Accent

An accent is a manner of pronunciation of a language. It is a distinct form of pronunciation associated with a country, region, area or social class.

Accents can be confused with dialects which are varieties of language differing in vocabulary, syntax, and morphology, as well as pronunciation. Dialects are usually spoken by a group united by geography or social status.

People occasionally make the claim "I don't have an accent." What they presumably mean is "I don't have an identifiable regional accent" - which is not quite the same thing. Everybody has an accent of some type - even if that accent is only standard English or general American.

See also

• Dialect
• Rhotic and non-rhotic accent

External links

• Sounds Familiar? — Listen to regional accents and dialects of the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
• 'Hover & Hear' accents of English from around the World, and compare them side by side.
• The Speech Accent Archive (Native and non-native accent recordings of English)
• "English accents and their implications for spelling reform" John Wells
• I don't have an accent! by Karen Stollznow
• FAQ about Accents
• Mugglestone, Lynda Talking Proper: The Rise of Accent as Social Symbol - Oxford. (At Google Books) and Times Online review

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