XV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2023

Estuary English accent is similar to Received Pronunciation but it is heavily influenced by the London Cockney accent. A linguist David Rosewarne provided a definition of the Estuary English accent in 1984. It looked in the following way: “Estuary English is a variety of modified regional speech. It is a mixture of non-regional and local south-eastern English pronunciation and intonation. If one imagines a continuum with RP and London speech at either end, Estuary English speakers are to be found grouped in the middle ground. The heartland of this variety lies by the banks of the Thames and its estuary, but it seems to be the most influential accent in the south-east of England”.

As David Rosewarne and other linguists suggest, Estuary is a type of accent found in Southeast England. Notably, it is found in parts of the region beyond London itself: Essex, Sussex, Kent, Berkshire, and such [1].

The spread of the Estuary English accent has certainly been noticeable in recent years. London-influenced speech can now be heard around three areas – the Humber in the north-east, the Dee in the north-west, and the Severn in the west – at least partly because of the relatively easy rail and motorway commuting networks. With Hull, Chester, and Bristol now only just over two hours from London, the morning and evening transport routes to and from the capital carry many people who speak with an accent which shows the influence of their place of work [2, p. 374].

Each accent has its own distinctive features. Distinctive features are the properties of linguistic units that distinguish these units from other units of the same level, which either do not possess the given properties or possess the opposite properties.

Phoneticians, for example, John Wells, identify a small number of key features that may distinguish Estuary English from RP. There are several distinctive features of vowels found in the Estuary accent.

Feature 1. HappY-tensing. It describes the change of the /ɪ/ sound at the end of words. The sound in EE changes from the normally used [I] in bit to the longer and lower [i:] in beat. For example, funny [ˈfʌni] -> [ˈfʌni:] [3].

Feature 2. Diphthong Shift. It means changes in some vowels and diphthongs to such an extent that this leads to the appearance of phonetic homophones. For example, say [seɪ] -> [sai] [4].

There are more examples of the Diphthong Shift found in the speech of native speakers.

Example 1. Wholly/holly split. It takes place when the [ə] sound appears before the [l] sound, it’s replaced by more open and back [ɒ] sound. For example, wholly [ˈhəʊli] -> [ˈhɒʊli], dole [dəʊl] -> [dɒʊl].

Example 2. Doll/dole merger. It takes place when the [ɒ] sound appears before the [l] sound, it’s replaced by the diphthong [ɒʊ]. For example, doll [dɒl] -> [dɒʊl], golf [gɒlf] -> [gɒʊlf]. When it exists alongside the previous vowel-change, it means that the words doll and dole are phonetic homophones.

There are several distinctive features of consonants as well.

Feature 1. L-vocalization. It is expressed in vocalization of “dark” [l], single or in a consonant at the end of a word, pronouncing [w] or [u] instead of [l]. For example, milk [mɪlk] -> [mɪwk], special [ˈspɛʃəl] -> [ˈspɛʃəw].

Feature 2. Glottal stop. It is expressed in the glottalization of the consonant [t] in words, which gives the impression of abrupt speech. The [t] sound is replaced by a glottal stop. For example, disability [ˌdɪsəˈbɪlɪti] -> [ˌdɪsəˈbɪlɪʔi], football [ˈfʊtbɔːl ] -> [ˈfʊʔbɔːl ] [5].

Feature 3. Replacing [th]. It is expressed in replacing the sound [th] depending on the word with the sounds [f], [v]. For example, thing [θɪŋ] -> [fɪŋ], with [wɪð] -> [wɪv].

Feature 4. H-dropping. H-sound is removed when it appears at the beginning of words. It usually affects function words. For example, he hasn‘t [hiː ˈhæznt] -> [iː ˈæznt] [6].

Feature 5. Non-rhotic. Non-rhotic speakers generally don't pronounce the sound [r]. For example, park [pɑːrk] (AmE) -> [pɑːk]. However, Estuary English native speakers use Linking R and Intrusive R in their speech.

Example 1. Linking R. The linking R is corresponds to the sound [r] between two consecutive morphemes where it would not normally be pronounced. For example, her mother is [hɜː ˈmʌðə ɪz] -> [hɜː ˈmʌðə r ɪz].

Example 2. Intrusive R. The Intrusive R is putting the sound [r] when there is no R at all. For example, America is a big country [əˈmɛrɪkə ɪz ə bɪɡ ˈkʌntri] -> [əˈmɛrɪkə r ɪz ə bɪɡ ˈkʌntri] [5].

To sum it up, Estuary English accent has its own distinctive features, it’s quite spread, but it will not replace the RP. Accent influences the evaluation of personality of a speaker, and therefore, the perception of accents plays a significant role in the intercultural communication.

References

Estuary English in the 21st Century // Dialect Blog. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://dialectblog.com/2011/06/04/estuary-english/ (дата обращения: 20.12.2022).

D.Crystal The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. - 3-e изд. - Bangor: Cambridge University Press, 2018. - 580 с.

EstuaryEnglish // UCL. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/rosew.htm (дата обращения: 20.12.2022).

Learn British accents and dialects – Cockney, RP, Northern, and more! // YouTube. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDdRHWHzwR4&t=970s (дата обращения: 20.12.2022).

Estuary English Accent with Ricky Gervais and Jamie Oliver // YouTube. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3JSMe2QSfc (дата обращения: 20.12.2022).

British English Pronunciation – Estuary Accent // YouTube. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EajbRkaMvOE (дата обращения: 20.12.2022).