Questions tagged [dialects]
This tag is for questions related to mutually intelligible variations within a language.
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Bibs & Bobs vs. Bits & Bobs [duplicate]
When I was a relative newcomer to Yorkshire, in the North of England, I was slightly annoyed when I heard people talking about 'bibs and bobs' (meaning odds and ends). I wanted to correct them by ...
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What is the trend in pronouncing the word "strength"? [closed]
Over the years, I have heard 3 different ways to pronounce the word strength:
stre(ng)kth /stɹɛŋkθ/
strenth /st̠͡ɹ̠ɛn̪θ/
shtrength /ʃtɹɛŋθ/
I definitely pronounce it with option 3 (shtrength /ʃtɹɛŋθ/...
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Do American and British English speakers understand the phrase ''to make a hames of sth''?
This phrase is used in Ireland (Hiberno English).
It means to make a mess of something. Interestingly enough, everyone in Ireland knows what this phrase means but very few actually know what a hames ...
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Is drinking-jack another word for mug?
In "Tower of the Elephant", Robert E. Howard uses the word "drinking-jack" three times apparently meaning mug or something like that, judging by the context:
Torchlight licked ...
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"Why wasn't ya"
In "Wrath of Man", a 2021 movie with Jason Statham as "H", he's being told "what you didn't hear, is that I was meant to be drivin' the truck that day" to which he ...
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Me vs My in East Midlands dialect [duplicate]
In the dialect I grew up with (1960's Leicestershire/East Midlands), I'd say "me", when I meant "my". For example:
"That's me car."
vs
"That's my car."
What ...
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Can "raise a point" and "make a point" mean the same thing generally?
I personally think "to raise a point" means "to mention some point of interest" while "to make a point" means "to state or demonstrate something of particular ...
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How do I pronounce names that end with "t" in the standard American dialect?
For example, how do I pronounce the "t" in "Robert"? (Assuming nothing is said after it, or the thing after it starts with a consonant)
Is it a half-stop "t" or a regular ...
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phonetics of certain words with "i"
I have from time to time noticed the different pronunciations of some words like civilization and organization where the "i" phonetically sounds like "aay". It is more clear in ...
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Why do Christians in American deep south say "whenever" when they mean "when"?
As a midwestern American (Iowa), I want to understand the history, reason, and mechanics of why southern Americans say "whenever" when the word "when" would suffice.
For instance:
...
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English dialect/accent that switches out the letter "p" with a voiceless bilabial trill (ʙ̥)
Just to clarify the title: not sure if this dialect always switches the "p" out with the "ʙ̥". For example, if the p is in the beginning of word, maybe this doesn't happen.
Also, I'...
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What are the differences between Indian English and other (native) varieties?
From my observation, I can identify some differences.
Indian speakers use some Hindi words which are not found among native speakers.
Indian speakers pronounce 'w' and 'v' interchangeably.
Indian ...
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Is "awe" pronounced as /ɔː/ or /ɑː/ in American English?
I have an American friend who pronounced the word "awe" with the same vowel as British people pronounce Thought: /ɔː/. But when I look up this word in dictionaries, they pronounce it as /ɑː/....
user387044
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Pronunciation of “master” and “plaster” in Northern England
A pattern I've noticed in Northern England is that people of my age (born in the '90s) pronounce words like “master” and “plaster” with a short A (/a/), whereas anyone of my parents' generation (born ...
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Variations in regional terms in USA
I was born in East Tennessee and have traveled extensively in Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee. I live in South Florida and have visited Northern California. Does anyone know why there is a ...
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GROCERY or GROSHERY [duplicate]
I am from Minnesota and have always pronounced GROCERY as GROSH-RY. I teach grammar and pronunciation online, and I recently encountered much controversy regarding what is the correct or incorrect ...
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Regional meanings of the word "Yankee"
I saw this in an upvoted YouTube comment:
To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a ...
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Slight GOAT-fronting in GenAm
According to the Wikipedia page, GOAT in GenAm is realized as a slightly fronted [ö̞ʊ]. I have also heard some GenAm(-like) speakers produce that variant, though others produced a completely back ...
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"She's like a cockroach what turned into a butterfly."
This is a line from Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
She's like a cockroach what turned into a butterfly.
Apparently in "standard English grammar" this should be
She's like a cockroach that/...
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"Don't give me with the scruples!"
In The Fortune Cookie (1966) Walter Matthau's character, a cunning lawyer, says:
What's the matter? You feel sorry for insurance companies? They got so much money they don't know what to do with it. ...
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Does hillbilly slang fall under a type of English language and if not, what is it called?
Does hillbilly slang (for lack of better words) fall under a type of English language and if not, what is it referred to as, if anything?
Such as:
Ch'out!= combo of "watch out!" combined.
y'...
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Origins/meaning of “is dis/this a system?”
Does anyone know the origins of the phrase “Is dis/this a system?”?
After seeing it in 1920s and 30s era American comic strips, and later scattered in multiple pop-cultural contexts, I was wondering ...
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What dialect is "just from + Ving"? [closed]
I have been hearing this construct recently:
just from + Ving
For instance:
I'm just from eating [...]
You're just from swimming [...]
This structure certainly isn't part of standard English, if ...
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Which British accent is closest to the standard Australian accent? [closed]
Which British accent is closest to the general Australian accent?
Does this correlate with where the majority of British Australians originate?
Any comments on the variations of either accents by ...
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What is the origin of extra prepositions added after verbs in Indian English?
It seems that speakers of Indian English often add prepositions to create phrasal verbs in situations where the verb would have been sufficient on its own.
Some examples I have noticed:
to “pass out” ...
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Any name for this feature of certain dialects where past simple is replaced with past participle?
