Diphthongs

FACE

The principal distinction here is between monophthongal realizations in the Northern British Isles and Ireland and diphthongal realizations from the Midlands southwards, though there is variability within this scheme. Whilst [e(:)] is general in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the North of England, as well as being found in the speech of some speakers of British Creole, it occurs with [eɪ] in Shetland and, for some words in the set, in Wales. Diphthongal forms elsewhere range from [eɪ] in RP and the Channel Islands to [εɪ] in South-west and [Λɪ] in South-east England, [εɪ/Λɪ/æɪ] in the West Midlands, and [eɪ/æi] in East Anglia. To be compared with [ʊə] in GOAT, North-east England has a most distinctive diphthongal FACE vowel, in [ɪə].