This is a list of varieties of the English language. Dialects are varieties differing in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar from each other and from Standard English (which is itself a dialect). British linguists distinguish dialect from accent, which refers only to pronunciation. Thus, any educated English speaker can use the vocabulary and grammar of Standard English (or Received Pronunciation as it is sometimes known in Britain), but different speakers are said to speak it using their own regional accent. American linguists, however, include pronunciation differences as part of the definition of regional or social dialects (better called varieties).
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International classifications
- International English or World English
- North American English
- Mid-Atlantic English
- South Asian English
- East Asian English
Europe
- European English
- British English (BrE)
- England (English English (EngEng))
- North
- Cumbrian dialect
- Humberside
- Lancastrian
- Northeast
- Yorkshire (also known as Tyke)
- Scouse (Merseyside)
- Midlands
- South
- Received Pronunciation (also known as "BBC English")
- East Anglian
- Estuary English
- Cockney
- West Country
- North
- Scotland/Northern England
- Wales
- Welsh English
- North East English a toned down Scouse/Manchester accent due to English population
- Pembrokeshire dialect
- England (English English (EngEng))
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Channel Islands
- Gibraltar
- Malta
North America
- American English (AmE)
- Cultural
- Regional
- Northeastern dialects
- Baltimorese
- Boston English
- Northeast Pennsylvania English (Scranton, Pennsylvania-area)
- Hudson Valley English (Albany, New York-area)
- Maine-New Hampshire English
- Philadelphia-area English
- Pittsburgh English
- Providence-area English
- New York-New Jersey English
- Nuyorican English
- Vermont English
- Wawarsing English
- Mid-Atlantic dialects
- Tidewater accent
- Virginia Piedmont
- Virginia Tidewater [1]
- Midwest
- Inland North American (Lower peninsula of Michigan, northern Ohio and Indiana, Chicago, part of eastern Wisconsin and upstate New York)
- North Central American English (includes Minnesota, North Dakota and some of South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa)
- Yooper dialect (the variety of North Central American English spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and in some neighboring areas)
- North Midlands English (thin swath from Nebraska to Ohio)
- St. Louis-area English
- Wisconsin-Illinois dialect
- Southern English
- Appalachian English
- Coastal Southeastern (Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia area)
- Cajun English
- Harkers Island English (North Carolina)
- Ozark Southern English
- Southern Highland English
- South Midlands English (thin swath from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania)
- Tampanian English
- Texan
- Yat (New Orleans)
- Western English
- California English
- Boontling
- Hawaiian English (Hawaiian Pidgin)
- Utah English
- Pacific Northwest English
- Northeastern dialects
- Bermudian English
- Canada
- Canadian English (CaE)
- Native American English (Amerindian English)
- Quebec
- Maritimes
- West/Central Canadian English
- Newfoundland English
- Canadian English (CaE)
- Native American English (Amerindian English)
- Mojave English
- Isletan English
- Tsimshian English
- Lumbee English
- Tohono O'odham English
- Inupiaq English
Caribbean
- Caribbean English
- Anguillan English
- Jamaican English
- Trinidadian English
Central & South America
Asia
- Burmese English
- Hong Kong English
- Indian English
- Malaysian English (MyE)
- Philippine English
- Singapore English
- Sri Lankan English (SLE)
Africa
- Cameroon English
- Liberian English
- Nigerian English
- Malawian English
- South African English
Oceania
- Australian English (AuE)
- Cultural
- Australian Aboriginal English
- Lebanese Australian English
- Torres Strait English
- Regional
- Cultural
- Fijian English
- New Zealand English
Constructed
Manual encodings of English
These encoding systems should not be confused with sign languages such as British Sign Language and American Sign Language.
The "Lishes"
The following are portmanteaus devised to describe certain local variants of English. Although similarly named, they are actually quite different in nature, with some being genuine mixed languages, some being instances of heavy code-switching between English and another language, some being genuine local dialects of English used by first-language English speakers, and some being non-native pronunciations of English. A few portmanteaus (such as Greeklish and Pinglish) are transliteration methods rather than any kind of spoken variant of English.
- Benglish (Bengali English)
- Chinglish (Chinese English)
- Czenglish (Czech English)
- Danglish (Danish English)
- Dunglish (Dutch English)
- Engrish (Japanese English)
- Finglish (Finnish English)
- Franglais (French English)
- Denglisch/Genglish/Ginglish/Germish/Pseudo-Anglicism (German English)
- Hebrish (Hebrew English)
- Hinglish (Hindi English)
- Hunglish (Hungarian English)
- Italish (Italian English)
- Japlish (Japanese English)
- Konglish (South Korean English)
- Manglish/Malaysian Colloquial English (Malaysian English)
- Poglish (Polish English)
- Rominglish/Romglish (Romanian English)
- Runglish (Russian English)
- Serblish (Serbian English)
- Singlish (Singaporean English)
- Spanglish (Spanish English)
- Swenglish (Swedish English)
- Taglish (Tagalog English)
- Tanglish (Tamil English)
- Tinglish/Thailish (Thai English)
- Vinish (Vietnamese English)
- Wenglish (Welsh English)
- Yeshivish (Yeshiva English)
- Yinglish (Yiddish English)
See also
- Survey of English Dialects
- Regional accents of English speakers
- History of the English language
- macaronic
References
External links
- Sounds Familiar? Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
- English Accents and Dialects A browsable collection of recordings by the British Library.
- Accents of English from Around the World Hear and compare how the same 110 words are pronounced in 50 English accents from around the world - instantaneous playback online
- American Dialects
- BBC sound archive of accents in the British Isles
- International Dialects of English Archive
- Runglish
- Regional Accents for the Non-Expert
- Speech Accent Archive
- |Dialect Poetry from the English regions
