There Are Over 160 Dialects of English. Which Do You Speak?

How do Accents and Dialects Form?

All English speakers have an accent and a dialect. Accents are different ways of pronouncing words. Dialects include differences in vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical structure. Sometimes dialects are not mutually comprehensible—you might even need to read subtitles to understand them in a film.

Accents and dialects form due to the specific mixture of people who settle in an area, bringing their own ways of speaking, as well as how isolated the people are over time so that slight language differences can become more exaggerated. Long-term exposure to media can cause the language to become more standardized. Accents and dialects can also carry cultural associations so that some are considered more “professional” or “educated” than others and might open more social opportunities. Thus, some people deliberately try to change the way they speak or even hire an accent coach or speech therapist to learn to speak in a different way.

African English

The British Empire controlled dozens of African countries at the height of its power. These have developed particularly distinctive local accents:

• Cameroonian English
• Gambian English
• Ghanaian English
• Kenyan English
• Liberian English
• Malawian English
• Namlish (Namibia)
• Nigerian English
• Sierra Leonean English
• South African English (in different accents for Black, White, and Indian populations)
• South Atlantic English (on the islands of Tristan da Cunha and Saint Helena)
• Ugandan English
• Zambian English
• Zimbabwean English

Antarctic English

Believe it or not, among scientists and tourism workers from various nations in Antarctica and sub-Antarctic islands, a distinct Antarctic English dialect has begun developing. It blends elements of South American and Northern European dialects. There is even an Antarctic English Dictionary with over 200 words for varieties of ice and colorful vocabulary such as “the ice” (Antarctica), “homer” (homebrew beer), “big eye” (insomnia), and “fod plod” (picking up trash).

Asian English

In Asia, English dialects have developed not only in former British colonies like India, Pakistan, and Hong Kong, but in countries that were never part of their empire such as Japan, Korea, Nepal, and the Philippines. Here are some examples:

• Bangladeshi English
• Brunei English
• Hong Kong English
• Chinglish
• Indian English
• Butler English
• Hinglish
• East, West, North, and South regional Indian English dialects
• Japanese English
• Korean English
• Malaysian English
• Middle Eastern English
• Myanmar English
• Nepali English
• Pakistani English
• Philippine English
• Singlish (Singapore)
• Sri Lankan English

Australian / Oceanian English

Great Britain colonized Australia, New Zealand, and most of the islands of Oceania. Regional dialects there have been influenced by indigenous Aboriginal and Polynesian languages as well as the various European and Asian immigrant groups that have settled there.

• General Australian
• Australian Aboriginal English
• Western Australian English
• Torres Strait English
• Fiji English
• New Zealand English
• Māori English
• Palauan English

Central American, South American, and Caribbean English

The British Empire had quite a few island possessions in the Caribbean that now have distinct dialects. There are also a few English dialects on the mainland of Central and South America. Most of the mainland was firmly under the control of Spain and Portugal so English had less of a foothold there.

• Bahamian English
• Bajan English (Barbados)
• Bay Islands English (Honduras)
• Belizean English
• Bermudian English
• Bocas del Toro Creole (Panama)
• Caribbean English
• Cayman Islands English
• Falkland Islands English
• Guyanese English
• Jamaican English
• Limonese Creole (Costa Rica)
• Miskito Coast Creole (Nicaragua)
• Puerto Rican English
• Saban English
• Samaná English (Dominican Republic)
• San Andres-Providencia Creole (Colombia)
• Trinidadian and Tobagonian English
• Turks and Caicos Creole
• Vincentian Creole
• Virgin Islands Creole

European English

The British Isles have an astonishing number of dialects, likely because they were divided into individual kingdoms in ancient times and had a feudal agricultural economy that tied people to the land and prevented the population from mixing. These are the main categories of English dialects in the British Isles, with some sub-dialect examples:

• Northern English (Lancastrian, Cumbrian, Northumbrian (including Geordie), Yorkshire.
• East Midlands (Lincolnshire)
• West Midlands (Black Country, Brummie, Potteries, Coventry)
• East Anglian (Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex)
• Southern (Cockney, Estuary, Multicultural London, Sussex)
• West Country (Cornwall, Bristolian, Dorset, Janner)
• Scottish English (Glasgow, Highland)
• Welsh English (Abercraf, Cardiff, Gower, Port Talbot)
• Channel Island English
• Manx English (Isle of Man)
• Gibraltarian English
• Hiberno-English (Ulster, Leinster, Dublin, South-West Ireland)

On the continent, English has become increasingly popular as a second language. It is particularly widely spoken in Scandinavia. These countries have their own English dialects: Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden.

North American English

North America was heavily settled by colonists from all over the world who had to assimilate to the English language to thrive in their new home. However, they carried over accents, vocabulary, and grammatical structures from their own languages to create diverse English accents.

Canadian English accents include:

• Aboriginal English
• Atlantic Canadian English
• Greater Toronto English
• Ottawa Valley English
• Quebec English
• Standard Canadian English
• Pacific Northwest English

In the United States, dialects are associated with particular ethnic groups and regions. Regional differences in dialects are greater North-to-South than East-to-West. This is because of the East-West settlement pattern of the pioneers.

• African American Vernacular English
• American Indian English
• Cajun Vernacular English
• General American English
• Latino English (Chicano, Miami, and New York variants)
• Metropolitan New York English
• Northern American English (Inland, New England, Upper Midwestern)
• Pennsylvania Dutch English
• Southeast Super-Regional English (Midland American, New Orleans, Philadelphia, “Hoi Toider”/Chesapeake BaySouthern American—including Southern Appalachian, Texan, and Tennessean)
• Western American (California, Pacific Northwest)
• Yeshiva English

Future Dialects of English

As technology advances and people communicate with one another and watch media from other parts of the world, dialects can begin to converge. However, this happens mainly with people who can access and use the technology and who choose to use it to view and interact with people and media from outside their own region. Others are likely to continue to speak in a regional or ethnic dialect.

English is already the language shared by international scientists. Just as scientists working in Antarctica are developing their own English dialect, the same is likely to happen as humans develop permanent orbiting facilities and bases on the Moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies where people will be isolated together from the general Earth population. Maybe one of your grandchildren will hire a language coach so they won’t feel like a complete Earthling when they take that remote job on Mars!