Meaning of the word accent

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Accent may refer to:

Speech and language[edit]

• Accent (sociolinguistics), way of pronunciation particular to a speaker or group of speakers
• Accent (phonetics), prominence given to a particular syllable in a word, or a word in a phrase
  • Pitch accent, prominence signaled primarily by pitch
• Accent (poetry), placement of prominent syllables in scansion
• Diacritic, a mark added above, on top of, or below a letter
• Accent (fallacy), a logical fallacy related to reification

Music[edit]

• Accent (music), an emphasis placed on a note
• The Accents, American doo-wop group
• Ecclesiastical accent, the simplest style of plainchant

Computers[edit]

• Accent (programming language), an interpreted programming language
• Accent kernel, an operating system kernel

Other uses[edit]

• Aeros Accent, a paraglider
• Hyundai Accent, car produced by Hyundai Motor Company
• Accent lighting, light focused on a particular area or object
• Accent Records, a record label
• ACCENT Speakers Bureau, a student-run organization at the University of Florida
• Ac’cent, brand name for monosodium glutamate (MSG)

See also[edit]

• All pages with titles beginning with Accent
• All pages with titles containing Accent
• Accenture, company
• Accentor, a bird species
• Accentor-class minesweeper, ship
• Ascent (disambiguation)

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English accent, from Middle French accent, from Old French acent, from Latin accentus, past participle of accinō (“sing to, sing along”). The word accent had been borrowed into Old English already, but was lost and reborrowed in Middle English.

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation, Ireland) enPR: ăkʹsənt, IPA^(key): /ˈak.sənt/, /-sɛnt/
• (US, Canada, General Australian) enPR: ăkʹsĕnt, IPA^(key): /ˈæk.sɛnt/, (also Australian) /-sənt/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈɛk.sent/, /-sənt/
• Rhymes: -æksɛnt

Noun[edit]

accent (countable and uncountable, plural accents)

1. (linguistics) A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.

   Synonym: stress

   Hyponyms: stress, stress accent, pitch, pitch accent

   In the word «careful», the accent is placed on the first syllable.

2. (figuratively) Emphasis or importance in general.

   At this hotel, the accent is on luxury.

3. (orthography) A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked.

   The name Cézanne is written with an acute accent.

5. Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone.

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you in a plain accent was a plain knave; which for my part I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to ‘t.

   • 1696, Matthew Prior, «From Celia to Damon», in Poems on Several Occasions

     The tender Accent of a Woman’s Cry / Will pass unheard, will unregarded die;

   • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume I, chapter 15:

     And he repeated her words with such assurance of accent, such boastful pretence of amazement, that she could not help replying with quickness …

6. (linguistics, sociolinguistics) The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.

   a foreign accent

   a broad Irish accent

   a hint of a German accent

   1. (informal, sometimes proscribed) A manner of pronunciation suggesting that the speaker is from a different region; a foreign accent.

      My professor’s accent is so thick that it’s difficult to understand her lectures.

      She spoke with a strong accent that betrayed her southern roots.

      I was surprised to learn that he was an immigrant, as he spoke without any accent.

      • 2015 November 14, Adam Gopnik, quoting Célia, “Terror Strikes in Paris”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], archived from the original on 2022-12-19:

        They were all Middle Eastern types but spoke French without any accent.

      • 2016 June 8, Tyler Mears, “I used to hide my Valleys accent in case people thought I was less intelligent — which was completely stupid”, in WalesOnline‎^[2], archived from the original on 2023-01-10:

        Growing up in the Rhondda and having a strong accent was never a problem for me and my voice never really stood out from the crowd.

      • 2018 January 24, Lakshine Sathiyanathan, Lisa Xing, quoting Mariya Miloshevych, “Why some people try to chip away at their accent”, in CBC News‎^[3], archived from the original on 2022-12-09:

        It’s really hard to get in an audition room when you have an accent. Rather than being treated as the other people, you are falling into a category of foreigners who can’t really maintain the role.

      • 2020 December 30, Christi Carras, quoting Rishi Maharaj, “’Schitt’s Creek’ star Rizwan Manji defends his character’s Indian accent”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[4], archived from the original on 2022-12-09:

        Why go to the effort of writing in a character with an Indian name played by an Indian actor whose main personality trait is that he is stupid and has an accent?

      • 2022 March 22, Elise Hu, Jinae West, Jordana Hochman, Andrea Gutierrez, “Rejecting assimilation in ‘You Sound Like a White Girl’”, in NPR‎^[5], archived from the original on 2022-12-09:

        But over the years, even after perfecting «accent-less» English, graduating from college, getting a job at Goldman Sachs, and becoming an American citizen, Arce still felt like she didn’t belong.

