Spoken English shows great variation across regions where it is the predominant language. This article provides an overview of the numerous identifiable variations in pronunciation. Accent is the part of dialect concerning local pronunciation. Vocabulary and grammar are described elsewhere. Secondary English speakers tend to carry over the intonation and phonetics of their mother tongue in English speech. For more details, see Non-native pronunciations of English. Primary English-speakers show great variability in terms of regional accents. Some, such as Pennsylvania Dutch English, are identified by key characteristics. Broad regions can possess sub-forms as identified below. On the other side of the spectrum, Australia has a "General accent", consistent over thousands of kilometers. English accents can differ enough to create room for misunderstandings. For example, the pronunciation of pearl in some variants of Scottish English can sound like the unrelated word petal to an American ear. For a summary of the differences between accents, see International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects.

English dialects differ in their pronunciation of open vowels. In Received Pronunciation, there are four open back vowels, /æ ɑː ɒ ɔː/, but in General American there are only three, /æ ɑ ɔ/, in most dialects of Canadian English only two, /æ ɒ/. In addition, which words have which vowel varies between dialects. Words like bath and cloth have the vowels /ɑː ɒ/ in Received Pronunciation, but /æ ɔ/ in General American; the table above shows some of these dialectal differences. Accents and dialects vary across the Great Britain and nearby smaller islands; as such, a single "British accent" does not exist. However, someone could be said to have an English, Welsh or Irish accent, although these all have several different sub-types. There are considerable variations within the accents of English across England, one of the most obvious being the trap-bath split of the southern half of the country. Two main sets of accents are spoken in the West Country, namely Cornish and West Country spoken in the counties of Devon, Gloucestershire, Bristol and Wiltshire.

However, a range of variations can be heard within different parts of the West Country: the Bristolian dialect is distinctive from the accent heard in Gloucestershire, for example. The Cornwall accent has an East-West variation with the East of the county having influences from West country English and the West of the county having direct influences from the Cornish language; the accents of Northern England are distinctive, including a range of variations: Northumbria with regional variants in Eastern Northumberland, Northern Northumberland and Newcastle. Further south in Tyne and Wear Sunderland is a genuine rival to that of their counterparts. Cumbria with regional variants in Western Cumbria, Southern Cumbria and Carlisle. Lancashire, with regional variants in Bolton, Blackburn, Preston, Fylde and Wigan. Yorkshire is distinctive, having regional variants in Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, Middlesbrough Many of the Lancashire accents may sound similar to outsiders. Before the Irish Famine of the 1840s the Liverpool accent was not dissimilar to others in Lancashire, except that with Liverpool being close to Wales, there were some Northern Welsh inflections.

However, Liverpool's population of around 60,000 in the 1840s was swelled by the passage of around 300,000 Irish refugees escaping the Famine, as Liverpool was England's main Atlantic port and a popular departure point for people leaving for a new life in America. So, while many of the Irish refugees moved on to other parts of Britain and further afield, many remained in Liverpool and this permanently influenced the local accent. Today, the Scouse accent is distinct from others in the North West of England and bears little resemblance to them. Many Liverpool families can trace their lineage back to refugees escaping the potato famine. Although many Yorkshire accents sound similar, the Hull city accent is markedly different; the rhythm of the accent is more like that of northern Lincolnshire than that of the rural East Riding due to migration from Lincolnshire to the city during its industrial growth. One feature that it does share with the surrounding rural area is that an /aɪ/ sound in the middle of a word becomes an /ɑː/: for example, "five" may sound like "fahve", "time" like "tahme".

A range of accents are spoken in the West Midlands (in the major towns and conurbations and in rural areas. Other accents are those of the East Midlands, East Anglia and the Home Counties (typ

Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell and explorer of south-eastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he took up an appointment as Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales; the following year he remained in this position until his death. Mitchell was knighted in 1839 for his contribution to the surveying of Australia. Born in Scotland on 15 June 1792, he was son of John Mitchell of Carron Works and was brought up from childhood by his uncle, Thomas Livingstone of Parkhall, Stirlingshire. On the death of his uncle, he joined the British army in Portugal as a volunteer, at the age of sixteen. On 24 June 1811, at the age of nineteen, he received his first commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles. Utilising his skills as a draughtsman of outstanding ability, he was employed in the Quartermaster-General's department under Sir George Murray, he was present at the storming of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and San Sebastian as well as the battles of Salamanca and the Pyrenees.

