What is Estuary English?

edmund80

"Estuary English is a name given to the formulation(s) of English widely spoken in South East England and the East of England; especially along the River Thames and its estuary, which is where the two regions meet. Estuary English is commonly described as a hybrid of Received Pronunciation (RP) and South Eastern Accents, particularly from the London, Kent and Essex area – i.e., the area around the Thames Estuary." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary_English It has been variously described as a modified regional speech that falls somewhere between Cockney and the Queen, while the Minister of Education condemned it as a bastardized version of the Cockney dialect. There are differences in vocabulary, grammar, intonation and vocalization, among other things. From that description, it does not sound unlike the many regional differences we have among the different communities in the U.S., sometimes differences within single communities. http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/EstuaryEnglish.html Oct 07 08, 8:43 PM

author

Yes, but what about some examples and some more analysis? For example, is this type of English really "taking over", as this article from 1997 suggests? Quote: There's a new buzzword going the rounds in England -- Estuary English (EE). It's supposed to be a new kind of English that's due to take over as the new standard English. We're told it's going to replace fuddy-duddy old Received Pronunciation as the standard accent. Not only are all sorts of politicians, sportsmen, and media personalities claimed as typical speakers of it, but even people as eminent as Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, Prince Edward. http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/ Oct 07 08, 9:14 PM

zbeckabee

The intonation in Estuary English is characterized by "frequent prominence being given to prepositions and auxiliary verbs which are not normally stressed in General R.P. Example: "Let us get TO the point." A person speaking Estuary English was being interviewed on London Broadcasting Corporation and stated that "Totters have been in operation FOR years." It was clear, given the response of the interviewer, that four, rather than the intended for, had been heard. There also appears to be a narrower pitch of intonation patterns in Estuary English than in RP. This is especially true where rises do not reach as high a pitch as they would in RP, Rosewarne sees the overall effect as being interpreted as one of "deliberateness" and possibly an "apparent lack of enthusiasm." Cheers is often used in place of thank you, but it’s also possible for it to mean good-bye. The word basically is used frequently in conversation. An increased use of Americanisms can also be seen in EE and evidenced by such examples: There you go being used in place of the more standard Here you are and There is acts as an invariable form of usage in both singular and plural contexts. In addition, sorry is often replaced with excuse me and engaged in the context of the telephone, has been replaced by the word busy. Altendorf (1999) cites the major difference between EE and Cockney as being grammatical correctness. Cockney speakers use more non-standard grammar than do speakers of EE. http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/EstuaryEnglish.html Oct 09 08, 4:54 AM