The English language spoken and written in England encompasses a diverse range of accents and dialects.
In his work on the dialect of Bolton, Graham Shorrocks wrote: I have personally known those who would avoid, or could never enjoy, a conversation with a stranger, because they were literally too ashamed to open their mouths.
It has been drummed into people—often in school, and certainly in society at large—that dialect speech is incorrect, impure, vulgar, clumsy, ugly, careless, shoddy, ignorant, and altogether inferior.
There are also many cases where a large city has a very different accent from the rural area around it (e.g. Bristol and Avon, Hull and the East Riding, Liverpool and Lancashire).
The traditional picture was that there would be a few changes in lexicon and pronunciation every couple of miles, but that there would be no sharp borders between completely different ways of speaking.
Because of greater social mobility and the teaching of "Standard English" in secondary schools, this model is no longer very accurate.
[18][19] Some local call centres have stated that they were attracted to Bradford because it has a regional accent that is relatively easy to understand.
[20][better source needed] Nevertheless, working in the opposite direction, concentrations of migration may cause a town or area to develop its own accent.
Liverpool's dialect is influenced heavily by Irish and Welsh, and it sounds completely different from the surrounding areas of Lancashire.
The Voices 2006 survey found that the various ethnic minorities that have settled in large populations in parts of Britain develop their own specific dialects.
In the late 20th and 21st century other social changes, such as middle class RP-speakers forming an increasing component of rural communities, have accentuated the spread of RP.
The South East coast accents traditionally have several features in common with the West Country; for example, rhoticity and the a: sound in words such as bath, cast, etc.
In the nearby counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, it was possible to encounter comparable accents and, indeed, distinct local dialects until perhaps the 1960s.
Although natives of such locations, especially in western parts, can still have West Country influences in their speech, the increased mobility and urbanisation of the population have meant that local Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight dialects (as opposed to accents) are today essentially extinct.
The "present historical" is named after the speech of the region, but it is often used in many working class dialects in the south of England too.
Set in Haworth, the servant Joseph speaks in the traditional dialect of the area, which many modern readers struggle to understand.
[32] The old dialect is now mainly encountered in Skipton, Otley, Settle and other similar places where older farmers from deep in the dales live.
The shows of Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement have often included a variety of regional accents, the most notable being Auf Wiedersehen Pet about Geordie men in Germany.
Eccleston used his own Salford accent in the role; the Doctor's usual response is "Lots of planets have a North!"
Other accents in the same series include Cockney (used by actress Billie Piper) and Estuary (used by actress Catherine Tate and David Tennant's Tenth Doctor) A television reality programme Rock School was set in Suffolk in its second series, providing lots of examples of the Suffolk dialect.