View source for English language in Southern England

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{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{IPA notice}}
'''English in Southern England''' (also, rarely, '''Southern English English'''; '''Southern England English'''; or in the UK, simply, '''Southern English''') is the collective set of different dialects and accents of [[Modern English]] spoken in [[Southern England]].

As of the 21st century, a wide class of dialects labelled "[[Estuary English]]" is on the rise in [[South East England]] and the [[Home Counties]] (the counties bordering London), which was the traditional interface between the London urban region and more local and rural accents. 
[[File:Foot-strut split.svg|thumb|Foot-strut split [[isogloss]]]]
[[File:RhoticEngland2.png|200px|thumb|Red areas are where English dialects of the late 20th century were [[Rhoticity in English|rhotic]]; in the South, all of South West England and some of South East England are included.]]

Commentators report widespread homogenisation in South East England in the 20th century (Kerswill & Williams 2000; Britain 2002). This involved a process of [[dialect levelling|levelling]] between the extremes of working-class [[Cockney]] in inner-city London and the careful upper-class standard accent of Southern England, [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP), popular in the 20th century with [[upper middle class|upper-middle-]] and [[upper-class]] residents. Now spread throughout the South East region, Estuary English is the resulting mainstream accent that combines features of both Cockney and a more middle-class RP. Less affluent areas have variants of Estuary English that grade into southern rural England outside urban areas.<ref name=wells>{{cite book | author=Wells, John C. | author-link=John C. Wells | title=Accents of English | location=[[Cambridge]] | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | year=1982 | isbn=0-521-24225-8 <!--(vol. 3)-->| pages=400–70}}</ref>

Outside of South East England, [[West Country English]] (of [[South West England]]) and [[East Anglian English]] survive as traditional broad dialects in Southern England today, though they too are subject to Estuary English influence in recent decades and are consequently weakening.{{sfn|Kortmann|Schneider|2004|pp=164, 197}}

==London and Estuary English==
{{main|Estuary English}}
[[London]] and greater [[River Thames|Thames Estuary]] accents are [[non-rhotic]]: that is, the consonant {{IPAc-en|r}} (phonetically {{IPA|[ɹ]}}) occurs only before vowels.

General characteristics of all major London accents include:
* diphthongal realisation of {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/uː/}}, for example ''beat'' {{IPA|[ˈbɪiʔ]}}, ''boot'' {{IPA|[ˈbʊʉʔ]}} (this can also be a monophthong: {{IPA|[bʉːʔ]}})
* diphthongal realisation of {{IPA|/ɔː/}} in open syllables, for example ''bore'' {{IPA|[ˈbɔə]}}, ''paw'' {{IPA|[ˈpɔə]}} versus a monophthongal realisation in closed syllables, for example ''board'' {{IPA|[ˈboːd]}}, ''pause'' {{IPA|[ˈpoːz]}}. But the diphthong is retained before inflectional endings, so that ''board'' and ''pause'' often contrast with ''bored'' {{IPA|[ˈbɔəd]}} and ''paws'' {{IPA|[ˈpɔəz]}}.
* lengthening of {{IPA|/æ/}} in words such as ''man'', ''sad'', ''bag'', ''hand'' (cf. ''can'', ''had'', ''lad''): split of {{IPA|/æ/}} into two phonemes {{IPA|/æ/}} and {{IPA|/æː/}}. See [[bad–lad split]].
* an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/əʊ/}} before "dark L" {{IPA|([ɫ])}}, namely {{IPA|[ɒʊ]}}, for example ''whole'' {{IPA|[ˈhɒʊɫ]}} versus ''holy'' {{IPA|[ˈhəʊli]}}. But the {{IPA|[ɒʊ]}} is retained when the addition of a suffix turns the "dark L" clear, so that ''wholly'' {{IPA|[ˈhɒʊli]}} can contrast with ''holy''.

