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Cockney is an
accent and
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, mainly spoken in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and its environs, particularly by
working-class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
and
lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the
East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, or born within earshot of
Bow Bells
The Church of St Mary-le-Bow is a Church of England parish church in the City of London. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest and most important thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080 by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebuil ...
,
although it most commonly refers to the
broad
Broad(s) or The Broad(s) may refer to:
People
* A slang term for a woman.
* Broad (surname), a surname
Places
* Broad Peak, on the border between Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain on Earth
* The Broads, a network of mostly na ...
variety of English native to London.
Estuary English
Estuary English is an English accent associated with the area along the River Thames and its estuary, including London. Phonetician John C. Wells proposed a definition of Estuary English as "Standard English spoken with the accent of the southea ...
is an intermediate accent between Cockney and
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent traditionally regarded as the Standard language, standard and most Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestigious form of spoken British English. For over a century, there has been ...
, also widely spoken in and around London, as well as in wider southeastern England. In
multicultural
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
areas of London, the Cockney dialect is, to an extent, being replaced by
Multicultural London English
Multicultural London English (abbreviated MLE) is a sociolect of English that emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London.
As the label suggests, speakers of MLE come f ...
—a new form of speech with significant Cockney influence.
Words and phrases
Etymology of Cockney
The earliest recorded use of the term is 1362 in passus VI of
William Langland
William Langland (; la, Willielmus de Langland; 1332 – c. 1386) is the presumed author of a work of Middle English alliterative verse generally known as ''Piers Plowman'', an allegory with a complex variety of religious themes. The poem tr ...
's ''
Piers Plowman
''Piers Plowman'' (written 1370–86; possibly ) or ''Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman'' (''William's Vision of Piers Plowman'') is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in un-rhymed, alliterative v ...
'', where it is used to mean "a small, misshapen
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
", from
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
''coken'' + ''ey'' ("a
cock's egg").
Concurrently, the
mythical land of luxury
Cockaigne
Cockaigne or Cockayne () is a land of plenty in medieval myth, an imaginary place of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts and pleasures are always immediately at hand and where the harshness of medieval peasant life does not exist. ...
(
attested from 1305) appeared under a variety of spellings, including Cockayne, Cocknay, and Cockney, and became humorously associated with the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
capital
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
[ Cockney: a native of London. An ancient nickname implying effeminacy, used by the oldest English writers, and derived from the imaginary fool's paradise, or lubberland, ''Cockaygne''.]
The current meaning of Cockney comes from its use among rural Englishmen (attested in 1520) as a pejorative term for effeminate town-dwellers,
from an earlier general sense (encountered in "
The Reeve's Tale
"The Reeve's Tale" is the third story told in Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales''. The reeve, named Oswald in the text, is the manager of a large estate who reaped incredible profits for his master and himself. He is described in the ...
" of
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
's ''
The Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...
'' ) of a "cokenay" as "a child tenderly brought up" and, by extension, "an effeminate fellow" or "a ".
This may have developed from the sources above or separately, alongside such terms as "" and "" which both have the sense of "to make a ... or darling of", "to indulge or pamper". By 1600, this meaning of cockney was being particularly associated with the
Bow Bells
The Church of St Mary-le-Bow is a Church of England parish church in the City of London. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest and most important thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080 by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebuil ...
area.
In 1617, the travel writer
Fynes Moryson
Fynes Moryson (or Morison) (1566 – 12 February 1630) spent most of the decade of the 1590s travelling on the European continent and the eastern Mediterranean lands. He wrote about it later in his multi-volume ''Itinerary'', a work of value to ...
stated in his ''Itinerary'' that "Londoners, and all within the sound of Bow Bells, are in
reproach called Cockneys." The same year,
John Minsheu
John Minsheu (or Minshew) (1560–1627) was an English linguist and lexicographer.
Biography
He was born and died in London. Little is known about his life. He published some of the earliest dictionaries and grammars of the Spanish language for ...
included the term in this newly restricted sense in his dictionary ''Ductor in Linguas''.
Other terms
* Cockney sparrow: Refers to the archetype of a cheerful, talkative Cockney.
