Phonological resistance and innovation in the North-West of England

Abstract

Over the past few decades, studies of dialect levelling have concluded that phonological convergence amongst varieties of British English is rife. This review attempts to demonstrate the opposite, in the variety of English spoken in Liverpool. Despite various media reports predicting the death of Liverpool English, evidence is provided here that the variety appears to be resisting the innovation of ‘T-glottalling’, a feature which is frequent elsewhere, and instead shows signs of divergence from any kind of supra-local regional norm.