Features of working- or middle-class Estuary English, spoken in the counties all around London in the 21st century, include:
* Not as much [[H-dropping|''h''-dropping]] as Cockney, but still more than RP
* Increased amount of [[Th-fronting|''th''-fronting]], like Cockney
*[[lexical set|{{sc2|GOAT}}]] fronting to {{IPA|[əʏ]}}
* {{sc2|MOUTH}} can take the more RP variant of {{IPA|[aʊ]}}
* {{sc2|PRICE}} has a low-back onset, {{IPA|[ɑɪ]}}, or the lowered/unrounded from {{IPA|[ʌɪ]}}, or {{IPA|[ɔɪ]}} or {{IPA|[ɒɪ]}}
* {{sc2|FACE}} can have an onset lower than RP but higher than Cockney: {{IPA|[ɛ̝ɪ]}}
* {{sc2|GOOSE}} fronted to {{IPA|[ʏː]}}
* {{sc2|FOOT}} fronted
* {{sc2|TRAP}} lowers and backs, different from both RP and Cockney{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}
It retains some aspects of Cockney, such as the [[Speech production|vocalisation]] of {{IPA|[ɫ]}} ([[dark L]]) to {{IPA|[o]}}, and [[English consonant-cluster reductions#''Yod''-coalescence|''yod''-coalescence]] in [[lexical stress|stress]]ed [[syllable]]s (for example, ''duty'' {{IPA|[dʒʉːʔi]}}) and replacement of {{IPA|[t]}} with {{IPA|[ʔ]}} (the [[glottal stop]]) in weak positions, or occasionally with d). Wells notes traditional aspects of rural South East speech as lengthened {{IPA|[æː]}} in ''trap'' words<ref>[[John C. Wells]] in Trudgill ed., ''Language in the British Isles'', page 61, Cambridge University Press, 1984</ref> and use of {{IPA|[eɪ]}} or {{IPA|[ɛʊ]}} in ''mouth'' words.<ref>[[John C. Wells]] in Trudgill ed., ''Language in the British Isles'', pages 60–61, Cambridge University Press, 1984</ref>

===Cockney===
{{Main|Cockney}}
Cockney is the traditional accent of the working classes of the areas immediately surrounding the [[City of London]] itself (most famously including the East End). It is characterised by many phonological differences from RP:
* The [[Dental consonant|dental]] [[fricatives]] {{IPA|[θ, ð]}} are [[Phonological history of English consonants#''TH''-fronting|replaced]] with [[labiodental]] {{IPA|[f, v]}}, for example ''think'' {{IPA|[fɪŋk]}}
* The [[diphthong]] {{IPA|/aʊ/}} is monophthongized to {{IPA|[æː]}}, for example ''south'' {{IPA|[sæːf]}}
* [[H-dropping|''H''-dropping]], for example ''house'' {{IPA|[æːs]}}
* [[T-glottalization|Replacement]] of {{IPA|[t]}} in the middle or end of a word with a glottal stop; for example ''hit'' {{IPA|[ɪʔ]}}
* [[Diphthong]] shift of {{IPA|/iː/}} to {{IPA|[əi]}} (for example ''beet'' {{IPA|[bəiʔ]}}), {{IPA|/eɪ/}} to {{IPA|[aɪ]}} (for example ''bait'' {{IPA|[baɪʔ]}}), {{IPA|/aɪ/}} to {{IPA|[ɒɪ]}} (for example ''bite'' {{IPA|[bɒɪʔ]}}), and {{IPA|/ɔɪ/}} to {{IPA|[oɪ]}} (for example, ''boy'' {{IPA|[boɪ]}}.
* [[Speech production|Vocalisation]] of {{IPA|[ɫ]}} (dark L) to {{IPA|[ɤ~o~ʊ~ɯ]}}, for example, ''people'' {{IPA|[pəipɯ]}}

===Multicultural London English===
{{Main|Multicultural London English}}
Multicultural London English (abbreviated MLE), colloquially called Blockney, is a [[dialect]] (and/or [[sociolect]]) of [[English language|English]] that emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken mainly by [[youths]] in [[multicultural]] parts of working-class London.