   2. (sign languages) A distinctive manner of producing a sign language, such as someone who does not normally use a certain sign language might have when using it.

      • 2008, Jeremy Linn Brunson, The Practice and Organization of Sign Language, page 76:

        I believe I still retain some of my hearing accent when I use American Sign Language.

      • 2015 November 5, Nina Porzucki, The World‎^[6], archived from the original on 2022-12-07:

        Cheesesteaks, Peanut Chews, Tastykakes, oh yeah, the Liberty Bell — there’s so much to love about Philadelphia, but one of the best things about the city of Brotherly Love is the accent. We’re not talking about spoken English — we’re talking about American Sign Language.

7. A word; a significant tone or sound.
8. (usually plural only) Expressions in general; speech.

   • 1697, Virgil, “Pastoral 3”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear, / Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear.

9. (prosody, poetry) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.
10. (music) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure.
11. (music) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure.
12. (music) A mark used to represent this special emphasis.
13. (music) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period.
14. (mathematics) A prime symbol.
15. Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings.

    accent color

16. A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery.
17. (archaic) Utterance.

Usage notes[edit]

The word «accent» is often used specifically to refer to manners of speech that differ significantly from the local standard or one’s personal speech.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

• circumflex

References[edit]

• “Accent, sb.” on pages 50–51 of § 1 (A) of volume I (A–B, ed. James Augustus Henry Murray?, 1888) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1st ed.)
• “accent, n.” in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989)

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle French accenter, from Old French accenter, from Latin accentō, from accentus.

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ăk-sĕntʹ, IPA^(key): /ækˈsɛnt/
• (US) enPR: ăk-sĕntʹ, ăkʹsĕnt, IPA^(key): /ækˈsɛnt/, /ˈæk.sɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt, -æksɛnt

Verb[edit]

accent (third-person singular simple present accents, present participle accenting, simple past and past participle accented)

1. (transitive) To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent.
2. (transitive) To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent.
3. (transitive) To mark with written accents.

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

• “Accent, v.” on page 51/3 of § 1 (A) of volume I (A–B, ed. James Augustus Henry Murray?, 1888) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1st ed.)
• “accent, v.” in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989)

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin accentus.

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /əkˈsent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /əkˈsen/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /akˈsent/

Noun[edit]

accent m (plural accents)

1. accent

Derived terms[edit]

[edit]

• accentuar

Further reading[edit]

• “accent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “accent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From French accent, from Latin accentus, a calque of Ancient Greek προσῳδία (prosōidía, “prosody, accent”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): [ɑɡ̊ˈsɑŋ]

Noun[edit]

accent c (singular definite accenten, plural indefinite accenter)

1. accent (a voice influenced by dialect or another language)
2. accent (a mark on a letter (like grave or acute))

Inflection[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Latin accentus, a calque of Ancient Greek προσῳδία (prosōidía, “prosody, accent”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): [ɑɡ̊ˈsɛnˀd̥]

Noun[edit]

accent c (singular definite accenten, plural indefinite accenter)

1. (linguistics) accent (stress or a pitch in articulation)
2. accent (emphasis)
3. accent (a mark on a letter (like grave or acute))

Inflection[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Dutch accent, ultimately from Latin accentus.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ɑkˈsɛnt/
• Hyphenation: ac‧cent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun[edit]

accent n (plural accenten, diminutive accentje n)

1. (linguistics) accent (distinctive pronunciation of a language; phonetic and phonological aspects of a lect)
2. A notably deviant or disprivileged pronunciation of a language.
3. (linguistics) accent (contrasting articulation to express emphasis)
4. (orthography) accent (symbol to indicate spoken accent or the nature of a vowel)

   Synonym: accentteken

5. (music) accent (stress or emphasis)
6. (music) A mark that indicates musical accent.

   Synonym: accentteken

Derived terms[edit]

• accentteken

[edit]

• accentueren
• nadrukteken

Descendants[edit]

• Afrikaans: aksent
• → Indonesian: aksen
• → Papiamentu: aksènt

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French accent, from Old French acent, borrowed from Latin accentus (“accent, tone, accentuation”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ak.sɑ̃/

Noun[edit]

accent m (plural accents)

1. accent, manner or tone of speech

   Elle parle anglais avec un fort accent français. ― She speaks English with a strong French accent.

   Aux États-Unis, son accent français ne manque jamais d’attirer l’attention des femmes.

   In the United States, his French accent never fails to attract women’s attention.

