Semi-vowels: W/WH, J

In some regions an older pronunciation of words beginning with wh- with a velar fricative onset has been retained, though this seems to be recessive almost everywhere; a lack of homophony between which and witch is still found in Ireland, Scotland, the very north of England, some American dialects, Ghana and Cameroon, and conservative varieties of AusE and NZE. Replacement of the semi-vowel /w/ by a labiodental fricative /v/ seems fairly common in T&TCs and South Asia and a relatively rare possibility in IrE, NfldE, BahE and CajE.

So-called jod-dropping, the pronunciation of words like news, tune, with /u:/ after alveolars, without an intervening /j/, is mainly an essential characteristic of AmE, though even within North America the feature is far from general; in Britain, this feature is associated primarily with northern East Anglia speech, but it comes up also in southern and West Midland dialects, in IrE and WelE. In Australia and New Zealand it is highly variable; occasional reports also come from parts of West Africa.