* Cockney diaspora: The term Cockney diaspora refers to the migration of Cockney speakers to places outside London, especially
new towns
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
. It also refers to the descendants of those people, in areas where there was enough migration for an identification with London to persist in subsequent generations.
*
Mockney
Mockney (a portmanteau of " mock" and "cockney") is an affected accent and form of speech in imitation of cockney or working-class London speech, or a person with such an accent. A stereotypical mockney speaker comes from an upper-middle-class ba ...
: Refers to a fake Cockney accent, though the term is sometimes also used as a self-deprecatory moniker, by second, third and subsequent generations of the Cockney diaspora.
Region
Originally, when London consisted of little more than the
walled City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, the term applied to all Londoners, and this lingered into the 19th century.
As the city grew the definitions shifted to alternatives based on more specific geography, or of dialect.
The terms "East End of London" and "within the sound of Bow bells" are sometimes used interchangeably, and the bells are a symbol of East End identity. The area within earshot of the bells changes with the wind, but there is a correlation between the two geographic definitions under the typical prevailing wind conditions.
London's East End
The traditional core districts of the
East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
include
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
,
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
,
Spitalfields
Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...
,
Stepney
Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...
,
Wapping
Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...
,
Limehouse
Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...
,
Poplar,
Haggerston
Haggerston is a locale in East London, England, centred approximately on Great Cambridge Street (now renamed Queensbridge Road). It is within the London Borough of Hackney and is considered to be a part of London's East End. It is about 3.1 mi ...
,
Aldgate
Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate.
The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...
,
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area.
In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...
, the
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ham ...
,
Hackney,
Hoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...
,
Bow and
Mile End
Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...
. The informal definition of the East End gradually expanded to include towns in south-west
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
such as
Barking
Barking may refer to:
Places
* Barking, London, a town in East London, England
** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking
** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
,
East Ham
East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186.
It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...
,
Leyton
Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...
,
Plaistow,
Stratford,
Wanstead
Wanstead () is a town in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge, London, Redbridge to the east and Forest Gate to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is ...
,
Walthamstow
Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...
and
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
as these formed part of London's growing
conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...
.
Bow Bells' audible range
The church of
St Mary-le-Bow is one of the oldest, largest and historically most important of the many churches in the City of London. The definition based on being born within earshot of the bells, cast at the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells a ...
, reflects the early definition of the term as relating to all of London.
The audible range of the Bells is dependent on geography and wind conditions. The east is mostly low lying, a factor which combines with the strength and regularity of the prevailing wind, blowing from west-south-west for nearly three-quarters of the year, to carry the sound further to the east, and more often. A 2012 study showed that in the 19th century, and under typical conditions, the sound of the bells would carry as far as
Clapton,
Bow and
Stratford in the east but only as far as
Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
to the
south
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and
Holborn
Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London.
The area has its roots ...
in the
west
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
. An earlier study suggested the sound would have carried even further.
The 2012 study showed that in the modern era, noise pollution means that the bells can only be heard as far as
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area.
In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...
. According to legend,
Dick Whittington
Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Dick ...
heard the bells 4.5 miles away at the Highgate
Archway, in what is now
north London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire.
The term ''nort ...
. The studies mean that it is credible that Whittington might have heard them on one of the infrequent days that the wind blows from the south.
The church of St. Mary-le-Bow was destroyed in 1666 by the
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...
and rebuilt by
Sir Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...
. Although the bells were destroyed again in 1941 in
the Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
, they had fallen silent on 13 June 1940 as part of the
British anti-invasion preparations of World War II
British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War entailed a large-scale division of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion (Operation Sea Lion) by German armed forces in 1940 and 1941. The British Ar ...
. Before they were replaced in 1961, there was a period when, by the "within earshot" definition, no "Bow Bell" Cockneys could be born. The use of such a literal definition produces other problems, since the area around the church is no longer residential and the noise pollution means few are born within earshot.
Dialect
Cockney speakers have a distinctive accent and dialect, and occasionally use
rhyming slang
Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...
