Dialects of English

DIALECT: GENERAL IDEA
The term dialect (from the Greek word dialektos, Διάλεκτος) is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists) is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety) is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language) is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class) is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect) is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect; a regional dialect may be termed a regiolect or topolect. The other usage refers to a language socially subordinate to a regional or national standard language, often historically cognate to the standard, but not a variety of it or in any other sense derived from it[citation needed]. This more precise usage enables distinguishing between varieties of a language, such as the French spoken in Nice]. This more precise usage enables distinguishing between varieties of a language, such as the French spoken in Nice, France, and local languages distinct from the superordinate language, e.g. Nissart]. This more precise usage enables distinguishing between varieties of a language, such as the French spoken in Nice, France, and local languages distinct from the superordinate language, e.g. Nissart, the traditional native Romance language of Nice, known in French as Niçard.

DIALECT: GENERAL IDEA
A dialect is distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation (phonologyA dialect is distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation (phonology, including prosody). Where a distinction can be made only in terms of pronunciation, the term accent is appropriate, not dialect. Other speech varieties include: standard languages Other speech varieties include: standard languages, which are standardized for public performance (for example, a written standard); jargons Other speech varieties include: standard languages, which are standardized for public performance (for example, a written standard); jargons, which are characterized by differences in lexicon Other speech varieties include: standard languages, which are standardized for public performance (for example, a written standard); jargons, which are characterized by differences in lexicon (vocabulary Other speech varieties include: standard languages, which are standardized for public performance (for example, a written standard); jargons, which are characterized by differences in lexicon (vocabulary); slang Other speech varieties include: standard languages, which are standardized for public performance (for example, a written standard); jargons, which are characterized by differences in lexicon (vocabulary); slang; patois Other speech varieties include: standard languages, which are standardized for public performance (for example, a written standard); jargons, which are characterized by differences in lexicon (vocabulary); slang; patois; pidgins Other speech varieties include: standard languages, which are standardized for public performance (for example, a written standard); jargons, which are characterized by differences in lexicon (vocabulary); slang; patois; pidgins or argots.

DIALECT: GENERAL IDEA
The particular speech patterns used by an individual are termed an idiolect.

Standard and non-standard dialect
A standard dialect (also known as a standardized dialect or "standard language") is a dialect that is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include government recognition or designation; presentation as being the "correct" form of a language in schools; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a "correct" spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature that employs that dialect (prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.). There may be multiple standard dialects associated with a single language. For example, Standard American English or "standard language") is a dialect that is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include government recognition or designation; presentation as being the "correct" form of a language in schools; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a "correct" spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature that employs that dialect (prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.). There may be multiple standard dialects associated with a single language. For example, Standard American English, Standard Canadian English or "standard language") is a dialect that is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include government recognition or designation; presentation as being the "correct" form of a language in schools; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a "correct" spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature that employs that dialect (prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.). There may be multiple standard dialects associated with a single language. For example, Standard American English, Standard Canadian English, Standard Indian English or "standard language") is a dialect that is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include government recognition or designation; presentation as being the "correct" form of a language in schools; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a "correct" spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature that employs that dialect (prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.). There may be multiple standard dialects associated with a single language. For example, Standard American English, Standard Canadian English, Standard Indian English, Standard Australian English or "standard language") is a dialect that is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include government recognition or designation; presentation as being the "correct" form of a language in schools; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a "correct" spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature that employs that dialect (prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.). There may be multiple standard dialects associated with a single language. For example, Standard American English, Standard Canadian English, Standard Indian English, Standard Australian English, and Standard Philippine English or "standard language") is a dialect that is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include government recognition or designation; presentation as being the "correct" form of a language in schools; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a "correct" spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature that employs that dialect (prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.). There may be multiple standard dialects associated with a single language. For example, Standard American English, Standard Canadian English, Standard Indian English, Standard Australian English, and Standard Philippine English may all be said to be standard dialects of the English language.

