英音一向都被认为是高贵优雅的象征，在国内，我们经常听到不少人说要学英式口音。

美国某网站曾经就做过一项民意调查---你们心中最性感的男性口音是什么？一共有1423名美国女性参与调查，20%的人都把票投给了英音。

▲截屏自独立报

那么，今天就由必益学辅的教学院长Liam给大家科普一下“性感的”英音都有哪些吧！

|以下译文以第一口吻叙述，文中的“我”即Liam Phillips。|

我在中国工作三年多了，教过很多不同年龄段的孩子英语，听到过不少学生说他们想要学习“英式口音”，这往往令我们不知所措，因为不是所有英国人都说着一样的英式口音。

在中国，不同省份或城市都有自己的地方方言，大家说普通话的口音也有着大不同，其实在我们英国也是一样。我想大多数人口中的英式口音应该是指RP口音（Received Pronunciation），也就是女王英腔，通常被认为是标准英语。

▲截屏自女王演讲

也有人受影视剧影响，认为英式英语应是《唐顿庄园》Downton Abbey 里那般优雅的口音或能让人耳朵怀孕的卷福（Benedict Cumberbatch）英音。

▲影视剧照

然而，你如果真的去了英国，你可能会非常惊讶，因为大多数英国人的讲话方式并不是你在电视剧里看到的那样，尤其是在伦敦和东南部地区。

但总体上来说，不管来自哪个地区，我们的英语和美国朋友的英语区分点都是一致的，比如我们对"z"的发音为"zed"，美国人念的却是"zee"；我们想吃薯片crisps，美国人却管它叫chips，我们的chips（薯条）在美国又被叫做fries；我们的长裤是trousers，短裤是pants，美国人不管裤子长短都叫pants。

▲Youtube截屏

虽然英国有30多种不同的口音和方言，但通常我们都可以通过观察英国人的说话方式来猜测他/她的身份，也就是你们中国人所谓的籍贯。

下面我来给大家读一段福尔摩斯，你们可以来猜猜我是哪里人。（文末留言）

接下来我就用具体的例子，让你们看看我大英帝国语言的多样性吧~

Cockney

伦敦东区口音

Cockney是除RP之外的第二知名的英式口音，被大家称为伦敦腔，最先起源于住在伦敦东区的一些人，后来成为伦敦商人和黑车司机的方言，因电影《玛丽·波宾丝》 Mary Poppins 而受到大家的喜爱。

▲影视剧照

Cockney 的一个主要发音特点就是用 f 替代原本的 th 音/θ/，当你听到别人说"fanks very much"的时候，说话者很有可能来自伦敦东区。

Cockney 的典型代表之一当属英国知名歌手Adel Adkins了，她曾因在格莱美颁奖典礼上说"fank you"走红网络。

▲2012年格莱美颁奖典礼

Cockney还包含独特的押韵语，例如"porky pie"（说谎）或"duck and dive"（隐藏）。

Brummie

伯明翰口音

很多人会把Brummie和周边地区的方言搞混，但如果你去伯明翰，你就会听到当地人说的Brummie方言。

▲大提提David Tennant模仿伯明翰口音

与其他大多数方言不同，Brummie的每个句子末尾都是用的降调。音调降低了，听上去就会很单调。

早前Brummie被票选为英国所有方言中最不受欢迎的语言，后来随着一些知名剧集如《浴血黑帮》Peaky Blinders 的热播，大家才对伯明翰口音的印象也有所改观。

Yorkshire

约克郡口音

约克郡是英国最大的郡之一，英格兰北部很多人都说着约克郡方言。

约克郡方言起源于古英语，文学巨匠如艾米莉·勃朗特（Emily Bront）和查尔斯·狄更斯（Charles Dickens）的经典著作中也经常能看到这种语言。

读者们会发现，在广阔的约克郡，他们喜欢用"ye"、"thee"和"thou"来代替"you"。

约克郡方言的特征之一便是说话者通常会将定冠词 "the"的发音简短为"t"的一半。

长元音" ee"会被被"eh"取代，比如"nasty"（令人讨厌的）用约克郡方言说就是"nasteh"， "right"（正确）是"reet"，意思也变了，表示非常。

在约克郡方言中，"owt"表示"something"一些事情，而"nowt"表示"nothing"没有什么事情。

Scottish

苏格兰口音

苏格兰英语在英国各地有所不同，想要完全解释清楚，几句话是不够的，等我之后有空写一篇文章专门介绍吧。

▲爱丁堡是苏格兰的首府

通常情况下，苏格兰人说话会吞音，所以有时候听起来好像在中间被切断了。比如，他们会用"cot"代替"caught”，用"nee"代替"not"。

想象苏格兰人跟你说" didn't do anything in Edinburgh"（在爱丁堡什么也没做），听着其实像" didnee do anythin'in Ednbrah"。

Northern Irish

北爱尔兰口音

可能我一说到北爱尔兰口音，很多人想到的第一件事就是，北爱尔兰人说话喜欢省字母。

▲北爱尔兰演员Michelle Fairley

我们就拿北爱尔兰这个词来举例，"Northern Irish"的发音更像是"Nor'n Ir'sh"。和苏格兰语一样，"aye"表示"yes"（是），"wee"就是"small"（小）的意思。

北爱尔兰人还有一个很常用的词"craic"，在不同的句子中可以表示不同的意思。它可能表示"news"（新闻），如"what’s the crack?"，但也可能表示"fun"（有趣的），如"I like Tom; he's good craic"。

