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The English language spoken and written in England encompasses a diverse range of accents and dialects. The dialect forms part of the broader British English, along with other varieties in the United Kingdom. Terms used to refer to the English language spoken and written in England include: English English,〔English, a. and n." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 4 April 2000 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50075365.〕〔Trudgill (2002), p 2.〕 Anglo-English,〔Tom McArthur, ''The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language''. (Retrieved via encyclopedia.com. )〕 and British English.〔(''British English'' ), Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary〕 The related term "British English" has "''all the ambiguities and tensions in the word "British" and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity''"〔According to Tom McArthur in the ''Oxford Guide to World English'' (p. 45)〕 but is usually reserved to describe the features common to English English, Welsh English, and Scottish English (England, Wales and Scotland are the three traditional countries on the island of Great Britain; the main dialect of the fourth country of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, is Ulster English, which is generally considered a sub-dialect of Hiberno-English). ==General features== There are many different accents and dialects throughout England and people are often very proud of their local accent or dialect. In fact, the English language itself implies the language spoken by only the English excluding the possibility of other regional variations. However, accents and dialects also highlight social class differences, rivalries or other associated prejudices—as illustrated by George Bernard Shaw's comment: As well as pride in one's accent, there is also stigma placed on many traditional working class dialects. In his work on the dialect of Bolton, Graham Shorrocks wrote The three largest recognisable dialect groups in England are Southern English dialects, Midlands English dialects and Northern English dialects. The most prominent isogloss is the foot–strut split, which runs roughly from mid-Shropshire (on the Welsh border) to south of Birmingham and then to the Wash. South of the isogloss, in the Midlands and Southern dialects, the Middle English phoneme split into (as in ''cut'', ''strut'') and (''put'', ''foot''); this change did not occur north of the isogloss. The accent of English English best known to people outside the United Kingdom is that of Received Pronunciation (RP), though it is used by only a small minority of speakers in England. Until recently, RP was widely considered to be more typical of educated speakers than other accents. It was referred to by some as the Queen's (or King's) English, or even "BBC English" (because for many years of broadcasting it was rare to hear any other accent on the BBC). These terms, however, do not refer only to accent features but also to grammar and vocabulary, as explained in Received Pronunciation. Since the 1960s regional accents have become increasingly accepted in mainstream media, and are frequently heard on radio and television. RP is also sometimes called an "Oxford accent"; the Oxford English Dictionary gives RP pronunciations for each word, as do most other English dictionaries published in Britain. Most native English speakers can tell the general region in England that a speaker comes from, and experts or locals may be able to narrow this down to within a few miles. Historically, such differences could be a major impediment to understanding between people from different areas. There are also many cases where a large city has a very different accent from the rural area around it (e.g. Bristol and Avon, Hull and the East Riding, Liverpool and Lancashire). But modern communications and mass media have reduced these differences in some parts of the country.〔(Voices 2005: Accent – a great leveller? ) BBC 15 August 2005. Interview with Professor Paul Kerswill who stated "The difference between regional accents is getting less with time."〕〔(Liverpool Journal; Baffling Scouse Is Spoken Here, So Bring a Sensa Yuma ) International Herald Tribune, 15 March 2005. "While most regional accents in England are growing a touch less pronounced in this age of high-speed travel and 600-channel satellite systems, it seems that the Liverpool accent is boldly growing thicker. ... migrating London accents are blamed for the slight changes in regional accents over the past few decades. ... That said, the curator of English accents and dialects at the British Library said the Northeast accents, from places like Northumberland and Tyneside, were also going stronger."〕 Speakers may also change their pronunciation and vocabulary, particularly towards Received Pronunciation and Standard English when in public. British Isles varieties of English, including English English, are discussed in John C. Wells (1982). Some of the features of English English are that: * Most versions of this dialect have non-rhotic pronunciation, meaning that () is not pronounced in syllable coda position. Non-rhoticism is also found elsewhere in the English-speaking world, including in Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English, New England English, and many dialects of Southern United States English, as well as most nonnative varieties spoken throughout the Commonwealth of Nations.〔Trudgill and Hannah, p 138.〕 Rhotic accents exist in the West Country, parts of Lancashire, the far north of England and in the town of Corby, both of which have a large Scottish influence on their speech. * As noted above, Northern versions of the dialect lack the foot–strut split, so that there is no distinction between and , making ''put'' and ''putt'' homophones as . * In the Southern varieties, words like ''bath'', ''cast'', ''dance'', ''fast'', ''after'', ''castle'', ''grass'' etc. are pronounced with the long vowel found in ''calm'' (that is, or a similar vowel) while in the Midlands and Northern varieties they are pronounced with the same vowel as ''trap'' or ''cat'', usually . For more details see Trap–bath split. There are some areas of the West Country that use in both the TRAP and BATH sets. The Bristol area, although in the south of England, uses the short in BATH.〔p.348-349, ''Accents of English 2'' John C Wells, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992〕 * Many varieties undergo ''h''-dropping, making ''harm'' and ''arm'' homophones. This is a feature of working-class accents across most of England, but was traditionally stigmatised (a fact the comedy musical ''My Fair Lady'' was quick to exploit) but less so now.〔Trask (1999), pp104–106.〕 This was geographically widespread, but the linguist A.C.Gimson stated that it did not extend to the far north, nor to East Anglia, Essex, Wiltshire or Somerset.〔A.C. Gimson in ''Collins English Dictionary'', 1979, page xxiv〕 In the past, working-class people were often unsure where an ''h'' ought to be pronounced, and, when attempting to speak "properly", would often preface any word that began with a vowel with an ''h'' (e.g. "henormous" instead of ''enormous'', "hicicles" instead of ''icicles''); this was referred to as the "hypercorrect h" in the Survey of English Dialects, and is also referenced in literature (e.g. the policeman in ''Danny the Champion of the World). * A glottal stop for intervocalic is now common amongst younger speakers across the country; it was originally confined to some areas of the south-east and East Anglia. * The in ''wine'' and ''whine'' is lost in most varieties, "wh" being pronounced consistently as . * Most varieties have the horse–hoarse merger. However some northern accents retain the distinction, pronouncing pairs of words like ''for''/''four'', ''horse''/''hoarse'' and ''morning''/''mourning'' differently.〔Wells 1982, section 4.4.〕 * The consonant clusters , , and in ''suit'', ''Zeus'', and ''lute'' are preserved by some. * Many Southern varieties have the bad–lad split, so that ''bad'' and ''lad'' do not rhyme. * In most of the eastern half of England, plurals and past participle endings which are pronounced and (with the vowel of ''kit'') in RP may be pronounced with a schwa . This can be found as far north as Wakefield and as far south as Essex. This is unusual in being an east-west division in pronunciation when English dialects generally divide between north and south. Another east-west division involves the rhotic ; it can be heard in the speech of country folk (particularly the elder), more or less west of the course of the Roman era road known as Watling Street (the modern A5), which at one time divided King Alfred's Wessex and English Mercia from the Danish kingdoms in the east. The rhotic is rarely found in the east. * Sporadically, miscellaneous items of generally obsolete vocabulary survive: ''come'' in the past tense rather than ''came''; the use of ''thou'' and/or ''ye'' for ''you''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「English language in England」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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