List of dialects of the English language

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).

International classifications[]

International English or World English
North American English
Mid-Atlantic English
South Asian English
East Asian English

Europe[]

European English
- Dutch English
- German English
British English (BrE)
- England (English English (EngEng))
  - North
    - Cumbrian dialect
    - Humberside
    - Lancastrian
    - Northeast
      - Geordie (Newcastle upon Tyne)
      - Mackem (Sunderland)
      - Pitmatic (Durham and Northumberland)
    - Yorkshire (also known as Tyke)
  - Scouse (Merseyside)
  - Midlands
    - East Midlands
    - West Midlands
      - Black Country English
        Brummie (Birmingham)
      - Potteries
      - Cheshire
  - South
    - Received Pronunciation (also known as "BBC English")
    - East Anglian
    - Estuary English
    - Cockney
  - West Country
- Scotland/Northern Ireland
  - Northern Scots
  - Central Scots
  - South Scots
  - Insular Scots
  - Ulster Scots
- Wales
  - Welsh English
  - North East English a toned down Scouse/Manchester accent due to English population
  - Pembrokeshire dialect
Ireland
- - Hiberno-English
  - Yola dialect
  - Mid Ulster English
Isle of Man
- Manx English
Channel Islands
- Guernsey English
- Jersey English
Malta
- Maltese English
Scandinavia
- Swedish English
- Finnish English
- Norwegian English
- Danish English
- Icelandic English
- Greenlandic English

North America[]

American English (AmE)
- Cultural
  - African-American Vernacular English (AAVE)
  - Appalachian English
  - General American
  - Chicano English
  - Pennsylvania Dutchified English
  - Yinglish
- Regional
  - Northeastern dialects
    - 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
    - Baltimorese
    - 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
- Canadian English (CaE)
  - Quebec
    - Quebec English
  - Maritimes
    - Maritimer English
    - Cape Breton accent
    - Lunenburg English
  - West/Central Canadian English
    - Toronto English
    - Northern Ontario English
    - Eastern Ontario English
      - Ottawa Valley Twang
  - Newfoundland English
Bermudian English

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[]

Belize English
Falkland Islands English
Guyana English

Asia[]

Burmese English
Hong Kong English
Pakistani English
- Punjabi Dialect|Pastuns Dialect| Balochi Dialect|Sindhi Dialect
Indian English
- Punjabi/Delhi English
- U.P/Bihari English
- Bengali/Assamese English
- Gujarati English
- Maharashtrian English
- Kannadiga English
- Telugu English
- Tamil English
- Malayalee 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
  - South Australian English
  - Western Australian English
Fijian English
New Zealand English

Constructed[]

Basic English
E-Prime
European English
Globish
Newspeak
Special English

Manual encodings of English[]

Main article: Manually Coded English

British Signed English
US Signed Exact English (SEE)
Australasian Signed 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/Frenglish (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)

References[]

Template:Unreferenced

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
Regional Accents for the Non-Expert
Speech Accent Archive
|Dialect Poetry from the English regions
American Languages: Our Nation's Many Voices: An online audio resource presenting interviews with speakers of German-American and American English dialects from across the United States.