List of dialects of the English language

This is an overview list of dialects of the English language. Dialects are linguistic varieties which may differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. For the classification of varieties of English in terms of pronunciation only, see Regional accents of English.

Dialects can be defined as "sub-forms of languages which are, in general, mutually comprehensible".^[1] English speakers from different countries and regions use a variety of different accents (systems of pronunciation), as well as various localized words and grammatical constructions; many different dialects can be identified based on these factors. Dialects can be classified at broader or narrower levels: within a broad national or regional dialect, various more localized sub-dialects can be identified, and so on. The combination of differences in pronunciation and use of local words may make some English dialects almost unintelligible to speakers from other regions.

The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into three general categories: the British Isles dialects, those of North America, and those of Australasia.^[2] Dialects can be associated not only with place, but also with particular social groups. Within a given English-speaking country, there will often be a form of the language considered to be Standard English – the Standard Englishes of different countries differ, and each can itself be considered a dialect. Standard English is often associated with the more educated layers of society.

Europe

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Cork
Dublin
- Dublin 4 (D4)
- Inner city
Donegal
Kerry
Limerick city
Midlands
North East
Sligo town
Waterford city
West
Wexford town

Extinct

Forth and Bargy dialect, thought to have been a descendant of Middle English, spoken in County Wexford^[4]^[5]
Fingallian, another presumed descendant of Middle English, spoken in Fingal^[4]

North America

North American English

United States

American English:

Cultural and ethnic American English
- African American Vernacular English
- Cajun Vernacular English
- Latino Vernacular Englishes
- Pennsylvania Dutch English
- Yeshiva English
General American English
- General American: the "standard" or "mainstream" spectrum of American English.
Regional and local American English
- Eastern New England
  - Boston: Greater Boston, including most of eastern Massachusetts
  - Maine
  - Rhode Island
- Mid-Atlantic (Delaware Valley)
  - Baltimore
  - Philadelphia
- Midland
  - North Midland: Kansas City, Omaha, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Indianapolis
  - South Midland: Kentucky, Southern Indiana, Southern Illinois, southern Missouri, southern Kansas, and Oklahoma
- New York City
- Northern
  - Inland Northern: Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Western New York, the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and the overall U.S. Great Lakes region
  - St. Louis (in transition)
  - Western New England: Connecticut, Hudson Valley, western Massachusetts, and Vermont
- North Central (Upper Midwestern)
  - Upper Peninsula of Michigan ("Yooper")
- Southern
  - Appalachian
  - "Hoi Toider"
  - New Orleans
  - Ozarks
  - Texan
- Western
- Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh)
Extinct or near-extinct American English

Canada

Canadian English:

Bermuda

Bermudian English

Indigenous North America

Native American English dialects:

Central and South America

Belize

Belizean English

Honduras

Bay Islands English

Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands English

Caribbean

Caribbean English

Anguilla

Anguillan English

Antigua

Antiguan English

The Bahamas

Bahamian English

Barbados

Bajan English

Jamaica

Jamaican English

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidadian English

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Vincentian English

Asia

Brunei

Brunei English

Burma

Burmese English

Hong Kong

Hong Kong English

Pakistan

Pakistani English

India

Indian English

Nepal

Nepali English

Malaysia

Malaysian English (Manglish)

Philippines

Philippine English (PhE)

Singapore

Singapore English (SE)

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan English (SLE)

Africa

Cameroon

Cameroonian English

Kenya

Kenyan English

Liberia

Liberian English

Malawi

Malawian English

Namibia

Namlish

Nigeria

Nigerian English

South Africa

South African English
- Black South African English
  - Acrolect
  - Mesolect
- Cape Flats English
- Indian South African English
- White South African English
  - Broad accent
  - General accent
  - Cultivated accent

South Atlantic

South Atlantic English spoken on Tristan da Cunha and Saint Helena^[6]

Uganda

Ugandan English

Oceania

Australia

Australian English (AusE, AusEng):

Cultural
Regional

New Zealand

New Zealand English (NZE, NZEng):

Constructed

Manual encodings

These encoding systems should not be confused with sign languages such as British Sign Language and American Sign Language, which, while they are informed by English, have their own grammar and vocabulary.

Code-switching

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The following are portmanteaus devised to describe certain local varieties of English and other linguistic phenomena involving 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 Fingilish) are transliteration methods rather than any kind of spoken variant of English.

Anglish (English stressing words of Germanic origin)
Arabish (Arabic English, mostly chat romanization)
Army creole (military dialect of acronyms and profanity)
Benglish (Bengali English)
Bislish (Bisaya English)
Corsish (Corsican English)
Chinglish (Chinese English)
Czenglish (Czech English)
Danglish (Danish English)
Dunglish (Dutch English)
Engrish/Japlish (Japanese English) - most popularly refers to broken English used by Japanese in attempts at foreign branding.
Finglish (Finnish English)
Franglais (French English)
Denglisch/Germlish/Genglish/Ginglish/Germish/Pseudo-Anglicism (German English)
Greeklish (Greek English)
Hebrish (Hebrew English, chat romanization) – also sometimes used to refer to English written with Hebrew characters
Hinglish (Hindi English)
Hunglish (Hungarian English)
İngilazca (English with Karadeniz-Turkish accent)
Italgish (Italian English)
Konglish (South Korean English)
Manglish (Malaysian English)
Malglish (Maltese English)
Norwenglish (Norwegian English)
Poglish/Ponglish (Polish English)
Porglish (Portuguese English)
Punglish (Punjabi English)
Rominglish/Romglish (Romanian English)
Runglish (Russian English)
Serblish (Serbian English) and Cronglish/Croglish/Croenglish
Sardish (Sardinian English)
Sheng (a Swahili-English cant; originated among urban youths Nairobi, Kenya)
Siculish (Sicilian English)
Singlish (Singapore English, multiple pidgins)
Spanglish (Spanish English)
Swanglish/Kiswanglish (Swahili English)
Swenglish (Swedish English)
Taglish (Tagalog English)
Tanglish (Tamil and English)
Tenglish (Telugu and English)
Tinglish/Thailish (Thai English)
Ukrainglish (Ukrainian English)
Vinish (Vietnamese English)
Wenglish (Welsh English)
Yeshivish (Yeshiva English)

References

↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, Cambridge University Press, 2003
↑ JC Wells, Accents of English, Cambridge University Press, 1983, page 351
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Daniel Schreier, Peter Trudgill. The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, Mar 4, 2010 pg. 10

External links