The speech of [[Jamaica]]ns, or children of Jamaican parents, in London shows interesting combinations of the Jamaican accent with the London accent. For example, in [[Jamaican English]], {{IPA|/θ/}} is replaced by {{IPA|[t]}}, for example ''both'' {{IPA|/boːt/}}. In London, word-final {{IPA|/t/}} is realised as {{IPA|[ʔ]}}, as mentioned above. In Jamaican-London speech, glottalization of {{IPA|/t/}} applies also to {{IPA|/t/}} from {{IPA|/θ/}}, for example ''both of them'' {{IPA|[bʌʊʔ ə dem]}}. [[Hypercorrection]]s like {{IPA|[fʊθ]}} for ''foot'' are also heard from Jamaicans.<ref>[[John C. Wells]] ''Jamaican pronunciation in London'' The [[Philological Society]] (1973).</ref> [[John C. Wells]]'s dissertation, ''Jamaican pronunciation in London'', was published by the Philological Society in 1973.

==Berkshire and Hampshire English==
[[Berkshire]] and [[Hampshire]] are on the modern-day border between Estuary English and [[West Country English]]. Berkshire is predominantly non-rhotic today, but traditional accents may still be found across the county. Parts of [[West Berkshire]] may still be rhotic or variably rhotic today, though this feature is quickly becoming ever less frequent.<ref>Wells, 1982, p. 341.</ref> In country areas and Southampton, the older rhotic accent can still be heard amongst some speakers, for example in the speech of [[John Arlott]], [[Lord Denning]] and [[Reg Presley]]. Since the 1960s, particularly in Andover and Basingstoke, the local accent has changed reflecting the arrival of East Londoners relocated by London County Council. It can be argued that Hampshire is a borderline county moving East, linguistically.

"Estuary-isms" can be found in [[Portsmouth]] or "Pompey" English, some of which may actually originate from Portsmouth rather than London.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portsmouthsociety.org.uk/news2003/pompeyspeakcomments.htm|title=Portsmouth Society – Pompey as she is spoke (Pompeyspeak) – readers' comments}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2008/october/do-you-speak-pompey|title=Do You Speak Pompey?}}</ref>

==West Country English==
{{Main|West Country English}}

South West England or "West Country" English is a family of similar strongly [[rhotic and non-rhotic accents|rhotic]] accents, now perceived as rural. It originally extended an even larger region, across much of South East England, including an area south of the "[[broad A]]" [[isogloss]], but the modern West Country dialects are now most often classified west of a line roughly from [[Shropshire]] via [[Oxfordshire]]. Their shared characteristics have been caricatured as [[Mummerset]].

They persist most strongly in areas that remain largely rural with a largely indigenous population, particularly the [[West Country]]. In many other areas they are declining because of RP and Estuary accents moving to the area; for instance, strong [[Isle of Wight#Language and dialect|Isle of Wight accents]] tend to be more prevalent in older speakers.

As well as rhoticity, here are common features of West Country accents:
* The diphthong {{IPA|/aɪ/}} (as in ''price'') realised as {{IPA|[ʌi]}} or {{IPA|[ɔi]}}, sounding more like the diphthong in [[Received Pronunciation]] ''choice''.
* The diphthong {{IPA|/aʊ/}} (as in ''mouth'') realised as {{IPA|[ɛʏ]}}, with a starting point close to the vowel in [[Received Pronunciation]] ''dress''.
* The vowel {{IPA|/ɒ/}} (as in ''lot'') realised as an unrounded vowel {{IPA|[ɑ]}}, as in many forms of [[American English]].
* In traditional West Country accents, the voiceless [[fricative]]s {{IPA|/s/, /f/, /θ/, /ʃ/}} (as in ''sat, farm, think, shed'' respectively) are often voiced to {{IPA|[z], [v], [ð], [ʒ]}}, giving pronunciations like "Zummerzet" for ''Somerset'', "varm" for ''farm'', "zhure" for ''sure'', etc.
* In the [[Bristol]] area a vowel at the end of a word is often followed by an intrusive dark l, {{IPA|[ɫ]}}. Hence the old joke about the three Bristolian sisters Evil, Idle, and Normal (written Eva, Ida, and Norma). ''L'' is pronounced darkly where it is present, too, which means that in Bristolian rendering, 'idea' and 'ideal' are homophones.
* [[H-dropping|''H''-dropping]] in [[South Devon]] and [[Cornwall]], "''Berry 'Aid''" for [[Berry Head]] (in [[Brixham]], South Devon)

In traditional Southern rural accents, the voiceless [[fricative]]s {{IPA|/s/, /f/, /θ/, /ʃ/}} always remain voiceless, which is the main difference from West Country accents.