Subsequently, he would receive the Military General Service Medal with bars for each of these engagements. When the war was over Murray obtained permission from the Treasury for an officer to reside in Spain and Portugal for four years to complete the sketches of the battlefields, begun during the war for the Military Depot. Lieutenant Mitchell, was selected as a person well qualified in every respect to aid in the accomplishment of the undertaking; the first duty allotted to him was the completing of such sketches, begun during the war, as had remained unfinished, adding to these several other important surveys, for the execution of which it had been impossible to allot officers whilst operations were in progress in the field. But in the summer of 1819 the continuance of the disbursements made by Government for the undertaking became doubtful, so he was called home, he devoted himself to the second part of his task, that of making finished drawings from the materials compiled by himself, from other documents of ascertained authenticity.

But with the cessation of the Government allowances he had to stop this work. On 10 June 1818, during his posting in Spain and Portugal, he married Mary Blunt in Lisbon and gained promotion to a company in the 54th Regiment; the portrait of Mitchell shows him in the uniform of Major of the 1st Rifle Brigade of the 95th Regiment, complete with whistle used to direct the movement of his troops. With the reductions in the military establishment of the country which followed the withdrawing of the Army of Occupation from France, Captain Mitchell was placed on half-pay, it was not until a lapse of several years, whilst Mitchell was in London between 1838 and 1840, that the work was completed. The finished drawings were published, by the London geographer James Wyld, in 1841. Wyld's Atlas containing the principle battles and affairs of the Peninsular War, together with a Memoir annexed to it, consisted of a text of the movement orders prepared at the same time by Murray. Of unimpeachable accuracy, it is the prime source for the topography of the war.

In 1827, with the support of Sir George Murray, Mitchell became Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales with the right to succeed John Oxley. Oxley died the following year, on 27 May 1828, Mitchell became Surveyor General. In this post he did much to improve the quality and accuracy of surveying – a vital task in a colony where huge tracts of land were being opened up and sold to new settlers. One of the first roads surveyed under his leadership was the Great North Road, built by convict labour between 1826 and 1836 linking Sydney to the Hunter Region; the Great South Road convict-built, linked Sydney and Goulburn. He kept a record of his'Progress in roads and Public Works in New South Wales to 1855', including sketches and plans of Sydney, Emu Plains, the Blue Mountains, Victoria Pass, roads to Bathurst, Wiseman's Ferry, indigenous Australians; as Surveyor General, Mitchell completed maps and plans of Sydney, including Darling Point, Point Piper, the city, Port Jackson. In 1834 he was commissioned to survey a map of the Nineteen Counties.

The map he produced was done with such accuracy that he was awarded a knighthood. In 1831 a runaway convict named George Clarke, who had lived with Wiradjuri people in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition, he had established his credentials by surveying a route from Sydney to Wollombi, so Mitchell approved his request, provided he obtained extra supplies and men, he followed along later.

The expedition continued northward, climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, made Quirindi on 8 December. Shortly afterwards Finch arrived but inexplicably had not brought provisions, so Mitchell sent him back to get them. By 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time. Mitchell continued his n

SM U-74 was a Type UE 1 submarine and one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-74 took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic. German Type UE I submarines were preceded by the longer Type U 66 submarines. U-74 had a displacement of 755 tonnes when at 829 tonnes while submerged, she had a total length of 56.80 m, a pressure hull length of 46.66 m, a beam of 5.90 m, a height of 8.25 m, a draught of 4.84 m. The submarine was powered by two 800 metric horsepower engines for use while surfaced, two 800 metric horsepower engines for use while submerged, she had two propeller shafts. She was capable of operating at depths of up to 50 metres; the submarine had a maximum submerged speed of 7.9 knots. When submerged, she could operate for 83 nautical miles at 4 knots. U-74 was fitted with two 50 centimetres torpedo tubes, four torpedoes, one 8.8 cm SK L/30 deck gun. She had a complement of thirty-two. Gröner, Erich. U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945.

2. Translated by Thomas, Keith. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4