Why are there different varieties of English all over the world?

It arose from the intermingling of early settlers from a great variety of mutually intelligible dialectal regions of the British Isles and quickly developed into a distinct variety of English.

Why does Britain have so many different accents?

“Originally, the UK started off as a Celtic country, and then the Anglo-Saxons came in, over the years Vikings and Normans came in, and then the Romans. All of these different people brought with them different languages, and gradually these languages started to develop into one that was shared and recognisable.

Does the UK have more accents than the US?

I’d think there’s at least as many accents, proportional to population size, in North America as in Britain, but each covers a much wider area, so is less immediately noticeable. The differences are as marked, as well. For example, there’s no generic ‘Southern’ accent, as many non-Americans seem to think.

Does England have different dialects?

In reality, there are almost 40 different dialects in the UK that sound totally different from each other, and in many cases use different spellings and word structure. In fact, there’s pretty much one accent per county.

What is the difference between British and American accent?

British English and American sound noticeably different. The most obvious difference is the way the letter r is pronounced. In British English, when r comes after a vowel in the same syllable (as in car, hard, or market), the r is not pronounced. In American English the r is pronounced.

What is English variation?

Variation is a characteristic of language: there is more than one way of saying the same thing. Speakers may vary pronunciation (accent), word choice (lexicon), or morphology and syntax (sometimes called “grammar”). Variationists study how a language changes by observing it.

Why are there language varieties?

Varieties of language develop for a number of reasons: differences can come about for geographical reasons; people who live in different geographic areas often develop distinct dialects—variations of standard English.

Does American English have dialects?

There are roughly 30 major dialects in America. The entire West Coast will only encompass three dialects, and these areas are also known for having more of a neutral accent: Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, and some Southwestern (just like in Texas).

Why are there different regional dialects in the United States?

Varieties of Regional Dialects in the U.S. “Some differences in U.S. regional dialects may be traced to the dialects spoken by colonial settlers from England. Those from southern England spoke one dialect and those from the north spoke another.

Is standard English a dialect of English?

” [L]inguists refer to so-called Standard English as a dialect of English, which from a linguistic point of view, is no more ‘correct’ than any other form of English. From this point of view, the monarchs of England and teenagers in Los Angeles and New York all speak dialects of English,”

Why doesn’t the Kentish dialect exist anymore?

Such mobility would explain, for example, why 150 years ago there was a traditional Kentish dialect, while today it barely survives, such is the close and regular contact with London.

What is a social dialect?

“In contrast to a regional dialect, a social dialect is a variety of a language spoken by a particular group based on social characteristics other than geography.” (Jeff Siegel, Second Dialect Acquisition.