. The
Survey of English Dialects
The Survey of English Dialects was undertaken between 1950 and 1961 under the direction of Professor Harold Orton of the English department of the University of Leeds. It aimed to collect the full range of speech in England and Wales before loca ...
took a recording from a long-time resident of Hackney in the 1950s, and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
made another recording in 1999 which showed how the accent had changed. One of the characteristic pronunciations of Cockney is
th-fronting
''Th''-fronting is the pronunciation of the English "th" as "f" or "v". When ''th''-fronting is applied, becomes (for example, ''three'' is pronounced as ''free'') and becomes (for example, ''bathe'' is pronounced as ''bave''). (Here "fron ...
.
The early development of Cockney vocabulary is obscure, but appears to have been heavily influenced by
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
and related eastern dialects, while borrowings from
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
, including ''kosher'' (originally Hebrew, via Yiddish, meaning ''legitimate'') and ''stumm'' ( originally German, via Yiddish, meaning ''mute''), as well as
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
, for example ''wonga'' (meaning ''money'', from the Romani "wanga" meaning coal), and ''cushty'' (Kushty) (from the Romani ''kushtipen'', meaning good) reflect the influence of those groups on the development of the speech.
John Camden Hotten, in his ''Slang Dictionary'' of 1859, makes reference to "their use of a peculiar slang language" when describing the
costermonger
A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to describe hawkers i ...
s of London's East End.
Migration and evolution
A dialectological study of
Leytonstone
Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...
in 1964 found that the area's dialect was very similar to that recorded in Bethnal Green by
Eva Sivertsen but there were still some features that distinguished Leytonstone speech from Cockney.
Linguistic research conducted in the early 2010s suggests that today, certain elements of the Cockney accent are declining in usage within multicultural areas, where some traditional features of Cockney have been displaced by
Multicultural London English
Multicultural London English (abbreviated MLE) is a sociolect of English that emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London.
As the label suggests, speakers of MLE come f ...
, a
multiethnolect
A multiethnolect is a language variety, typically formed in youth communities in working class, immigrant neighborhoods of urban areas, that contains influences from a variety of different languages. Unlike an ethnolect, which associates one langu ...
particularly common amongst young people from diverse backgrounds.
Nevertheless, the
glottal stop
The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...
, double negatives, and the
vocalisation of the dark L (and other features of Cockney speech) are among the Cockney influences on Multicultural London English, and some
rhyming slang
Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...
terms are still in common usage.
An influential July 2010 report by
Paul Kerswill
Paul Kerswill, FBA, is a sociolinguist. Since 2012, he has been Professor in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York. After completing his undergraduate degree and doctorate at Gonville and Caius College, Camb ...
, professor of sociolinguistics at
Lancaster University
Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...
, ''Multicultural London English: the emergence, acquisition and diffusion of a new variety'', predicted that the Cockney accent will disappear from London's streets within 30 years.
The study, funded by the
Economic and Social Research Council
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...
, said that the accent, which has been around for more than 500 years, is being replaced in London by a new hybrid language. "Cockney in the East End is now transforming itself into Multicultural London English, a new, melting-pot mixture of all those people living here who learnt
English as a second language
English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...
", Kerswill said.
A series of
new
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
and expanded towns have often had a strong influence on local speech. Many areas beyond the capital have become Cockney-speaking to a greater or lesser degree, including the new towns of
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...
,
Basildon
Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159.
It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...
and
Harlow
Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...
, and expanded towns such as
Grays,
Chelmsford
Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...
and
Southend
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
. However, this is, except where least mixed, difficult to discern because of common features: linguistic historian and researcher of early dialects
Alexander John Ellis
Alexander John Ellis, (14 June 1814 – 28 October 1890), was an English mathematician, philologist and early phonetician who also influenced the field of musicology. He changed his name from his father's name, Sharpe, to his mother's maiden na ...
in 1890 stated that Cockney developed owing to the influence of Essex dialect on London speech.
Writing in 1981, the dialectologist Peter Wright identified the building of the
Becontree
Becontree or Both pronunciations are given as Received Pronunciation in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but the form is prioritised (). The dialectologist Peter Wright wrote in 1981 that is the traditional pronunciation in the cockney ...
estate in
Dagenham
Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross.
It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...
as influential in the spread of Cockney dialect. This very large estate was built by the
Corporation of London
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
to house poor East Enders in a previously rural area of Essex. The residents typically kept their Cockney dialect rather than adopt an Essex dialect. Wright also reports that cockney dialect spread along the main railway routes to towns in the surrounding counties as early as 1923, spreading further after World War II when many refugees left London owing to the bombing, and continuing to speak Cockney in their new homes.
