According to David Crystal's "Encyclopedia of the English Language", geographical origin is one of the most important factors that causes variety in language use. In one of my previous podcast I have mentioned other factors affecting language use, such as social status and gender distinctions.
When we talk to a person,often by his/her accent or the dialect he speaks, it is easy to say from which part of the country or which country he comes from. Different dialects and accents are usually formed when people are separated geographically or socially. It is important to note that accents and dialects refer to different aspects; by accent we usually mean pronunciation features. For example, in some regions people might drop the initial h in the word hold.
A dialect refers to grammar and vocabulary features. For example, in some regions people say "They really good" instead of saying "They are really good", or " Is it ready you are?" instead of " Are you ready?".
people usually have different opinions and attitudes toward various accents and dialects.Some people speaking with a particular accent are treated negatively or are often mocked at by those who speak other dialects. However, I do not support this attitude, as each dialect has the right to be respected as they have their own grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation peculiarities.
There is also an interesting phenomenon called regional accommodation. When people from different regions communicate with each other their speech patterns tend to become alike.This mainly refers to accents. When you talk to a person speaking with a different accent you may pick it up.
Thus, it does not matter which part of the country a person comes from, as all the accents and dialects should be respected equally.
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