From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The West Country Accent is the name generally given to the group of English accents used by the majority of people in the south west of England, popularly known as the West Country. This is the region centred on the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, parts of Gloucestershire and Dorset.
The characteristic features of the accent of the region include
- A slower, drawling manner of speech, with lengthened vowel sounds.
- The inital "s" is pronounced as "z".
- "r"s are pronounced far more prominently than in Standard English.
- In the Bristol area a terminal "a" is often followed by an intrusive "l". Hence the old joke about the three Bristolian sisters Evil, Idle and Normal.
- In some rural districts the second person singular thee and thou forms are occasionally retained, thee often constricted to ee.
