| British English presents several
regional dialects. The most extended and socially accepted is the one spoken by educated
people in London and the South of England (called Received Pronunciation or RP). A
possible reason for this phenomenon is the support for its use by the most prestigious
public schools (Winchester, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, etc.) and the old universities (Oxford,
Cambridge). Other dialects have persisted even though the battering of the media. |
|
Some of them keep ways of pronunciation from
the old English language in some words. Others have extended the pronunciation of certain
words to the pronunciation of others, moving further from the standard rule.
Besides, many other dialectal examples are present in this
variety of English, particularly in Wales, where its own language is still spoken (Welsh).
This one has managed to live with the English language and hold the expansive strength of
it. Welsh people use frequently a clear and moderate English with a musical intonation
inherited from the Celts.
In the lowlands of Scotland a dialect originated in the XIV Century, called the Lowland
Scottish, is spoken. It is characterized by the pronunciation of the
"r’s" with a vibration, vowels are shorter and diphthongs are simpler.
Likewise, some Scottish words have been incorporated into standard English language. The
English dialect shouldn’t be mistaken with the region's own Gallic Scottish, language
of a Celtic origin. This is spoken by 90 700 people, particularly in the High Lands and in
the Western islands, and, as well as the Gallic, which has managed to survived even though
the presence of the English language.
Northern Ireland's own English dialects are related in part
with Lowland Scottish and with the dialect spoken in Southern Ireland. Irish
pronunciation is conservative and clearer and more intelligible than many other dialects,
although many times it presents very colorful expressions and peculiar syntactic forms,
due to a direct influence of Irish in that area. |
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