Bristolian English Jeffrey Parker

Cultural Context

Located in the South-west of England in what’s known as West Country, Bristol is

home to approximately 450,000 people, making it the 10th largest city in Great
Britain. Bristol is located on the river Avon that opens into the Bristol Channel.
Bristol is described by some as having a “prosperous maritime history” due its
history as a port city. Evidence of Bristol as a port for trade dates back to the 15th
century. While Bristol was a point of departure for explorers like John Cabot, it was
also a popular point of departure for slave traders from 1698 to 1802. As that trade
brought wealth into the city, several streets and buildings were named for those
associated with the slave trade, particularly for slaver Edward Colston. Currently
there is a political movement that is attempting to rename the parts of Bristol
associated with the slave trade, and in the case of Colston Hall, that movement is
succeeding. Bristol’s own tourism website describes its history with slavery as
“brutal and shameful.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/29/renamed-and-shamed-taking-
on-britains-slave-trade-past-from-colston-hall-to-penny-lane

Bristol’s maritime history is also associated with pirates, particularly the famed
“Blackbeard” Edward Teach. Several Bristolians interviewed for this project took
pride in their self-described “pirate” /r/, and the maritime tradition associated with
that sound.

ART AND CULTURE

Banksy hails from Bristol, and perhaps because of this the city features graffiti art
both in its museums and on certain streets. This outdoor art project, called “See no
Evil” was Europe’s largest street art festival.

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There is a vibrant theatre scene in Bristol, including the school/theatre called the
Bristol Old Vic. Alumni of this school include Daniel Day-Lewis, Gene Wilder,
Miranda Richardson, Jeremy Irons, and Patrick Stewart.

RESIDENTS

Bristol is 74% white, with 16% of its residents described as “black or minority ethnic
group.” Perhaps due to the University of Bristol, it’s considered a “young” city, with
“more people under the age of 16 than pensioners.”

A list of famous Bristolians includes Banksy, J.K. Rowling, Stephen Merchant, Cary
Grant, Jeremy Irons, and the body of Darth Vader himself, David Prowse.

More “historical” famous residents include explorer John Cabot, founder of the
Methodist church John Wesley, the first female doctor Elizabeth Blackwell, and the
infamous “Princess Caraboo”, a Devon female who successfully passed herself off as
a Princess from “Javasu.” Her story was made into a 1994 film starring Phoebe Cates,
Jim Broadbent, and Kevin Kline.

There is a noticeable accent divide between younger and older Bristolians, namely
in regards to an intrusive /l/ sound following words that end in a schwa. Younger
Bristolians also tend to pronounce words in the GOAT set closer to an Estuary
English realization, in stark contrast to more back sound heard in sexagenarian
residents (and older).

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Oral Posture
• The front of the tongue sits higher than the back of the tongue
• Tongue is more channeled, with bracing against the molars
• The lips corners are active, with slight lip corner advancement
• Jaw is relaxed in a more open position
• You might picture the idea of holding a small blueberry near the post-
alveolar area of the mouth, with the sides of the tongue bracing to keep it in
place.

Prosody
• Significant “Upspeak” can be found preceding a small pause, like a comma
or a semi-colon.
• Bristolians tend to have a wider pitch range in their speech. In the case of
comedian Stephen Merchant, this is often exaggerated for comic effect.
• The operative word(s) in a sentence receive noticeably lengthened vowels
in stressed positions.
• In contrast to lengthened vowels and elongated operative words, other
words might “tick” together rather quickly, creating a “tik-tik-tik-
boooom, tik-tik-tik-booom” pattern.
• This is more of a “quality” feature than a Prosodic feature, but some
speakers exhibit noticeable nasality in vowel sounds.

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Pronunciation
1. BATH⟶ [a]

Bristolians participate in what's known as a BATH/TRAP merger. Simply put,

this means that Bristolians pronounce words like Pass and Chance with a
vowel similar to that of a typical American speaker. To find the subtle
difference between the American BATH sound and the Bristolian BATH
sound, make the American BATH sound and allow your jaw to open more.
This will more often than not have the effect of lowering the tongue slightly,
which will bring you into the Bristolian BATH position.