==East Anglian English==
{{Main|East Anglian English}}
Features which can be found in [[East Anglia]]n English (especially in [[Norfolk]]) include:
* [[English consonant-cluster reductions#''Yod''-dropping|''Yod''-dropping]] after all consonants: ''beautiful'' may be pronounced {{IPA|[ˈbʉːʔɪfəl]}}, often represented as "bootiful" or "bewtiful", ''huge'' as {{IPA|[ˈhʉːdʒ]}}, and so on.<ref>There are more details on {{cite web|url=http://www.norfolkdialect.com/trudgill.html |title=Norfolk England Dialect Orthography |access-date=2008-02-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080222181929/http://www.norfolkdialect.com/trudgill.html |archive-date=22 February 2008 |df=dmy }}, written by Norfolk-born linguist [[Peter Trudgill]]</ref>
* Absence of the [[Phonological history of English vowels#Long mid mergers|long mid merger]] between [[Early Modern English]] {{IPA|/oː/}} (as in ''toe, moan, road, boat'') and {{IPA|/ɔʊ/}} (as in ''tow, mown, rowed''). The vowel of ''toe, moan, road, boat'' may be realised as {{IPA|[ʊu]}}, so that ''boat'' may sound to outsiders like ''boot''.
* [[Glottal stop]] frequent for {{IPA|/t/}}.
* The diphthong {{IPA|/aɪ/}} (as in ''price'') realised as {{IPA|[ɔɪ]}}, sounding very much like the diphthong in [[Received Pronunciation]] ''choice''.
* The vowel {{IPA|/ɒ/}} (as in ''lot'') realised as an unrounded vowel {{IPA|[ɑ]}}, as in many forms of [[American English]].
* [[English-language vowel changes before historic r#Near-square merger|Merger of the vowels of ''near'' and ''square'']] ([[Received Pronunciation|RP]] {{IPA|/ɪə/}} and {{IPA|/ɛə/}}), making ''chair'' and ''cheer'' homophones.
* East Anglian accents are generally [[non-rhotic]].

There are differences between and even within areas of East Anglia: the Norwich accent has distinguishing aspects from the [[Norfolk dialect]] that surrounds it{{spaced ndash}}chiefly in the vowel sounds. The accent of [[Cambridgeshire]] is different from the Norfolk accent, whilst [[Suffolk]] has greater similarities to that of Norfolk.<ref>Some examples of the Norfolk accent (with dialectal words thrown in) at [http://www.norfolkdialect.com]</ref>

===Essex===
The East Anglian feature of [[English consonant cluster reductions#''Yod''-dropping|''yod''-dropping]] was common in Essex. In addition, [[Mersea Island]] (though not the rest of Essex) showed some rhoticity in speakers born as late as the early 20th century,<ref name="Amos">[http://roa.rutgers.edu/content/article/files/1208_amos_1.pdf A Sociophonological Analysis of Mersea Island English: An investigation of the diphthongs (aʊ), (aɪ) and (ɔɪ)], page 44</ref> a feature that characterised other rural dialects of South East England in the 19th century. [[Th-fronting]], a feature now widespread in England, was found throughout Essex in the 1950s [[Survey of English Dialects]], which studied speakers born in the late 1800s.<ref name="John Benjamins Publishing">{{cite book |editor1-first=David|editor1-last=Britain |editor2-first=Jenny |editor2-last=Cheshire|title=Social Dialectology: In Honour of Peter Trudgill|url=https://archive.org/details/socialdialectolo00trud|url-access=limited|year=2003|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |location=Amsterdam|page=[https://archive.org/details/socialdialectolo00trud/page/n234 233] |chapter=Dialect levelling and geographical diffusion in British English|isbn=9781588114037 }}</ref> Many words are unique to 19th-century Essex dialect, some examples including ''bonx'' meaning "to beat up batter for pudding" and ''hodmedod'' or ''hodmadod'' meaning "snail".<ref>Charnock, Richard S. (1880). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8Bw4AQAAIAAJ A glossary of the Essex dialect]''. Trübner & Company. pp. 5, 22.</ref> Several nonstandard grammatical features exist, such as irregular plural forms like ''housen'' for "houses".<ref>Charnock, 1880, p. 23.</ref>

