Welsh English Accent Wenglish refers to the

Welsh English Accent

Wenglish refers to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and grammar, there is a variety of accents found across Wales from the Cardiff dialect to that of the South Wales Valleys and to West Wales.

Pronunciation Short monophthongs The vowel of cat /æ/ is pronounced as a more central nearopen front unrounded vowel [æ ]. In Cardiff, bag is pronounced with a long vowel [a: ]. In North Powys, a pronunciation resembling its New Zealand South African analogue is sometimes heard, i. e. trap is pronounced /trɛp/ • The vowel of end /ɛ/ is a more open vowel and thus closer to cardinal vowel [ɜ] than R. P. • The vowel of "kit" /ɪ/ often sounds closer to the schwa sound of above, an advanced close-mid central unrounded vowel [ɘ ] • The vowel of hot /ɒ/ is raised towards /ɔ/ and can thus be transcribed as [ɒ ] or [ɔ ] •

• The vowel of hot /ɒ/ is raised towards /ɔ/ and can thus be transcribed as [ɒ ] or [ɔ ] • The vowel of "bus" /ʌ/ is pronounced as [ɜ], which is a shortened version of the vowel in R. P. bird and is encountered as a hypercorrection in northern areas for foot. It is sometimes manifested in border areas of north and mid Wales as an open front unrounded vowel /a/ or as a near-close near-back vowel /ʊ/ in northeast Wales, under influence of Cheshire and Merseyside accents. • The schwa tends to be supplanted by an /ɛ/ in final closed syllables, e. g. brightest /’bɾəi. tɛst/. The uncertainty over which vowel to use often leads to 'hypercorrections' involving the schwa, e. g. programme is often pronounced /’pro: ɡ. rəm/

Long monophthongs • The vowel of car is often pronounced as a more central open back unrounded vowel [ɑ ] and more often as a long open front unrounded vowel /a: / • In broader varieties, particularly in Cardiff, the vowel of bird is similar to South African and New Zealand, i. e. a lowered close -mid front rounded vowel [ø ] • Most other long monophthongs are similar to that of Received Pronunciation, but words with the RP /əʊ/ are sometimes pronounced as [o: ] and the RP /eɪ/ as [e: ]. An example that illustrates this tendency is the Abercrave pronunciation of play -place [‘pleɪp, le: s] • In northern varieties, coat and caught/court are often merged into /kɔ: t/ • In Rhymney, the diphthong of there is monophthongised [ɛ: ]

Diphthongs • Fronting diphthongs tend to resemble Received Pronunciation, apart from the vowel of bite that has a more centralised onset [æ ɪ] • Backing diphthongs are more varied: – The vowel of low in R. P. , other than being rendered as a monophthong, like described above, is often pronounced as [oʊ ] – The word town is pronounced similarly to the New Zealand pronunciation of tone, i. e. with a near-open central onset [ɐʊ ] – The /ju: / of R. P. in the word due is usually pronounced as a true diphthong [ëʊ ]

Consonants • • • A strong tendency (shared with Scottish English and some South African accents) towards using an alveolar tap [ɾ] (a 'tapped r') in place of an approximant [ɹ] (the r used in most accents in England). Some gemination between vowels is often encountered, e. g. money is pronounced [‘mɜ. n: i: ] In northern varieties influenced by Welsh, pens and pence merge into /pɛns/ and chin and gin into /dʒɪn/ In the north-east, under influence of such accents as Scouse, -ng coalescence does not take place, so sing is pronounced /sɪŋɡ/ Also in northern accents, /l/ is frequently strongly velarised [ɫ: ]. In much of the south-east, clear and dark L alternate much like they do in R. P. Rhoticity is largely uncommon, apart from some speakers in Port Talbot who supplant the front vowel of bird with /ɚ/, like in many varieties of North American English and accents influenced by Welsh

The Cardiff accent

The Cardiff accent and dialect, also known as Cardiff English is the regional accent of English, and a variety of Welsh English, as spoken in and around the city of Cardiff, and is somewhat distinctive in Wales, compared to other Welsh accents. Its pitch is described as somewhat lower than that of received pronunciation, whereas its intonation is closer to dialects of England rather than Wales. It is estimated that around 500, 000 people speak Cardiff English.

Influences • The formation of the modern Cardiff accent has had an Irish influence, similar to the influence of the Liverpool accent. • According to a BBC study, the Cardiff accent, as well as Liverpool and East London accent, are in the process of changing due to the modern influence of immigration on youth, primarily of Arabic and Hindi influence.

Pronunciation Cardiff English shares many of the same phonetic traits as the English spoken in the northern areas of England, but differs in being non-rhotic.

Vowels Received Pronunciation Cardiff English ɑ: æ Cardiff ['kɑ: dɪf] Kahdiff ['kæːdɪf] ɒ ɑ hot [hɒt] aht [ɑt] ɑ: a(ː) bath [bɑ: θ] baath [baːθ] i i: happy ['hæpɪ] apee ['api: ] eə ɛː square ['skweə] squehh ['skwɛː] ɔ: ʌ: thought [θɔ: t] thuhht [θʌ: t] ɜ: Ø: nurse [nɜ: s] nuus [nø: s]

Consonants • ing [ɪŋ] realised as -in [ɪn] e. g: • singing ['sɪŋɪŋ] as singin ['sɪŋɪn] • <ð> is often omitted • that [ðat] as at [at] • The final or cluster is sometimes realised as /s/ • It's dead realised as iss-ded [ɪs 'dɛd] • He gets chips as he gess chips [hiːgɛs tʃɪps]

The authors: • • Liliya Gimaeva Irina Bogolubova Elvira Haziyeva Mary Moskvina