Estuary English is an intermediate accent between Cockney andReceived Pronunciation, also widely spoken in and around London, as well as in wider South Eastern England.[7][8][9] Inmulticultural areas of London, the Cockney dialect is, to an extent, being replaced byMulticultural London English—a new form of speech with significant Cockney influence.
The meaning ofCockney comes from its use among rural Englishmen (attested in 1520) as a pejorative term for effeminate town-dwellers,[15][10] from an earlier general sense (encountered in "The Reeve's Tale" ofGeoffrey Chaucer'sThe Canterbury Talesc. 1386) of a "cokenay" as "a child tenderly brought up" and, by extension, "an effeminate fellow" or "amilksop".[16] This may have developed from those sources or separately, alongside such terms as "cock" and "cocker" which both have the sense of "to make anestle-cock ... or the darling of", "to indulge or pamper".[18][19] By 1600, this meaning ofCockney was being particularly associated with theBow Bells area.[4][20] In 1617, the travel writerFynes Moryson stated in hisItinerary that "Londoners, and all within the sound of Bow Bells, are inreproach called Cockneys."[21] The same year,John Minsheu included the term in this newly restricted sense in his dictionaryDuctor in Linguas.[25]
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, especiallynew towns.[26] It also refers to the descendants of those people, in areas where there was enough migration for identification with London to persist in subsequent generations.
Mockney: 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.
Initially, when London consisted of little more than thewalledCity, the term applied to all Londoners, and this lingered into the 19th century.[11] As the city grew, the definitions shifted to alternatives based on dialect or more specific areas; the East End and the area within earshot of Bow Bells.
The East End of London and the vicinity of Bow Bells are often used interchangeably, representing the identity of the East End. The region within the audible range of the bells varies depending on the direction of the wind, but there is a correlation between the two geographic definitions under the typical prevailing wind conditions. The term can apply to East Londoners who do not speak the dialect and those who do.[27]
The informal definition of the East End has gradually expanded to areas including asPoplar,Stratford,West Ham andCanning Town, as these have formed part of London's growingconurbation.
The church ofSt Mary-le-Bow is one of the oldest, largest, and historically most important churches in the City of London. The definition based on being born within earshot of the bells,[28] cast at theWhitechapel Bell Foundry, 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,[29] to carry the sound further to the east, and more often. A 2012 study[30] showed that in the 19th century, and under typical conditions, the sound of the bells would carry as far asClapton,Bow andStratford in the east but only as far asSouthwark to thesouth andHolborn in thewest. An earlier study[31] 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 asShoreditch. According to legend,Dick Whittington heard the bells 4.5 miles away atHighgate Hill, in what is nownorth London. 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 theGreat Fire of London and rebuilt bySir Christopher Wren. Although the bells were destroyed again in 1941 inthe Blitz, they had fallen silent on 13 June 1940 as part of theBritish anti-invasion preparations of World War II. Before they were replaced in 1961, there was a period when, by the "within earshot" definition, no "Bow Bell" Cockneys could be born.[32] The use of such a literal definition produces other problems since the area around the church is no longer residential, and the noise pollution in that area combined with the absence of maternity wards there means that few are born within earshot.[33][34]
Regional definitions are sometimes blurred. Ahead of the 2024–25 season,West Ham United released an away shirt which it called the "Cockney Kit". The promotional material celebrated a Cockney identity forEast London based on a territory rather than dialect.
The kit featured the Bow Bells on the reverse as a symbol of the area, and the promotional video included the church ofSt Mary-le-Bow and parts of East London within earshot of the bells – such asBrick Lane, Upper Clapton andStratford – as well as a scene inRomford, in suburban East London.[35]
Cockney speakers have distinctive accents and dialects and occasionally userhyming slang. TheSurvey of English Dialects took a recording from a long-time resident of Hackney in the 1950s, and theBBC made another recording in 1999 which showed how the accent had changed.[36][37] One of the characteristic pronunciations of Cockney isth-fronting.
