UK Accent Tour: R sounds, Glottal Stops, TH sounds & more
An exploration of how UK accents differ and how to understand speakers from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Get a free pronunciation lesson in my course: improveyouraccent.co.uk/engli...
Watch my other UK accent tour videos:
Accent Tour 2 (how vowels vary): • UK Accent Tour: How Vo...
Accent Tour 3 (Liverpool, Scotland & more): • UK Accent Tour: Liverp...
00:00 - Intro
01:04 - Rhoticity
05:44 - H-Dropping
09:44 - Glottal Stops
12:27 - TH Sounds
14:27 - NG Sound
16:12 - Conclusion
Disclaimers
1. Some topics have been simplified for a general audience. For example, I talk about rhotic and non-rhotic speech, but in reality some speakers will have variable rhoticity, or different patterning.
2. People living in a particular place will not always sound the same. Not everyone from a certain area will have the same accent feature (or the feature to the same degree) as those in the video. Accents vary according to factors such as socioeconomic background, age and ethnicity (among others).
3. I have not shown all the accents in the UK.
4. There are other consonant differences between accents in the UK that I haven't talked about in the video.
5. Of course, I take full responsibility for any errors! If you spot anything that should be corrected, please email me and I shall add it here.
Thanks
Many thanks to friends, family and UCL SCEP teachers who gave valuable feedback on the video before its release.
Links
Instagram: / improveyouraccent
Twitter: / improveaccent
Facebook: / improveyouraccent
Free pronunciation learning resources: www.ImproveYourAccent.co.uk/L...
Songs in the video
1. Rhoticity: "I am a Cider Drinker" by The Wurzels
2. H-Dropping: "Parklife" by Blur
3. Glottal Stops: "Bonkers" by Dizzee Rascal
4. TH Sounds: "Faith" by George Michael
5. NG Sound: "This is the Life" by Amy MacDonald
6. Ending: "God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols
Maps
University of Cambridge rhoticity map: www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/c...
NG map adapted from p.26 here: www.research.manchester.ac.uk...
Speakers in the video
The listed origin of each speaker is the place (or the nearest biggest place/county) they were born in or grew up in.
Intro
James McAvoy (Glasgow)
Adele (London)
Jamie Dornan (County Down)
Rhoticity
Billy Connolly (Glasgow)
Katie Leung (Motherwell)
Jamie Dornan (County Down)
Arlene Foster (County Fermanagh)
Stephen Merchant (Bristol)
Jayde Adams (Bristol)
Anthony McPartlin (Newcastle Upon Tyne)
Meera Syal (Staffordshire)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (London)
Rob Brydon (Port Talbot)
Alexandra Roach (Carmarthenshire)
RP
Prince Charles (London)
H-Dropping
Naomie Harris (London)
Eddie Redmayne (London)
Nicola Sturgeon (North Ayrshire)
Ewan McGregor (Perth)
Christine Lampard (County Down)
Colin Morgan (Armagh)
Si King (Tyne and Wear)
Jason Manford (Greater Manchester)
Michael Griffiths (Liverpool)
Josh Navidi (Bridgend)
Hayley Pearce (Bridgend)
Josie Gibson (Bristol)
Ian Holloway (Bristol)
Danny Dyer (London)
Daniel Kaluuya (London)
Harry Redknapp (London)
Riz Ahmed (London)
Glottal Stops
Andy Murray (Dunblane)
Ranvir Singh (Preston)
Colin Jackson (Cardiff)
Diane Abbott (London)
Prince Harry (London)
Prince William (London)
Ed Sheeran (Suffolk)
Adele (London)
Ruth Jones (Bridgend)
Jess Phillips (Birmingham)
Louis Tomlinson (Doncaster)
James McAvoy (Glasgow)
KT Tunstall (St Andrews)
TH Sounds
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (London)
Lenny Henry (West Midlands)
Lewis Capaldi (Glasgow)
Nathan Henry (County Durham)
Sam Warburton (Cardiff)
Josie Gibson (Bristol)
Plan B (London)
Dizzee Rascal (London)
Stormzy (London)
NG Sound
Esther Freud (London)
Hannah Fry (Essex)
Corinne Bailey Rae (Leeds)
Rebecca Ferguson (Liverpool)
Jodie Comer (Liverpool)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Mel C (Merseyside)
Gary Neville (Greater Manchester)
Robbie Williams (Staffordshire)
For more information on the video and a list of the speakers, click "show more" in the video description 😊
This guy is an expert. You should have 1 million subs.
exactly... this is top notch material
Yeah! He is absolutely amazing
I live in an h-dropping area called Italy.
