Varieties of English

• Standard English
• RP
• Cockney
• Estuary English
• Students are exposed to a number of varieties
of English.
• Help in understanding them can play an
important and particularly useful part in the
study of English as a foreign language (EFL).
• English, like every language, is subject to
variation.
What is the difference between
a dialect and an accent?
• A dialect describes features of grammar,
pronunciation and vocabulary.

• An accent refers to the description of aspects

of pronunciation which identifies where a
speaker is from, regionally or socially.
Three variables of dialect are:

• Geographical: Where the speech community is

based.

• Social: What social group/s the speech community

belongs to.

• Temporal: In what time (present or historical) the

speech community exists.
 Accents
• It is not just a case of pronouncing things
differently.
• Not all speakers share the same set of
phonemes
• We don’t always use them in the same place
 As a result…..
• Many words are pronounced identically
by some speakers and differently by
others. Look at the example:
– Farther and father:
– these are pronounced identically by most
people in England (except in the South West
and parts of the North of England.)
Can you think about a definition of standard?

Can you try to expalin

what Standard English is?
 STANDARD ENGLISH
Standard is the kind of English which is:
1. written in published work,
2. spoken in situations where published writing
is most influential, especially in education
(and especially at University level),
3. spoken ‘natively’ (at home) by people who
are most influenced by published writing -
the ‘professional class’.
 On the social distribution of Standard, we can go a bit
further than this.

• First, Standard is probably spoken natively by about

10% of the population.

• Secondly, Standard can be combined with many

different accents, including regional accents.
• Standard English, also known as Standard Written English or
SWE, is the form of English most widely accepted as being clear
and proper.

• Publishers, writers, educators, and others have over the years

developed a consensus of what standard English consists of. It
includes word choice, word order, punctuation, and spelling.

• Standard English is especially helpful when writing because it

maintains a fairly uniform standard of communication which can
be understood by all speakers and users of English regardless of
differences in dialect, pronunciation, and usage. This is why it is
sometimes called Standard Written English.
 • BRITISH ENGLISH
• spoken written

• standard regional dialects standard regional dialects

RP regional accents related regional accents

 RP: SOME DEFINITIONS

• A kind of standard, not necessarily deliberately imposed or consciously

adopted, not a norm from which other accents deviate, nor a target towards
which foreign learners need necessarily aim, but a standard in the sense
that is regionally neutral and does undeniably influence the modified
accents of many British regions (S. Ramsaran in Gramley-Patzold)

• A pronunciation of British English, originally based on the speech of the

upper class of southeastern England and characteristic of the English
spoken at the public schools and at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
Until recently it was the standard form of English used in British
broadcasting.  (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English
Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000).
• When British English is taught to foreign learners, the
accent presented as a model for the learner will most
typically be received pronunciation (RP)

• ‘Received’: in the 19th century the sense was that of

“accepted in the most polite circles of society”.

• British society has changed a good deal since that

time, but RP has remained the accent of those in the
upper reached of the social scale, as measured by
education, income and profession, or title.
• It has traditionally been the accent of those educated at public
schools .
Other way of defining it:
• Oxford English
• Queen’s English
• BBC English
• RP is not a uniform, homogeneous pronunciation but it has
different variants:
• General RP,
• Near-RP
• Conservative RP
• Advanced RP
• Adoptive RP
• A regional accent can be used when speaking
Standard English as well as when speaking a
regional dialect.

• Received Pronunciation: social accent

• Standard English: (Superdialect)

 RP, unlike prestige accents in other countries,
is NOT the accent of any particular region,
except historically:

• Its origins were in the speech of London and

the surrounding area

• It is impossible to tell from this pronunciation

where an RP speaker comes from.
 WHY RP:

• The aesthetic argument:

