PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
Segmental Aspects

Differences in the basic terms connected with the characteristic features of the pronunciation (as well as of the differences in grammar, vocabulary, or spelling) are explained in the following part. The terms used partially overlap, but to be able to recognise the meaning of the relevant terms and to use them accordingly, it is inevitable to introduce the basic similarities and differences that they share:

• geographical variety is “a type of English spoken in a particular geographical area. Each of geographical varieties has its own grammatical, lexical and pronunciation peculiarities“ and covers both accent and dialect of a particular area (Pavlík, 2000, p. 219)
• dialect is a variety of English with its own grammatical and lexical peculiarities
• accent is a variety with pronunciation peculiarities
• regional accent – a way of pronunciation in a certain part (region) of the country
• social accent – a way of pronunciation of a certain social group with an equal social status or common educational and cultural background (Pavlík, 2000)

The following are the geographical varieties with their accents, as Pavlík systemically presents in his publication (Pavlík, 2000):

• BRITISH ENGLISH:

 ENGLISH ENGLISH    – RP accent

                                        – London accent

                                        – Estuary English

SCOTTISH ENGLISH  – Scottish accent

WELSH ENGLISH       – Welsh accent

• IRISH ENGLISH:

 NORTHERN IRELAND – Belfast accent

• NORTH AMERICAN ENGLISH:

geographical variety = U.S. ENGLISH – General American accent

                                                                – Southern American accent

                                                                – Eastern American accent

geographical variety = CANADIAN ENGLISH

• AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH:

AUSTRALIAN ACCENT

(Pavlík, 2000, p. 219)

The majority of the geographical varieties and their accents are discussed either in the previous or in the following chapters.

The following map presents some of the regional accents which can be heard within the territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The specific accent features are used in almost every big city of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The British accents presented in the picture whose names are not easy to understand according to the names of the cities where they are spoken: Geordie (heard in Newcastle), Scouse (Liverpool), Brummy (Birmingham), Mancunian (Manchester), Cornish (Cornwall). Within London, Received Pronunciation, but also Estuary English and Cockney are widely used.