The early development of Cockney vocabulary is obscure, but appears to have been heavily influenced byEssex and related eastern dialects,[38] while borrowings fromYiddish, includingkosher (originally Hebrew, via Yiddish, meaninglegitimate) andshtum (/ʃtʊm/ originally German, via Yiddish, meaningmute),[39] as well asRomani, for examplewonga (meaningmoney, from the Romani "wanga" meaning coal),[40] andcushty (Kushty) (from the Romanikushtipen, meaning good) reflect the influence of those groups on the development of the speech.
John Camden Hotten, in hisSlang Dictionary of 1859, refers to "their use of a peculiar slang language" when describing thecostermongers of London's East End.
A dialectological study ofLeytonstone in 1964 found that the area's dialect was very similar to that recorded in Bethnal Green byEva Sivertsen, but there were still some features that distinguished Leytonstone speech from Cockney.[41]
Linguistic research conducted in the early 2010s suggests that today, some aspects of the Cockney accent are declining in usage within multicultural areas, where some traditional features of Cockney have been displaced byMulticultural London English, amultiethnolect particularly common amongst young people from diverse backgrounds.[42] Nevertheless, theglottal stop, double negatives, and thevocalisation of the dark L (and other features of Cockney speech) are among the Cockney influences on Multicultural London English, and somerhyming slang terms are still in common usage.
An influential July 2010 report byPaul Kerswill, professor of sociolinguistics atLancaster University,Multicultural London English: the emergence, acquisition, and diffusion of a new variety, predicted that the Cockney accent would disappear from London's streets within 30 years.[42] The study, funded by theEconomic and Social Research Council, 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 learnedEnglish as a second language", Kerswill said.[42]
A series ofnew 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 ofHemel Hempstead,Basildon, andHarlow, and expanded towns such asGrays,Chelmsford andSouthend. However, this is, except where least mixed, difficult to discern because of common features: linguistic historian and researcher of early dialectsAlexander John Ellis in 1890 stated that Cockney developed owing to the influence of Essex dialect on London speech.[38]
Writing in 1981, the dialectologist Peter Wright identified the building of theBecontree estate inDagenham as influential in the spread of the Cockney dialect. This vast estate was built by theCorporation of London 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.[43] Wright also reports that the 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.[44]
A more distant example where the accent stands out isThetford 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.[45]
Ranges of the short monophthongs of Cockney on a vowel chart, fromBeaken (1971:189, 193). The schwa/ə/ is the word-internal variety; the word-final variety often overlaps with/a/ or even/æ/, which do not occur word-finally./e/ can overlap with/æ/ in the[ɛ] region.Long monophthongs of Cockney on a vowel chart, fromBeaken (1971:197)./ɪː,eː,ɔː,æː/ can feature a centering glide:[ɪə,eə,ɔə,æə]./æː/ has an alternative pronunciation[æw], shown on the chart. TheCURE vowel/ʊː/ is not shown.Diphthongs of Cockney on a vowel chart, fromBeaken (1971:197, 200)./ɪj/ and/ʉw/ are shown on the chart with an unrounded mid central starting point:[əj,əw]./əw/ too begins more open:[ɐw], in theSTRUT area.
As with many accents of the United Kingdom, Cockney isnon-rhotic. A final-er is pronounced[ə] or lowered[ɐ] in broad Cockney. As with all or nearly all non-rhotic accents, the paired lexical setsCOMMA andLETTER,PALM/BATH andSTART,THOUGHT andNORTH/FORCE, are merged. Thus, the last syllable of words such ascheetah can be pronounced[ɐ] as well in broad Cockney.[46][47][48]
The accent featuresT-glottalisation, with use of the glottal stop as anallophone of/t/ in various positions,[50][51] including after a stressed syllable. Glottal stops also occur, albeit less frequently, for/k/ and/p/, and occasionally for mid-word consonants. For example,Richard Whiteing spelled "Hyde Park" asHy' Par'.Like andlight can be homophones. "Clapham" can be said asCla'am (i.e.,[ˈkl̥æʔm̩]).[49] This feature results in Cockney being often mentioned in textbooks aboutSemitic languages while explaining how to pronounce theglottal stop./t/ may also beflapped intervocalically, e.g.utter[ˈaɾə]. London/p,t,k/ are often aspirated in intervocalic and final environments, e.g.,upper[ˈapʰə],utter[ˈatʰə],rocker[ˈɹɔkʰə],up[ˈaʔpʰ],out[ˈæːʔtʰ],rock[ˈɹɔʔkʰ], whereRP 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[pᶲʰ,tˢʰ,kˣʰ]. Affricatives may be encountered in initial, intervocalic, and final position.[52][53]
/θ/ can become[f] in any environment.[fɪn] "thin",[mæfs] "maths".
