CLASSICAL COCKNEY DIALECT(adapted from Stage Dialects by J. Blunt, Accents by R. Blumenfeld, P. Meier, and direct observation)

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS Used in works of Shakespeare, Jonson, George B. Shaw, Dickens, Pinter, J. Cartwright; Cockney refers to residents of London, usually the east end of London (within earshot of the

Bow Bells or the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow church in Eastside). It is about a 5-6 mile radius; In the 1500’s Cockneys emerged as a group and despite desperate economic circumstances

(barely employed as pushcart workers, dock workers, servants, thieves) as well as suffering may casualties during the plague – they survived. The people who emerge from all of this are tough, independent, cunning individuals – the Darwinian “survivor”. As they become more prosperous and less malnourished, the dialect becomes less nasal (adenoidal).

The Supernanny, Michael Caine, Christian Bale in The Prestige, Bob Hoskins in Mona Lisa are Cockneys;

This dialect/group of people uses a great deal of slang called rhyming slang (first published reference 1859). The first word of a phrase is used to mean something the phrase rhymes with. The second part of the phrase is dropped.

“Apples and pears” rhymes with stairs Apples = stairs

“Plate of meat” rhymes with feet Plates = feet

“I went up the apples on my plates” translates to “I went up the stairs on my feet”

“bread and honey rhymes with money Bread = money

Other slang substitutions:1. For “very” are: bleedin’, bloomin’ bloody, flamin’;2. They also (often, not always) talk in the present tense when relating a past story: I goes

to the store last Wednesday and I find meself a dress – I buys it….)3. Use of “me” for “my”4. Use of double negative ( I didn’t see nothing);

SELECTED CONSONANT SUBSTITUTIONS

T The Cockney uses a “glottal” stop which is a catch or choked off sound for “t” when it appears

in the middle or the end of a word:Little (li?le), bottle, glottis, pretty, literary, gentleman, What if? Citizen, better, attitude, motive, shatter, lot, gotOR The Cockney will use a dentalized “t” that sounds like a “ts” (more contemporary)

You got a lot a nerve to close the glottisThe tittle tattle paid off for pretty Betty.

H The Cockney drops the initial “h” and the ending “ing”:

Home (‘ome) hide, Henry (‘Enery), who (‘oo), prohibit, behead, mohair, hand, hat, how

Walkin, runnin’, talkin’, feelin’

TH The Cockney replaces the medial or final voiced “th” with a v:

Together (tegevA), Mother , with (wiv), other, without, slither, breathe, bothersome, either

The Cockney replaces the initial voiced “th” with a d or it is dropped altogether:

This (dis) That (dat) or That’s right (‘ass roy)

The Cockney replaces the medial and initial unvoiced “th” with an “f”

Thing (fing), nothing (nofing or nofin’ or nofink), something, think (fink), anything, both, Cathy, thin

L The final L is sometimes replaced by a “dark l” in words like milk (miook) and table (tayboo)

Tittle (ti?oo) tattle (ay?oo), cattle, call, middle, pill, elbow.

The tongue does not contac the alveolar ridge (bump behind top teeth). It becomes a lip rounded back vowel.

SELECTED VOWEL SUBSTITUTIONS

Most Cockney vowels are dipthongs (two stage vowels) They include:

An “oi” (sometimes sounds like “aw” before a consonant) substituted in words like:Sign (soign), night, time, I, why, like, dry, Eliza, fight, blight, five, tiger, find

We had a right fine time. At night, Eliza signed the flight.

The Cockney substitutes an “ai” for “ei” in words like:Day, rain, place, name, break, obtain, paper, stranger, Shakespeare

It was a great shame the paper got lost in the rain. Shakespeare had an able representation in case.

The “oo” in “too” becomes an “uh” plus “oo”Too, boot, who, boost, Coo! What gave the boot to the youth?

The “ee” in “ee” becomes a combination of “uh” in “up” and “i” in “it” in words like: Me, see, speak, tea, beat, need. The bee did not need my tea.

SHARED CONSONANT AND VOWEL CHANGES WITH RP

R Cockney is non-rhotic (r-less) when the r appears in the middle and end of a word. Exceptions

occur when the r appears between two vowels. In the case of the Cockney: it is pronounced.

Burn, barn, born, sister, hire, where, beer, flower, bird, bored, bard, butler, spare, spire, fear, blower, pliers, spark, lark

Exceptions: sorry, very, cigarette, tarry, marry, character, narrow

Broad AW (almost impossible to make this too lip rounded!) This is a long, open, mid back vowel

Paul, autumn, awful, flawless, call, wall, walk, talk, thought, law, daughter, water

Long A shifts and broadens to AH (especially before: ss, nc, th)

Pass, past, dance, chance, fancy, ask, answer, laughter, bath, can’t

There are many exceptions including:Caffeine, sapphire, can, hand, bat, admire, admire, sandwich, stand, grand, fantasy, math, has, mass, gas

“tory” “tary” “berry” “bury” ending tend to be compressed in words like:

Laboratory, secretary, dictionary, obligatory, monetary, raspberry

PRACTICE SENTENCES IN EYE DIALECT

1. I think that’s stupid! Aw fink as styoopid!

2. I’ll have a nice cup of teaWith a little bit of milk and sugar Aw ev e noys kA’ e tsee wif e li?’oo bi? E miook en

shoo’gA

3. I know that’s what I said; Aw now ass wa? Aw sed;At least I thought so. A? Lees aw Faw? Sow