English language in southern England
South East England and the Home Counties (the counties bordering London) tend to reflect the interface between the London region and other regional accents. Affluent districts are associated with a modified Received Pronunciation (RP) accent, reflecting their traditional popularity with upper middle and upper-class residents which has spread throughout more social classes broadly in rural areas with commuting access to London. Less affluent areas have traditionally mainstream London accents (that is, variants of the Estuary English accent) that grade into southern rural outside urban areas.
English language in England
There are several accent features which are common to most of the accents of northern England (Wells 1982, section 4.4).Some dialect words used across the North are listed in extended editions of the Oxford Dictionary with a marker "North England": for example, the words "ginnell" and "snicket" for specific types of alleyway, the word "fettle" for to organise, or the use of "while" to mean "until". The best-known Northern words are "nowt", "owt" and "summat", which are included in most dictionaries. For more localised features, see the following sections.