Modern Essex English is usually associated with non-rhotic Estuary English,<ref name="Benham">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/essexballadsothe00benh|title=Essex ballads and other poems|first=Charles Edwin|last=Benham|date=23 October 2017|publisher=Colchester : Benham|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name="Gepp 1920">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/contributiontoes00geppuoft|title=A contribution to an Essex dialect dictionary|first=Edward|last=Gepp|year=1920|publisher=London G. Routledge|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> mainly in urban areas receiving an influx of East London migrants since World War II. The Essex accent has an east–west variation with the county's west having Estuary English speech features and the county's east having the traditional Essaxon and East Anglian features.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

==19th-century Kent, Sussex, and Surrey English==
The region largely south of London, including Surrey, Sussex, and once even Kent, used to speak with what today would be lumped under a South West England or "West Country" dialect.{{sfn|Kortmann|Schneider|2004|p=180}} In all these counties, front {{sc2|MOUTH}}, front {{sc2|START}}, and high (or even [[rounded vowel|round]])<ref name="Amos"/> {{sc2|PRICE}} vowels predominated in the 19th century, all of which are also shared with rural traditional [[East Anglian English]].

Modern Kent and Sussex English is usually associated with non-rhotic Estuary English,<ref name="Benham"/><ref name="Gepp 1920"/> mainly in urban areas receiving an influx of East London migrants since World War II. However, rhoticity used to characterize the traditional rural accents in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, though it has long been a recessive feature.{{sfn|Kortmann|Schneider|2004|p=180}}<ref name="Wells, 1982, p. 335">Wells, 1982, p. 335.</ref> Still, it is possible that some Sussex and Kentish rhoticity lasted until as recently as the early 21st century in certain pockets.<ref>{{Cite web|last=BBC|title=BBC – Kent – Voices 2005 – Voices|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/voices2005/|access-date=2020-12-29|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-gb|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912205414/https://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/voices2005/|archive-date=2020-09-12|url-status=live}}</ref>

The vowel {{IPA|/ɒ/}} (as in {{sc2|LOT}}) is very occasionally used for the {{sc2|STRUT}} vowel, normally {{IPA|/ʌ/}}; it has been reported as a minority variant in Kent and Essex.{{sfn|Kortmann|Schneider|2004|p=210}}

In the 18th and 19th centuries, in Essex, Kent, and east Sussex,{{sfn|Kortmann|Schneider|2004|pp=174, 175}} plus several other South East areas including London, Suffolk, and Norfolk,<ref>{{citation|last=Trudgill|first=Peter|year=2003|title=The Norfolk Dialect|publisher=Poppyland|page=84}}</ref>
{{IPA|/v/}} was pronounced as {{IPA|/w/}} in pre-vocalic position: thus, ''village'' sounded like ''willage'' and ''venom'' like ''wenom''. In the 19th century, across all of Southern England, ''arter'' without an ''f'' (non-rhotically, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑː|t|ə}}) was a common pronunciation of ''after''.<ref>{{citation|last=Trudgill|first=Peter|year=2003|title=The Norfolk Dialect|publisher=Poppyland|page=157}}</ref>

The pattern of speech in some of [[Charles Dickens]]' books pertains to Kentish dialect, as the author lived at [[Higham, Kent|Higham]], was familiar with the mudflats near [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]] and created a comic character [[Sam Weller (fictional character)|Sam Weller]] who spoke the local accent, principally Kentish but with strong London influences.<ref name=KD1>{{cite book|last=Parish|first=W.D.|author2=Shaw |title=The Kentish Dialect and Provincialisms|publisher=Farncombe & Co|location=Lewes|year=1888|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/cassets/ebook01.pdf|page=vii}}</ref>

Modern Estuary dialect features were also reported in some traditional varieties, including [[Phonological history of English consonants#L-vocalization and L-dropping|''L''-vocalization]] e.g. ''old'' as ''owd'',<ref name="John Benjamins Publishing"/> as well as [[yod-coalescence]] in Kent.