/ð/ can become[v] in any environment except word-initially when it can be[ð,ð̞,d,l,ʔ,∅].[dæj] "they",[ˈbɔvə] "bother".[55][56]
Yod-coalescence, in words such astune[tʃʰʉwn] orreduce[ɹɪˈdʒʉws] (compare traditional RP[ˈtjuːn,ɹɪˈdjuːs]).[57]
Thealveolar stops/t/,/d/ are often omitted in informal Cockney, in non-prevocalic environments, including some that cannot be omitted in Received Pronunciation. Examples include[ˈdæzɡənə]Dad's gonna and[ˈtəːnˈlef]turn left.[58]
H-dropping. Sivertsen considers that[h] is to some extent a stylistic marker of emphasis in Cockney.[59][60]
/ɪ,ʊ,e,ə,əː,ɔː,æ,ɑː,əw/ correspond to the RP sounds (though/əː/ and/əw/ are most commonly written with ⟨ɜː⟩ and ⟨əʊ⟩, respectively)./ɔː/ can be considered to be an allophone of/ɔw/ (with both corresponding to RP/ɔː/)./ɒw/ also can be considered to be an allophone, a positional variant of/əw/ (with both corresponding to RP/əʊ/) – see below.[62][63]
/ɪː,ʊː,eː/ correspond to the centering diphthongs/ɪə,ʊə,eə/ in traditional RP./ʊː/ is often missing from Cockney, being replaced with/ɔː~ɔw/ or a disyllabic/ʉwə/.[63][65]
The diphthong offsets are only fully close in/ɪj/ and/ʉw/:[əi̯,əʉ̯]. In all other cases, they are more similar to[ɪ̯,ʊ̯] or[e̯,o̯]. According to Beaken,/æj/ and/ɑj/ typically glide towards[e]:[æe̯,ɑe̯],/oj/ towards[ɪ]:[oɪ̯],/əw/ and the wide allophone of/æː/ towards[ʊ]:[ɐʊ̯,æʊ̯], whereas/ɔw/ and/ɒw/ both towards[o]:[ɔo̯,ɒo̯].[69] According to Mott,[e̯,o̯] do not occur at all as glides:[æɪ̯,ɑɪ̯,oɪ̯,ɐʊ̯,æʊ̯,ɒʊ̯] (he does not show/ɪj,ʉw,ɔw/ on his charts).[70] Furthermore, Wells remarks on the laxness of the unrounded offset of/əw/, which is a kind of a centralised[ɤ]:[ɐɤ̯].[71]
In the rest of the article, this is treated as a simple allophonic rule and only ⟨j⟩ and ⟨w⟩ are used for the diphthong offsets. In narrow phonetic transcription, their rounded and unrounded counterparts are written with ⟨ɥ⟩ and ⟨ɰ⟩ (phonetically[ʏ̯~ø̯] and[ɯ̜̽~ɤ̯] in fully narrow transcription). Only the central offglides[ə̯] and[ʉ̯] are transcribed as non-syllabic vowels due to the lack of appropriate glide symbols.