Wylde (1934): «RP is superior from the character of its vowel sounds, to any
other form of English, in beauty and clarity».
But Daniel Jones underlined: «I do not consider it possible at the present time to
regard any special type as ‘Standard’ or as intrinsically ‘better’ than other types.
Nevertheless, the type described in this book is certainly a useful one. It is based
on my own (Southern) speech, and is, as far as I can ascertain, that generally
used by those who have been educated at ‘preparatory’ boarding schools and the
‘Public Schools’. [...] The term ‘Received Pronunciation’ [...] is often used to
designate this type of pronunciation. This term is adopted here for want of a
better». (D. Jones, An Outline of English Phonetics, 1960, 9th edn, p. 12)
• The intelligibility argument
D. Jones: «Rp is easily understood almost everywhere in the English-speaking
countries».
• The scholarly treatment argument: RP is the basis of linguistic treatment of
English pronunciation. EFL model.
• The social argument: RP as a status symbol
• Long-standing association of RP with
affectation, social snobbery
• The influence of non-standard and foreign
accents and dialects of English (and of EIL),
along with a general deterioration in standards
in other modes of behavior, has been blamed
for the perceived rise of ‘sloppiness’ in
pronunciation and disregard for ‘proper’
grammar.
 Cockney
• Cockney represents the basilectal end of the London accent
and can be considered the broadest form of London local
accent.(Wells 1982b)
• It traditionally refers only to specific regions and speakers
within the city.
• While many Londoners may speak what is referred to as
"popular London" (Wells 1982b) they do not necessarily speak
Cockney.
• The popular Londoner accent can be distinguished from
Cockney in a number of ways, and can also be found outside
of the capital, unlike the true Cockney accent.
• The term Cockney refers to both the accent as well as to those
people who speak it.
• The etymology of Cockney has long been discussed and
disputed. One explanation is that "Cockney" literally means
cock's egg, a misshapen egg such as sometimes laid by young
hens.
• It was originally used when referring to a weak townsman,
opposed to the tougher countryman and by the 17th century
the term, through banter, came to mean a Londoner.
• Today's natives of London, especially in its East End use the
term with respect and pride - `Cockney Pride'.)
• The Cockney accent is generally considered one of the
broadest of the British accents and is heavily stigmatized.
• It is considered to epitomize the working class accents of
Londoners and in its more diluted form, of other areas.
• The area and its colourful characters and accents have often
become the foundation for British "soap operas" and other
television specials.
• Currently, the BBC is showing one of the most popular soaps
set in this region, "East Enders" and the characters’ accents
and lives within this television program provide wonderful
opportunities for observers of language and culture.
 The most striking features of Cockney are:
• r is pronounced only when followed immediately by a vowel-sound. So, no r is
pronounced in flowers. (Some New England accents and Southern U.S. accents
have this same feature.)
• Dropped ‘h’ at beginning of words (Voiceless glottal fricative): h is usually omitted
(home in the demonstration words); in self-conscious speech it's articulated very
strongly. Examples: house = ‘ouse; hammer = ‘ammer
• l is pronounced only when a vowel-sound follows (so no l is pronounced in hole,
etc.).
• TH fronting Another very well known characteristic of Cockney is th fronting
which involves the replacement of the dental fricatives, and by labiodentals [f]
and [v] respectively. Voiceless th is often, but not always, pronounced as f (breath,
etc.). Voiced th is likewise often but not always pronounced as v (breathe, etc.).
Examples: thin = fin; brother = bruvver; three = free; bath = barf
• The long vowels are all diphthongs. Notice especially the difference between force
etc. (spelled with r followed by a consonant, though the r is not pronounced) and
poor etc. (spelled with r not followed by a consonant, though again the r is not
pronounced).
• Monophthongization This affects the lexical set ‘mouth’ vowel.
• Glottal stop (the ‘t’ sound is not pronounced in intervocalic or final positions.
there are some words where the omission of ‘t’ has become very accepted.
Examples: Gatwick = Ga’wick; Scotland = Sco'land; statement = Sta'emen;
network = Ne’work
 Listen
• fleece, police, grease
• face, chase, lace
• price, rice, nice
• choose, lose, shoes
• mouth, round, flowers
• goat, note, home
• force, north, porch
• poor, more, door
• hole, bowl, coal
• little, model, fiddle
• breath, three, thanks
• breathe, mother, other
• Cockney is characterized by its own special
vocabulary and usage, and traditionally by its
own development of "rhyming slang.“

• ( Rhyming slang, is still part of the true

Cockney culture even if it is sometimes used
for effect.)
 Rhyming slang
• Cockney rhyming slang is an amusing, widely under-estimated
part of the English language. It began 200 years ago among
the London east-end docks builders. Cockney rhyming slang
then developed as a secret language of the London underworld
from the 1850's, when villains used the coded speech to
confuse police and eavesdroppers. Since then the slang has
continued to grow and reflect new trends and wider usage,
notably leading to Australian rhyming slang expressions, and
American too. Many original cockney rhyming slang words
have now entered the language and many users are largely
oblivious as to their beginnings.
• Cockney rhyming slang uses substitute words,
usually two, as a coded alternative for another
word. The final word of the substitute phrase
rhymes with the word it replaces (for example
- the cockney rhyming slang for the word
'look' is 'butcher's hook'). When only the first
word of the replacement phrase is used, as is
usual, the meaning is difficult to guess (ie
'butchers' = 'look'). doc
COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG

