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English dialect

Hiberno-English

Also known as: Irish English

The English of Ireland, shaped by long contact with Irish Gaelic. Distinctive grammar, intonation, and vocabulary set it apart from British and American varieties.

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Frequently asked questions

What language is Hiberno-English?

Hiberno-English is a dialect of the English language.

Where is Hiberno-English spoken?

Hiberno-English is primarily spoken in Ireland.

Which region is Hiberno-English associated with?

Hiberno-English is part of the Europe region on DialectAtlas.

Is Hiberno-English known by other names?

Yes — Hiberno-English is also referred to as Irish English.

What are the other dialects of English?

English also includes Received Pronunciation, Geordie, Scottish English, General American, Southern American English, Canadian English, Australian English, Broad Australian, Cultivated Australian, Aboriginal Australian English, Indian English, Singlish, African American Vernacular English, New York English, Eastern New England English, Appalachian English, Cajun English, Chicano English, Hawaiian Pidgin, Newfoundland English. Each variety has its own vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural context.

Other English dialects

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Hawaiian Pidgin

Hawaii Creole English · Pidgin

An English-based creole that emerged on the plantations of Hawaiʻi in the late 19th century. Now native to a substantial share of the Hawaiʻi-born population, with influences from Hawaiian, Portuguese, Cantonese, and Japanese.

Nearby dialects

See on the atlas →
Manx

147 km away

A Goidelic Celtic language of the Isle of Man. Functionally extinct in 1974 with the death of its last native speaker; revived through education and now spoken as a second language by hundreds.

Irish

186 km away

A Goidelic Celtic language and the first official language of Ireland. Daily-spoken communities (the Gaeltachtaí) survive in pockets along the western seaboard, around Galway, Donegal, and Kerry.

Welsh Romani

215 km away

The inflected Northern Romani variety historically spoken by the Kååle of Wales. It was extensively documented by John Sampson in the early twentieth century and is now extinct as a first language, the last fluent speakers having died in the mid-twentieth century. It is notable as the last conservatively inflected Romani dialect attested in Britain.

Welsh

295 km away

A Brittonic Celtic language and the most-spoken Celtic language. Co-official in Wales, with around 900,000 speakers and a strong contemporary literary and broadcast presence.

Romanichal

308 km away

The Romani variety of the Romanichal Travellers of England and the wider British Isles. The older inflected dialect is no longer spoken; it survives as Angloromani, a para-Romani register in which a substantial Romani-derived lexicon is embedded in an English grammatical frame. Diaspora communities exist in North America and Australia.

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