Welsh-English accent

The Cardiff accent

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 Received Pronunciation

Cardiff English

ɑ: æ Cardiff ['kɑːdɪf] Kahdiff ['kæːdɪf]

ɒ ɑ hot [hɒt] aht [ɑt]

ɑː a(ː) bath [bɑːθ] baath [baːθ]

ɪ iː happy ['hæpɪ] apee ['apiː]

eə ɛː square ['skweə] squehh ['skwɛː]

ɔː ʌː thought [θɔːt] thuhht [θʌːt]

ɜː øː nurse [nɜːs] nuus [nøːs]

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 <t> or <ts> cluster is sometimes realised as /s/• It's dead realised as iss-ded [ɪs 'dɛd]• He gets chips as he gess chips [hiːgɛs tʃɪps]