern English dialects, and Scottish English and the closely related dialects of and Ulster Scots (varieties of Scots spoken in Ulster). There is also Hiberno-English (English as spoken in Ireland) and the form of English used in Wales. The various English dialects differ in the words they have borrowed from other languages. The Scottish and Northern dialects include many words originally borrowed from Old Norse; the Scottish dialects include words borrowed from Scots and Scottish Gaelic. Hiberno-English includes words derived from Irish.
An important feature of English regional accents is the bundle of isoglosses — geographically running roughly from mid-Shropshire to south of Birmingham and then to The Wash — separating Northern and Southern accents. This reflects the historical Danelaw division, which split England into Viking-controlled and Saxon-controlled areas.
Accents throughout Britain are influenced by the phoneme inventory of regional dialects, and native English speakers can often tell quite precisely where a person comes from, frequently down to a few miles. Historically, such differences could be a major impediment to understanding between people from different areas.
However, modern communications and mass media have reduced these differences significantly. In addition, speakers may modify their pronunciation and vocabulary towards Standard English, especially in public circumstances. In consequence, the accent best known to many people outside the United Kingdom as English English, is that of Received Pronunciation (RP). Rural accents are often ignored in dialect studies, sometimes being grouped to the nearest large city. This can be unfortunate in cases where a large city has a very different accent from a surrounding rural area [e.g. Bristol and Avon, Hull and the East Riding].
Until recently, RP English was widely believed to be more educated than other accents and was referred to as the King's (or Queen's) English, or even "BBC English" (due to the fact that in the early years of broadcasting it was very rare to hear any other dialects on the BBC). However, for several decades, regional accents have been more widely accepted and are frequently heard. Thus the relatively recent spread of Estuary English is influencing accents throughout the south east.
British Isles varieties of English, including English English, are discussed in Wells (1982). Some of the features of English English are that:
- Most versions of this dialect have non-rhotic pronunciation, wherein r is not pronounced in syllable coda position. This pronunciation is also found in many other English dialects, including Australian English, Indian English, Malaysian English, New Zealand English, and South African English. Parts of the Eastern United States where the upper classes historically looked to England for standards of speech have non-rhotic pronunciation, most notably New England and New York City. Areas with rhotic accents are Scotland, Northumberland, the West Country, the East Riding of Yorkshire and parts of Lancashire.
- Northern versions of the dialect often lack the foot-strut split, so that there is no distinction between /ʊ/ and /ʌ/, making put and putt homophones as [pʊt].
- In the Southern variety, words like bath, cast, dance, fast, after, castle, grass etc. are pronounced with the long vowel found in calm (that is, [ɑː] or a similar vowel) while in the Midlands and Northern varieties they're pronounced with the same vowel as trap or cat, usually [a], as they are in Scottish English. There are some areas of the West Country that would use the Southern variety for some words and the Northern variety for other words.
- Many varieties undergo h-dropping, making harm and arm homophones. This is a feature of working-class accents across most of England, but is heavily stigmatised (a fact the comedy musical My Fair Lady was quick to exploit). See Trask (1999), pp104-106. The accents of Northumberland and Tyneside are an exception to this rule.
- The distinction between [w] and [ʍ] in wine and whine is lost in most varieties.
- Most varieties have the horse-hoarse merger. However some northern accents retain the distinction, pronouncing pairs of words like for/four, horse/hoarse and morning/mourning differently. (Wells 1982, section 4.4)
- The consonant clusters [sj], [zj], and [lj] in suit, Zeus, and lute are preserved by some.
- Many Southern varieties have the bad-lad split, so that bad /bæːd/ and lad /læd/ don't rhyme.
- Generally speaking, the only vowel which is pronounced the same in every regional accent in England is the short "e" as in keg or deck.
Examples of accents used by public figures
- Received Pronunciation: The Queen has followed the changes of this accent over the years.
- Berkshire (a southern rural accent): poet Pam Ayres.
- Birmingham (Brummie): the rock musician Ozzy Osbourne (although he sometimes Americanises his speech), Jasper Carrot. Mark Rhodes Pop Idol 2003.
- Bristol: Professor Colin Pillinger of the Beagle 2 project.
- Coventry: the actor Clive Owen, in the films Sin City and King Arthur
- Gloucestershire: Laurie Lee, ruralist
- Hampshire (a southern rural accent): the late John Arlott, sports presenter.
- Lancashire: comedian Peter Kay, McFly singer and guitarist Danny Jones and BBC Radio 1 DJ Vernon Kay. The actor/musician Bernard Wrigley has a broad Bolton accent. The actress Michelle Holmes has a Rochdale accent, which has more similarities with Yorkshire.
- Liverpool (Scouse): recordings by The Beatles (George Harrison's accent was the strongest of the four), Gerry and the Pacemakers, Echo and the Bunnymen. Also the singer Cilla Black and the actors Craig Charles and Ricky Tomlinson. Footballer, Steven Gerrard also has a scouse accent and so does Jennie Corner (BB7). The british soap Brookside was set in Liverpool so the majority of the cast, including Philip Olivier and Jennifer Ellison, had scouse accents.
- London: listen to old recordings by Petula Clark, Julie Andrews, the Rolling Stones, and The Who (although many of these contain affected patterns). For a clear example see actor Stanley Holloway (Eliza Doolittle's father in My Fair Lady), or footballer David Beckham.
- Cockney: the actor Bob Hoskins. More examples can be heard in the movies Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.
- Mockney: used by Guy Ritchie and many musicians, it is a variant of the London regional accent characterised by a non-standard mixture of linguistic and social class characteristics.
- Estuary: the model Jordan (Katie Price).
- Manchester: Oasis members Liam and Noel Gallagher, Herman's Hermits, actor Christopher Eccleston, actor Dominic Monaghan.
- Sunderland (Mackem): the accent of the rock group The Futureheads, is easily detected on recordings and live performanes
- Teesside (Tees speak) Comedians Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Roy 'Chubby' Brown and Pop Idol contestants Journey South.
- Tyneside (Geordie): former Cabinet members Alan Milburn MP and Nick Brown MP, the actors Robson Green and Tim Healy, the footballer Alan Shearer, actor and singer Jimmy Nail, rock singer Brian Johnson, television personalities Ant and Dec, Jayne Middlemiss. Singer Cheryl Tweedy of Girls Aloud has a strong Newcastle accent.
- West Country: The Vicar of Dibley was set in Oxfordshire, and many of the characters had West Country accents.
- West Midlands: Phil Drabble, presenter of One Man and His Dog.
- Yorkshire
- Barnsley: David Bradley in the 1969 film Kes, the lead character has a very broad Barnsley accent. Sam Nixon from Pop Idol 2003, Top Of The Pops Saturday and Reloaded and Level Up also has a Barnsley accent. Also, chat show host Michael Parkinson and ex-union leader Arthur Scargill.
- Bradford: singers Gareth Gates and Kimberley Walsh of Girls Aloud.
- Hemsworth: cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has an accent similar to those found in many old coal-mining towns
- Holme Valley: Actor Peter Sallis, of Last of the Summer Wine and Wallace and Gromit
- Huddersfield: former Prime Minister Harold Wilson is said to have deliberately maintained a Huddersfield accent
- Leeds: Melanie Brown of the Spice Girls, BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles
- Scarborough: the film Little Voice
- Sheffield: the band Pulp. The film The Full Monty
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