Northern Irish English

English in northern Ireland (in the province of Ulster) has three main sources: (1) settlement before 1600 which survives in the speech of people in the west of the province and which has been influenced by Irish, (2) Ulster Scots which is a distinct variety of English brought over from Lowland and Western Scotland from the 17th century onwards and (3) general northern English which was part of the English settlement, especially in the centre of the province, again from the 17th century onwards.

Northern Irish English is clearly recognisable by its intonation and by a variety of segmental features such as a retroflex [ɻ] and a high mid vowel [ʉ] in words like fool [fʉˑl]. Note that vowel length is not always distinctive, especially in Ulster Scots.

   Sample sound file