2.1 British English

English - the official language of the UK, it knows and it said the vast majority of Britons , but in the northern and central parts of Wales a quarter of the population speaks Welsh or Welsh (Welsh), in the west of Scotland a small part of the population speaks Scotland (Scottish) or Gaelic language , and in Northern Ireland also speak the Irish language (Irish or Erse). Ireland is divided into two parts. Six counties of Ireland are part of the UK under the name Northern Ireland (The Northern Ireland). And in the Republic of Ireland - Irish (Erse) is the official language of the country. In the Highlands (Highlands) and the Western or Hebrides (Western Isles) can still hear the ancient Scottish language - Gaelic (Gaelic). In the north- western district of Scotland longer dominated Gaelic language and Gaelic culture . The ethnic composition of the UK : British - 81.5% , the Scots - 9.6% , Irish - 2.4% , Welsh ( Welsh ) - 1.9 %, other nationalities - 4.6%.

English is spoken in each of the four parts of the UK ( England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales ) , has its own differences. English is spoken by the Scots , Welsh ( Welsh ) , Irish, differs slightly in pronunciation and word usage of the English language in England.

The main difference between speech Scot - very strong, rumbling sound [r], sometimes sounding and where it is not pronounced the residents of southern England . In addition, Scottish, Welsh , Irish use in speech many regional words and expressions. In order to convey particular speech Scot in the literature are often used such words and phrases as aye instead of yes, wee instead of little, I dinna ken instead I don't know, mon instead of man, laddie instead boy, lassie instead girl, bairns instead of children, ye instead of you. Dialectal speech Scot may be obscure and an Englishman - a resident of the southern part of England.

It differs Welsh and Irish rhythmic and melodic intonation , so , for example, declarative sentence may be perceived as an Irishman interrogative Englishman . Features speech transmitted Welsh words and phrases such as boyo instead of man, look you instead do you see, there is cold it is in place it is cold. This Irishman marked by expressions such as begorra instead by god, would you be after wanting for instead and do you want to repeat the last phrase , for example , at all, at all.

The emphasis is very important in the UK. It shows where the person comes from , and to a very considerable extent to which class he belongs. In any country except the United Kingdom , it is impossible with such certainty the person's social position in society, should he open his mouth. That , in what dialect says people in the UK , determines its place in society , perhaps more severely than in other countries ( Koptelova , 2000:32 ) .

In the UK, relationship to regional and social peculiarities of speech, dialect and accent to the speech associated with certain preconceived attitudes , for example, between the north and south of the UK. Standard English and RP ( considered to be the standard form of pronunciation, is typical of many educated people in any part of the UK and the majority of residents in the south of England ) were formed on the basis of the southern dialect , dialect of London and its environs, first capital of the country and its cultural center. " Everything that belongs to the north of the country , some of the" southerners " considered less sophisticated, cultured, sophisticated , and people who speak with an accent northerners , are seen as less educated " ( Matyushenkov , 2002:214 ) . The stronger emphasis , the more prejudice against a person who speaks with the accent, especially if the accent is so strong, " thick " , "strong " ( Antrushina , 1999:234 ) , it is difficult to understand that not only foreigners, but the Briton , speaking in standard English .

In the UK, many regional dialects. Own dialect is not only in every county in the UK , but also in many major cities . It is believed that regional dialects are disappearing , but if rural dialects UK really die , then on urban dialects says more and more people , they can often be heard on the radio and on the TV screen . The most pronounced and easily recognizable urban dialects : it London dialects (especially Cockney - a dialect of the eastern part of the city), Liverpudlian dialect , the dialect Georgie north-east of England , which is spoken in Newcastle upon Tyne , Birmingham dialect spoken in Birmingham, dubbed Brummie.

In the north of the UK - approximately along the line from Manchester to Hala - regional dialects are most pronounced . Thanks to the famous song of the musical group " The Beatles' Liverpool accent (Scouse) became known outside the British Isles . This dialect can be found on clear pronounceable (flat) vowel sounds , the nose ( nasal ) consonant sounds and " plaintive " intonation ( Arakin , 2001:305 ) . Georgie dialect differs vague , indistinct pronunciation, for example, instead of what a sound worra, but instead got a sound gorra.

These inhabitants southwest Britain (West Country), especially the counties of Cornwall, Devon , Somerset and Dorset , different pronunciation velar sound [r], pronounced burr and voicing the sound [s], replacing it with the sound [z] Somerset pronounce Zummerset. Sound [Λ] is pronounced as [u], and the word club, discussion, plug sound like [klub], [dis'ku ∫ n], [plug]. The region is characterized by dialect grammatical forms , for example : I be instead I am, her says to we instead she said to us.

Regional dialects hierarchically arranged in descending order according to the degree of admissibility : the most acceptable Yorkshire dialect speech residents southwest of Britain , especially Cornwall, Devon , Somerset, and the dialect of Newcastle (Georgie). Least acceptable social dialects of the working class five industrial cities in the UK - London ( cockney ) , Liverpool ( skauz ) , Birmingham ( Brumm ) , a dialect of Glasgow and Belfast. And today, people who speak these dialects with their inherent characteristics, perceived as manual workers ( Ilish , 1971:163 ) .