Skip to content
Task

Tasks: The Origins of British Accents

Word origin:

Test yourself: where do you think these words are from?

Listening exercise:

Work together in pairs or small groups. Listen to the recordings that we have chosen for you and discuss how the accents differ.

Of course, you don’t have to listen to the entire recording. Try, however, to pay attention to the following:

  • the intonation of the dialect: the rise and fall of the voice, especially at the end of sentences.

  • Is there a distinct use of vowels or consonants?

  • Are there any specific words that stand out? Any words that are non-standard?

  • Is it a rhotic or non-rhotic dialect? Is the /r/ always pronounced or only in some positions of a word?

  • Which ones are the easiest and most difficult dialects to understand? Why?

  • Is it a rhotic or non-rhotic dialect? Is the /r/ always pronounced or only in some positions of a word?

Rhotic
/r/ can be heard in all the places where it is found in the spelling, e.g. 'car', 'park', 'farmer' - /r/ is pronounced.
Non-rhotic
/r/ is only pronounced if the next sound is a vowel, and never at the end of words, e.g. 'car', 'park', 'farmer' - /r/ is not pronounced.

Audio recordings of different accents.

If you want to listen to other British dialects and English accents from around the world you will find more here: IDEA (International dialects of English Archive)

Dig deeper:

Make a presentation about one of the British dialects in the list below. We have provided you with two articles that could be useful for each dialect, but you should also try to find your own sources.

Your presentation should include information about the origin of the dialect and where it is spoken. Also include information about intonation, vocabulary, and grammatical structures that are unique to your dialect.

Information about different British dialects

RP:
What is Received Pronunciation?
RP or Received Pronunciation – the characteristically British accent

Geordie:
Roots and Origins of the Geordie Dialect
A-Z Guide to Understanding Geordie Accents

Brummie:
Why is the Birmingham accent so difficult to mimic?
Birmingham accent: Linguistic features

Scouse:
School of British Accents: The Scouse Accent
Scouse – the Liverpool Accent

Northern Ireland:
Northern Ireland
British voice over: Guide to a Northern Irish accent

Scotland:
The History of the Scottish Accent
Scots Language Centre: Dialect word lists and grammatical features

Cockney:
Britannica: Cockney
The School Of British Accents — Learn The Cockney Accent

Related content