This text celebrates the rich variety of regional and social dialects of English in all its forms, ancient and modern.

In this new, revised and extended edition, Trudgill includes phonetic symbols along with the orthographic representations of speech sounds. Zummerzet and Scouse, Cockney and Cumberland, Brummie and Berkshire, Nottingham, Norfolk and Estuary English are all covered.

English dialects are the result of 1500 years of linguistic and cultural development. Written in non-technical language, this book outlines their history and their geography. It describes and delights in the diversity of vocabulary, accent, grammar and literature to be found among the dialects of England.