A more distant example where the accent stands out is
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...
in Norfolk, which tripled in size from 1957 in a deliberate attempt to attract Londoners by providing social housing funded by the London County Council.
Typical features
*As with many accents of the United Kingdom, Cockney is
non-rhotic
Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant by English speakers. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic variet ...
. A final ''-er'' is pronounced or lowered in broad Cockney. As with all or nearly all non-rhotic accents, the paired lexical sets
COMMA and
LETTER,
PALM/BATH and
START,
THOUGHT and
NORTH/FORCE, are merged. Thus, the last syllable of words such as ''cheetah'' can be pronounced as well in broad Cockney.
*Broad
is used in words such as ''bath, path, demand''. This originated in London in the 16th–17th centuries and is also part of
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent traditionally regarded as the Standard language, standard and most Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestigious form of spoken British English. For over a century, there has been ...
(RP).
*
T-glottalisation
In English phonology, ''t''-glottalization or ''t''-glottalling is a sound change in certain English dialects and accents, particularly in the United Kingdom, that causes the phoneme to be pronounced as the glottal stop in certain position ...
: use of the glottal stop as an allophone of in various positions, including after a stressed syllable. Glottal stops also occur, albeit less frequently for and , and occasionally for mid-word consonants. For example,
Richard Whiteing
Richard Whiteing (27 July 1840 – 29 June 1928) was an English author and journalist.
Biography
Richard Whiteing was born in London the son of Mary Lander and William Whiteing, a civil servant employed as an Inland Revenue Officer. His mothe ...
spelt "Hyde Park" as ''Hy' Par. ''Like'' and ''light'' can be homophones. "Clapham" can be said as ''Cla'am'' (i. e., ). may also be
flapped intervocalically, e.g. ''utter'' . London are often aspirated in intervocalic and final environments, e.g., ''upper'' , ''utter'' , ''rocker'' , ''up'' , ''out'' , ''rock'' , where
RP is traditionally described as having the unaspirated variants. Also, in broad cockney at least, the degree of aspiration is typically greater than in RP, and may often also involve some degree of affrication . Affricatives may be encountered in initial, intervocalic, and final position.
**This feature results in Cockney being often mentioned in textbooks about
Semitic language
The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigrant a ...
s while explaining how to pronounce the
glottal stop
The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...
.
*
''Th''-fronting:
** can become in any environment. "thin", "maths".
** can become in any environment except word-initially when it can be . "they", "bother".
*''Yod''-coalescence in words such as ''tune'' or ''reduce'' (compare traditional RP ).
*The
alveolar stop
In phonetics and phonology, an alveolar stop is a type of consonantal sound, made with the tongue in contact with the alveolar ridge located just behind the teeth (hence alveolar), held tightly enough to block the passage of air (hence a stop cons ...
s , are often omitted in informal Cockney, in non-prevocalic environments, including some that cannot be omitted in Received Pronunciation. Examples include ''Dad's gonna'' and ''turn left''.
*
''H''-dropping. Sivertsen considers that is to some extent a stylistic marker of emphasis in Cockney.
*Diphthong alterations:
** → : "beet"
** → : "bait"
** → or even in "vigorous, dialectal" Cockney. The second element may be reduced or absent (with compensatory lengthening of the first element), so that there are variants such as . This means that pairs such as ''laugh''-''life'', ''Barton''-''biting'' may become homophones: , . But this neutralisation is an optional, recoverable one: "bite"
** → : "choice"
** → or a monophthongal , perhaps with little lip rounding, or : "boot"
** → this diphthong typically starts in the area of the London , . The endpoint may be , but more commonly it is rather opener and/or completely unrounded, i.e. or . Thus, the most common variants are and , with and also being possible. The broadest Cockney variant approaches . There's also a variant that is used only by women, namely . In addition, there are two monophthongal pronunciations, as in 'no, nah' and , which is used in non-prominent variants. "coat"
** and have somewhat tenser onsets than in RP: ,
** , according to , is being increasingly merged with ~ .
** may be or .
** , , , and can be monophthongised to , , (if it doesn't merge with ~ ), and ~ . states that "no rigid rules can be given for the distribution of monophthongal and diphthongal variants, though the tendency seems to be for the monophthongal variants to be commonest within the utterance, but the diphthongal realisations in utterance-final position, or where the syllable in question is otherwise prominent."