===Surrey===
A unique dialect existed as recently as the late 19th century in the [[Historic counties of England|historic county]] of [[Surrey]], in western [[Kent]], and in parts of northern [[Sussex]],<ref name=gd>Davis, Graeme, ''Dictionary of Surrey English'' (2007), p.30</ref> though it has now almost entirely died out. It was first documented by Granville W. G. [[Leveson Gower]] (1838–1895), of [[Titsey Place]],{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} during the 1870s and first published by him in ''A Glossary of Surrey Words'' in 1893.<ref name=gd/>

Gower was first made aware of the dialect after reading a letter in a local newspaper. Following that, and after his own enquiries, he expressed a fear that improved transport and the spread of education would cause such local dialects to disappear and be forgotten despite the fact that, in his words, "Old customs, old beliefs, old prejudices die hard in the soil of England".<ref name=gower>Gower, Granville, ''A Glossary of Surrey Words'', (1893), Oxford University Press</ref> Gower described certain standard English words with nonstandard pronunciations in the Surrey dialect:
{{hidden begin|title=Surrey grammatical features|toggle=left}}
Gowers mentions: 
<blockquote>''Acrost for across; agoo for ago; batcheldor for bachelor; brownchitis (or sometime brown titus) for bronchitis; chimley or chimbley for chimney; crowner for coroner; crowner's quest for coroner's inquest; curosity and curous for curiosity and curious; death for deaf; disgest for digest, and indisgestion for indigestion; gownd for gown; scholard for scholar; nevvy for nephew; non-plush'd for non-plussed; refuge for refuse; quid for cud, " chewing the quid; "sarment for sermon; varmint for vermin; sloop for slope; spartacles for spectacles; spavin for spasms. I knew an old woman who was constantly suffering from "the windy spavin;" taters for potatoes; wunst for once; wuts for oats, etc., etc."''<ref name=gower/></blockquote>
Syntax of the Surrey dialect included:
* The Old and Middle English prefix of "a-" is used generally before substantives, before participles and with adjectives placed after nouns, e.g., a-coming, a-going, a-plenty, a-many.
* Double negatives in a sentence are common, "You don't know nothing", "The gent ain't going to give us nothing"
* "be" is common for "are", e.g., "How be you?" is noted, to which "I be pretty middlin', thank ye" was the usual answer.
* Superlatives (+est) were used in place of the word "most", e.g., "the impudentest man I ever see"
* "You've no ought" was the equivalent of "you should not"
* "See" was used for saw (the [[preterite]] usually [[past simple]]) of see
* "Grow'd," "know'd," "see'd," "throw'd," and similar were however also used both for the perfect and participle passive of the verbs, e.g., "I've know'd a litter of seven whelps reared in that hole"
* Past participle takes more complex forms after common consonants "-ded," "-ted," e.g., attackted, drownded, "Such a country as this, where everything is either scorched up with the sun or drownded with the rain."
* The pleonastic use of "-like" denoting "vaguely", e.g. comfortable-like, timid-like, dazed-like, "I have felt lonesome-like ever since."
* "all along of" meaning "because of"
{{hidden end}}

