Long vowels

BATH

Like TRAP and STRUT, this vowel creates something of a marker of north-south distinction. Unlike the latter, however, there is little tendency for speakers to compromise in an attempt to move towards a perceived prestige. A consequence of this is the existence of RP variability which sees Southern speakers using [ɑ:] while Northern speakers use [a] in an otherwise uniform system. [a] is, in fact, the principal form from Orkney and Shetland, through Scotland and Northern England into the West Midlands where, true to the transitional nature of that region, there is considerable mixing with the longer, backed South-eastern regional norm, [ɑ:]. In South-west England [a] categorically has partial or full length, as it does characteristically in Southern Ireland and in Wales. In something of an inversion of the situation in England, however, Northern Ireland exhibits [ɑ], with variable length.