For the record, I know there is a similar question here that asks about basically the opposite function in some Americam Dialects.
I want to know if there is a name for the type of dialectic feature ...
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Grade x vs xth grade
Something that I noticed is that Canadians often use "Grade X", while Americans prefer "Xth grade". For example, Canadians would use "Grade 9" rather than "9th grade,...
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What does the phrase ‘back the road’ mean?
Could someone explain to me the meaning of the phrase ‘back the road’ in the following sentence: “My father still lives back the road past the weir in the cottage I was reared in”?
Does it mean ‘next ...
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"Best" as a sign-off in a chat message
A new colleague of mine, a native English speaker with whom I have only communicated via text, used "Best!" at the end of a chat message.
Does this signify anything to the extent of "...
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Where is this accent from?
Where does the accent used by the actor who plays Mazikeen in the Lucifer series belong to? I can tell it is American, but I don't know what region in there. Here is a scene from the series where she ...
user391210
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Does using the words "might" and "could" consecutively in same sentence have a name or is it just improper English? (spoken English) [duplicate]
It is now more than a coincidence, but I have heard numerous people from different parts of the country use the words "might" and "could" together in a sentence as in:
"This ...
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Why was the word "bull" taboo in some dialects of English? What did it mean?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary in the entry for "critter", the word "bull" was once highly taboo (mainly in Ozarks).
What did it mean?
Why was it taboo?
Does the word still hold the ...
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Is English converging or diverging in modern times? [closed]
For the entire history of the world, languages in disparate groups of people have tended to diverge, creating new languages. The many English dialects of today would likely have become different ...
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How would you transcribe and/or describe this vowel?
I'm analyzing the /æ/ vowel sound (also known as 'short A') found in words like cat, dad, or man. I am particularly interested in how that sound is realized in different dialects of American English ...
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Regionality of "scarf" vs "snarf" as in "to scarf down food"
A friend asked in a group chat who uses "scarf" and who uses "snarf". Some of us had only heard one or the other.
I was reminded of the American English dialect heat maps (e.g., LINK), and I was ...
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Pronouncing "warrior" to rhyme with "lawyer" ... is this a feature of any dialect of English?
I've been listening to a section of The Great Courses: Medieval History, an audiobook narrated by Kenneth W. Harl. From his accent, Prof. Harl is clearly American, with what I would describe as a ...
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Do people "make parties" in New York?
They made a party for you.
Sounds plain wrong to my ears. People don't "make a party" unless their intended meaning is that they attend it, much as "I made the train this morning." However, I lighted ...
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"I'm Marsh Turner called."
From the movie Cross Creek, set in 1920s' Florida.
Marsh: I'm Marsh Turner called. This is my daughter Ellie.
The syntax of this line (as opposed to the standard "I am called Marsh Turner") ...
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How often do you use 'nowadays' vs 'these days' in your dialect?
I would say that in South Africa, nowadays is rather quaint; something that perhaps Boomers and older or second language speakers would use. Unfortunately, I cautioned a student nearly a year ago ...
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Difference between "greater than" and "greater then"? [closed]
What are there a difference between the following sentences?
They are pronounced the same or? Maybe it depends on the dialect?
A: Are you sure 'x' is "greater than" 'y'.
B: Are you sure 'x' is "...
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Is "one in the same" only a bad transcription of "one and the same"?
Trump suggested the lack of communication was justified because European countries don't inform him when they raise taxes on the US.
"When they raise taxes on us, they don't consult us and I think ...
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Liverpudlian Accents and The Beatles
The Beatles all have/had a Liverpudlian accent, but it wasn't very strong, especially if you compare it to the accents of Merseyside personalities from similar backgrounds (such as Steven Gerrard, ...
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What dialect/accent in the UK do people not say the word "the"
I know a decent amount about different dialects in the UK, and usually recognize and identify them, but I heard one today that took me by surprise. I was watching a TV show, and this family, who I ...
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Could English speakers define from which country their interlocutor?
Could English speakers define from which English-speaking country their interlocutor (USA, England, Australia, Canada)?
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"Have a nap" or "Take a nap"?
I'd like to know what's the difference between:
"We decided to have a nap" and "We decided to take a nap".
Is it a BrE / AmE thing?
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'I about to died' --- Southern vernacular?
I wonder if anyone here has ever heard this phrase, about to + past tense --- probably a dialectal variant of about + past tense. Is this America's Southern vernacular?
And then the judge turned to ...
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Is the varying pronunciation of "schedule" using "sh-" vs "sk-" regional or individual? [duplicate]
‘Hard’ /ˈskɛ.djuːl/vs ‘Soft’ /ˈʃɛ.djuːl/
Is one of the two variants
/ˈʃɛ.djuːl/ with ‘sh‑’ (so including [ˈʃɛ.djɫ], [ˈʃɛ.dʒɫ̩], [ˈʃɛ.dʒu.əɫ], [ˈʃɛ.dʒuːɫ])
/ˈskɛ.djuːl/ with ‘sk‑’ (so including [...
user373710
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a' the world's gang agley
Toward the close of her life she was greatly troubled at any unusual
stir in the household. She liked to have company, but nothing
disturbed her more than to have a man working in the cellar, putting
...
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Is cow ever the plural of cow?
I was thinking about ruminants, as you do, and I noticed that, unlike with sheep or deer, cows is the plural of cow. I started wondering why, then it occurred to me that maybe there were dialects that ...
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On the pronunciation of 's' in 'dislike' (/s/ vs /z/)
With a bit of a surprise I have recently learnt that most(all?) native English speakers pronounce the 's' in dislike (and similar words with the dis- prefix) as /s/, not /z/.
However, the /z/ ...
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