/ɑj/ is realised as[ɑj] or even[ɒj] 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[ɑ̟ə̯~ɑ̟ː]. This means that pairs such aslaugh-life,Barton-biting may become homophones:[lɑːf],[ˈbɑːʔn̩]. But this neutralisation is an optional, recoverable one:[76][bɑjʔ] "bite"
/oj/ is realised as[ɔ̝j~oj]:[76][ˈtʃʰojs] "choice"
/ʉw/ is realised as[əʉ̯] or a monophthongal[ʉː], perhaps with little lip rounding,[ɨː] or[ʊː]:[73][77][bʉːʔ] "boot"
/əw/ typically starts in the area of/a/,[æ̈~ɐ]. The endpoint glides towards[w], but more commonly, it is completely unrounded, i.e.[ɰ]. Thus, the most common variants are[æ̈ɰ] and[ɐɰ], with[æ̈w] and[ɐw] also being possible. The broadest Cockney variant approaches[aw]. There is also a variant that is used only by women, namely[ɐɥ~œ̈ɥ]. In addition, there are two monophthongal pronunciations,[ʌ̈ː] as in 'no, nah' and[œ̈], which is used in non-prominent variants.[78][kʰɐɰʔ] "coat"
/ɪː,ʊː,eː,ɔː,æː/ may all feature centering glides[ɪə̯,ʊə̯,eə̯,ɔə̯,æə̯]. Alternatively,/æː/ may be realised as a closing diphthong[æw]. Wells 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."[79] Furthermore, the main difference between/ɪː,eː,ɔː,æː/ and/ɪ,e,ɔ,æ/ is length, with the quality being secondary. The contrast appears only in the word-internal position, exactly where the monophthongal variants of/ɪː,eː,ɔː,æː/ are the most common. Thus, word pairs such ashis/ɪz/ –here's/ɪːz/,merry/ˈmerɪj/ –Mary/ˈmeːrɪj/,at/æt/ –out/æːt/ andPolly/ˈpɔlɪj/ –poorly/ˈpɔːlɪj/ contrast mainly by length, though/ɔː/ may be slightly higher than/ɔ/.[80]
Disyllabic[ɪjə,ɛjə,ɔwə,æjə] realisations of/ɪː,eː,ɔː,æː/ are also possible, and at least[ɛjə,ɔwə,æjə] are regarded as very strongly Cockney.[81] Among these, the triphthongal realisation of/ɔː/ occurs most commonly.[82] There is not a complete agreement about the distribution of these; according toWells (1982), they "occur in sentence-final position",[74] whereas according toMott (2012), these are "most common in final position".[82]
When diphthongal,/ɪː/ and/eː/ have higher starting points than in RP:[iə̯,e̞ə̯].[48][70] However, Beaken considers the former to be unshifted in comparison with traditional RP:[ɪə̯].[68]
Other vowel differences include
/æ/ may be[ɛ] or[ɛj], with the latter occurring before voiced consonants, particularly before/d/:[48][83][bɛk] "back",[bɛːjd] "bad"
/e/ may be[eə̯],[ej], or[ɛj] before certain voiced consonants, particularly before/d/:[48][84][85][86][bejd] "bed"
According to Wells,/ɔ/ may be somewhat less open than RP/ɒ/, that is[ɔ].[48] Beaken, on the other hand, considers variants no more open than[ɔ] to be the norm:[87][kʰɔʔ] "cot"
/ɑː/ has a fully back variant, qualitatively equivalent tocardinal 5, which Beaken (1971) claims characterizes "vigorous, informal" Cockney.[48]
/əː/ is on occasion somewhat fronted and lightly rounded, giving Cockney variants such as[ə̟ː],[œ̝̈ː].[48]
/a/ is realised as[ɐ̟] or a quality like that of cardinal 4,[a]:[48][83][dʒamʔˈtˢapʰ] "jumped up"
/ɔw/ is realised as[oː] or a closing diphthong of the type[ɔw~ow] when in non-final position, with the latter variants being more common in broad Cockney:[88][89][sɔws] "sauce"-"source",[lɔwd] "laud"-"lord",[ˈwɔwʔə] "water."
