Norfolk and Suffolk
The East Anglian accent
East Anglian English is the most isolated accent in southern England — the region was ringed by fen and marsh for centuries and its speech went its own way. It is the one English accent that reliably drops the Y in “beautiful” and “music”, giving “bootiful” and “moosic”, and it merges “beer” with “bear”.
Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →
How to recognise a East Anglian accent
- Yod-dropping: “beautiful” as “bootiful”, “new” as “noo”.
- “Beer” and “bear” sound the same — the near–square merger.
- The third person loses its S: “she go”, “he like it”.
- “On the huh” for something crooked or askew.
Also known as Norfolk accent, East Anglian accent, Suffolk accent, Norwich accent. Spoken in Norfolk and Suffolk, England.
The East Anglian pronunciation fingerprint
These are the answers the quiz expects from a East Anglian speaker on its 27 pronunciation questions. Where a feature varies within the region, more than one answer counts as a match.
“bath” takes the broad vowel of “father” — the trap–bath split
The Trap–Bath Split: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
non-rhotic — “car” ends in a vowel, with no R sound
a glottal stop in “bottle” — “bo’le”, or a clear T in the middle of “bottle”
“cot” and “caught” stay distinct
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
“Mary”, “marry” and “merry” all sound different
“day” ends on a slight “ee” — day-ee, or “day” is one flat sound — deh
“go” is one flat sound — gaw, or “go” ends on a slight “oo” — go-oo
yod-dropping — “tune” sounds like “toon”, or “tune” keeps its Y — “tyoon”
no — they sound different
one — “film”
“Film” or “Fillum”? The Helping Vowel in Highland and Irish English
no — they end in a vowel
a th sound
“ship” and “sheep” hold two distinct vowels apart
Ship or Sheep? The Vowel That Divides Native and Learned English
“put” and “putt” have different vowels — the foot–strut split
a true TH at the start of “three”
the H in “house” is pronounced, or H-dropping — “house” sounds like “ouse”
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
“beer” and “bear” rhyme — the near–square merger
“happy” ends on a long “-ee” — happy-tensing
“wine” and “vine” start with different sounds
“school” starts straight on the S
“bed” keeps its voiced ending, apart from “bet”
an approximant R, made without contact
“pin” and “pen” stay distinct
the vowel in “ride” glides from one sound to another
“celery” and “salary” stay distinct
Everyday words in Norfolk and Suffolk
The East Anglian accent test
Is your accent East Anglian? The only way to answer that against real data is to compare your own speech to the profile above. The test takes about two minutes: answer 29 questions, pin the town where you grew up, and see your closest accent matches ranked by how well they fit — plus where people who answer like you actually live.
Related accents
- West Country accent
- Bristol accent
- Birmingham accent
- Modern RP accent
- London accent
- Multicultural London accent
- Scouse accent
- Mancunian accent
- South Yorkshire accent
- West Yorkshire accent
- Geordie accent
- South Wales accent
- Cornish accent
- Black Country accent
- Potteries accent
- East Midlands accent
- Lancashire accent
- Cumbrian accent
- North Yorkshire accent
- Hull accent
- Teesside accent
- Wearside and Durham accent
- North Wales accent