• 'Allo me old china - wot say we pop round the

Jack. I'll stand you a pig and you can rabbit on
about your teapots. We can 'ave some loop and
tommy and be off before the dickory hits twelve.
or, to translate
• Hello my old mate (china plate) - what do you say we
pop around to the bar (Jack Tar). I'll buy you a beer
(pig's ear) and you can talk (rabbit and pork) about
your kids (teapot lids). We can have some soup (loop
de loop) and supper (Tommy Tucker) and be gone
before the clock (hickory dickory dock) strikes
twelve.
• "Got to my mickey, found me way up the apples, put on me whistle
and the bloody dog went. It was me trouble telling me to fetch the
teapots."
which really means,
• "Got to my house (mickey mouse), found my way up the stairs
(apples and pears), put on my suit (whistle and flute) when the phone
(dog and bone) rang. It was my wife (trouble and strife) telling me to
get the kids (teapot lids)."
Cockney rhyming slang is so prevalent in British English that many people
unwittingly employ it in everyday speech. You will hear several
established terms used in conversation throughout Britain:

• "Let's have a butchers at that magazine" (butcher's hook = look)

• "I haven't heard a dicky bird about it" (dickie bird = word)
• "Use your loaf and think next time" (loaf of bread = head)
• "Did you half-inch that car?" (half-inch = pinch, meaning steal)
• "You will have to speak up, he's a bit mutton" (mutt'n'jeff = deaf)
• "I'm going on my tod" (tod sloan = alone, or own)
• "Are you telling porkies?" (porkies = pork pies = lies)
• "Are you going to rabbit all night?" (rabbit and pork = talk)
• "Scarper lads! The police are coming" (scarpa flow = go)
• Since the 1980s there has been a resurgence in the
popularity of rhyming slang, with numerous new examples
popping up in everyday in speech. Some make a bold
attempt to infiltrate language use at a national level, usually
employed by eager and cocky (sic) adolescents and
especially young male adults in an attempt to strengthen
their identity. The popularity of 'new laddism', 'girl power'
and youth culture in general in the 1990's, encouraged by
the media as a profitable commodity, has led to a wealth of
rhyming slang taking hold throughout the United Kingdom.
•  
• Ayrton Senna = tenner (a monetary note)
• Claire Rayners = trainers (the footwear)
• Darren Gough = cough
• Damon Hill = pill
• David Gower = shower
• Gary Ablett = tablet (ecstasy pill)
• Gary Glitter = shitter (anus)
• Gianluca Vialli = charlie (cocaine)
• Jack Dee = pee
• Janet Street-Porter = quarter (a weight of drugs)
• Tony Blair (s) = flairs or hair

