A QUICK GUIDE TO BRITISH ACCENTS
Received Pronunciation (RP)
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It’s not identified with a particular region of the UK, although it’s associated with
the South.
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It is perceived as ‘Standard English’, e.g. the English you learn at school.
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Trap-bath split: there is a distinction between the /ɑː/ and the /æ/ sound.
E.g. grass is /grɑːs/, not /græs/.
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Foot-strut split: there is a distinction between the /ʊ/ and the /ʌ/ sound. E.g. must
is /mʌst/, not /mʊst/.
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Pronunciation of ‘h’s and ‘t’s. In RP, every consonant, vowel and syllable is
perfectly and clearly said.
Cockney dialect
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Spoken in the East End of London
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They have something called Cockney rhyming slang.
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T, H, K and P-dropping. These consonants are frequently dropped.
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Th-fronting:
/θ/ can become [f]
/ð/ can become [v] or [d]
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Use of ‘me’ instead of ‘my’. E.g. me car, me house, me dog and bone [phone]
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Non-standard grammar structure. E.g. He have / You was / She were…
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Broader vowel pronunciation
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Use of “ain’t”
Multicultural English (MLE)
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Spoken by young Londoners, mainly from a diversity of cultures
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There is MLE slang
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T-dropping
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Th-fronting
Brummie dialect
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Spoken in Birmingham
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It has a melodic, sing-songy intonation. Sentences are stressed like questions.
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T and H dropping
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Food-strut merger: /ʌ/ is pronounced as /ʊ/. So ‘just’ becomes ‘joost’.
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Trap-bath merger: /ɑː/ is pronounced as /æ/.
Yorkshire dialect
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Spoken in Yorkshire
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Trap-bath and food-strut merger
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T, H and K-dropping
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Th-fronting. So ‘fink’ instead of ‘think’
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Use of ‘me’ and ‘us’ instead of ‘my’ and ‘our’
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Omission of ‘the’ and ‘to’. They are shortened to t’
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‘Was’ becomes ‘were’. E.g. I were at t’ shop buying summat.
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Use of the archaic forms 'thee’ and ‘tha’ to replace ‘you’.