Re: Estaury English

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 13:03:26 +0200, trio@xxxxxxxxxx (Donna Richoux)
wrote:

>Matthew Huntbach <mmh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
>> OK, I've downloaded the software needed to play BBC clips especially for you.
>>
>> Try:
>>
>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/group/southerncounties-worthing.shtml
>>
>> three speaker from Worthing, Sussex.
>>
>> Ian Hart, the 41 year old is, to me, a typical Estuary English speaker.
>> This is how ordinary people in places like Worthing speak today.
>> However, the image which outsiders have of places like Worthing is that
>> everyone speaks RP there.
>>
>> Cyril Wall, in his 80s, has a Sussex accent. This is the sort of accent
>> that is being replaced by Estuary in places like Worthing. You simply
>> don't hear anyone below middle age speaking like that nowadays.
>>
>> Jean Dutfield, in her 60s, describes her accent as "a bit of a mixture",
>> and so it is. It's closer to RP than the other two, but has slight tones
>> of both Estuary and the old south.
>
>OK, thank you, I've listened several times. In case it helps at all, I'd
>say the most obvious "marker" in Ian's speach is the long-I sound in
>"strides" -- more like "stroides". He repeats it in "I" = "Oi". When
>Americans hear this, we (however mistakenly) think Cockney, London,
>working-class, even Australian. For all I know there are many different
>regional accents in England, all of which say "stroides", but I wouldn't
>know.
>
>The other words I jotted down as being significant were:
>
> say -- it was fleeting, but there is some twist here, towards "sigh".
> rather, Northern, Southern -- ravver, Norv'n, Suv'n
> me trousers -- instead of my trousers
>
>I'd be interested to know how this list compares to what you would note
>down as being significant identifiers.
>
>I see there are more clips, accessed through the photos... Yes,
>listening to the extra clip with Ian, there's that long-A in "age" and
>"day" heading toward "ige" and "di". There's something subtle with
>"school" (the effect of the L, I think) and "about".
>
>My bet is that the A to I and the I to OI is what's most distinctive and
>significant to Americans.

Another interesting one to listen to is Jill Adams on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/group/essex-dengiehundred.shtml

"Jill vents her irritation at the way Essex people are portrayed by
the media - they don't all speak what she describes as estuary
English, dropping the Ts in words like water and butter."

I moved to London from the Midlands in 1961, and no longer
particularly notice local pronunciations that are different from the
ones I grew up with, except for this replacement of Ts - in "bu'er",
"commi'ee", "wa'er" and so on with some sort of stop - which stands
out markedly to my ears in some London accents. Adams makes the point
that her parents' generation didn't speak like that, and my feeling is
that it has crept in right across the region during the past fifty
years or so.
--
Robin
Hoddesdon, England
.

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