2. (linguistics) an accent symbol

   Hyponyms: accent aigu, accent circonflexe, accent grave

3. (linguistics) accent, stress
4. (music) strain, section
5. emphasis, focus

   L’accent est mis sur les quantités plutôt que sur les qualités. ― Emphasis is placed on the quantities rather than the qualities.

Derived terms[edit]

• mettre l’accent sur

Descendants[edit]

• → Norwegian Bokmål: accent
• → Turkish: aksan

Further reading[edit]

• “accent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Norman[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French acent, from Latin accentus, from ad + cantus (“song”).

Noun[edit]

accent m (plural accents)

1. (linguistics) accent, stress

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French accent (“accent, manner or tone of speech”), from Middle French accent, from Old French acent, from Latin accentus (“accent, tone, accentuation”), past participle of accinō (“sing to, sing along”), from both ad- (“to”), from ad (“to, towards”), from Proto-Italic *ad (“toward, to, on, up to, for”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“to, at”) + and from canō (“I sing, recite, play”), from Proto-Italic *kanō (“to sing”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n- (“to sing”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /akˈsaŋ/
• Rhymes: -aŋ
• Hyphenation: ac‧cent
• Homophone: aksent

Noun[edit]

accent

1. Alternative spelling of aksent (“accent”)
2. Only used in accent aigu (“acute accent”)
3. Only used in accent circonflexe (“circumflex”)
4. Only used in accent grave (“grave accent”)

References[edit]

• “accent” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin accentus.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑk.kent/

Noun[edit]

accent m

1. accent
2. diacritic

Declension[edit]

References[edit]

• John R. Clark Hall (1916), “accent”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan
• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898), “accent”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pali[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Adjective[edit]

accent

1. present active participle of acceti

Declension[edit]

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French accent.

Noun[edit]

accent n (plural accente)

1. emphasis
2. accent

Declension[edit]

Scots[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /a(k)ˈsɛnt/

Noun[edit]

accent (plural accents)

1. accent

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Ultimately from Latin accentus.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /akːˈsɛnːt/, /akːˈsaŋː/

Noun[edit]

accent c

1. an accent, an emphasis, a stress (in articulation)
2. an accent, a mark on a letter (grave or acute)
3. an accent, a voice influenced by dialect or another language

Declension[edit]

Declension of accent
	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	accent	accenten	accenter	accenterna
Genitive	accents	accentens	accenters	accenternas

Полезное

Word	ACCENT
Character	6
Hyphenation	ac cent ac cent
Pronunciations	/ˈak.sənt/

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What do we mean by accent?

The relative prominence of a particular syllable of a word by greater intensity or by variation or modulation of pitch or tone. noun

Vocal prominence or emphasis given to a particular syllable, word, or phrase. noun

A characteristic pronunciation, especially. noun

One determined by the regional or social background of the speaker. noun

One determined by the phonetic habits of the speaker’s native language carried over to his or her use of another language. noun

A mark or symbol used in the printing and writing of certain languages to indicate the vocal quality to be given to a particular letter. noun

A mark or symbol used in printing and writing to indicate the stressed syllables of a spoken word. noun

Rhythmically significant stress in a line of verse. noun

Emphasis or prominence given to a note or chord, as by an increase in volume or extended duration. noun

A mark representing this. noun

A mark used as a superscript to distinguish among variables represented by the same symbol. noun

A mark used as a superscript to indicate the first derivative of a variable. noun

A mark or one of several marks used as a superscript to indicate a unit, such as feet (′) and inches (″) in linear measurement. noun

A distinctive feature or quality, such as a feature that accentuates, contrasts with, or complements a decorative style. noun

Something that accentuates or contrasts something else, as a touch of color that makes the features of an image stand out. noun

Particular importance or interest; emphasis: synonym: emphasis. noun

To stress or emphasize the pronunciation of. transitive verb

A higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.

Emphasis or importance in general.

A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked.

Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone.

The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.

(sign languages) A distinctive manner of producing a sign language, such as someone who does not normally use a certain sign language might have when using it.

A word; a significant tone or sound.

(usually plurale tantum) Expressions in general; speech.

Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.

A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure.

A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure.

The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period.

The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage.

A mark used to represent specific stress on a note.

A mark placed at the right hand of a letter, and a little above it, to distinguish magnitudes of a similar kind expressed by the same letter, but differing in value, as y’, y».

A mark at the right hand of a number, indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc., as in 12′ 27», meaning twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds.

A mark used to denote feet and inches, as in 6′ 10», meaning six feet ten inches.

Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings.

A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery.

A distinctive feature or quality.

Utterance.