Standard and non-standard dialect
A nonstandard dialectA nonstandard dialect, like a standard dialect, has a complete vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, but is not the beneficiary of institutional support. An example of a nonstandard English dialect is Southern American EnglishA nonstandard dialect, like a standard dialect, has a complete vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, but is not the beneficiary of institutional support. An example of a nonstandard English dialect is Southern American English or Newfoundland EnglishA nonstandard dialect, like a standard dialect, has a complete vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, but is not the beneficiary of institutional support. An example of a nonstandard English dialect is Southern American English or Newfoundland English. The Dialect TestA nonstandard dialect, like a standard dialect, has a complete vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, but is not the beneficiary of institutional support. An example of a nonstandard English dialect is Southern American English or Newfoundland English. The Dialect Test was designed by Joseph Wright to compare different English dialects with each other.
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways.

"Dialect" or "language"
There is no universally accepted criterion for distinguishing a language from a dialect. A number of rough measures exist, sometimes leading to contradictory results. Some linguists do not differentiate between languages and dialects, i.e. languages are dialects and vice versa. The distinction is therefore subjective and depends on the user's frame of reference. Note also that the terms are not always treated as mutually exclusive; there is not necessarily anything contradictory in the statement that "the language of the Pennsylvania Dutch of the Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect of German". However, the term dialect always implies a relation between languages: if language X is called a dialect, this implies that the speaker considers X a dialect of some other language Y, which then usually is some standard language.

"Dialect" or "language"
Language varieties are often called dialects rather than languages:
if they have no standard or codified form,
if the speakers of the given language do not have a state of their own,
if they are rarely or never used in writing (outside reported speech),
if they lack prestige with respect to some other, often standardised, variety.

"Dialect" or "language"
Anthropological linguistsAnthropological linguists define dialect as the specific form of a language used by a speech community.[citation needed] In other words, the difference between language and dialect is the difference between the abstract or general and the concrete and particular. From this perspective, everyone speaks a dialect. Those who identify a particular dialect as the "standard" or "proper" version of a language are in fact using these terms to express a social distinction. Often, the standard language is close to the sociolect of the elite class.

"Dialect" or "language"
The statusThe status of language is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. RomanshThe status of language is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. Romansh came to be a written language, and therefore it is recognized as a language, even though it is very close to the Lombardic alpine dialects. An opposite example is the case of ChineseThe status of language is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. Romansh came to be a written language, and therefore it is recognized as a language, even though it is very close to the Lombardic alpine dialects. An opposite example is the case of Chinese, whose variations such as MandarinThe status of language is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. Romansh came to be a written language, and therefore it is recognized as a language, even though it is very close to the Lombardic alpine dialects. An opposite example is the case of Chinese, whose variations such as Mandarin and Cantonese are often called dialects and not languages, despite their mutual unintelligibility, because the word for them in Mandarin, 方言 fāngyán, was mistranslated as "dialect" because it meant "regional speech“.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Southern
Southern English engages in r-dropping, that is, r's are not pronounced after vowels, unless followed by another vowel. Instead, vowels are lengthened or have an /'/ off-glide, so fire becomes /fai'/, far becomes /fa:/, and so on.
regular use of "broad a" (/a:/), where GA (General American) would use /æ/.
"long o" is pronounced /'u/, where GA uses /ou/.
final unstressed i is pronounced /i/, where GA uses /i:).
t between vowels retained as /t/ (or a glottal stop, in its variants), where GA changes it to /d/.
The English of well-bred Londoners, especially graduates of the public schools (e.g. Eton and Harrow) and "Oxbridge" universities, was the origin of "the Queen's English," also known as Received Pronunciation (RP), BBC, or "posh."

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Cockney
Originally the dialect of the working class of East End London.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Besides the accent, it includes a large number of slang words, including the famous rhyming slang:

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
have a butchers -- take a look [from butcher's hook = look]
north and south -- mouth
plates -- feet [from plates of meat = feet]
boat race -- face
skin and blister -- sister
trouble -- wife [from trouble and strife = wife]
dustbin lids -- kids / children
whistle -- suit [from whistle and flute = suit]
oily rag -- fag = cigarette
jam jar -- car
mince pies -- eyes
pen and ink -- stink
porkies -- lies [from pork pies = lies]
titfer -- hat [from tit for tat = hat]
apples and pears -- stairs
Jimmy -- urinate [from Jimmy Riddle = piddle]
Bertie Woofter -- gay man [from Bertie Woofter = poofter]
China -- mate / friend [from China plate = mate]
Khyber -- buttocks [from Khyber Pass = ass]
rabbit and pork -- talk
tea leaf -- thief
taters -- cold [from potato mold = cold]
dog and bone -- phone
loaf -- head [from loaf of bread = head]

