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West Country dialects


West Country English refers collectively to the English language varieties and accents used by much of the native population of South West England, the area popularly known as the West Country.

The West Country is often defined as encompassing the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, the City of Bristol and Gloucestershire; even Herefordshire and Worcestershire are sometimes also included. However, the northern and eastern boundaries of the area are hard to define. In adjacent counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Oxfordshire it is possible to encounter similar accents and, indeed, much the same distinct dialect but with some similarities to others in neighbouring regions; a speaker from the Isle of Wight for instance could hold an understandable conversation with a speaker from Devon without too many problems. Although natives of such locations, especially in rural parts, can still have West Country influences in their speech, the increased mobility and urbanisation of the population have meant that in Berkshire, Hampshire (including the Isle of Wight), and Oxfordshire the dialect itself, as opposed to various local accents, is becoming increasingly rare.

Academically the regional variations are considered to be dialectal forms. The Survey of English Dialects captured manners of speech across the South West region that were just as different from Standard English as anything from the far North of England. There is some influence from the Welsh and Cornish languages depending on the specific location.


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