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List of dialects of English

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
6 min read
Source updated August 26, 2026

Dialects are linguistic varieties that may differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, and other aspects of grammar. For the classification of varieties of the language, English, in pronunciation only, see regional accents of English.

Dialects can be defined as "sub-forms of languages which are, in general, mutually comprehensible." English speakers from different countries and regions use a variety of accents (systems of pronunciation), and local words and grammatical constructions, and from these factors various dialects can be differentiated. Dialects can be classified at broad or narrow levels: within a broad national or regional dialect, localised sub-dialects can be identified. The combination of differences in pronunciation and use of local words may make some English dialects almost unintelligible to speakers from other regions without any prior exposure.

The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into three general categories: the British Isles dialects, those of North America, and those of Australasia. Dialects can be associated not only with place but also with particular social groups. Within a given English-speaking country, there is a form of the language considered to be Standard English: the Standard Englishes of different countries differ and can themselves be considered dialects. Standard English is often associated with the more educated layers of society as well as more formal registers.

Standard British and Standard American English are the reference norms for English as spoken, written, and taught in the rest of the world, excluding countries in which English is spoken natively such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore and Ireland. In many former British Empire countries in which English is not spoken natively, British English forms are closely followed, alongside numerous American English usages that have become widespread throughout the English-speaking world. Conversely, a number of countries with historical ties to the United States tend to follow American English conventions. Many of these countries, while retaining strong British English or American English influences, have developed their own unique dialects, which include Indian English and Philippine English.

Chief among other native English dialects are Canadian English and Australian English, which rank third and fourth in the number of native speakers. For the most part, Canadian English, while featuring numerous British forms, alongside indigenous Canadianisms, shares vocabulary, phonology and syntax with American English, which leads many to recognise North American English as an organic grouping of dialects. Australian English, likewise, shares many British English usages, alongside plentiful features unique to Australia, and retains a significantly higher degree of distinctiveness from both larger varieties than does Canadian English. South African English, New Zealand English and Irish English are also distinctive and rank fifth, sixth, and seventh in the number of native speakers.

01Europe

English language in Europe

Great Britain

England

English language in England:

Scotland

Wales

Non-geographic based English

British dependencies and territories

Ireland

Continental Europe

European interlanguages

Mediterranean

Dialects and accents of English spoken in the British Isles
Dialects and accents of English spoken in the British Isles

02North America

United States

ENE WNE NYC PHILA. INLAND NORTH WPA NORTH CENTRAL WEST MIDLAND SOUTH Texas California Appalachia Boston Pacific
Northwest Chesapeake &
Outer Banks Maine New
Orleans Baltimore Interactive map of American English

American English:

Canada

STANDARD
CANADIAN Pacific
Northwest Indigenous Canadian Quebec Ottawa-Valley MTE ATLANTIC CANADIAN Lunenburg Newfoundland Interactive map of Canadian English

Canadian English:

03Caribbean, Central, and South America

Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda

The Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Bermuda

Cayman Islands

Colombia

Costa Rica

Dominican Republic

Falkland Islands

Guyana

Honduras

Jamaica

Nicaragua

Panama

Puerto Rico

Saba

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

Turks and Caicos Islands

Virgin Islands

04Asia

Bangladesh

Brunei

Cambodia

China and Taiwan

Hong Kong

India

Indian English:

  • Standard Indian English
  • Regional and local Indian English
    • East Region: Odia English, Bhojpuriya English, Assamese English, Bengali English, North-East Indian English etc.
    • West Region: Gujarati English, Maharashtrian English etc.
    • North Region: Hindustani English (Hinglish), Delhi/Punjabi English, Rajasthani English etc.
    • South Region: Telugu English (Tenglish), Kannada English (Kanglish), Tamil English (Tanglish), Malayali English etc.

Israel

Japan

Myanmar (Burma)

Korea

Malaysia

Maldives

Middle East

Nepal

Pakistan

Philippines

Singapore

Sri Lanka

Thailand

05Africa

Cameroon

Eswatini

Ethiopia

The Gambia

Ghana

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Malawi

Namibia

Nigeria

Rwanda

Sierra Leone

South Africa

South Atlantic

Tanzania

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

06Oceania

Australia

Fiji

New Zealand

Palau

Papua New Guinea

07Others

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “List of dialects of English”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Regional vocabulary within American English varies. Below is a list of lexical differences in vocabulary that are generally associated with a region.

North American English regional phonology

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