Here's a small selection of general, but older, currently used

expressions:
• ruby murray = curry
• barnet fair = hair
• currant bun = sun
• hampstead heath = teeth
• deep sea diver = fiver (a monetary note)
• mince pies = eyes
• china plate = mate
• pen and ink = stink
• septic tank = yank (a person from the U.S.)
• whistle and flute = suit
 Song – Starz in their eyes
• They'll be making sure you stay amused
They'll fill you up with drugs and booze
Maybe you'll make the evening news
And when you're tripping over your dreams
They'll keep you down by any means
and by the end of the night you'll be stifling your screams
Since you became a VIPerson
It's like your problems have all worsened
Your paranoia casts aspersions
On the truths you know
And they'll just put you in the spotlight
And hope that you'll do alright
Or maybe not
Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
Why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
So why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
Starz in their eyes?
Remember they said you'd show them all
Emphasise the rise but not the fall
And now you're playing a shopping mall
Your mum and dad they can't believe
What you appear to have achieved
While the rest of these users are just laughing in their sleeves
Since you became a VIPerson
It's like your problems have all worsened
Your paranoia casts aspersions
On the truths you know
And now the tabloids use your face
To document your fall from grace
And then they'll tell you that that's just the way it goes
That's just the way it goes
Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
It's the same old story well they just didn't realise
And it's a long way to come from the dog and duck karaoke machine
And Saturday night's drunken dreams
• Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
It's the same old story well they just didn't realise
And it's a long way to come from your private bedroom dance routines
And Saturday night's drunken dreams
Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
Why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
So why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
Starz in their eyes?
Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
It's the same old story well they just didn't realise
And it's a long way to come from the dog and duck karaoke machine
And Saturday night's drunken dreams
(When I grow up im going to be famous)
Behind the steel barrier and sequence and glitter
Five inch heels still knee deep in the litter
Each of them a bitter bullshitter,
Wrapped up in the cloak of fake glamour, getting lost in the camera
Well footprints are fools gold, diamonds crusts on their one off plimsolls
So little time for these one off arseholes
Rigour mortis Ken and Barbie dolls,
A pair of big shades and a push up bra,
It's such a short gap between the gutter and stars,
That you've come a long way from the place that you started
So why'd you wanna go and get so down hearted
Welcome to the kingdom of the blagger
Uncutting you nose clean, coating you bladder
A whole lot happier a whole lot sadder,
Used to be satisfied but now you feel like Mick Jagger,
Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
It's the same old story well they just didn't realise
And it's a long way to come from the dog and duck karaoke machine
And Saturday night's drunken dreams
Now why do you wanna go and put starz in their eyes?
It's the same old story well they just didn't realise
And it's a long way to come from your private bedroom dance routines
And Saturday night's drunken dreams
 Pygmalion (G.B. SHAW)

• George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion tells a story of a phonetics

professor Henry Higgins, who makes a bet with Colonel
Pickering that he can transform Eliza Doolittle, a thick-
accented Cockney flower girl or a "squashed cabbage leaf" (as
he himself describes her) into a fine duchess within three
months. Professor Higgins is a man who can say where a
person comes from by his or her accent. In the play (and film)
the emphasis in changing one’s social class is more on
learning to speak the right accent than on other significant
factors. Higgins stresses that Eliza has to abandon her
"Kerbstone English that will keep her in the gutter to the end
of her days" and learn how to speak beautifully. In Shaw’s
days (that is at the beginning of the 20th century) Britain was a
very class-ridden society, and accent was a very good marker
of one’s social class.
• Preface:
• «It is impossible for an Englishman to open his
mouth without making some other Englishman
despise him».
• PYGMALION script available at:
http://www.bartleby.com/138/index.html
• "In six months—in three, if she has a good ear
and a quick tongue—I'll take her anywhere
and I'll pass her off as anything. I'll make a
queen of that barbarous wretch!"
• So the Professor makes an initial challenge toward Pickering which
becomes the cornerstone of the film's plot. He wagers with the Colonel
that within six months, he can teach Eliza Doolittle to speak articulately so
that she will be transformed into a pure-speaking lady, so that no one will
suspect her Cockney origins when she is passed off as a duchess at an
Embassy Ball. She will become a proper, aristocratic lady just by being
taught proper English:
• You see this creature with her curbstone English. The English that will
keep her in the gutter till the end of her days. Well, sir, in six months, I
could pass her off as a duchess at an Embassy Ball. I could even get her a
job as a lady's maid or a shop assistant, which requires better English...[To
Eliza] Yes, you squashed cabbage leaf. You disgrace to the noble
architecture of these columns! You incarnate insult to the English
language! I could pass you off as, ah, the Queen of Sheba.
 The rain in Spain
• “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
Henry By George, she's got it! By George, she's got it!
Now, once again where does it rain? Eliza On the plain!
On the plain! Henry And where's that soggy plain?
Eliza In Spain! In Spain! The three
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain! “
• The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain! Henry
In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire...?
Eliza Hurricanes hardly happen.
How kind of you to let me come! Henry
Now once again, where does it rain?
Eliza On the plain! On the plain! Henry
And where's that blasted plain?
Eliza In Spain! In Spain!
• Griffin episode
• http://watchfamilyguyonline.org/movie/51-
Family_Guy_304_One_If_By_Clam_Two_If_By_Sea.html
• When a hurricane strikes Quohog, everything is destroyed
except The Drunken Clam, which is bought out by a Brit who
turns it into an English pub. As it happens, pub owner Nigel
Pinchley and his family move in next door to the Griffins, and
Stewie tries to teach Nigel's Cockney-accented 3-year-old
daughter how to speak proper English.
• Emergence of a new replacement variety first
dubbed ‘Estuary English’ by Rosewarne
(1984)
• Estuary English is a name given to the
form(s) of English widely spoken in and
around London and, more generally, in the
southeast of England — along the river
Thames and its estuary.
• [...] a variety of modified regional speech. It is
a mixture of non-regional and local south-
eastern English pronunciation and intonation.
If one imagines a continuum with RP and
London speech at either end, ‘Estuary
English’ speakers are to be found grouped in
the middle ground. (Rosewarne 1984)
• From a geographical point of view, EE is said to have been first spoken
"by the banks of the Thames and its estuary" (Rosewarne 1984, 29), then
became "the most influential accent in the south-east of England“
(Rosewarne 1984, 29) and is now spreading "northwards to Norwich and
westwards to Cornwall" (Rosewarne 1994, 4). From a sociological point of
view, EE is reported to be used by speakers who constitute the social
"middle ground" (Rosewarne 1984, 29). This definition includes speakers
who want to conform to (linguistic) middle class norms either by moving
up or down the social scale. The first group aims at EE in order to sound
more 'posh', the second to sound less 'posh', both avoiding the elitist
character of RP. This social compromise is also reflected in the linguistic
makeup of EE. It comprises features of RP as well as non-standard London
English thus borrowing the positive prestige from both accents without
committing itself to either. This vagueness makes it extremely difficult to
pin EE down linguistically.
• Estuary English
• web site (regularly maintained by J.C. Wells):
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/home.htm
Provides numerous web links to "scholarly articles, papers,
lectures, web sites and "light journalism."
 Listening activity:
•
Comma gets a cure
International Dialects of English Archive
Founded 1997
• http://web.ku.edu/~idea/index.htm

