are there any English dialects?

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: wfbberzerker

Originally posted by: Aquaman
I had some japanese girls frrom Atlanta tell me that I had a very distinct accent (Canadian from Vancouver BC).

Cheers,
Aquaman

OMG PICS?!

Sorry I have no pics & they had boyfriends................ they like the "brothas"

Cheers,
Aquaman <<<<<<<<<< Asian

 

[burnedout]

Originally posted by: Haircut
There are hundreds of dialects in England alone, up until this generation when people started moving around the country more some people could tell which village you were from simply by your accent.

Yes, indeed there are. Some of the differences are subtle, while others are more pronounced. I've noted a number of dialectical differences among Southerners and New Englanders especially. While in the UK, I noted a number of differences with Brits too. Many Scots pronounce words much differently than Londoners. I've met people from both areas who were extremely difficult to understand without an untrained ear.

Another interesting aspect regarding various linguistic dialects was a study conducted in the 1980s by an American doctoral student in Germany He was workiing toward a Ph D in English Linguistics. At any rate, he located an area in the northwestern part of Germany near Oldenburg in which their respective dialect presented the most similarities with English.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

I'm not sure.. but Caribbean islands have their own patoises that may or may not be considered dialects. I mean we say things differently but when we write, it looks like what the English write. Listen to some music by Eek A Mouse and decide for yourself. Btw, I don't understand some Jamaicans any more than you Americans do, but Jamaican and Trinidadian accents are VERY similar. It depends on class too. I hate to say this, but my family was upper class in Trinidad thanks to the oil industry and I talked differently from alot of kids at school. What I'm saying is I'm the least qualified to distinguish between dialects and accents.

 

[Entity]

In simple terms for y'all, an accent is a subset of a dialect. A dialect is a variety of a particular language (sharing commonalities in grammar, structure, and word choices), which often includes a different accent. The word "accent" merely connotes differences in pronunciation. SAE (Standard American English, often known as "white coastal English") is one dialect; in America alone there are many: Ebonics, Southie, Boston Brahman...the list goes for quite a while.

Rob