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
initial h is dropped, so house becomes /aus/ (or even /a:s/).
/th/ and /dh/ become /f/ and /v/ respectively: think > /fingk/, brother > /brœv'/.
t between vowels becomes a glottal stop: water > /wo?i/.
diphthongs change, sometimes dramatically: time > /toim/, brave > /braiv/, etc.
brown bread -- dead
elbows and knees -- trees
gold watch -- Scotch
pride and joy -- boy
current bun -- Sun
dicky -- shirt [from dicky dirt = shirt]
pots and pans -- hands
jugs -- ears [from jugs of beers = ears]
ones and twos -- shoes
daisies -- boots [from daisy roots = boots]
bird -- prison [from bird lime = time, as in doing time]
(from Kryss Katsiavriades at http://www.krysstal.com/cockney.html)

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Estuary English
From London down the Thames and into Essex, Sussex, and even Kent, a new working and middle class dialect has evolved and is rapidly become "the" southern dialect. It combines some of the characteristics of Cockney with RP, but makes much less use of Cockney slang.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
East Anglian
This dialect is very similar to the Southern:
t between vowels usually becomes a glottal stop.
/ai/ becomes /oi/: time > /toim/.
RP yu becomes u: after n, t, d... as in American English.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
East Midlands
The dialect of the East Midlands, once filled with interesting variations from county to county, is now predominantly RP. R's are dropped, but h's are pronounced. The only signs that differentiate it from RP:
ou > u: (so go becomes /gu:/).
RP yu; becomes u: after n, t, d... as in American English.
The West Country
r's are not dropped.
initial s often becomes z (singer > zinger).
initial f often becomes v (finger > vinger).
vowels are lengthened.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
West Midlands
This is the dialect of Ozzie Osbourne! While pronunciation is not that different from RP, some of the vocabulary is:
are > am
am, are (with a continuous sense) > bin
is not > ay
are not > bay
Brummie is the version of West Midlands spoken in Birmingham.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Lancashire
This dialect, spoken north and east of Liverpool, has the southern habit of dropping r's. Other features:
/œ/ > /u/, as in luck (/luk/).
/ou/ > /oi/, as in hole (/hoil/)
Scouse is the very distinctive Liverpool accent, a version of the Lancashire dialect, that the Beatles made famous.
the tongue is drawn back.
/th/ and /dh/ > /t/ and /d/ respectively.
final k sounds like the Arabic q.
for is pronounced to rhyme with fur.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Yorkshire
The Yorkshire dialect is known for its sing-song quality, a little like Swedish, and retains its r's.
/œ/ > /u/, as in luck (/luk/).
the is reduced to t'.
initial h is dropped.
was > were.
still use thou (pronounced /tha/) and thee.
aught and naught (pronounced /aut/ or /out/ and /naut/ or /nout/) are used for anything and nothing.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Northern
The Northern dialect closely resembles the southern-most Scottish dialects. It retains many old Scandinavian words, such as bairn for child, and not only keeps its r's, but often rolls them. The most outstanding version is Geordie, the dialect of the Newcastle area.
-er > /æ/, so father > /fædhæ/.
/ou/ > /o:'/, so that boat sounds like each letter is pronounced.
talk > /ta:k/
work > /work/
book > /bu:k/
my > me
me > us
our > wor
you plural > youse

Wales
Welsh English is characterized by a sing-song quality and lightly rolled r's. It has been strongly influenced by the Welsh language, although it is increasingly influenced today by standard English, due to the large number of English people vacationing and retiring there.
THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Scotland
Scotland actually has more variation in dialects than England! The variations do have a few things in common, though, besides a large particularly Scottish vocabulary:
rolled r's.
"pure" vowels (/e:/ rather than /ei/, /o:/ rather than /ou/)
/u:/ is often fronted to /ö/ or /ü/, e.g. boot, good, muin (moon), poor...