• Well, here's a story for you: Sarah Perry was a veterinary nurse who had been working daily at an old zoo in a deserted
district of the territory, so she was very happy to start a new job at a superb private practice in North Square near the
Duke Street Tower. That area was much nearer for her and more to her liking. Even so, on her first morning, she felt
stressed. She ate a bowl of porridge, checked herself in the mirror and washed her face in a hurry. Then she put on a
plain yellow dress and a fleece jacket, picked up her kit and headed for work.

When she got there, there was a woman with a goose waiting for her. The woman gave Sarah an official letter from the
vet. The letter implied that the animal could be suffering from a rare form of foot and mouth disease, which was
surprising, because normally you would only expect to see it in a dog or a goat. Sarah was sentimental, so this made her
feel sorry for the beautiful bird.

Before long, that itchy goose began to strut around the office like a lunatic, which made an unsanitary mess. The goose's
owner, Mary Harrison, kept calling, "Comma, Comma," which Sarah thought was an odd choice for a name. Comma was
strong and huge, so it would take some force to trap her, but Sarah had a different idea. First she tried gently stroking
the goose's lower back with her palm, then singing a tune to her. Finally, she administered ether. Her efforts were not
futile. In no time, the goose began to tire, so Sarah was able to hold onto Comma and give her a relaxing bath.

Once Sarah had managed to bathe the goose, she wiped her off with a cloth and laid her on her right side. Then Sarah
confirmed the vet's diagnosis. Almost immediately, she remembered an effective treatment that required her to
measure out a lot of medicine. Sarah warned that this course of treatment might be expensive-either five or six times the
cost of penicillin. I can't imagine paying so much, but Mrs. Harrison-a millionaire lawyer-thought it was a fair price for a
cure.
 LISTEN 1
The subject is a 49 year-old white male speaker of ‘contemporary’ RP, born in Woking, Surrey and educated to A-Level (age 18) at
a local grammar school. He has lived most of his adult life in Brighton and works as a local government officer. The speaker recalls
that his accent was closer to ‘pure’ RP when growing up in Surrey than in its current incarnation. Brighton is a student city and the
influence of many younger ‘Estuary English’ speakers is probably significant. His occupation also entails a fair amount of
telephone-based conflict resolution and he admits to regularly micro-adjusting his natural accent in both class directions in order to
better establish a rapport with colleagues and complainants.

• The following sounds heard in the recording are fairly typical of a shift away from traditional toward
‘relaxed’ RP.
• Slight centring of GOOSE vowel with fairly relaxed lip rounding relative to advanced RP.
• Retraction and lowering of first vowel in FACE diphthong
• Raising of first vowel in MOUTH diphthong
• Retraction of first element of PRICE vowel, sometimes smoothing it into a monophthong.
• CURE and SQUARE vowels are often realised as monophthongs..
• Affricated intervocalic /t/
• The intermittent occurrence of a labiodental or ‘weak’ r is a feature of the speaker’s idiolect and not
particularly characteristic of either of his regions of origin.