/ɔː/ is realised as[ɔː] or a centering diphthong/triphthong of the type[ɔə~ɔwə] when in final position, with the latter variants being more common in broad Cockney; thus[sɔə] "saw"-"sore"-"soar",[lɔə] "law"-"lore",[wɔə] "war"-"wore". The diphthong is retained before inflectional endings, so thatboard/bɔwd/ andpause/pɔwz/ contrast withbored/bɔːd/ andpaws/pɔːz/.[89][ɔə] has a somewhat tenser onset than the cardinal[ɔ], that is[ɔ̝ə].[70]
/əw/ becomes something around[ɒw~ɔw] or even[aɰ] in broad Cockney beforedark l. These variants are retained when the addition of a suffix turns the dark lclear. Thus a phonemic split has occurred in London English, exemplified by the minimal pairwholly/ˈɒwlɪj/ vs.holy/ˈəwlɪj/. The development ofL-vocalisation (see next section) leads to further pairs such assole-soul[sɒw] vs.so-sew[sɐɰ],bowl[bɒw] vs.Bow[bɐɰ],shoulder[ˈʃɒwdə] vs.odour[ˈɐɰdə], while associated vowel neutralisations may makedoll a homophone ofdole, comparedough[dɐɰ]. 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.[90]
/ʊ/ in some words (particularlygood)[91] is central[ʊ̈].[91] In other cases, it is near-close near-back[ʊ], as in traditional RP.[91]
The dialect uses thevocalisation of dark L, hence[ˈmɪwwɔw] forMillwall. The actual realisation of a vocalised/l/ is influenced by surrounding vowels, and it may be realised as[u],[ʊ],[o] or[ɤ]. It is also transcribed as asemivowel[w] by some linguists, e.g., Coggle and Rosewarne.[92] However, according toLadefoged & Maddieson (1996), the vocalised dark l is sometimes an unoccluded lateral approximant, which differs from the RP[ɫ] only by the lack of the alveolar contact.[93] Relatedly, there are many possible vowel neutralisations and absorptions in the context of a following dark L ([ɫ]) or its vocalised version; these include:[94]
In broad Cockney, and to some extent in general popular London speech, a vocalised/l/ is entirely absorbed by a preceding/ɔw/: e.g.,salt andsort become homophones (although the contemporary pronunciation ofsalt/sɔlt/[95] would prevent this from happening), and likewisefault-fought-fort,pause-Paul's,Morden-Malden,water-Walter. Sometimes such pairs are kept apart, in a more deliberate speech at least, by a kind of length difference:[ˈmɔwdn̩]Morden vs.[ˈmɔwːdn̩]Malden.
A preceding/ə/ is also fully absorbed into vocalised/l/. The reflexes of earlier/əl/ and earlier/ɔw(l)/ are thus phonetically similar or identical; speakers are usually ready to treat them as the same phoneme. Thusawful can best be regarded as containing two occurrences of the same vowel,/ˈɔwfɔw/. The difference betweenmusical andmusic-hall, in anH-dropping broad Cockney, is thus nothing more than a matter of stress and perhaps syllable boundaries.
With the remaining vowels, a vocalised/l/ is not absorbed but remains phonetically present as a back vocoid in such a way that/Vl/ and/V/ are kept distinct.
The clearest and best-established neutralisations are those of/ɪ~ɪj~ɪː/ and/ʊ~ʉw/. Thusrill,reel andreal fall together in Cockney as[ɹɪɰ]; whilefull andfool are[fow~fʊw] and may rhyme withcruel[ˈkʰɹʊw]. Before clear (i.e., prevocalic)/l/ the neutralisations do not usually apply, thus[ˈsɪlɪj]silly but[ˈsɪjlɪn]ceiling-sealing,[ˈfʊlɪj]fully but[ˈfʉwlɪn]fooling.
In some broader types of Cockney, the neutralisation of/ʊ~ʉw/ before non-prevocalic/l/ may also involve/ɔw/, so thatfall becomes homophonous withfull andfool[fɔw].
