Cockney
I’ve bin sat ‘ere
all on me Jack Jones
Overview
► Introduction
Ø Getting started...
Ø Sociolinguistic aspect
Ø What is rhyming slang?
► Morphology
► Phonology
► Idioms
Where is Cockney spoken?
► Bells of St. Mary le Bow
► East End, Stepney, Hackney, Shoreditch Poplar and Bow
Etymology
► Cock’s egg
► Cockaigne
► Introduction
Ø Getting started...
Ø Sociolinguistics
Ø What is Cockney rhyming slang?
► Morphology
► Phonology
► Idioms
Sociolinguistic aspect
► basilectal end of the London accent
► broadest form
► “popular London” is not the same as Cockney
► Stigmatized
► Working class accents
► East Enders
► TV shows (EastEnders BBC)
What is Cockney rhyming slang?
► Pair of associated words
► Rhymes
Morphology
► Use your loaf (of bread) [head]
► Can you lend me your dog and bone? [phone]
► I can smell a raspberry (tart) [fart]
► Are you still having problems with your trouble (and strife)? [wife]
► I’m ironing my uncle (bert) [shirt]
A bit of grammar
► Examples:
ü It’s me book you got ‘ere
ü You ain’t seen nothing yet
ü I didn’t see nuffink
Remember?
► I’ve bin sat ‘ere all on me Jack Jones
► I’ve been sitting here on my own
Phonology: introduction
► Non-rhotic (English R)
► tuner [ˈtjuːnə] vs. tuna [ˈtjuːnə]
► Pronounced /ə/
TH-fronting
► TH-sound
► /θ/ -> [f]
► Examples:
Ø thin = fin
Ø three = free
Ø /ð/ -> [v] (most cases)
Ø /ð/ -> [d] (beginning of words)
Ø Examples:
Ø brother [brʌvə]
Ø bother [bɒvə]
Ø this : ðis -> [dis]
Ø This maths thing is a lot of bother
Ø /dis mafs fing iz ə lɒɁ ə bɒvə/
TH-sound
► English: very narrow mouth
► Cockney: much wider
► Another example:
Ø bath
Glottal stop
► T-sound, especially in the ends of words or in the middle between two vocals
► “Oh owwwwwwwww”
► Examples:
► bitter – [bɪʔə]
► butter – [bʌʔə]
► betting – [bɛʔɪŋ]
► pity – [pɪʔi]
► “What a lot of bother”
► /wɒɁ ə lɒɁ ə bɒvə/
► /p,t,k/ is almost invariably glottalized in final position
► Examples:
► cat =
up =
sock =
H-dropping
► omission of initial /h/
► Examples:
ü harm /ɑːm/
ü heart /ɑːt/
ü hand /ænd/
ü hate /eɪt/
Vowels
► “aɪ” – sound è “ɒɪ”
► like /lɒɪk/ (“oil”)
► nice /nɒɪs/
► tides /tɒɪdz/
Monophthongization
► aɪ (diphthong) -> monophthongized
► Example:
► Window /wɪndoʊ/ -> /wɪndə/
► = diphthong -> low vowel monophthong
Quiz
► She has such long bacons !
► A. Hair
► B. Legs
► C. Holidays
► What beautiful minces !
► A. Stars
► B. Eyes
► C. Flowers
► I don't know what she's rabbiting about.
► A. Talking
► B. Worrying
► C. Thinking
► Hand over the bees.
► A. Money
► B. Salt
► C. Book