** Disyllabic realizations of are also possible, and at least are regarded as very strongly Cockney. Among these, the triphthongal realization of occurs most commonly. There is not a complete agreement about the distribution of these; according to , they "occur in sentence-final position", whereas according to , these are "most common in final position".
*Other vowel differences include
** may be or , with the latter occurring before voiced consonants, particularly before : "back", "bad"
** may be , , or before certain voiced consonants, particularly before : "bed"
** may be a somewhat less open : "cot"
** has a fully back variant, qualitatively equivalent to
cardinal 5, which Beaken (1971) claims characterises "vigorous, informal" Cockney.
** is on occasion somewhat fronted and/or lightly rounded, giving Cockney variants such as , .
** → or a quality like that of cardinal 4, : "jumped up"
** → or a closing diphthong of the type when in non-final position, with the latter variants being more common in broad Cockney: "sauce"-"source", "lord", "water"
** → or a centring diphthong/triphthong of the type when in final position, with the latter variants being more common in broad Cockney; thus "saw"-"sore"-"soar", "law"-"lore", "war"-"wore". The diphthong is retained before inflectional endings, so that ''board'' and ''pause'' can contrast with ''bored'' and ''paws'' . has a somewhat tenser onset than the cardinal , that is .
** becomes something around or even in broad Cockney before
dark l
The voiced alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral approximants is , and the equ ...
. These variants are retained when the addition of a suffix turns the dark l
clear. Thus a phonemic split has occurred in London English, exemplified by the minimal pair ''wholly'' vs. ''holy'' . The development of ''L''-vocalisation (see next section) leads to further pairs such as ''sole''-''soul'' vs. ''so''-''sew'' , ''bowl'' vs. ''Bow'' , ''shoulder'' vs. ''odour'' , while associated vowel neutralisations may make ''doll'' a homophone of ''dole'', compare ''dough'' . All this reinforces the phonemic nature of the opposition and increases its functional load. It is now well-established in all kinds of London-flavoured accents, from broad Cockney to near-RP.
** in some words (particularly ''good'') is central . In other cases, it is near-close near-back , as in traditional RP.
*
Vocalisation of dark L, hence for
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
. The actual realisation of a vocalised is influenced by surrounding vowels and it may be realised as , , or . It is also transcribed as a
semivowel
In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are the ...
by some linguists, e.g., Coggle and Rosewarne. However, according to , the vocalised dark l is sometimes an unoccluded lateral approximant, which differs from the RP only by the lack of the alveolar contact. Relatedly, there are many possible vowel neutralisations and absorptions in the context of a following dark L () or its vocalised version; these include:
**In broad Cockney, and to some extent in general popular London speech, a vocalised is entirely absorbed by a preceding : e.g., ''salt'' and ''sort'' become homophones (although the contemporary pronunciation of ''salt'' would prevent this from happening), and likewise ''fault''-''fought''-''fort'', ''pause''-''Paul's'', ''Morden''-''Malden'', ''water''-''Walter''. Sometimes such pairs are kept apart, in more deliberate speech at least, by a kind of length difference: ''Morden'' vs. ''Malden''.
**A preceding is also fully absorbed into vocalised . The reflexes of earlier and earlier are thus phonetically similar or identical; speakers are usually ready to treat them as the same phoneme. Thus ''awful'' can best be regarded as containing two occurrences of the same vowel, . The difference between ''musical'' and ''music-hall'', in an ''H''-dropping broad Cockney, is thus nothing more than a matter of stress and perhaps syllable boundaries.
**With the remaining vowels a vocalised is not absorbed, but remains phonetically present as a back vocoid in such a way that and are kept distinct.
**The clearest and best-established neutralisations are those of and . Thus ''rill'', ''reel'' and ''real'' fall together in Cockney as ; while ''full'' and ''fool'' are and may rhyme with ''cruel'' . Before clear (i.e., prevocalic) the neutralisations do not usually apply, thus ''silly'' but ''ceiling''-''sealing'', ''fully'' but ''fooling''.
