The Cockney Dialect
Ahve you seen my titfah?: The History, Dialect, and Slang of East London
Christopher Sharpe
Ohio University
November 7th, 2011
It’s rhyming slang you know, like bee’s honey… money. Like I could say give me the bee’s (TV Movies, 2011). This is an example of the Cockney Rhyming Slang from the dialect of the same name produced in East London. The Cockney dialect has not only been prominent in East London but in London as whole. The lower working class of London has spoken the Cockney dialect for centuries, while the upper classes of England spoke a standard dialect of English called Received Pronunciation (Baugh, 1983). Historically the Cockney dialect was considered the ‘poor mans’ speech and was frowned upon by the upper echelon of not only London but in England as a whole. Almost reminiscent of how the language of the Appalachian area of the United States for centuries has also been considered in negative tones. In the sense that they are from the “poor” part of the country and that their dialect portrays that of ignorance.
Until recently, the Cockney dialect has endured through years of sporadic abandonment and various social pressures (Baugh, 1983). The reason for this is the strong will from the community who speak with this accent and their willingness to fight for the general populations’ rights at-large (Baugh).
One of the major factors behind the Cockney language surviving, as long as it has, is due in part to the romantic poetry called ‘The Cockney Style’ (Cronin, 2002). During the early 1800s many romantic poets began to use the Cockney dialect, as well, as the Cockney society as a whole to form a style of poetry (Cronin). One of the founding members and front-runners of this ‘Cockney style’ of poetry was John Keats (Cronin).
Not much is known about John Keats’ early child hood; however, it is known he was born on the outskirts of Northern London in 1795 (Bate, 1963). It is known how
Sharpe 2 strongly Keats worked and
Christopher Sharpe
Ohio University
November 7th, 2011
It’s rhyming slang you know, like bee’s honey… money. Like I could say give me the bee’s (TV Movies, 2011). This is an example of the Cockney Rhyming Slang from the dialect of the same name produced in East London. The Cockney dialect has not only been prominent in East London but in London as whole. The lower working class of London has spoken the Cockney dialect for centuries, while the upper classes of England spoke a standard dialect of English called Received Pronunciation (Baugh, 1983). Historically the Cockney dialect was considered the ‘poor mans’ speech and was frowned upon by the upper echelon of not only London but in England as a whole. Almost reminiscent of how the language of the Appalachian area of the United States for centuries has also been considered in negative tones. In the sense that they are from the “poor” part of the country and that their dialect portrays that of ignorance.
Until recently, the Cockney dialect has endured through years of sporadic abandonment and various social pressures (Baugh, 1983). The reason for this is the strong will from the community who speak with this accent and their willingness to fight for the general populations’ rights at-large (Baugh).
One of the major factors behind the Cockney language surviving, as long as it has, is due in part to the romantic poetry called ‘The Cockney Style’ (Cronin, 2002). During the early 1800s many romantic poets began to use the Cockney dialect, as well, as the Cockney society as a whole to form a style of poetry (Cronin). One of the founding members and front-runners of this ‘Cockney style’ of poetry was John Keats (Cronin).
Not much is known about John Keats’ early child hood; however, it is known he was born on the outskirts of Northern London in 1795 (Bate, 1963). It is known how
Sharpe 2 strongly Keats worked and
Bibliography: Bate, J. (1963). John keats. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MFiUQgwg9VgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=History of John Keats&ots=HSmC-U5wXe&sig=qNoHdCsAUhwNRlJGjdoCAHkESiQ Wells, J. (1997). What is estuary english?. Retrieved from Wikipedia. (2011, November 04). Rhyming slang [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyming_slang TV Movies, G