3.4.6

Accent & Dialect Case Study - London

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Accent and Dialect - London Case Study

London is brilliant to talk about for accent and dialect. London is an area that has changed its accent and dialect a number of times over the past 200 years. We’re going to look at three main varieties.

Illustrative background for Cockney rhyming slang (CRS)Illustrative background for Cockney rhyming slang (CRS) ?? "content

Cockney rhyming slang (CRS)

  • Cockney rhyming slang (CRS) is a dialectal variation found in London (not really anymore, though) that originated from the criminal underworld in the 1800s as a way of communicating without the police knowing of their doings.
    • Examples include ‘brown bread’ for dead and ‘trouble and strife’ for wife.
  • CRS stopped being used by criminals when it was adopted into common usage by non-criminals. In other words, it stopped being deictic.
Illustrative background for Spreading of CRSIllustrative background for Spreading of CRS ?? "content

Spreading of CRS

  • You can see how CRS has spread through the fact that if I were to ask you what ‘telling porky pies’ means, you’d be able to tell me that it means ‘to tell lies’.
  • Another example of this is the Cockney saying ‘donkey’s ears’, which means years.
  • You probably know it as ‘donkey’s years’ or simply ‘donks’ – here, you can see how the dialectal term has broadened and become part of common usage.
Illustrative background for CRS on EastendersIllustrative background for CRS on Eastenders ?? "content

CRS on Eastenders

  • While the dialectal terms of CRS are very rarely used now, a weakened version of the Cockney accent is still in use, propelled by the popular TV soap ‘Eastenders’.

Accent and Dialect - London Case Study

London is brilliant to talk about for accent and dialect. London is an area that has changed its accent and dialect a number of times over the past 200 years. We’re going to look at three main varieties.

Illustrative background for Estuary EnglishIllustrative background for Estuary English ?? "content

Estuary English

  • Linguist David Rosewarne coined the term ‘Estuary English’ (occasionally called ‘London Regional General British’) to describe the variation that arose from around the Thames Estuary.
  • This is defined as the mix of RP and Cockney.
Illustrative background for Estuary English featuresIllustrative background for Estuary English features ?? "content

Estuary English features

  • The accent has the following features:
    • Glottal stop (missing out the ‘t’ in the middle of words like ‘butter’).
    • The dark l (/ɫ/) – pronouncing ‘l’ sounds with an ‘ulll’ sound.
    • The /aʊ/ (ow) pronunciation in words like mouth closer to /eə/ (air) in words like hair.
    • TH-fronting – pronouncing the ‘th’ words with an ‘f’ sound. For example, ‘thing’ becomes ‘fing’.
Illustrative background for Bridge between Cockney and RPIllustrative background for Bridge between Cockney and RP ?? "content

Bridge between Cockney and RP

  • Estuary English acts, as Paul Coggle suggests, as a bridge between Cockney and RP speakers and so serves as a bridge between the classes in South East England.
  • In addition, Estuary English has spread all over the UK with there being speakers with EE elements spotted as far away as Glasgow.

Accent and Dialect - London Case Study

London is brilliant to talk about for accent and dialect. London is an area that has changed its accent and dialect a number of times over the past 200 years. We’re going to look at three main varieties.

Illustrative background for Multicultural London EnglishIllustrative background for Multicultural London English ?? "content

Multicultural London English

  • Multicultural London English (MLE) is a variation that has arisen from migration bringing in speakers of English where English isn’t their first language.
  • These groups of speakers have led to this new variation being spoken very broadly in diverse inner-London cities (like Hackney).
  • Paul Kerswill believes that within 30 years, MLE will replace Cockney completely.
Illustrative background for Spreading of MLEIllustrative background for Spreading of MLE ?? "content

Spreading of MLE

  • MLE has spread, and is now becoming a part of the speech of teenagers up and down the country, spread mostly by grime music as exemplified by Stormzy.
  • This issue for linguists comes when we have to draw the line between what an idiolect (your personal language), sociolect (the language of a social group) and dialect.
  • Many news publications will use the term ‘Jafaican’ to describe MLE (fake Jamaican).
Illustrative background for Features of MLEIllustrative background for Features of MLE ?? "content

Features of MLE

  • Features of MLE include:
    • Indefinite pronoun ‘man’: man’s not hot.
    • ‘Why…for?’ question frame: why you revising English for?
    • /h/ retention (keeping the ‘h’ sound in): house.
    • Jamaican slang like ‘blood’ for friend.
    • TH-stopping (creating a harsh stopped ‘t’ sound instead of a ‘th’ sound): MLE is a mad ting.

