Consonants
Fricatives: TH, F/V, S/Z, SH/ZH, H, CH, etc.
Initial Fricative Voicing, in which /f, θ, s, ʃ / are realized as [v, ð, z, Ʒ] word-initially, is a particular feature of South-west England, and is also to be found in southern, and especially south-western, Wales: it is a highly recessive element in the accents of both areas. TH-stopping, both voiced and voiceless, rend1ering this thing [dɪs tɪŋ] , occurs in British Creole, and also as a highly stigmatized feature throughout Ireland: its occasionally reported presence in Glasgow might be as a result of influence from Ireland. Fronting of /ʃ/ is found in Shetland and Scotland.
Unvoicing of medial and word-final /z/ occurs in the English accents of those regions of Wales where Welsh is widely spoken. Interference from Welsh phonology is the cause.
Initial H-deletion is variable throughout Wales and England, generally taken as a feature of working-class speech. It is also found in the Channel Islands, in part perhaps as a result of influence from metropolitan French, and in British Creole, where, as a recessive feature, presence or absence of syllable-initial [h] can mark degrees of emphasis.
Characteristically Scottish /x/ in, for example, loch, is increasingly becoming [k] in Urban Scots, although [x] remains the widespread realization otherwise in Scotland, and is also found in Northern Ireland.
Welsh <II> and occur only occasionally in Welsh English outside the pronunciation of placenames, but, when they do, they may be expected to have their Welsh-language values of [Ɨ] and [x] respectively.
