#Geographical factors of phonetic variations. National and regional variants of English pronunciation.
There exist numerous varieties of pronunciation in English language. The pronunciation of almost every locality in the British Isles has peculiar features that distinguish it from the pronunciation of other localities. The varieties that are spoken by a socially limited number of people and used only in certain localities are called dialects.
1. Northern dialect (northern part of England): [u] instead of [/] (cup, love, much); [o:] instead of [ou] (go, home); [e] or [з:] instead of [ei] (may, say, take).
2. Scottish dialect: [ir], [er], [/ ] instead of [з:] (bird, heard); [u] instead of [ou] (down); no distinguishing between [æ] and [a:] (bad, path, dance, half)
3. Cockney (less educated classes of people, part of London): [ai] instead of [ei] (today, late); [з:] instead of [æ] (bag); [h] doesn't occur, only in stressed position (think of (h)im, but History); [f, v, d] instead of dental consonants (thin [f], this [d]); glottal stop instead of [p, t, k] and between vowels (back door [bæ? do:].
Other well-known dialects in Britain: Geordie (Newcastle-on-Tyne); Scouse (Liverpool); Cornish (Cornwall) etc.
1. Northern dialect (northern part of England): [u] instead of [/] (cup, love, much); [o:] instead of [ou] (go, home); [e] or [з:] instead of [ei] (may, say, take).
2. Scottish dialect: [ir], [er], [/ ] instead of [з:] (bird, heard); [u] instead of [ou] (down); no distinguishing between [æ] and [a:] (bad, path, dance, half)
3. Cockney (less educated classes of people, part of London): [ai] instead of [ei] (today, late); [з:] instead of [æ] (bag); [h] doesn't occur, only in stressed position (think of (h)im, but History); [f, v, d] instead of dental consonants (thin [f], this [d]); glottal stop instead of [p, t, k] and between vowels (back door [bæ? do:].
Other well-known dialects in Britain: Geordie (Newcastle-on-Tyne); Scouse (Liverpool); Cornish (Cornwall) etc.