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
There are several "layers" of Scottish English. Most people today speak standard English with little more than the changes just mentioned, plus a few particular words that they themselves view as normal English, such as to jag (to prick) and burn (brook). In rural areas, many older words and grammatical forms, as well as further phonetic variations, still survive, but are being rapidly replaced with more standard forms. But when a Scotsman (or woman) wants to show his pride in his heritage, he may resort to quite a few traditional variations in his speech. First, the phonetics:

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
/oi/, /ai/, and final /ei/ > /'i/, e.g. oil, wife, tide...
final /ai/ > /i/, e.g. ee (eye), dee (die), lee (lie)...
/ou/ > /e/, e.g. ake (oak), bate (boat), hame (home), stane (stone), gae (go)...
/au/ > /u/, e.g. about, house, cow, now... (often spelled oo or u)
/o/ > /a:/, e.g. saut (salt), law, aw (all)...
/ou/ > /a:/, e.g. auld (old), cauld (cold), snaw (snow)...
/æ/ > /a/, e.g. man, lad, sat...
also: pronounce the ch's and gh's that are silent in standard English: nicht, licht, loch...

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Plus, the grammar:
Present tense: often, all forms follow the third person singular (they wis, instead of they were).
Past tense (weak verbs): -it after plosives (big > biggit); -t after n, l, r, and all other unvoiced consonants (ken > kent); -ed after vowels and all other voiced consonants (luv > luved).
Past tense (strong verbs): come > cam, gang > gaed and many more.
On the other hand, many verbs that are strong in standard English are weak in Scottish English: sell > sellt, tell > tellt, mak > makkit, see > seed, etc.
Past participle is usually the same as the past (except for many strong verbs, as in standard English)
Present participle: -in (ken > kennin)
The negative of many auxiliary verbs is formed with -na: am > amna, hae (have) > hinna, dae (do) > dinna, can > canna, etc.
Irregular plurals: ee > een (eyes), shae > shuin (shoes), coo > kye (cows).
Common diminutives in -ie: lass > lassie, hoose > hoosie...
Common adjective ending: -lik (= -ish)
Demonstratives come in four pairs (singular/plural): this/thir, that/thae, thon/thon, yon/yon.
Relative pronouns: tha or at.
Interrogative pronouns: hoo, wha, whan, whase, whaur, whatna, whit.
Each or every is ilka; each one is ilk ane.
Numbers: ane, twa, three, fower, five, sax, seeven, aucht, nine, ten, aleeven, twal...

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
And finally, the many unique words: lass, bairn (child), kirk (church), big (build), bonny, greet (weep), ingle (household fire), aye (yes), hame (home)... As you can see, Scottish English in its original glory is as near to being different language as one can get, rather than simply another dialect of English. See Clive P L Young's Scots Haunbuik at http://www.electricscotland.com/tourist/sh_gram.htm for more detail.
There are also several urban dialects, particularly in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The thick dialect of the working class of Edinburgh can be heard in the movie Trainspotting.
In the Highlands, especially the Western Islands, English is often people's second language, the first being Scottish Gaelic. Highland English is pronounced in a lilting fashion with pure vowels. It is, actually, one of the prettiest varieties of English one may ever hear.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
English was imposed upon the Irish, but they have made it their own and have contributed some of our finest literature. Irish English is strongly influenced by Irish Gaelic:
r after vowels is retained
"pure" vowels (/e:/ rather than /ei/, /o:/ rather than /ou/)
/th/ and /dh/ > /t/ and /d/ respectively.

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
The sentence structure of Irish English often borrows from the Gaelic:
Use of be or do in place of usually:
I do write... (I usually write)
Use of after for the progressive perfect and pluperfect:
I was after getting married (I had just gotten married)
Use of progressive beyond what is possible in standard English:
I was thinking it was in the drawer
Use of the present or past for perfect and pluperfect:
She’s dead these ten years (she has been dead...)
Use of let you be and don’t be as the imperative:
Don’t be troubling yourself
Use of it is and it was at the beginning of a sentence:
it was John has the good looks in the family
Is it marrying her you want?

THE DIALECTS OF BRITISH ENGLISH
Substitute and for when or as:
It only struck me and you going out of the door
Substitute the infinitive verb for that or if:
Imagine such a thing to be seen here!
Drop if, that, or whether:
Tell me did you see them
Statements phrased as rhetorical questions:
Isn’t he the fine-looking fellow?
Extra uses of the definite article:
He was sick with the jaundice
Unusual use of prepositions:
Sure there’s no daylight in it at all now
As with the English of the Scottish Highlands, the English of the west coast of Ireland, where Gaelic is still spoken, is lilting, with pure vowels. It, too, is particularly pretty.