Transcription
• Well, I was um, I was born in Surrey, in 1957, and, uh in a little town called Woking. Ah, I lived with my
parents, ah, for three years in a…caravan on a caravan site, um… until the birth of my brother, when I was
about three, er, and then we moved into the.. gamekeeper’s cottage on an estate, where my grandfather
worked, my grandfather was the gamekeeper on the estate. Er, and we lived there for a couple of years.
• Um, just in the, this little little cottage on the estate looking at watching the animals, I remember my father
chasing a fox in the garden, and I remember there being lots of dead animals around, that had been shot, by
the gamekeeper, my grandfather gamekeeper.
• Anyway we lived there for a while, and then my father got er, a house, in Addlestone, near Addlestone.
And we lived there until I… got a permanent job, which involved me living, working, overseas in other
parts of the world, and then, eventually moving down to Brighton, and I’ve been here…about…25 years,
or more, I think.
 Listen 2
• The subject is a 28 year old white female born and raised in Portslade, East Sussex, now living in nearby Brighton. She
describes herself as working class, having grown up in a low income area. She attended private school on an assisted place
and university in 1997, the year before student grants were withdrawn by the UK government.

• Her accent is a good example of the much-contested category ‘Estuary English’. She notes that while attending private
school, it veered closer to contemporary RP, due to ‘overwhelming social pressure’ to conform to the same speech system
as the vast majority of her fellow pupils.
• She also remarks that her accent derives more from the general populace of her social environment than her family
members or close personal friends, many of whom speak an Estuary variant considerably closer to Standard RP.
• The following features can be heard in the recording:
• The GOOSE vowel is advanced- almost fronted- to a greater extent than the centralised variant in Contemporary RP. It has
almost no discernible lip rounding and is not far from Primary Cardinal 2.
• Unrounded GOAT vowel with both elements quite centralised.
• ‘g’ is dropped from ing verb participle endings.
• Intervocalic glottal replacement of /t/.
• Others /t/s are often slightly dentalised or affricated.
• Elision of 3rd syllable, and coalescence, or ‘crunching’ of /t/ and /r/ at the final syllable onset of ‘ territory’.
• Alveolar-palatal coalescence, resulting in an dropped yod and affricate onset for ‘Duke’. This is very common in Estuary
accents and not unusual in Contemporary RP.
• Replacement of dark l with FOOT vowel.
• Labiodental variant of both voiced and unvoiced ‘th’, especially in medial position.
• Fairly open DRESS vowel relative to RP, often heading towards SQUARE.
• Slight retraction of NURSE (see ‘beautiful bird’), towards a long STRUT.
• Retracted first element and slight monophthongisation of PRICE vowel.
• SQUARE is usually monophthonised.
• ‘Cure’ at the end of the set passage is realized with THOUGHT vowel.
• I think that my accent is um, a true reflection of where I come from in the social spectrum in this
country…and I have quite…in my area.  And I have quite a strong political belief that I won’t alter
my accent for other people despite having been sent to a private school…erm…my family having
aspirations, to fit in with a much more conventional, accepted way of behaving, I’ve never
accepted that, I want to be accepted for who I really am, and if people find it threatening, that’s
not really my problem.
• Erm, I’ve always been…corrected, as most children are, erm, in this country by my parents for not
speaking ‘The Queen’s English’, er dropping my aitches and ‘t’s, though in words for a reason
despite the fact that lots of other letters like g, h and other expressions in English language are
silent deliberately, umm, to decide on your own to do that…is in some way anarchistic, so it should
be stamped out or otherwise you won’t be allowed to take part in polite society.
• I don’t really hold a lot of…I don’t think that idea holds a lot of water, I still argue with my dad
about it. He tells my brothers off, for dropping their ‘t’s and says ‘I know your sister does it, but
she’s too big to tell off’, and I’ll say you know, it’s, it’s not fair to say that to me, when I grew up in a
place in Portslade, where it’s normal to speak like this.
• If I’m in, ah, working in a shop, in my shop I work in, I always try, er, to be polite and I probably try
and sound a little bit more innocent than I really am to try and…mask the threatening effects…
but…I won’t try and speak in a more proper way to get respect.
• Running time: 04:04