Northern English

The north of England is somewhat more conservative in its phonology compared to the south and has not gone through many of the changes found in the latter area. The two most obvious of these are (1) the lowering of early modern English /u/ to /ʌ/, i.e. northern speakers pronounce cut as [cʊt], (2) the lengthening of low vowels before voiceless fricatives, i.e. northern speakers say [pas] for [pɑ:s] pass.

   Sample sound file