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Later definitions have tended to be more narrow and Bacon's Large Scale Atlas of London and Suburbs (revised edition c. 1912) includes Berkshire, Buckingham, Essex, Hertford, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey in the "maps of the home counties". The accent is characterized by its “non-rhotic” pronunciation, meaning that the letter “r” is not pronounced at the end of words. This is in contrast to most other varieties of English, which are “rhotic” and do pronounce the “r” sound. Southern American English or Southern U.S. English is a regional dialect or collection of dialects of American English spoken throughout the Southern United States, though increasingly in more rural areas and primarily by White Southerners. One of a few counties with two National Parks, The New Forest can be found in the far west of Hampshire while to the east, the South Downs rolls into Sussex.
Phonological features included long-standing yod-coalescence, now typical of dialects throughout England, as well as the increasingly disappearing feature of rhoticity. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included. There is an area of southern England known as the Home Counties, where most people are aware of this. But do they all agree that county can’t be applied to same location?
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In addition, Mersea Island showed some rhoticity in speakers born as late as the early 20th century, a feature that characterised other rural dialects of South East England in the 19th century. Th-fronting, a feature now widespread in England, was found throughout Essex in the 1950s Survey of English Dialects, which studied speakers born in the late 1800s. Many words are unique to 19th-century Essex dialect, some examples including bonx meaning "to beat up batter for pudding" and hodmedod or hodmadod meaning "snail".

Home Counties are the local government areas of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. They are located in the east of England, and are well-known for their prestigious institutions, such as Oxford and Cambridge universities, the British Museum, and the Royal Palace. Or Standard English, is a dialect of English spoken in the Home Counties region.
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It’s an accent that’s become much more well known thanks to reality TV shows starring people from Essex, much to everyone else’s chagrin. People with a Brummie accent would say the word ‘hello’ as heh-LOUW instead of HEH-low, although there are lots of variations of the accent across the city (it’s the third-largest city in England). Apparently it’s seen as one of the nicest and most trustworthy dialects by other people in the UK, but personally I’ve never met a trustworthy Yorkshire person (just kidding, they’re lovely).

These boroughs became, in effect, unitary districts like those in Northern Ireland. That’s right, one in five respondents voted Cornwall as England’s prettiest destination, and it’s hardly surprising, given the county’s evocative mix of coast and country. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.” Parts of all of those historic counties are, since 1965, officially within London, although no part of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire or Sussex is. In fiction, the character of Margot Leadbetter in the BBC sitcom The Good Life, set in Surbiton, formerly in Surrey, has been described by The Spectator as "a Home Counties Conservative to her fingertips". The term is sometimes understood to mean those counties which, on their borders closest to London, have been partly subsumed into London.
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In terms of the South East of England, Kent ranks as the 9th most poverty ridden area when compared with the other 19 areas, meaning it is in the most deprived 50 per cent. Thanet remains the most deprived area of the county, while Tunbridge Wells is the least deprived. The English county of Kent, one of England’s ‘home counties’ and is best known as The Garden of England, and with good reason. A ceremonial county is a geographical area that a Lord Lieutenant has been appointed to.

The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. It developed as the dialect of the poorer working classes in the East End of London, and it’s still regarded as a marker of ‘true’ East London heritage. It’s also become common to drop words like to and the in statements like “Let’s go shops”.
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In some of the Home Counties - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex - the general accent is about the closest you will find to RP. But not all the Home Counties - people in Essex definitely DON'T have RP accents. One result of this diversity, he argues, is that local loyalties are shallower in the home counties than in, for instance, Yorkshire or parts of Scotland where there has been less population mobility. Marcus Crouch, writing in 1975, thought that it derived from the Home Counties Circuit of courts that since at least the 18th century had surrounded London.

Indeed, the former county of Middlesex has been almost wholly within London since 1965 as have parts of Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey, although the county continues to exist as a cultural and historic entity. There are numerous dialects of English in the United Kingdom, but the Surrey dialect is one of the most widely spoken. The vocabulary of the Surrey dialect is nearly nonexistent, and only a small number of residents still speak with an accent from the area.
Several nonstandard grammatical features exist, such as irregular plural forms like housen for "houses". South West England or "West Country" English is a family of similar strongly rhotic accents, now perceived as rural. It originally extended an even larger region, across much of South East England, including an area south of the "broad A" isogloss, but the modern West Country dialects are now most often classified west of a line roughly from Shropshire via Oxfordshire. Berkshire and Hampshire are on the modern-day border between Estuary English and West Country English. Berkshire is predominantly non-rhotic today, but traditional accents may still be found across the county.
It seems we’re not alone – Kent has become one of the most desirable places to live in the whole of the UK. Paul Arnold is an education expert with over 25 years of experience in the field. He has worked in both public and private schools, as well as colleges and universities. Paul is passionate about helping students learn and grow, and he has written extensively on the topic of education.
"Home Counties" in Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford University Press, 2010. Although he may have added a touch of lilt to his accent over the years, his brogue is unmistakably Glaswegian. Ramsay’s Scottish accent is strong and pronounced, as you can tell from his Glasgow roots. He is known for his no-nonsense attitude and fiery cooking, and his Glaswegian accent embodies both of these characteristics.

The counties generally included in the list are Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex . Yorkshire has been crowned as the most trustworthy accent in the UK, with a new study finding it to be ‘intelligent’ and ‘calming’. The research, which was commissioned by OnBuy.com, asked 2,221 people to listen to 15 British accents and say which they would be more likely to trust in job interviews.
The home counties are some of the wealthiest in Britain with the towns of Virginia Water, Esher and Weybridge, all in Surrey, ranked in one 2019 survey as having some of the highest average house prices in the country. Significant areas of deprivation were also found in the urban areas of south Hampshire and Slough. The “home counties” are typically defined as the counties surrounding London, England. Therefore, a “home counties band” could be any band that is based in or originates from these counties. There is no definitive answer to this question, but there are a few theories.