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH
Australian English is predominantly British English, and especially from the London area. R’s are dropped after vowels, but are often inserted between two words ending and beginning with vowels.
The vowels reflect a strong “Cockney” influence: The long a (/ei/) tends towards a long i (/ai/), so pay sounds like pie to an American ear. The long i (/ai/), in turn, tends towards oi, so cry sounds like croy. Ow sounds like it starts with a short a (/æ/). Other vowels are less dramatically shifted.
Even some rhyming slang has survived into Australlian English: Butcher’s means look (butcher’s hook); hit and miss means piss; loaf means head (loaf of bread); Noah’s ark means shark; Richard the third means turd, and so on.
Like American English has absorbed numerous American Indian words, Australian English has absorbed many Aboriginal words:
billibong -- watering hole
coolabah -- a type of tree
corroboree -- a ceremony
nulla-nulla -- a club
wallaby -- small kangaroo
wombat -- a small marsupial
woomera -- a weapon
wurley -- a simple shelter
...not to mention such ubiquitous words as kangaroo, boomerang, and koala!

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH
Aborigine and colonialist myths blended easily, and there are a number of fearsome creatures. For example, the bunyip lives near bilibongs and eats children. Also living in bilibongs is the mindi, a hairy snake. A yowie is the Australian version of Sasquatch. And the min-min light is their version of a will-o-the-wisp.
Many common words refer to the traditions of the bushman or bushie -- the early explorers and settlers of the outback (wilderness). You can find many of these in Australia’s national song, Waltzing Matilda.
billy -- tin pot for making tea
cooee -- call used in the outback
dingo -- native dog
jackeroo -- young station hand
joey -- young kangaroo
jumbuck -- sheep
matilda -- backpack
never-never -- the far outback
squatter -- rancher
station -- ranch
swagman -- bushman or tramp
tucker -- food

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH
Colorful expressions also abound:
Like a greasespot -- hot and sweaty
Like a stunned mullet -- in a daze
Like a dog’s breakfast -- a mess
Up a gumtree -- in trouble
Mad as a gumtree full of galahs -- insane
Happy as a bastard on Fathers’ Day -- very happy
Dry as a dead dingo’s donger -- very dry indeed

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH
Another characteristic of Australian English is abbreviated words, often ending in -y, -ie, or -o:
aussie -- Australian
chalky -- teacher
chewie -- chewing gum
chockie -- chocoloate
coldie -- a cold beer
cossie -- swimming costume (swimsuit)
footy -- football (Australian rules, of course)
frenchie -- condom
frostie -- a cold beer
garbo -- garbage man
lavvy -- lavatory

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH
lippie -- lipstick
lollies -- sweets
mossie -- mosquito
mushies -- mushrooms
oldies -- one’s parents
rellies -- one’s relatives
sammie -- sandwich
sickie -- sick day
smoko -- cigarette break
sunnies -- sunglasses
And, of course, there are those peculiarly Australian words and expressions, such as g’day (guhdoy to American ears), crikey, fair dinkum, no worries, Oz, Pavlova, and Vegemite!

NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand English is heard by Americans as "Ozzie Light." The characteristics of Australian English are there to some degree, but not as intensely. The effect for Americans is uncertainty as to whether the person is from England or Australia. One clue is that New Zealand English sound "flatter" (less modulated) than either Australian or British English and more like western American English.

SOUTH AFRICA
South African English is close to RP but often with a Dutch influence. English as spoken by Afrikaaners is more clearly influenced by Dutch pronunciation. Just like Australian and American English, there are numberous words adopted from the surrounding African languages, especially for native species of animals and plants. As spoken by black South Africans for whom it is not their first language, it often reflects the pronunciation of their Bantu languages, with purer vowels. Listen, for example, to Nelson Mandela or Bishop Tutu.

SOUTH AFRICA
Here are some examples:
i - as in bit is pronounced 'uh'
long /a:/ in words like 'past', 'dance'
t in middle of words pronounced as d's ('pretty' becomes '/pridi:/')
donga - ditch, from Xhosa
dagga - marijuana, from Xhoixhoi (?)
kak - bullshit, from Afrikaans
fundi - expert, from Xhosa and Zulu umfundi (student).

