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 1500s 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 didnt see nothing);
SELECTED CONSONANT SUBSTITUTIONS

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, got

OR The Cockney will use a dentalized t that sounds like a ts

(more contemporary)
You got a lot a nerve to close the glottis
The tittle tattle paid off for pretty Betty.

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 Thats 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

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

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, cant
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 thats stupid!

Aw fink as styoopid!

2. Ill have a nice cup of tea

With a little bit of milk and sugar
Aw ev e noys kA e tsee wif e li?oo bi?
E miook en shoogA

3. I know thats what I said;

At least I thought so.

Aw now ass wa? Aw sed;

A? Lees aw Faw? Sow