Accent is a combination of three main components: intonation (speech music), liaisons (word
connections), and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations).
Accents are influenced by a people’s geographical region of origin, their age, social background and education, and whether they have moved away from their home area. Nowadays it may also be influenced by external factors such radio or television. Amongst speakers of English as an additional language accent is often influenced by the pronunciation and intonation patterns of the first language.
Contrary to popular belief, grammar and accent are completely different, unrelated terms. Part of the difference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured— the letter of the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free form, intuitive, and creative— more the spirit of the language. Urban Dictionary

What you and people who talk like you swear you don’t have, but eeeeeverybody else does have. Urban Dictionary

Similar to racism or sexism, it is discriminating based on someone having an accent, usually a particular accent. Urban Dictionary

One of the features that make an Irishman sexy, among many others. Urban Dictionary

Like getting cat fished but its a grill with an accent. You cant understand doo doo fam. Urban Dictionary

When you pronounce words funny because you’ve never actually heard them out loud before, you just read a lot of books Urban Dictionary

An airport accent is best defined as an accent that is hard to place. A person with an airport accent may pronounce some words with a British accent, while other words may be spoken with an American, Australian or any other accent you care to think of.
The reasons behind this may be as a result of having parents from different countries from the one the person was brought up in. Or it could be as a result of having lived in a variety of different places as a child, or a combination of the two. Either way the person may well have spent much of his life in airports, flying between the different countries. Urban Dictionary

The tendency to speak with an accent while commenting or cheering during a soccer game. This accent usually resembles a British one, but it is usually not intentional. Urban Dictionary

The manner of speech from someone from the American South. The intonation, word connection, and pronunciation are combined in a distinctive way. Urban Dictionary

If you hev a rushain accent, zen you would be tocking like zis Urban Dictionary

Britannica Dictionary definition of ACCENT

Britannica Dictionary definition of ACCENT

[+ object]

What Is The Meaning Of Accent?

The meaning of the term accent is it is a distinctive way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular country, area, or social class. The term accent can also be explained as a distinct emphasis given to a syllable or word in speech by stress or pitch. The other words which can be replaced by the term accent are stress, emphasis, diction, pronunciation, speech, diction, inflection, etc. The term accent is derived from the Latin word “accentus”. In Sociolinguistics, an accent is also a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location or a nation.

An accent can be recognized with the location in which its speakers reside, the socioeconomic rank of its speakers, their background, their caste or social class, or impact from their first language. Accents differ in various ways such as in the quality of voice, pronunciation, and distinction of vowels and consonants, stress, and prosody. The word “accent” specifically refers to the differences in pronunciation of a particular word or sentence. Whenever a group defines a standard pronunciation, speakers who deviate from it are often said to “speak with an accent”. For example, people from the United States would “speak with an accent” from the point of view of an Australian, and vice versa.

Click here – What Is The Meaning Of Ace? Find Out Meaning Of Ace.

Examples Of Using The Word Accent Are:

1. He’d heard my accent and marked there was no point giving me the time of day.
2. While he often raved against the race, Byron was a Scot at heart and kept a strong Aberdonian accent throughout his life.
3. Of course, in her Neverland they bleach your teeth so white they glow and Madonna coaches you on your powerful British accent.
4. With an Eastern European accent, he talked Arabic, and I noticed his disguise Army pants were a Russian motif.
5. Here we look an au naturel Moore, bra-less in faded rock T-shirts and vowel-mangling California accent.
6. I struck up a discussion with a man in his fifties or sixties who had a Brooklyn accent.
7. But the people from Valley Stream had such a broad New York accent that was all around me.
8. If a fan has a Spanish or Japanese accent, George will switch languages to help them.
9. Irregularity to those rules is designated by an acute accent mark over the vowel of the stressed affricate.
10. A European charm of manner and a modest Scandinavian accent finished his front, no one could have appeared less like a lush-roller.
11. That’s quite an attainment, I think, for someone inside the M25 to travel north, especially someone with such a plumy accent.

FAQ

What Is The Full Meaning Of Accent?

the way in which people in a particular area or country pronounce words: She spoke with a slight southern accent. An accent is also a mark written or printed over a letter to show how to pronounce it.

What Is Accent And Example?

[count] : a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a particular region or country. Regional accents are common in the U.S. She spoke with an American/English accent. The tourist had a foreign accent. He has a heavy/thick southern accent.

What Is An Accent In English Words?

An accent is a stress or emphasis on a particular part of something, usually a word. Pronounce the word “doofus” with the accent on the first syllable: DOO-fuss. Accent comes from the Latin accentus, which means “the intonation of singing.” We use accent for different kinds of emphasis in speech.

