The English Dialects and Accents / The Origin of English Dialects and Accents

The English Dialects and Accents

Dialects

There are many dialects heard in the United Kingdom. In order to compare dialects to the English accent RP (Received Pronunciation), I will have a look at English dialects. The definition of a dialect is: ‘a form of a language that is spoken in one area with grammar, words and pronunciation that may be different from other forms of the same language’¹.

In the Netherlands, dialects vary a lot. It can be impossible for a resident from Zeeland to understand someone who speaks a dialect in Limburg or for someone from Northern Holland to understand someone from the Achterhoek. In English it is different, though. Although dialects in England differ from each other, it should still be possible for anyone who speaks English to understand what is said³.

In Myth 15 – ‘TV Makes People Sound the Same’ by J.K. Chambers⁶, the author states that no matter what happens, people learn language by interacting with other human beings. He proves this by showing the example of a child, born from deaf parents. The child was stimulated to watch TV a lot, since the parents were not able to offer him spoken language. At the age of three, he went to kindergarten and that is where he learnt to speak – by interacting with other people.

In Myth 21 – ‘America is Ruining the English Language’ by John Algeo⁶, one can read how RP and American English got so different. People got separated, experienced a new life and their language was adapted to that. Their language was also influenced by other people they met: the Dutch, French and the Spanish among others.

I believe that this is the way how language – and thus dialects – change. People interact. It is in their nature, they have always done that. By travelling (business and leisure), trading and inventing new technologies and fighting wars (in earlier times colonisation), they met other people and languages mixed up. Words were borrowed, as were sounds and grammatical patterns.

Today, travelling goes even faster: people travel all over the world, experience new surroundings, new inventions and meet new people. This explains why language can change so quickly these days.

Having said this about the possible development of dialects, I would like to indicate from what languages and influences the English dialects originated, and when. First things first: England can be divided into roughly eight areas where certain dialects are spoken. We can distinguish the following areas:

1. The Southern area, with:

The London area where Received Pronunciation is quite common;
Cockney, the dialect of the working class of East End London;
Estuary English – a mixture of RP and Cockney, but much less use of slang. This dialect can be found from London down the Thames into Essex, Sussex and even Kent.

2. The East-Anglian area

3. The East-Midlands

4. The West-Country

5. The West-Midlands