I do also live in an h-dropping area called Spain (At least the Madrid accent) 😂😂
@@javiermaldonadodelrio7582 don't think so, having the sound of «j» is not that hard to pronounce the «h» in English
I am from an h-dropping country called LA FRANCE... 😉
@@knownothing5518 la Franceeeuh...
Eeeeeyyyyyyyy
As an American, I got stationed in the UK from 93 to 96. When I got there, I thought I needed a translator. In time, I got used to the accent and slang. A buddy of mine had a cousin that lived in Cheshire near Warrington. We used to travel up there on many occasions. We crawled the pubs of Warrington & Liverpool. Good times! Later, I was back home in the States going to University. After a few drinks, I was putting on a Scouse accent and sai I was from Liverpool. I was quite pissed, so I doubt they believed me.
This is a rare hidden gem... As someone who has been learning English since my childhood and know a bit about RP, i have learned quite a lot from this video...
It only scratches the surface though. And I mean the UK alone.
@@partialintegral i know what u mean🙂 tip of the iceberg eh?!! i rarely find videos that give importance to phonetics and this is one of them... I have always found British English tougher than American... Just my personal opinion...
@@tinaadass143 As to me, Am.E. seems to be rather rough, screaming, too flashy, vulgar, I'd say. Whilst B.Eng. sounds much more noble, a sort of smooth and pleasant to hear.
@@jun94mi13 to each his own... Although u are correct... Bt i would prefer American English any day over British English bcz of the accent and also dialect...
@@tinaadass143 So it is. I agree with you. Even more our n languages spund
Non-native speaker nightmare: H-dropping+Glottal stops+F and V instead of TH all combined in same sentence...AAAAAAAA
XDD
sounds like cockney
Definitely h-dropping is the worst 😖
@@cripki7558 TH fronting is the worst.
You'd be-er be fankful dat such an example wiv all dese features didn't show up in dis video.
As an English speaker even I'm not always observant to such nuances, but when articulated so clearly it appears so obvious. This guy is definitely in the right profession.
Always thought that the h-dropping and glottal stops were a social class thing - like working class and that upper class high society people looked a bit down on that kind of speaking. But now I know, it’s a common thing throughout the country. Thank You 👍
I'm really astonished. Never knew anything about glottal stops when growing up in Australia in the 60ies and 70ies. Not even my friends, migrants from the UK, ever dropped the h or spoke with the glottal stop. And no, I have no Aussie accent!
It sure was. The thing today is that cockney-ish speech has become hip and fashionable.
@@herrbonk3635 So it seems to me as well when I hear some royals speak on TV. Really funny.
That's why I love these accents
Mee too..
As Syrian i really want to thank you from the button of my heart because your channel is so useful and I'll make sure to check it out later I have exam now pray for me Love you all💙
How was Syria?
@@didid3ksa sucks dude Thanks for asking btw
How interesting! I have learned quite a few things I was not aware of. And I have been studying English for ages!...
Glad you liked it 😊
@Benedetto Bruno. Please, as a student of 'English for ages', don't start sentences with conjunctions.
@@elrjames7799 There are things far worse than starting sentences with conjunctions. In my opinion the most intolerable thing in English is the uptalk. Hopefullly Neuroscience will soon find a cure for the increasing number of native Anglophones becoming unable to complete a bloody sentence unless they uptalk. The irritating sods!
@@benedettobruno1669 Well: I can easily and uncritically accept most 'faux pas' in the English language (as one probably aught in view of colloquial Americanism in anything other than academic usage), unless the perpetrator is setting themselves up as an authority in their commentary, in which case they need a 'slap' to expose their weakness and reduce them to a defensive emotional response, rather than a rational one. In that vein, I'm at a loss to grasp what you mean by 'uptalk': are there such people as 'native Anglophones' and why irritating?