What Does Accent Mean In Speaking?

When we speak a second language, we tend to do so with an accent. An accent is a change of the sounds of the second language, often the result of the influence of the first language. For example, an English speaker might produce French with English “r” sounds.

Click here – What Is The Meaning Of Acacia? Find Out Meaning Of Acacia.

The term accent has various meanings, but in speaking, an accent is an identifiable style of pronunciation, often varying regionally or even socioeconomically.

It can be contrasted with a person’s dialect, which includes regional vocabulary. «Standard English has nothing to do with pronunciation,» wrote Peter Trudgill («Dialects.» Routledge, 2004). «In fact, most people who speak Standard English do so with some sort of regional pronunciation, so that you can tell where they come from much more by their accent than by their grammar or vocabulary.»

George Mason University holds a speech accent archive, where people have been recorded reading the same English passage, for linguists to study, for example, what makes accents distinct from one another. 

More on Dialects Versus Accents

«A dialect is a verbal departure from standard language. Dialects are characteristic of a particular group of speakers and have their own charm as well. ‘Y’all’ in the South, ‘Yah’ in Minnesota, ‘Eh?’ in Canada. The regional dialects of Brooklyn, the rural South, New England, and Appalachia, not to mention the greater contributions of Canada and Britain, and those of various ethnic cultures, have certainly enriched the English language. An accent is a particular way of pronouncing a language. ‘Warsh’ for wash in Cajun Louisiana, ‘New Yawk’ for New York among native New Yorkers, ‘aboot’ for about in Canada. The appeal of dialects and accents comes from our appreciation of their musical intonations, imaginative word choices, and emotive speech rhythms.»

(James Thomas, «Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers.» Focal Press, 2009)

Regional and Social Accents

Accents are not just regional but sometimes contain information about a person’s ethnicity, such as in the case of nonnative English speakers; education; or economic status.

«Within each national variety [of English] the standard dialect is relatively homogeneous in grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation. Pronunciation is a different matter, since there is no equivalent standard accent (type of pronunciation). For each national variety, there are regional accents, related to geographical area, and social accents, related to the educational, socio-economic, and ethnic backgrounds of the speakers.»

(Tom McArthur, «The English Languages.» Cambridge University Press, 1998)

Phonetic and Phonological Differences

Even though pronunciation differs, meanings of the same words often remain the same, such as around North America or between Britain and Australia. 

«Differences between accents are of two main sorts: phonetic and phonological. When two accents differ from each other only phonetically, we find the same set of phonemes in both accents, but some or all of the phonemes are realised differently. There may also be differences in stress and intonation, but not such as would cause a change in meaning. As an example of phonetic differences at the segmental level, it is said that Australian English has the same set of phonemes and phonemic contrasts as BBC pronunciation, yet Australian pronunciation is so different from that accent that it is easily recognized.
«Many accents of English also differ noticeably in intonations without the difference being such as would cause a difference in meaning; some Welsh accents, for example, have a tendency for unstressed ​syllables to be higher in pitch than stressed syllables. Such a difference is, again, a phonetic one…
«Phonological differences are of various types…Within the area of segmental phonology the most obvious type of difference is where one accent has a different number of phonemes (and hence of phonemic contrasts) from another.»
(Peter Roach, «English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course,» 4th ed. Cambridge University Press, 2009)

Why So Many British Accents?

Though Britain is a relatively small place, English spoken there can sound quite different from one end of the country to another.

«There are more accents per square mile in Britain than in any other part of the English-speaking world.
«This is because of the hugely diverse history of English in the British Isles, with the originally Germanic dialects of Europe mixing with the Norse accents of the Vikings, the French accents of the Normans, and wave after wave of immigration from the Middle Ages down to the present day.
«But it’s also because of the rise of ‘mixed’ accents, as people move house around the country and pick up features of the accent wherever they find themselves.»
(David Crystal and Ben Crystal, «Revealed: Why the Brummie Accent Is Loved Everywhere but Britain.» «Daily Mail,» October 3, 2014)

The Lighter Side

«I sometimes wonder if Americans aren’t fooled by our [British] accent into detecting brilliance that may not really be there.»
(Stephen Fry)
«You know, Fez, unfortunately there are some people in this world that are going to judge you on the color of your skin or your funny accent or that girly little way you run. But you know what? You’re not alone. Why do you think the Martians won’t land here? Because they’re green, and they know people are going to make fun of them!»
(Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso in «Bring It on Home.» «That 70s Show,» 2003)
«[Yankees] are pretty much like Southerners—except with worse manners, of course, and terrible accents.»
(Margaret Mitchell, «Gone With the Wind,» 1936)