Scouse

利物浦口音

Scouse（利物浦口音）以很难懂而出名，被广大网友称为是英语里的温州话，一般也就只有利物浦当地人会说。

英国知名的摇滚乐队The Beatles成员都是利物浦人士，他们说的也都是利物浦口音的英语。

▲The Beatles

Scouse具有很多鼻音，在某种程度上，辅音"t"的发音更像是字母"r"。比如，"not a"到了利物浦人的口中就成了"norra"。

除了上面我说的这些，我们还有Geordie纽卡斯尔口音、Lancashire兰开夏郡口音、East Anglia东英格利口音等等，因此想要 送孩子去英国留学，家长们就该提早为之做好准备。

必益学辅设有专门的针对英式英语教学的课程，时长为2小时，旨在帮助中国孩子探索英语的方方面面，让他们为与英国本地人互动做好充分的准备。

想学习纯正的英式口音？点击下方小卡片，即可联系我们哦！

向上滑动

可阅读Liam的原文分享

Many students of English say they want to learn how to speak with a ‘British accent,’ which often bemuses us Brits. The main reason being there is no such thing as a single British accent!

What people usually mean is they want to speak received pronunciation English (RP) or ‘the Queen’s English’ (think Benedict Cumberbatch or Downton Abbey).

This is often considered ‘standard’ English, especially by people outside the UK, but this leaves many people surprised when they visit as it is not actually how the majority of people speak – especially outside of London and the Southeast.

The UK is made up of over 30 different accents and dialects. Just like China, you are often able to guess where someone is from based on how they are speaking.

When taken as a whole, these dialects and accents all share some common differences with our American friends (Z – zed and zee, crisps vs chips, pants vs trousers…) However, even within the UK there are vast regional differences which are often unintelligible to a native speaker from a different area.

Here are just a few examples of why there is no such thing as the ‘British accent’…

▍Cockney

The Cockney dialect originates from London’s East End and became synonymous with the dialect of London’s traders and black cab drivers. After received pronunciation it is the second best-known dialect, popularised by films such as Mary Poppins. People who speak Cockney have glottal stops and commonly replace ‘th’ with an ‘f’. Cockney also contains distinct rhyming slang, such as ‘porky pie’ which means ‘lie’ or ‘duck and dive’ meaning ‘hide’.

▍Brummie

Heading to the midlands, if you come from Birmingham, you’ll speak the Brummie dialect. Often confused with the accents of neighbouring areas, Brummie has previously been voted the least popular of all UK dialects, although negative stereotypes have changed thanks to popular TV shows such as Peaky Blinders.

Unlike most other regional dialects, Brummie has a downward intonation at the end of each sentence. This means that the voice lowers in pitch and can sound monotonous, only hitting one low note.

▍Yorkshire

Lots of people in northern England speak with a variation of the Yorkshire dialect, coming from one of the largest counties in the UK. The Yorkshire dialect has its roots in Old English and can also be found in literary classics by the likes of Emily Bront and Charles Dickens.

One key feature is a lack of the definite article ‘the,’ commonly reduced to a half pronounced ‘t’. Long ‘ee’ sounds, in words such as ‘nasty’, are replaced with an ‘eh’ sound, like ‘nasteh’. ‘Right’ is reet, meaning ‘very’, ‘owt’ means something, whereas ‘nowt’ means nothing. And that is only just a small selection of differences…

▍Scottish

The Scottish dialect varies across the country, which would need an entire separate article to explain. Generally, Scots roll their ‘r’s regularly and collapse their words so that they sound like they have been cut off in the middle. For instance, ‘cot’ instead of ‘caught’ and ‘nee’ instead of ‘not’. So instead of saying you ‘didn’t do anything in Edinburgh’, it sounds more like ‘didnee do anythin’ in Ednbrah.’

▍Northern Irish

The first thing you’ll probably notice about Northern Irish is how many letters seem to be missing from words when people speak it. For example, ‘Northern Irish’ would be pronounced more like ‘Nor’n Ir’sh’ Just like the Scots, ‘aye’ means ‘yes’ and ‘wee’ means ‘small.’

Another commonly used word, ‘craic,’ can mean different things. It can mean ‘news’, as in ‘what’s the crack?’ but it can also mean fun, as in ‘I like Tom; he’s good craic’.

▍Scouse

Liverpudlians, such as the Beatles, speak Scouse – another famous dialect that can be tricky to understand. It is only found in Liverpool and its name is linked to the city’s history, taken from a stew popular with sailors and those who worked down at the docks. Scouse has lots of nasal sounds, to the extent that the consonant ‘t’ is pronounced more like the letter ‘r’. For example, ‘not a’ becomes ‘norra.’

▍Geordie

Geordie refers to the people and dialect of Newcastle, one of the oldest still spoken in the UK! Consequently, it is also one of the hardest to understand. Despite this, it is often ranked as the UK’s friendliest accent, a popular choice for the complaints departments in call centres it has been found to calm people down. In Newcastle, ‘canny’, pronounced ‘CAH-ne’ means good, nice, or true. ‘Doon’ means down and ‘gan’ means to go, for example ‘We’re gan doon the road.’

So how can you overcome this difficulty and prepare for the onslaught of different accents?

BE have a specially designed two- hour British English class that explores the many facets of the language and help students prepare to interact with native speakers in the UK.

If you are interested in finding out more about why the UK has multiple British accents, just come to BE!