I lived in the south of England back in 1983. I always had dreamt go back I will be delighted to practise E Britsh English
The h was pronounced in Latin and those who dropped it were heavily criticised. Just for the sake of interest.
Well the French in Quebec, we don't drop it , we just can't pronounce it for some reason
@@kathyfugere6085 The h-dropping isn't terribly surprising given that h is generally a silent and even an "h aspiré" in French is very subtle compared to a fully sounded English h. It is a linguistically alien sound, like TH's, English R's and some of the vowel sounds are. It isn't that we can't full aspirate an h when thinking about it consciously but rather that it doesn't come naturally without a lot of immersion or practice and it gets dropped out of sheer linguistic habit. The occasional adding of a distinct h sound to words that don't start in h but rather with a vowel is the bit that confuses me (and most of my family with thicker accents tend to do it now and then). Fun fact: one of the most horrible words to master in French or English, for a speaker of the other language, is horror/horreur. The h, the R's and the incompatible vowel sounds... as my friend Julie used to say, "J'ai horreur de horror!"
Very clearly presented. Good stuff!
Thank you so much! I've been searching for a video like this for ages now! I'm looking forward to the next ones!
Great Job brother , can't wait for the second part , thank you
great job! very clear and informative. Thank you!
I particularly enjoyed that in every example of h-dropping, the speakers were virtually incomprehensible, even when it was slowed down.
I am not the only one how think like that :)
This is awesome mate, thank you so much !!!!
That was an amazing experience, great job
H-dropping is by far the pronounciation feature that creates most of the difficulty in understanding native speakers, in my opinion.
What a marvellous video!! Thanks a lot👏👏👏
Amazingly great video. Thanks you so much!
Brilliant! Looking forward to Parts 2 & 3 :)
Welcome Back! I've been waiting for your new upload.
thank you man for every effort you put in this videos, all resources are amazing
No words to say, except brilliant. Cheers.
Fantastic explanation with examples and map. Just great. Keep it up! Made many thing clearer for me.
This video is what I am looking for a long time! It is what I need. Thank you VERY much!
It is brilliant explanation! Kudos!!!
I’m born and bred English so idk why I’m watching this 😂 but my mum wasn’t born here and she would always get angry with me if I dropped my h’s or did glottal stops haha
I do understand your mother 😂
I want to learn british accent
Ok.Haha ha ha ha 🤭😄🤦🤣😂😆💆💆💆 I'm think so.....
@@violin9759 there are so many different accents in Great Britain, so which of them would you prefer?
@@jun94mi13 i don't know. You?
Amazing!!!! Waiting for part 2 and part 3!!!!🙂🙂🙂 Many thanks!!!
You've got such an interesting channel. Congratulations for your job.
Great video. So much knowledge condensed in 17 minutes.
This video is perfect! Finally someone explain this well. Thank you very much !
I'm looking forward to your next video. Thank you so much
Thank you for this video. It is super helpful 👍 I wish there were videos like this when I was a university student.
Nice video! Very helpful exemples and your explanation is so good to understand. Thank you very much!
I love you. You are such a brilliant teacher
Ocean thankssss... I've got new one to keep in mind
*Simply excellent video.*
I came accross this video few minutes ago, I felt that it is useful:) Thank you sir!
What an amazing work you've done! Can't imagine how much time you spent on it. Thanks a million.
Brilliant. Well researched.
YOU'RE BACK!
I just want to thank you, this kind of videos are amazing, phonetic is the hardest part for me, but besides you're a great teacher.
This is a remarkable video, sir.Thanks a lot.You are an amazing trainer.When will you upload your second and third video.Waiting eagerly.
This is one of the few channels where I hit the button subscribe before the Like one. Congrats!
I'm looking forward to Part 2 and Part 3
I appreciate it for your lesson, sir.
This is very helpful and interesting!
Awesome content ❤
Wow! Thank you so much for this great video! ❤️
I love it this video! I’m from Brazil and I am trying improve my english with a little touch of British accent, and your videos were amazing and was exactly what I needed! Thank you!