The other pre-/l/ neutralisation which all investigators agree on is that of/æ~æj~æː/. Thus,Sal andsale can be merged as[sæɰ],fail andfowl as[fæɰ], andVal,vale-veil andvowel as[væɰ]. The typical pronunciation ofrailway is[ˈɹæwwæj].
According to Siversten,/ɑː/ and/ɑj/ can also join in this neutralisation. They may, on the one hand, neutralize concerning one another so thatsnarl andsmile rhyme, both ending[-ɑɰ], andChild's Hill is in danger of being mistaken forCharles Hill; or they may go further into a fivefold neutralisation with the one just mentioned, so thatpal,pale,foul,snarl andpile all end in[-æɰ]. But these developments are 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/ɔ~ɔw~a/. It leads to the possibility ofdoll,dole anddull becoming homophonous as[dɒw] or[da̠ɰ]. Wells' impression is that thedoll-dole neutralisation is rather widespread in London, but that involvingdull less so.
One further possible neutralisation in the environment of a following non-prevocalic/l/ is that of/e/ and/əː/, so thatwell andwhirl become homophonous as[wɛw].
Cockney has been occasionally described as replacing/ɹ/ with/w/, for example,thwee (orfwee) instead ofthree,fwasty instead offrosty. Peter Wright, aSurvey of English Dialects 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 elsewhere in Britain.[96] This description may also be a result of mishearing thelabiodental R as/w/, when it is still a distinct phoneme in Cockney.
An unstressed final-ow may be pronounced[ə]. In broad Cockney, this can be lowered to[ɐ].[47][48] This is common to most traditional, Southern English dialects except for those in theWest Country.[97]
Regarding grammar, Cockney usesme instead ofmy, for example,"'At's me book you got 'ere"[ˈæʔsmɪˈbʊkjəˈɡɔʔeː]. (where''ere' means 'there'). It cannot be used when "my" is emphasised; e.g.,"'At'smy book you got 'ere"[æʔsˈmɑjˈbʊkjəˈɡɔʔeː]. It also uses the termain't, as well asdouble negatives, for example, "I didn't see nuffink".[98]
By the 1980s and 1990s, most of the features mentioned above had partly spread into more general south-eastern speech, giving the accent calledEstuary English; an Estuary speaker will use some but not all of the Cockney sounds.[99][100][101]
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 theLondon County Council, 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 theEmpire".[102] 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".[102] 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 theBBC (except in entertainment programs such asThe Sooty Show) was theRP of Standard English, whereas nowadays many different accents, including Cockney or accents heavily influenced by it, can be heard on the BBC.[103] The Cockney accent often featured in films produced byEaling Studios and was frequently portrayed as the typical British accent of the lower classes in movies byWalt Disney, though this was only so in London.
Studies have indicated that the heavy use ofSouth East England accents on television and radio may have caused the spread of Cockney English since the 1960s.[104][105][106][107] Cockney is becoming increasingly influential, and some claim that in the future, many features of the accent may become standard.[108]
Studies have indicated that working-class adolescents in areas such asGlasgow have begun to use certain aspects of Cockney and other Anglicisms in their speech.[109] infiltrating the traditionalGlasgow patter.[110] For example,TH-fronting is commonly found, and typicalScottish features such as the postvocalic/r/ are reduced.[111] Research suggests the use ofEnglish speech characteristics is likely to be a result of the influence of London andSouth East England accents featuring heavily on television, such as the popular BBC One soap operaEastEnders.[104][105][106][107] However, such claims have been criticised.[112]
Certain features of Cockney –Th-fronting,L-vocalisation,T-glottalisation, and the fronting of theGOAT andGOOSE vowels – have spread across the south-east of England and, to a lesser extent, to other areas of Britain.[113] However,Clive Upton has noted that these features have occurred independently in some other dialects, such as TH-fronting in Yorkshire and L-vocalisation in parts of Scotland.[114]
The termEstuary English has been used to describe London pronunciations slightly closer to RP than Cockney. The variety first came to public prominence in an article by David Rosewarne in theTimes Educational Supplement in October 1984.[115] Rosewarne argued that it may eventually replaceReceived Pronunciation in the south-east. The phoneticianJohn C. Wells collected media references to Estuary English ona website. Writing in April 2013, Wells argued that research by Joanna Przedlacka "demolished the claim that EE was a single entity sweeping the southeast. Rather, we have various sound changes emanating from working-class London speech, each spreading independently".[116]
Claude Rains, the actor born inCamberwell in 1889, became famous after abandoning his heavy Cockney accent and developing a uniqueMid-Atlantic accent described as "half American, half English and a little Cockney thrown in"
Legend. The two main characters, Ronnie and Reggie Kray plus a certain number of other characters have a cockney accent.
