The Cockney accent is synonymous with East London legends such as Barbara Windsor and Michael Caine.
But even if it’s not Adam and Eve, researchers say the dialect has now become “one of the most influential accents” in the world.
According to linguistics expert Dr Amanda Cole, from the University of Essex, the distinctive accent has changed the way people speak across the UK, from Reading to Glasgow.
Most surprisingly, Dr. Cole has discovered that the Cockney dialect has even influenced speakers as far away as Australia and New Zealand.
While the Cockney accent is on the decline in its native heartland of London, this iconic dialect now lives mainly in Essex.
Thanks to migration out of London after the Second World War, you are now much more likely to hear the distinctive vowels and dropped ‘h’ of the Cockney accent in Chelmsford than in Cheapside.
Dr Cole says: “What we found is that Cockney has been really influential, particularly in Essex and across the South East and the country.
And many people’s accents have been changing to become more Cockney. Not exactly Cockney, more estuary English.
The Cockney accent might be more associated with East London legends like Barbara Windsor (pictured) but researchers say it is actually one of the most influential accents in the world.
Traditionally, a Cockney was someone born within earshot of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside (pictured). However, the influence of the accent has spread throughout the United Kingdom and even as far as Australia.
Traditionally, a true Cockney was said to be someone born near Bow Bells, a reference to the church of St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside.
However, the Cockney accent and culture have spread far beyond the six mile radius of those church bells.
The best-known example is Cockney rhyming slang, a now almost extinct dialect that features rhyming codes.
Phrases like “trouble and strife,” meaning wife, or “apples and pears,” meaning stairs, have become well-known even as the dialect itself disappears.
However, it is the distinctive pronunciation of Cockney that has had the greatest impact on speakers across the country.
Previous studies have shown that not even Queen Elizabeth II was immune to Cockney influence.
Comparing her speeches from 1950 to those from 1980, researchers found subtle changes in the way the Queen said words like “goose” or “food.”
In his later speeches, he used a pronunciation a little closer to Cockney than to the Queen’s English, with his tongue slightly more forward in his mouth.
The Cockney accent, as expressed by Sir Michael Caine (pictured), features stressed vowels and words that drop the ‘h’ or ‘g’.
Studies have shown that not even Queen Elizabeth II was immune to the influence of the Cockney accent as her speeches gradually moved towards this dialect between 1950 and 1980. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II meets the ‘King and Queen Pearls” of Newham in 2002.
Dr. Cole said the guardian: ‘I think what’s disappearing is Cockney as this kind of iconic accent: think Barbara Windsor, Ray Winstone. Young people don’t say that.
“But actually, there’s this modified Cockney, this very South-Eastern accent, where a lot of people use features that are quite Cockney.”
After the Second World War, a combination of deindustrialisation and poor living conditions led to more than a million people leaving east London and heading to Essex.
These working-class emigrants carried with them the distinctive characteristics of the Cockney accent.
These include pronouncing “thing” like “fing,” saying “ink” instead of “ing” in words like “something,” or changing the “l” in words like “milk” as a vowel to make it sound like “mewk.”
Dr Cole found that many of those who grew up in Essex after their parents moved from London still overwhelmingly used all of these Cockney elements.
Today, many Essex people like Stacey Solomon still wear many of those traits.
However, Dr Cole notes that younger generations are less likely to drop an ‘h’, say ‘anyfink’ or use exaggerated vowel sounds.
The stereotypical Cockney accent used by actors such as Danny Dyer has declined in London, partly due to ongoing prejudice against working class accents. However, thanks to emigration from London after the Second World War, the characteristics of the Cockney accent still linger in Essex.
writing in The conversationsays Dr. Cole: “Mouth is slightly less likely to become “mahf.”
‘They also say new things that are much less common among their London-raised parents and grandparents, such as “at the end of the day” when introducing the most important point in an argument, or saying “you guys” when referring to more than one topic. person.’
Similarly, Dr Cole points out that many of the negative stereotypes associated with the Cockney accent have now become associated with Essex.
Just as the Cockney accent has traditionally been seen as a marker of social status, people from Essex are considered to sound less intelligent, friendly and trustworthy than people from other parts of southern England.
Dr Cole says: ‘The Cockney dialect has lived a rich and colorful life. He has traveled widely, had a large family of children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and even met the queen. He has not died; now it is simply called “Essex”.
Meanwhile, the Cockney accent has gone on to have a surprising influence far beyond.
Traces of the accent have been found in towns such as Reading, Milton Keynes and Hull.
Likewise, through popular shows such as East Enders, the Cockney dialect has even managed to influence the accent of Glasgow natives almost 400 miles away.
Today, Essex is the most Cockney area of the United Kingdom. People from Essex, like Stacey Solomon, still use pronunciations associated with the East London accent which were brought from London in the 1950s.
Even stranger, Dr Cole says the Cockney accent has influenced speakers in Australia and New Zealand due to immigration from London.
Indeed, while the Cockney accent has weakened in the face of prejudice against working-class accents, those distinctive pronunciations have become even stronger in Australia.
When Londoners came to Australia, they took some of their accent with them, and while some parts have disappeared, others have remained.
Both accents share strong similarities in the way vowels are pronounced in certain words.
Dr Cole says: “Like Cockney, the Australian interpretation of the word ‘bake’ sounds, to many British ears, more like the word ‘bike’, which has the potential to cause some confusion.”