Estuary English

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Estuary
Estuary English
Native toEngland
RegionLondon, Home Counties
Early forms
Latin (English alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
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Speech example
An example of a male speaker from the south of Essex (Russell Brand).
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Speech example
An example of a female speaker from the north of Kent (Tracey Emin).
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Estuary English is an English accent, continuum of accents, or continuum of accent features[1] associated with the area along the River Thames and its estuary, including London, since the late 20th century. Phonetician John C. Wells proposed a definition of Estuary English as "Standard English spoken with the accent of the southeast of England".[2] He views Estuary English as an emerging standard accent of England, while also acknowledging that it is a social construct rather than a technically well-defined linguistic phenomenon.[2] He describes it as "intermediate" between the 20th-century higher-class non-regional standard accent, Received Pronunciation (RP), and the 20th-century lower-class local London accent, Cockney. There is much debate among linguists as to where Cockney and RP end and where Estuary English begins, or whether Estuary English is even a single cohesive accent.[2][3][4][5]

  1. ^ Altendorf, Ulrike (2017). Chapter 9: Estuary English. In A. Bergs & L. Brinton (Ed.), Volume 5 Varieties of English (pp. 169-186). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110525045-009
  2. ^ a b c "Estuary English Q and A - JCW". Phon.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  3. ^ Joanna Ryfa (2003). "Estuary English - A controversial Issue?" (PDF). Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Rosewarne, David (1984). Estuary English. Times Educational Supplement, 19 (October 1984)". Phon.ucl.ac.uk. 21 May 1999. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  5. ^ A handout by Wells, one of the first to write a serious description of the would-be variety. Also summarised by him here [1].