This BATH sound stands out in contrast to a London accent, where a speaker
would use the vowel in Father or Spa. A Bristolian accent donor who
described his accent as “Like an American” pointed to this feature as the
primary evidence for his belief.

Pass, Grass, Dance, Ask, Chance,

Chance passed his Brass Class in Bath

2. NURSE, lettER ⟶ [ɝ & ɚ]

Like many West Country Accents, Bristol is a rhotic accent with strong /r/
sounds following vowels. This is self-described by residents as a “pirate /r/”
or a “farmer /r/”, and features quite a bit of bracing near the molars, similar
to an /r/ heard in Appalachia or Ireland.

A braced post-vocalic /r/ should also be applied to words in the NEAR,

SQUARE, NORTH, FORCE, CURE, and START sets.

Her, Word, Demure, Player,

Mare's mother never considered her fear of bears.

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3. PRICE -> [ɑ̹ɪ]̝̆

The PRICE set begins towards the back of the mouth, sharing an initial vowel
sound with the PALM set. Some speakers demonstrate a hint of rounding on this
initial vowel. This is a lower position than the typical “Mummerset” accent
pattern of [ʌɪ]̝̆

Nice, Try, Skype, Why, Night, Nigh

I sigh as bright light blinds my eyes.

The night sky might cry in delight if I fly quite high.

4. MOUTH -> [ɛʉ]

Sounds in the MOUTH diphthong set are realized with a slightly higher initial
sound than Americans, but end in a central or central-front location.

South, Cow, Now, Plow, Wow, Ouch, Out, Shout, Round

The round brown cows plow the South now. Wow.

5. H-dropping

Similar to a feature found in Cockney, many Bristolians drop their /h/ sounds
at the beginnings of words. The typical greeting “’Ello my lover” or the
saying “ ‘ark at ‘ee” are two of the most famous examples of this in the
Bristolian lingo.

Heart, Hello, Happy, Hark, He

Hark at He! He’s headed for heaven in haste!

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6. Medial and Final /t/ -> [ʔ]

Similar to a feature found in Cockney (as well as a few American accents), /t/
sounds in a medial or final position are glottalized if they follow a vowel.
Take care not to put this change at the beginnings of words! “Ted” is still
“Ted”, but “Scott” is realized as /skɒʔ/

Cornetto, Letter, Bit, Peanut, Scott, Potter

Spot ate a bit of Cornetto after Scott let it drop.

7. Final /l/ and /l/ vocalization -> [l] or [o]

The “Bristol /l/” is a topic covered in quite a few blogs, articles, and videos.
Some consider the “Bristol /l/” as being responsible for the name shift from
Brigstow to Bristol. Words that end in a vowel are sometimes garnished with
an intrusive clear /l/ meaning that words like “area” and “ariel” are
homophones. This feature is only fully realized by Bristolians over the age of
60, and as such is not part of this breakdown.

However, it is useful to listen for this feature as you find other accent
samples, as shadows of the intrusive final /l/ show up occasionally in the
speech of younger Bristolians. Interestingly enough, this shadow of a final
intrusive /l/ is often realized as a vowel, or such a light version of the /l/ that
it’s much closer to an /o/ than an /l/

Idea, Ideal, Area, Aerial, Bristol,

Nigel told Ariel that Phil will tell Andrea the little tale.

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CHALLENGERS:

1. Harry Potter’s round face is as classy as it is pouty.

2. Spider-Man hit an Aerial Tower last night. Ouch.
3. Will I see Matt’s Hamlet? Not for five hundred and thirty-five pounds!

BRISTOLIAN ACCENT SAMPLE:

In this clip, a 30-something male from Bristol reads the elicitation passages “Dali’s
Last Hurrah” and “All About Foxes”

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