Peaky Blinders. The characters Alfie Solomons and Billie Kimber speak with a cockney accent.
The Getaway andBlood & Truth are video games released by Sony that center around cockney gangster culture.
Downton Abbey: A New Era. Myrna Dalgleish (played byLaura Haddock) is a silent film actress whose Cockney accent becomes a problem when transition to talking films.
^abHotten, John Camden (1859)."Cockney".A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words. p. 22.Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved25 October 2020.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 lubber-land,Cockaygne.
^Note, however, that the earliest attestation of this particular usage provided by theOxford English Dictionary is from 1824 and consists of a tongue-in-cheek allusion to an existing notion of "Cockneydom".[12]
^"This cokneys and tytyllynges ... [delicati pueri] may abide no sorrow when they come to age ... In these great cytees as London, York, Perusy, and such ... the children be so nicely and wantonly brought up ... that commonly they can little good.[14]
^Cumberledge, Geoffrey. F. N. Robinson (ed.).The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.Oxford University Press. p. 70 & 1063.
^Locke, John (1695).Some thoughts concerning education (Third ed.). p. 7.
^"... I shall explain myself more particularly; only laying down this as a general and certain observation for the women to consider,viz. that most children's constitutions are spoiled, or at least harmed, bycockering andtenderness."[17]
^Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "cocker,v.1" & "cock,v.6". Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1891
^Rowlands, Samuel.The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-Vaine. 1600.
^"Bow Bells". London.lovesguide.com. Archived fromthe original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved1 October 2010.
^"A Cockney or a Cocksie, applied only to one born within the sound of Bow bell, that is in the City of London". Note, however, that his profferedetymology — from either "cock" and "neigh" or from theLatinincoctus — were both erroneous.[22] The humorousfolk etymology which grew up around the derivation from "cock" and "neigh" was preserved byFrancis Grose's 1785A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: "A citizen of London, being in the country, and hearing a horse neigh, exclaimed, Lord! How that horse laughs! A by-stander telling him that noise was called Neighing; the next morning, when the cock crowed, the citizen toshew he had not forgotten what was told him, cried out, Do you hear how the Cock Neighs?"[23][24]
^Upton, Clive (2012). "Modern Regional English in the British Isles". In Mugglestone, Lynda (ed.).The Oxford History of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 395.
^McCabe, Susan (28 April 2010). "The British Hitchcock: Epistemologies of Nation, Gender and Detection".Modernist Cultures.5 (1). Edinburgh University Press:127–144.doi:10.3366/E2041102210000109.Hitchcock, a Cockney, who made 'low' art, delving into criminals within a collapsing social order
^Hildebrandt, Melinda (16 May 2016). "Bob Hoskins". In McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (eds.).Encyclopedia of British film. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
Cruttenden, A. (2001).Gimson's Pronunciation of English (6th ed.). London: Arnold.
Ellis, Alexander J. (1890).English dialects: Their Sounds and Homes.
Hughes, Arthur; Trudgill, Peter (1979).English Accents and Dialects: An Introduction to Social and Regional Varieties of British English. Baltimore: University Park Press.