Dialects also varies slightly from east to west: In Natal (in western South Africa), /ai/ is pronounced /a:/, so that why is pronounced /wa:/.
On top of all this, the dialects of the ethnic group referred to in South Africa as "Coloured" (i.e. of mixed racial backgrounds) have a dialect quite distinct from the dialects of "white" South Africans.
Alan also suggests that South African has a "flatter" (less modulated) sound, similar to that of New Zealand as contrasted with Australian English

CANADA
Canadian English is generally similar to northern and western American English. The one outstanding characteristic is called Canadian rising:
/ai/ and /au/ become /œi/ and /œu/, respectively.
Americans can listen to the newscaster Peter Jennings -- one of the best voices on the telly! -- for these sounds.
One unusual characteristic found in much Canadian casual speech is the use of sentence final "eh?" even in declarative sentences.
Most Canadians retain r's after vowels, but in the Maritimes, they drop their r's, just like their New England neighbors to the south.
Newfoundland has a very different dialect, called Newfie, that seems to be strongly influenced by Irish immigrants:
/th/ and /dh/ > /t/ and /d/ respectively.
am, is, are > be's
I like, we like, etc. > I likes, we likes, etc.

American English
American English derives from 17th century British English. Virginia and Massachusetts, the “original” colonies, were settled mostly by people from the south of England, especially London. The mid Atlantic area -- Pennsylvania in particular -- was settled by people from the north and west of England and by the Scots-Irish (descendents of Scottish people who settled in Northern Ireland). These sources resulted in three dialect areas -- northern, southern, and midland. Over time, further dialects would develop.
The Boston area and the Richmond and Charleston areas maintained strong commercial -- and cultural -- ties to England, and looked to London for guidance as to what was “class” and what was not. So, as the London dialect of the upper classes changed, so did the dialects of the upper class Americans in these areas. For example, in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, r-dropping spread from London to much of southern England, and to places like Boston and Virginia. New Yorkers, who looked to Boston for the latest fashion trends, adopted it early, and in the south, it spread to wherever the plantation system was. On the other hand, in Pennsylvania, the Scots-Irish, and the Germans as well, kept their heavy r’s.

American English
On the other hand, vocabulary in America was much more open to change than back in the old country. From the Indians, we got the names for many North American animals and plants, and thousands of place names. Here is a partial list (from an exhaustive list compiled by Mark Rosenfelder (http://www.zompist.com/indianwd.html):
abalone -- Costanoan aulun
bayou -- Choctaw bayuk
caribou -- Algonquian
caucus -- Algonquian caucauasu 'counselor'
chipmunk -- Algonquian chitmunk
hickory -- Algonquian pawcohiccora
high muckamuck -- Chinook hiu muckamuck
hogan -- Navajo hogan
hominy -- Algonquian
how [greeting] -- Dakota háo, Omaha hau
moccasin -- Natick mohkussin

American English
moose -- Natick moos
mugwump -- Natick mugquomp 'captain'
muskrat -- Natick musquash + 'rat'
opossum -- Powhatan aposoum
papoose -- Algonquian papoos
pecan -- Algonquian paccan
persimmon -- Cree pasiminan 'dried fruit'
potlatch -- Nootka patshatl
powwow -- Algonquian
raccoon -- Algonquian arathkone
sachem -- Narraganset sâchim
sasquatch -- Halkomelem sesqec
skunk -- Massachuset squnck
sockeye [salmon] -- Salish sukkegh, or Northern Straits Salish seqey'
squash -- Massachuset asko:o:tasquash
squaw -- Massachuset squa
succotash -- Narraganset msíckquatash
tepee -- Dakota thipi
terrapin -- Algonquian *toolepeiwa
toboggan -- Micmac toba:kan
tomahawk -- Algonquian tamahaac
totem -- Ojibwa ninto:te:m
wampum -- Algonquian wampumpeage
wapiti -- Shawnee wapiti 'white rump'
wickiup -- Fox wikiyapi
wigwam -- Abnaki wikewam
woodchuck -- Algonquian otchek

