Re: British term

 
----- Original Message -----
> From: "maryann@kih.net" <maryann@kih.net>
   
>
>
> What do they say about a "Cockney accent"?  This seems to be the go-to
> accent for Americans who want to sound British in a humorous way, and actors who
> don't want to try too hard to acquire an accent.  I knew a kid who went to
> my high school who was very handsome and charismatic (and a nice kid as well)
> who went to HOLLYWOOD! and got a couple roles in science fiction straight to
> Sony Betamax video films.  Also a guest spot as Daphne's British boyfriend
> on Frazier.  There was no internet commentary back then, but recently I looked
> him up and found a listing of all Frazier episodes with comments.  He was
> roundly trashed for the accent.  I don't know if this ruined his career, but
> now he is writing scripts.

Cockney is an interesting one, as the tabloids were upset when a Museum of London study showed that many Londoners only know the most basic Cockney rhyming slang. (I like a newish one, 'Barack Obamas' for 'pyjamas'. :)  Huge headlines with 'Cockney Dying Out: OMG the world is Ending', such as here. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1291365/You-wont-Adam-Eve-The-cockney-accent-moving-Hertfordshire-Essex.html

For years, though, Cockney was looked down upon. Go figure. Language changes and so do attitudes towards it. Jonathan Swift decried how the language was being ruine

Of course, the author of this article labelled what's known by linguists as Multicultureal London English (MLE) as 'Jafaican', which is a misnomer, as MLE does have some bits and pieces from Jamaican English, but it also has contributions from West Africa, Australia, India and Cockney itself, among others. MLE doesn't discriminate by ethnicity, race, religion or gender. There's a good video with impressionist Alastair McGowan that was aired on the One Show about Cockney and MLE -- and Cockeny moving to Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire, perhaps mixing up a bit with more native accents in those places and with Estuary English as well etc.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyd3VMoG3WM

Linguist Paul Kerswill's TED talk compares MLE, Cockney and Estuary English, completely refuting David Starkey's incredibly ignorant, racist remarks on Newsnight in August 2011 about how the London Riots were all about white kids trying to sound black by speaking Jafaican. *sigh*

Here are the results from an ITV commissioned poll on UK accents released last year. http://www.itv.com/news/2013-09-25/28-of-britons-feel-discriminated-against-due-to-accent/  They also aired a thirty-minute show to go with it.

Usually, I hear Americans trying to sound RP and doing it badly. I would have thought that after Dick Van Dyke's disastrous turn in 'Mary Poppins' that Americans would avoid Cockney unless they could do it very well. I moved here long after sociolinguistic maturation, so I'd have to go to a voice coach to pick up any British accent. I still sound very American, although it has softened quite a bit and I use British terminology. I say 'aluminium' and not 'aluminum'; I park in a car park, not a parking lot; I buy petrol for my car, not gasoline etc.

Regarding the Bath Spa University study, it was interesting in that it aws the first study that placed a regional accent (Yorkshire) higher than RP (Received Pronunciation -- think old-fashioned BBC English) for status. Usually, RP is placed high for status and low for solidarity, with the reverse for regional accents. Yorkshire was only rate a tiny bit higher than RP, but it was the first time that sort of rating happened in a study.

Can you tell that I like teaching the accents and dialect unit? :)

Ellen

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