Jump to other topics

1Language Levels

1.1Assessment Objectives

1.1.1Assessment Objectives

1.2Lexis

1.2.1Introduction

1.2.2Common, Proper, Abstract & Concrete Nouns

1.2.3Collective Nouns

1.2.4Adjectives

1.2.5Main, Auxiliary & Copular Verbs

1.2.6Dynamic & Stative Verbs

1.2.7Transitive, Intransitive, Active & Passive Verbs

1.2.8Mood of Verbs

1.2.9Adverbs

1.2.10Personal, Possessive & Reflexive Pronouns

1.2.11Relative & Demonstrative Pronouns

1.2.12Determiners

1.2.13Conjunctions

1.2.14Synonyms, Antonyms & Phonological Features

1.2.15End of Topic Test - Lexis

1.3Grammar

1.3.1Morphology

1.3.2Clauses

1.3.3Phrases

1.3.4Present Tense

1.3.5Past Tense

1.3.6Future Tense

1.3.7End of Topic Test - Grammar

1.4Semantics & Pragmatics

1.4.1Semantics

1.4.2Pragmatics

1.5Discourse Structure, Graphology & Orthography

1.5.1Discourse Structure

1.5.2Graphology & Orthography

1.5.3End of Topic Test - Semantics, Graphology etc.

2Language, The Individual & Society

2.1Children’s Language Development

2.1.1The Exam

2.1.2Phonemes, Vocal Tract & Articulation

2.1.3Writing About Phonemes

2.1.4Phonological Simplification

2.1.5A Child's First Year & Consonant Acquisition

2.1.6Beginning Stages of Language

2.1.7Lexical Development

2.1.8Stages of Development

2.1.9End of Topic Test - Child Language Development

2.2Children's Language Development - Theories

2.2.1Behaviourism

2.2.2Interactionism

2.2.3Challenging Interactionism

2.2.4Nativism

2.2.5Nativism - Exam Answer

2.2.6Cognitivism

2.2.7Social Constructionism

2.2.8Writing About Spoken Acquisition

2.2.9End of Topic Test - Development Theories

2.3Literacy Development: Reading

2.3.1Introduction

2.3.2Phonics vs Whole Word

2.3.3Debates in Reading

2.3.4Modelling Reading Acquisition

2.3.5Other Reading Theories

2.3.6End of Topic Test - Reading

2.4Literacy Development: Writing

2.4.1Orthography

2.4.2Kroll's Theory

2.4.3Barclay's Theory

2.4.4Creativity vs Accuracy

2.4.5Other Writing Theories

2.4.6The Exam

2.4.7End of Topic Test - Writing

3Language Diversity & Change

3.1The Importance of Gendered Language

3.1.1Writing About Gender

3.1.2Dominance Theory

3.1.3Interruptions - Zimmerman & West

3.1.4Deficit Theory

3.1.5Difference Model

3.1.6Difference Model - Men

3.1.7Diversity Model

3.1.8End of Topic Test - Gendered Language

3.2Social Groups

3.2.1Writing About Social Groups

3.2.2Social Class

3.2.3Social Class 2

3.2.4Age

3.2.5Age - Teen Speak

3.2.6Milroy’s Belfast Study

3.2.7Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Study

3.2.8End of Topic Test - Social Groups

3.3Occupational Groups

3.3.1Writing About Occupational Groups

3.3.2Jargon

3.3.3Conversations

3.3.4Hierarchy & Power

3.3.5End of Topic Test - Occupational Groups

3.4Accents & Dialects

3.4.1Writing About Accent & Dialect

3.4.2Introduction to Accents & Dialects

3.4.3Accents - Matched Guide Experiment

3.4.4Accents - Received Pronunciation & Brummie

3.4.5Dialects - Dialectal Variations

3.4.6Accent & Dialect Case Study - London

3.4.7End of Topic Test - Accents & Dialects

3.5Language Change

3.5.1Writing About Language Change

3.5.2Modelling Change

3.5.3Modelling Change 2

3.5.4Lexical Change

3.5.5Semantic Change

3.5.6End of Topic Test - Language Change

3.6History of English

3.6.1Old English

3.6.2Old English 2

3.6.3Middle English

3.6.4Middle English 2

3.6.5Early Modern English

3.6.6Late Modern English

3.6.7Present Day English

3.6.8Global English

3.6.9American English

3.6.10Modelling Global English

3.6.11End of Topic Test - History of English

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Dialects - Dialectal Variations

End of Topic Test - Accents & Dialects