American English
The slave trade brought many new words from the Caribbean:
barbecue -- Carib barbricot
caiman -- Carib acayuman
canoe -- Caribbean
cassava -- Taino caçábi
chigger -- Cariban chigo
guava -- Caribbean
hammock -- Taino
hurricane -- Carib huracan 'his one leg'
iguana -- Arawak iwana
maize -- Carib mahiz
mangrove -- Taino mangle
papaya -- Carib
pawpaw -- Carib (same source as papaya)
potato -- Taino batata
savannah -- Taino zabana
tobacco -- Arawak tzibatl

American English
From the Indians of Mexico, we adopted many other words, some through Spanish and others directly:
avocado -- Nahuatl ahuacatl
chile, chili -- Nahuatl chilli
chocolate -- Aztec xocolatl
cigar -- Maya sik'ar 'smoke'
cocoa, cacao -- Nahuatl cacahuatl
coyote -- Nahuatl cóyotl
guacamole -- Nahuatl ahuaca-molli 'avocado sauce'
mescal -- Nahuatl mexcalli
mesquite -- Nahuatl mizquitl
mole -- Nahuatl -molli 'sauce'
ocelot -- Nahuatl ocelotl
peyote -- Nahuatl peyotl
shack -- Nahuatl xacalli 'thatched cabin'
shark -- Maya xoc
tamale -- Nahuatl tamalli
tomato -- Nahuatl tomatl

American English
From slaves, we got another set of words, all the way from Africa:
goober -- Bantu -guba
gumbo -- Bantu -gombo 'okra'
okra -- Ashante nkru
yam -- Fulani nyami 'to eat'
Speaking of slaves, southern speech in particular was influenced by slave speech habits, which in turn were based in part on original African languages and in part on the creoles which spread from the African coast and the West Indies. When southerners say “I done lost it,” they are using a slave creole construction.

American English
More willing immigrants added to other dialects. The Germans and the Irish had a huge impact on the colonies and early states. The dialects of central Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and the Dakotas were strongly influenced by the Germans, while the city dialects of the north were influenced by the Irish.
New York City became the door to the United States in the 1800’s, and we see the impact of other immigrants, such as Jews and Italians: words such as spaghetti, pasta, pizza, nosh, schlemiel, yenta; expressions such as wattsamatta and I should live so long. The absence of the th sounds in the original Dutch of NYC, as well as in Italian and Yiddish and the English dialect of the Irish, led to the distinctive dese and dose of New York -- only now starting to diminish.

American English
There is also a western dialect, which developed in the late 1800’s. It is literally a blend of all the dialects, although it is most influenced by the northern midland dialect. Although there are certainly differences between the dialects of, say, Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Denver, they are far less distinct than, for example, the differences between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh!
Out west, there were also the influences of non-English speaking people, notably the original Spanish speaking populations and the immigrant Chinese (mostly Cantonese). Although they did not influence pronunciation or syntax, they provided a huge number of words. In the domain of food alone, we find tacos, tamales, frijoles, and burritos, chow mein, lo mein, fu yung, and chop suey. Many words from Mexico were actually already adopted from Mexican Indian languages: tomato and coyote spring to mind.

American English

American English
The dialects of the United States (with approximate areas):
Northern
Northern New England (Maine and New Hampshire)
Boston area (eastern Massachussets, Rhode Island)
Northeastern (Connecticut, western Massachusetts, Vermont, upstate New York, lower Michigan, northern Illinois)
New York City area (including most of Long Island and northern New Jersey)
North central (upper Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas)
Northern midland
Philadelphia area (inc. eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and the Baltimore area)
Pittsburgh area (western Pennsylvania)
Ohio-Plains (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas...)
Southern midland
Appalachia (western Virginia, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee)
Arkansas-Oklahoma
Southern
Virginia (eastern)
North Carolina (eastern)
South Carolina
Georgia-Florida
Mississippi-Gulf (including Alabama, Louisiana, eastern Texas, western Tennessee, western Kentucky)
West Texas
Western (Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California)

American English
Southern and south midland:
"drawl" [lengthening, fronting, and raising vowels]
/ai/ > /æ:/ in find, mind
/oi/ > /o/ in boil, oil
/u:/ > /yu:/ in due, tuesday
au/ > /æu/ in out, doubt
/e/ > /ei/ in bed, head
/e/ > /i/ in pen, ten
greasy > greazy
carry > tote
dragged > drug
you > you all, y’all
Southern:
help, bulb, wolf > /hep/, /bœb/, /wuf/
Southern vs south midland:
drop r’s -- strong, sometimes retroflex, r’s
wash: /wa:sh/ -- /wosh/, /worsh/
think: /thingk/ -- /theingk/
egg: /eg/ -- /eig/
moon: /mu:n/ -- /mü:n/
snake doctor -- snake feeder
snap beans -- green beans
goobers -- peanuts

