The influence of the Home Counties Modern Dialect Area

The internal structure of the Southwestern group of dialects does not seem to have changed to the same extent as that of the Southeastern group. More recently, however, it has also been reported that parts of the Southwest are changing more markedly and are, moreover, doing so under the influence of the expanding Home Counties Modern Dialect Area. Trudgill (1999: 76) claims that this is true for coastal cities such as Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth. From a geographical point of view, these cities are part of the Central Southwest. From a dialectological point of view, they may not belong to this area any longer. Similar developments can also be observed in the more easterly regions of Oxfordshire and Berkshire.