Tag Archives: Cockney

On a Lighter Note …

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Ben

Martin Chilton of The Telegraph wrote a piece yesterday about Mel Gibson‘s accent in the upcoming film, The Beaver, in which Mel adopts a Cockney accent.  Here’s the trailer: Chilton, perturbed by Gibson’s accent, had this to say about it: … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Dem and Dose: “Th” in City Accents

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Ben

I’ve lived in New York City for thirteen years.  In that time, I’ve learned that living in such an intense urban area has a palpable effect on how one communicates.  You have to talk faster, talk louder, talk more frequently, … Continue reading →

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Posted in English Phonetics | Tagged , , , | 52 Comments

Singing in Dialect

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Ben

I was taught early on that listening to singers is a terrible way of getting a sense of their particular accent. This makes sense to some degree, since singing will distorts important distinctions such as vowel length and prosody. But … Continue reading →

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Posted in Miscellaneous Accents and Dialects | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Is the glottal stop bad for you?

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Ben

You may not know what a glottal stop is, but you’ve probably heard one. Already baffled? Let me explain. Ever talk to someone from London who pronounced butter something like “bu’uh?” With the t becoming a kind of “grunt?” The t … Continue reading →

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Posted in English Phonetics | Tagged , , , , | 47 Comments

Mastering the Trap-Bath Split

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Ben

[Update: I made a few slight revisions to this post based on feedback.] (NOTE:  This post uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For information about the IPA, please visit my page of IPA Resources.) What is the #1 thing American actors screw … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , , , | 40 Comments

Rhyming Slang

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Ben

It was inevitable: if you write a blog about English dialects, eventually you will write a post about Cockney rhyming slang. For you confused Americans out there, here is the basic jist of rhyming slang: 1.) Take any word in … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , | 7 Comments

The Wild World of the English “R”

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Ben

Compared to other languages, consonants in English don’t vary that much from dialect to dialect. Our vowels are all over the map, but our consonants don’t change much. For example, the English “m” hasn’t budged since the days of Old … Continue reading →

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Posted in English Phonetics | Tagged , | 25 Comments

Dialect Profile: The Brummie Accent

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Ben

In this series, we discuss different dialects using actual video or audio samples. NOTE: This page uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For information about this notation, please visit my page of IPA Resources. In case you didn’t know, “Brummie” … Continue reading →

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Posted in British English | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Cockney: going the way of New York?

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Ben

As I mentioned yesterday, Harry Mount of the Telegraph suggests that Cockney isn’t dying, but rather has migrated to the suburbs. I won’t comment just yet, but there is an obvious parallel here: the classic New York City dialect. Much … Continue reading →

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Saturday News Roundup: Bad Boston Accents

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Ben

A few dispatches from the word of accents and dialects:   Americans prefer British accents to their own. Gothamis reports that New Yorkers hate their own accents. New York Magazine eviscerates the Boston accents in the new Kennedy miniseries Indian … Continue reading →

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments