XIV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2022

It is not a secret that the UK has some of the highest levels of accent diversity in the English-speaking world. The accent that is generally associated with young generation and working-class people from ethnic minority backgrounds called Multicultural London English.

It may seem that this accent is new to London because it is getting exposure now as some biggest celebrities of London use it. But linguists believe that MLE developed over the past thirty years due to the close contact between speakers from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds in multiethnic parts of London. MLE is rooted in the widespread migration from the Caribbean to the UK following World War II, as well as migration from other areas such as South Asia and West Africa. Distinctive Black British slang did not become widely visible until the 1970s. The popularity of Jamaican music in the UK, such as reggae and ska, led to the emergence of slang rooted in Jamaican patois being used in the UK, setting the foundation for what would later become known as MLE. Research conducted in the early 1980s concluded that adolescents of Afro-Caribbean descent were 'bidialectal', switching between Jamaican creole and London English; while white working-class adolescents would sometimes use creole words, they largely spoke cockney at home. In 1985, Smiley Culture, a British musician of Jamaican and Guyanese heritage, released "Cockney Translator", one of the first examples of British 'white slang' and British 'Black slang' appearing side-by-side on a record (however, still distinct from each other). While Smiley Culture was commenting on how the two forms of slang were very distinct from each other and lived side-by-side, more natural fusions would become common in later years. As the media became more aware of MLE in the 2000s, a variety of names emerged to describe it such as "Nang slang", "Blinglish", "Tikkiny", or "Blockney". MLE is sometimes referred to as "Jafaican", conveying the idea of "fake Jamaican", because of popular belief that it stems solely from immigrants of Jamaican and Caribbean descent. However, research suggests that the roots of MLE are more varied: two Economic and Social Research Council funded research projects found that MLE has most likely developed as a result of language contact and group second language acquisition. According to research conducted at Lancaster University and Queen Mary University of London in 2010, "In much of the East End of London the Cockney dialect... will have disappeared within another generation.... it will be gone [from the East End] within 30 years.... It has been 'transplanted' to... [Essex and Hertfordshire New] towns." It is fair to say that MLE has replaced Cockney as the local accent in the East End of London, especially among young people. Although it has London in its name, you’ll actually hear it all over England in mixed urban areas. The key feature of this accent is its ability to adapt to the people using it, so it keeps changing.

Distinctive features of vowels

MLE has very characteristic vowel sounds, with many of them made between the centre and the front of the mouth. The long sounds in RIGHT, NOW, GO and DO are very distinctive of this accent. Other front vowels are slightly more relaxed than in standard English like those in FEED, DEAR and BAT. But, the key feature of this accent is that there is plenty of variation from one speaker to other and it is the same with sentences too. So, let’s look at some sounds in more detail:

/eɪ/ [ëɪ,ëː]

This sound varies a lot in MLE, it can be a monophthong [ëː] PAY, WAY, TAKE or a diphthong [ëɪ] PAY, WAY, TAKE, or a bit of a mixture:

“Take the train now Dave or you’ll be late.”

/ʌɪ/ [ɜ̟ː]

This is pronounced as a single position, slightly front sound [ɜ̟ː] LIKE, FIND, WHITE

“Why don’t you try size nine?”

/aʊ/ [ɐ̟ː]

The sound in HOW, ROUND, and OUT is often pronounced as a single nearly open vowel which can be to the front [æː] or fairly central [ɐː], it can also have a slightly diphthongal quality to it [ɐu]:

“How about we go round his house now?”

/əʊ/ [oʊ,oː]

This diphthong sound starts with the tongue to the back in MLE [oʊ]: GO, LOAD, OVER, WINDOW but the second part is often dropped so it can just be [oː].

“I don’t know why he goes over the road to phone, though.”

Distinctive features of consonants

MLE shares many consonant sound variations with cockney like the TH sounds (THINK, THEM), and glottal stops (WATER). But it does have some unique features like the back contact in /k,g/ (CARGO), front contact for /s,z/ (SIZE) and the inclusion of the sound /h/ (HAT). Let’s look at some features in more detail:

/θ,ð/ /t,d,f,v/

In MLE, TH sounds are either /f,v/ THANKS, BOTHER, or /t,d/ THANKS, BOTHER, or even mixture of all four:

“He thinks he’s the babyfather.”

/t/ [ʔ]

MLE shares the cockney use of glottal stops [ʔ] for /t/ after vowel and consonant sounds FOOTBALL, LIGHTLY, BETTER.

“Don’t keep me waiting tonight, alright?”

/ŋ/ /n/

Like most regional accents in England, ‘ng’ endings are pronounced /n/ WORKIN’, WRITIN’, WALKIN‘

“I was thinking of going to buy something.”

/h/

MLE speakers tend to pronounce /h/: HAT, HOME, AHEAD. This is a key difference from cockney, which does not normally include /h/ at all:

MLE: “It’s too hot with the heating on in here.”
Cockney: “It’s too ‘ot with the ‘eating on in ‘ere.”

Conclusion

Therefore, MLE accent spoken predominantly by young people of all ethnicities in and around London. It is an amazing representation of modern Britain, because it draws on influences from all around, so it's a bit like a British stew. It’s fair to say that this accent transcends ethnicity and has its own distinctive phonetic features.

Literature:

The rise of Multicultural London English, innit?, url: https://study.soas.ac.uk/multicultural-london-english/

Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies (MEITS), url: https://www.meits.org/policy-papers/paper/multicultural-london-english-and-social-and-educational-policies

Big up MLE – the origins of London’s 21st century slang (by Sanjana Varghese), url: https://www.newstatesman.com/uncategorized/2017/08/big-mle-origins-londons-21st-century-slang

Multicultural London English – the Urban English Accent (by Pronunciation Studio), url:c https://pronunciationstudio.com/mle-multicultural-london-english-accent/

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