There are also differences between spellings of words, such as those seen in British and American spellings of words such as 'colour/color'. 'W' can sound /w/ in 'what' and /u:/ in 'few', 'Y' can sound /j/ in 'yes' and /i/ in 'play'. English doesn't have precise orthography, so there is not a one-to-one or near one-to-one match between letters and sounds as with other languages like Spanish or Japanese.Įxample. The English language itself is made up of about 20 vowel sounds and 24 consonant sounds, give or take depending on the dialect. In addition, the use of English as a Lingua franca is quite common globally. In modern times English is the primary language of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, leaving these mostly as secondary languages.

While the British Islands are also home to Gaelic (the original language of Scotland), Gaeilge (original language of Ireland), and Welsh (the original language of Wales), over time English became the Lingua franca of these countries. These latter global additions to the language are owed to the British Empire's widespread influence across the world, spreading the language to Africa and the Americas, as well as some countries in Asia. In addition minor influences from India due to the occupation of British India also have contributed to the language, among a number of other much minor sources. The language consists of various major influences from Celtic, Roman, Saxon, Norman, Viking, and Dutch origins. The language's complexity is owed mostly to it being made up of loanwords, owed to the migration of various ethnic populations over hundreds of years. Thus, there is much more variety of pronunciation for English VOCALOIDs than there is for those that sing in other languages.Įnglish itself comes from England and was the native language of the English people. The English language has one of the greatest variations in dialects in the world.

List of vocaloid phonemes