Re: Dialect differences Spoken English commonly associated with 'educated' speakers in the southern counties of England is called the "Received Standard", and its accent is called Received Pronunciation. (It derives from a mixture of the Midland and Southern dialects which were spoken in London during the Middle Ages.)
It is also referred to as "the King's (or Queen's) English", "Public School English", or "BBC English" (as this was originally the form of English used on radio and television. A variety of accents can be heard these days.)
Even in the South East there are significantly different accents; the London Cockney accent is strikingly different from RP and its rhyming slang can be difficult for outsiders to understand.
Estuary English has emerged in recent decades,with some features of RP and some of Cockney. In London, communities migrating to the UK in recent decades have brought many more languages to the country. As a result, Londoners speak with a mixture of accents, depending on ethnicity, neighbourhood, class, age, upbringing, and other factors.
(Adapted from Wiki.) |