Phonological features included long-standing [[yod-coalescence]], now typical of dialects throughout England,<ref>Wells, 1982, p. 331.</ref> as well as the increasingly disappearing feature of rhoticity.{{sfn|Kortmann|Schneider|2004|p=180}}<ref name="Wells, 1982, p. 335"/>
{{hidden begin|title=Surrey lexical features|toggle=left}}
* bait – an afternoon meal about 4&nbsp;pm
* bannick – a verb meaning to beat or thrash
* baulky – is said of a person who tries to avoid you
* beazled – tired
* beatle – a mallet
* befront – in front of
* beleft – the participle of "believe"
* bettermost – upper-class people
* bly – a likeness, "he has a bly of his father"
* burden – a quantity
* comb – the moss that grows on church bells
* clung – moist or damp grass
* dryth – drought
* fail – a verb meaning to fall ill
* fly-golding – a [[ladybird]]
* foundrous – boggy or marshy
* gratten – stubble left in a field after harvest
* hem – a lot or much
* hot – a verb meaning to heat something up, "hot it over the fire"
* innardly – to talk innardly is to mumble
* leastways – otherwise
* lief – rather, "I'd lief not"
* lippy – rude
* market fresh – drunk
* messengers – small clouds (also called "water dogs")
* middlin – reasonable or average
* mixen – a heap of dung or soil
* mothery – mouldy
* notation – making a fuss
* nurt – a verb meaning to entice
* ornary – being unwell (the word means "ordinary")
* peart – brisk or lively
* picksome – pretty or dainty
* platty – uneven
* quirk – a faint noise indicating fear
* runagate – good for nothing
* sauce – vegetables, e.g. "green sauce", pronounced "soss"
* scrow – a verb to scowl
* shatter – sprinkling
* shifty – untidy
* shuckish – unsettled, showery weather
* snob – shoemaker
* spoon meat – soup
* statesman – landowner
* stood – stuck
* swimy – giddy
* the big smoke – London
* tidy – adjective meaning good or well
* timmersome – timid
* uppards – towards London or in the north
* venturesome – brave
* welt – scorched
* wift – quic<ref name=gower/>
{{hidden end}}

===Sussex===
In addition to the above features, namely rhoticity, the traditional Sussex accent showed certain other features, like an extremely narrow {{Sc2|PRICE}} vowel and [[th-stopping]]. [[Reduplicated plural]] forms were a grammatical feature of the Sussex dialect, particularly in words ending ''-st'', such as ''ghostesses'' in place of the standard English ''ghosts''.<ref>{{cite dictionary
|title=Ammut-castès |dictionary=A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect and Collection of Provincialisms in Use in the County of Sussex
|url=https://archive.org/details/adictionarysuss03parigoog |quote=I saw the ghostesses, / Sitting on the postesses, / Eating of their toastesses, / And fighting with their fistesses.
|page=[https://archive.org/details/adictionarysuss03parigoog/page/n318 18]
|last=Parish
|first=W. D.
|year=1875
|publisher=Farncombe & Co.
|location=[[Lewes]]
}}<!--This book starts at page 301 of the scan on archive.org--></ref> Many old Sussex words once existed, thought to have derived from Sussex's fishermen and their links with fishermen from the coasts of France and the Netherlands.<ref name="Parish">{{cite book|last=Parish|first=W. D.| title=A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect – a Collection of Provincialisms in use in the County of Sussex | publisher=Farncombe & Co | location=Lewes | year=1875 |url=http://www.sussexhistory.co.uk/sussex-dialect/sussex-dialect.html | access-date=12 June 2018}}</ref> A universal feminine gender pronoun was typical, reflected in a joking saying in Sussex that "Everything in Sussex is a she except a tomcat and she's a he."<ref name="WusSpoke">{{cite book|last=Wales|first=Tony|title=Sussex as She Wus Spoke: A Guide to the Sussex Dialect|publisher=SB Publications|location=Seaford|year=2000|isbn=978-1-85770-209-5}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal| UK|Language}}
* [[South African English]]
* [[Australian English]]
* [[Zimbabwean English]]
* [[New Zealand English]]
* [[Falkland Islands English]]
* [[Regional accents of English]]

==References==
* {{cite book |last1=Kortmann |first1=Bernd |last2=Schneider |first2=Edgar W. |title=A Handbook of Varieties of English |year=2004 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Company KG |isbn=978-3-11-017532-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dptsvykgk3IC |language=en}}
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://doreco.huma-num.fr/languages/sout3282 English (Southern England) DoReCo corpus] compiled by Nils Norman Schiborr. Audio recordings of narrative texts with transcriptions time-aligned at the phone level, translations, and time-aligned morphological annotations.

{{English dialects by continent}}

[[Category:English language in England|Southern England]]
[[Category:Southern England|.]]