American English
Northern vs north midland:
fog, hog: /fag/, /hag/ -- /fog/, /hog/
roof: /ruf/, /huf/ -- /ru:f/, /hu:f/
cow, house: /kau/, /haus/ -- /kæu/, /hæus/
wash: /wa:sh/ -- /wosh/, /worsh/
darning needle -- snake feeder
pail -- bucket
teeter-totter -- see-saw
fire-fly -- lightning-bug
Eastern New England, Boston area, NYC area
drop r’s
insert transitional r’s, as in law’r’n awdah
Eastern New England, Boston area, Virginia area
/æ/ frequently becomes /a/, e.g. in aunt, dance, glass
Mary-marry-merry (/eir/-/ær/-/er/) distinctions preserved only in r-less areas, rapidly disappearing from American speech

American English
NYC and north midland, and spreading rapidly
loss of voiceless w: which > /wic/
loss of voiceless y: human > /yum'n/
A simplified way of differentiating the dialects is based on the words for two American favorites: the submarine sandwich and the soft drink:
Submarine sandwich
New York: hero
Philadelphia: hoagy
Boston: grinder
Southern: poor-boy
Soft drink
Boston: tonic
Northern and North Midland, east of the Susquehanna: soda
Northern and North Midland, west of the Susquehanna: pop
South and South Midland: cold drink
(not to mention soda pop and soda water, and even coke in Rhode Island!)

American English
The old cities of the eastern US each have their own peculiarities. New York is famous for its addition of central off-glides: pier becomes /pi:'/, pair becomes /pe'/, poor becomes /po'/. The aw (/o/) sound is raised and has a central off-glide as well: ball and coffee approach /bu'l/ and /cu'fi:/! And her becomes /hö'/!

American English
I live in south-central Pennsylvania, which is a great location for hearing various eastern accents. There are actually five in Pennsylvania: In the northern tier, near upstate New York, the accent is Northern. In Pittsburgh and the surrounding area they say /stil/ and /mil/ instead of steel and meal. In the south, near West Virginia, you hear Appalachian, and people still say you’uns and refer to their grandparents as Mammaw and Pappy!. And, in the center of the state is what is called the Susquehanna accent, which is a variation on the Philadelphia area dialect, with a lot of German and Scots-Irish influences. And we can't forget the Philadelphia accent itself:
/i/ often becomes /i:/, as in attitude and gratitude
/i:g/ > /ig/, as in the Philadelphia Eagles, pronounced /ig'lz/
/eig/ > /eg/, so plague is prnounced /pleg/
/u:r/ > /or/, so sure sounds the same as shore
/aul/ > /al/, e.g. owl
/aur/ > /ar/, so our sounds like are
mayor > /meir/
/æ/ > /iæ/, so Ann sounds like Ian
very and ferry become /vœri:/ and /fœri:/
/st/ > /sht/ at the beginning of words, so street is /shtri:t/
l is always "dark," that is, pronounced in the back of the throat
(See Phillyspeak, by Jim Quinn, at http://www.citypaper.net/articles/081497/article008.shtml for more.)

American English
In the Lancaster area (part of the Susquehanna dialect), the Pennsylvania German influence is obvious in some of the words and sentence structure: We red up the room, outen the light, and throw the cow over the fence some hay. We say that the peanut butter is all, the road is slippy, and I read that wunst (once). A slide is a sliding board, sneakers are all Keds, vacuum cleaners are sweepers, little pieces are snibbles, and if you are looking a bit disheveled, you are furhuddled. And at any local restaurant, they will ask you: Can I get you coffee awhile?
Dialects typically vary in their status. In the colonial and revolutionary times, a Boston, New York, or Virginia accent marked you as a gentleman or lady. In the early part of the 1900’s, the accent of suburban New York was tops: Listen to the recordings of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for example. Unlike "General American" (the radio and television reporter’s accent), FDR dropped his r’s and drawled his vowels luxuriously.