**In some broader types of Cockney, the neutralisation of before non-prevocalic may also involve , so that ''fall'' becomes homophonous with ''full'' and ''fool'' .
**The other pre- neutralisation which all investigators agree on is that of . Thus, ''Sal'' and ''sale'' can be merged as , ''fail'' and ''fowl'' as , and ''Val'', ''vale''-''veil'' and ''vowel'' as . The typical pronunciation of ''railway'' is .
**According to Siversten, and can also join in this neutralisation. They may on the one hand neutralise with respect to one another, so that ''snarl'' and ''smile'' rhyme, both ending , and ''Child's Hill'' is in danger of being mistaken for ''Charles Hill''; or they may go further into a fivefold neutralisation with the one just mentioned, so that ''pal'', ''pale'', ''foul'', ''snarl'' and ''pile'' all end in . But these developments are evidently restricted to broad Cockney, not being found in London speech in general.
**A neutralisation discussed by Beaken (1971) and Bowyer (1973), but ignored by Siversten (1960), is that of . It leads to the possibility of ''doll'', ''dole'' and ''dull'' becoming homophonous as or . Wells' impression is that the ''doll''-''dole'' neutralisation is rather widespread in London, but that involving ''dull'' less so.
**One further possible neutralisation in the environment of a following non-prevocalic is that of and , so that ''well'' and ''whirl'' become homophonous as .
*Cockney has been occasionally described as replacing with . For example, ' (or ''fwee'') instead of ''three'', ' instead of ''frosty''. Peter Wright, a
Survey of English Dialects
The Survey of English Dialects was undertaken between 1950 and 1961 under the direction of Professor Harold Orton of the English department of the University of Leeds. It aimed to collect the full range of speech in England and Wales before loca ...
fieldworker, concluded that this was not a universal feature of Cockneys but that it was more common to hear this in the London area than anywhere else in Britain. This description may also be a result of mishearing the
labiodental R as , when it is still a distinct phoneme in Cockney.
*An unstressed final ''-ow'' may be pronounced . In broad Cockney this can be lowered to .
This is common to most traditional, Southern English dialects except for those in the
West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...
.
*Grammatical features:
**Use of ''me'' instead of ''my'', for example, "At's me book you got 'ere". (where 'ere' means 'there'). It cannot be used when "my" is emphasised; e.g., "At's
''my'' book you got 'ere."
**Use of ''
ain't
The word "ain't" is a contraction for ''am not'', ''is not'', ''are not'', ''has not'', ''have not'' in the common English language vernacular. In some dialects ''ain't'' is also used as a contraction of ''do not'', ''does not'' and ''did not''. ...
''
**Use of
double negatives
A double negative is a construction occurring when two forms of grammatical negation are used in the same sentence. Multiple negation is the more general term referring to the occurrence of more than one negative in a clause. In some languages, d ...
, for example "I didn't see nuffink".
By the 1980s and 1990s, most of the features mentioned above had partly spread into more general south-eastern speech, giving the accent called
Estuary English
Estuary English is an English accent associated with the area along the River Thames and its estuary, including London. Phonetician John C. Wells proposed a definition of Estuary English as "Standard English spoken with the accent of the southea ...
; an Estuary speaker will use some but not all of the Cockney sounds.
Perception
The Cockney accent has long been regarded as an indicator of low status. For example, in 1909 the Conference on the Teaching of English in London Elementary Schools issued by the
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
, stating that "the Cockney mode of speech, with its unpleasant twang, is a modern corruption without legitimate credentials, and is unworthy of being the speech of any person in the capital city of the
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
".
Others defended the language variety: "The London dialect is really, especially on the South side of the Thames, a perfectly legitimate and responsible child of the old kentish tongue
..the dialect of London North of the Thames has been shown to be one of the many varieties of the Midland or Mercian dialect, flavoured by the East Anglian variety of the same speech".
Since then, the Cockney accent has been more accepted as an alternative form of the English language rather than a lesser one, though the low status mark remains. In the 1950s, the only accent to be heard on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(except in entertainment programmes such as ''