Category Archives: British English

The accents and dialects of the United Kingdom.

Arrr, Matey! The Origins of the Pirate Accent

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Ben

Ask people to imitate a pirate, and they instinctually adopt the “pirate accent” immortalized in film and television. This unique brogue is renowned for it’s strong “r” sound, as in “yarrr” and “arrrrr.” Pirate imitators may wonder, “What accent am … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , , | 45 Comments

It’s in the OED, Innit?

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Ben

Taking a break from the lengthy posts I’ve been guilty of lately, I’d like to mention the big dialect news of this past week: the addition of innit to the Collins Official Scrabble Words compilation. Innit, for those unaquainted with … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | 34 Comments

On a Lighter Note …

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Ben

Martin Chilton of The Telegraph wrote a piece yesterday about Mel Gibson‘s accent in the upcoming film, The Beaver, in which Mel adopts a Cockney accent.  Here’s the trailer: Chilton, perturbed by Gibson’s accent, had this to say about it: … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Sign of the Times: William and Kate’s Accents

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Ben

Yes, even a blog about accents needs to touch on the Royal Wedding a little bit. I won’t spill more digital ink about the wedding, nor the wedding-mania that swept America this past week. I am, however, fascinated by the … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , , | 36 Comments

On the STRUT Vowel and Spelling

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Ben

To put it mildly, the English language has a tricky spelling system.  It’s confusing, illogical, archaic and often just bizarre.  Case in point: in standard British English the letter o can, depending on context, represent nine out of the twelve … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged | 26 Comments

Swallowed ‘r’ in Glasgow

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Ben

I have a very quick request, for you budding amateur phoneticians out there. After yesterday’s conversation touched on Glasgow English, I looked for a few samples of this accent on YouTube. Glasgow is perhaps the only city in the English-speaking … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Where art “Thou?”

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Ben

Remember thou, the word that perplexed every high-schooler forced to read Shakespeare and Chaucer? What happened to that word? Thou, as one can deduce, meant “you” up until the 1600s or so. You, in fact, was originally a second person … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , | 30 Comments

Mastering the Trap-Bath Split

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Ben

[Update: I made a few slight revisions to this post based on feedback.] (NOTE:  This post uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For information about the IPA, please visit my page of IPA Resources.) What is the #1 thing American actors screw … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , , , | 40 Comments

Cheryl Cole’s Accent: You Decide

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Ben

I don’t want this to turn into a pop culture site, but it is hard to ignore the recent hubbub surrounding Cheryl Cole. As I mentioned a few days back, Ms. Cole is a pretty pop singer from the UK … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rhyming Slang

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Ben

It was inevitable: if you write a blog about English dialects, eventually you will write a post about Cockney rhyming slang. For you confused Americans out there, here is the basic jist of rhyming slang: 1.) Take any word in … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , | 7 Comments