This channel is so instructive. I dont speak (and write) english very well and i want to improve my speaking and writing skills. I am glad to discover this channel:)
Wow that's interesting and helpful, thanks!
Thanks! This is just what I need 😃
I'm waiting the other 2 parts ❤️🔥🔥
Wonderful video, thanks!
The best video I've about british pronunciation/accents. Looking forward to the next ones!
As highlighted in the video, R sounds used to be more prominent in England. In the US most pronounce their Rs except some on the east coast, most notably Boston and New York. In the 19th century, Americans in these cities also pronounced their Rs, until they became influenced by the changing accents of England in the early 20th century.
It has just become my favorite UK English YT channel 😄
What a great video of yours. Congrats.
Very important lessons..!! Thank you very much!!🤗👨⚖️
Please, great English teacher, please, release new videos, as many as you can. You are really excellent.
I'm Egyptian student living in the UK and i was a bit surprised how I found your video quite identical to the daily spoken English here, you are really a legend
Love it - shall be sending it to friends. Thanks Luke!
Thanks for sharing 😊
I love British accent but I didn't know there were so many different Thanks I learn a lot today 👌
Just like in the United States. Different state, different accent. But, i find British accent to be the coolest accent in the world. British shows helps improved my listening skills.
Can't wait for part 2. I wanna see how you explain the pronunciation of down and night in Scotland or the word pub in Manchester. You forgot to mention the ts sound instead of t in Scouse accents, but I guess that's just limited to that area. Brilliant job!
The perfect channel I found but not enough videos from which I can learn
I'm looking forward to the next episode:)
His video is really great! He must have made a lot of effort to find out resources as well as pausing them to find out the difference. Thank you so much, this helps me a lot.
great video. It helped me a lot to understand the pronunciation of some words by people in manchetser
I have so much important stuff I should be doing, but this video helped me successfully procrastinate for 17 minutes. Thanks!
Please make more videos I have to listen to you to improve my southern british accent and you are the only one who talk this facinated accent Mr. Luke I mean my words and thank you🤓🌼
Thanks. I learned a lot.
The gist of my understanding after watching this video lesson is that people in different regions in the UK sound differently. It is amazing. Thanks for the sharing.
Wow, really great video!
Last year my goal was understanding the accents from UK. At my work I must speak with people who come from the different parts of the UK. This video is a good summary and repetition what I learned. Thank you. The next video in my playlist is “why Germans sound german”. I’ve subscribed your channel and I’m looking forward to many useful videos.
Making a Video like this really need a lot of time and expertise skills, respect!
This is the video I needed long time ago. Had suffered so much with it being a foreigner who only understood RP and american in the uk
So, so interesting! and useful! I'm Japanese, (American) English speaker, a big fan of England and Scotland. Thank you very much for your video😍
Im an actor and this helps me greatly with my dialect studies of UK regional accents, thank you!
It was so helpful. Thank youuu👍👍
Great to hear 😊
Good to see, that certain features of different accents, that i had already been aware of, don´t come consistently. The fact, that they mix, not only from one area to another but even within regions or in the speech of a single person makes me hopeful, that my germanness could be hidden for a while. I´ve always been confused because i use different features from time to time.
Trully helpful!!😍
Hats off... I subscribed.
Loved this video.
Please upload your remaining two videos concerning pronunciation of consonants and vowels .Thanks.
Very educative video!
You are amazing! I wish I learnt it 20 years ago.
Excellent! Thanks for sharing.... I can understand them a little better!
It's great & helpful 👍👍👍
11:55 this is too much :D These videos are absolute top tier quality anyway
Thank you so much for this video! I always enjoy your videos, but this one was especially interesting. I was also glad to hear more about the accent diversity, especially that some people drop the h sound, as a French person I feel less guilty about my accent mistakes ;) Looking forward to the next parts!
You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it 😊
Great..i hope you will do much more videos please
He sounds like the voiceover artist in a Hollywood celebrity news. so lovely!
Love it. And the soundtrack too 😃
Very very useful lesson. Thanks. I like your accent, anyway. The best in my opinion :-)
Great video! A big plus for great rethorics and limited body language!
how well explained!