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How can I (from the US) best learn the 'Estuary' English accent?
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| ali92 |
Not sure how many on here will know what I am talking about, but I would like to learn (or improve my use of) an English accent that has been called Estuary English (named from the area around the Thames Estuary). I can do RP not all that badly (I'm probably 85 to 90 % accurate) and would like to learn an accent that is more modern and local rather than something that's used in artificial settings like whatever broadcasts that still use RP.
How long should it take me to learn another accent, provided I can train myself (who should I do to? some kind of speech therapist or something?)? Maybe 10 years? Is there a trick to re-learning how to pronounce and use the right stresses in words at the right times? If anyone on here's up to teaching me (though it would have to be on-line unless you're in the northeast US), I can offer a decent rate.
Thanks... |
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| Ian |
| you can't. Just deal with whatever one you're dealt and stop trying. If it happens, it happens naturally over time. |
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| Sushipunk |
Don't listen to Ian, he's just jaded.
Ali92, what you want is a Newcastle accent. It's quick to learn, easy to understand, and considered quite desirable these days.
Failing that, then the next best accent would be a Liverpool accent. That's where The Beatles come from! And you know how cool they sound. The accent never gets old. |
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| Ian |
jaded like a fox :p
on the plus side, my dads cousin from adelaide is over for 2 weeks so hopefully im gonna see her this week, it's been 10 years already since last time and she's a good 10 years older than he is so might not be over again. It took her 20 years to even sound remotely aussie. |
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| Lira |
Here's what you need to do, Ali:
- Watch British television and listen to their radio programmes. You'll never speak Estuary English properly if it doesn't sound familiar to you;
- Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet and study phonetics until the following description of Estuary English makes sense to you:
- It is a Non-rhotic accent, and the intrusive R is all but uncommon.
- It's also characterised by the use of the broad A (ɑː) in words such as bath, grass, laugh, etc.
- T-glottalization: realizing non-initial, most commonly final, /t/ as a glottal stop instead of an alveolar stop, e.g. water (pronounced /wɔːʔə/).
- Yod-coalescence, i.e., the use of the affricates [dʒ] and [tʃ] instead of the clusters [dj] and [tj] in words like dune and Tuesday. Thus, these words sound like June and choose day, respectively.
- L-vocalisation, i.e., the use of [o], [ʊ], or [ɯ] where RP uses [ɫ] in the final positions or in a final consonant cluster.
- The wholly-holy split. It all began when the diphthong of "goat" /ʌʊ/ developed an allophone [ɒʊ] before "dark" (nonprevocalic) /l/. Thus "goal" no longer had the same vowel as "goat" ([ɡɒʊl] vs. [ɡʌʊt]).[12] In the second phase, the diphthong [ɒʊ] spread to other forms of affected words. For example, the realization of "rolling" changed from [ɹʌʊlɪŋ] to [ɹɒʊlɪŋ] on the model of "roll" [ɹɒʊl]. This led to the creation of a minimal pair for some speakers: "wholly" [hɒʊli] vs. "holy" [hʌʊli] and thus to phonemicization of the split.
- Don't be afraid of th-fronting, though it's somewhat stigmatised. When th-fronting is applied, /θ/ becomes /f/ (for example, three is pronounced as free) and /ð/ becomes / v/ (for example, with is pronounced as wiv). Th-fronting occurs (historically independently) in Cockney, Newfoundland English, African American Vernacular English, Liberian English, Estuary English, as well as in many foreign accents (though the details differ among those accents).
- H-dropping, i.e., Dropping [h] in stressed words (e.g. [æʔ] for hat) is not common. As I recall it, I didn't 'ear anyone in London doing it.
- Work on your vowels as well. Here's a comparison between American English and British English concerning the quality of the vowels used in each variant:
 
- Pay some attention to the diphthongs as well. In South-East England, the following traits are quite common: GOAT-fronting to [əʏ] (described above); "RP" variant in MOUTH [aʊ]; low-back onset of PRICE [ɑɪ] lowered/unrounded from [ʌɪ], [ɔɪ] or [ɒɪ]; raising of onset of FACE to [ɛ̝̝ɪ]; fronting of GOOSE to [ʏː]; fronting of FOOT; lowering and backing of TRAP; and backing of STRUT. Finally in London there's the diphthongal realization of /iː/ and /uː/, for example beat [ˈbɪit], boot [ˈbʊʉt]; diphthongal realization of /ɔː/ in open syllables, for example bore [ˈbɔə], paw [ˈpɔə] versus a monophthongal realization in closed syllables, for example board [ˈboːd], pause [ˈpoːz] (but the diphthong is retained before inflectional endings, so that board and pause can contrast with bored [ˈbɔəd] and paws [ˈpɔəz]); lengthening of /æ/ in a few words such as man, sad, bag etc., leading to a split of /æ/ into two phonemes /æ/ and /æː/, as in Australian English.
- After you've mastered the IPA, do some more research on this topic
Have fun! By the way, what's your native language, Ali? I chose to study Estuary English because I grew up being influenced by British TV/music quite a lot, and many characteristics of Estuary English (such as the L-Vocalisation) are very common in Brazilian Portuguese, so it was just a matter of learning the accent that reminded me the most of my own accent in my mother tongue :)
Edit: Some IPA characters disappeared, but I'm working on it, hold on.
Edit 2: Oh, it's just my computer acting up. Meh. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sushipunk
Failing that, then the next best accent would be a Liverpool accent. That's where The Beatles come from! And you know how cool they sound. The accent never gets old. |
I'm living in Liverpool at the moment, and sweet zombie Jesus it's a horrible accent. |
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| Ian |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
I'm living in Liverpool at the moment, and sweet zombie Jesus it's a horrible accent. |
it is awful, but I'm on the cusp of the west midlands & the further towards birmingham you go, the worst the accents get, anywhere from tamworth, lichfield etc all have bits of it & it's a horrid one. Also the somerset/farmer one isn't good and I once met this really hot girl who was from Ipswich & her accent was horrid, kinda like a bastardisation of a southern/essex/london type one. East Midlands/North ones (mostly) ftw |
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| Frenkieee |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sushipunk
Ali92, what you want is a Newcastle accent. It's quick to learn, easy to understand, and considered quite desirable these days.
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I met two girls from Newcastle a year ago. Couldn't understand a word they were saying when speaking to each other. Though I have to admit, I'm having the same issues when hearing players or coaches talk at something like Match of the Day on BBC1 and I haven't got a clue in which accents they are all talking.
I prefer a generic American accent. In high school, we were taught English, but with all the video games, tv shows and movies, I've adapted American pronunciation. |
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| verndogs |
| Ali how are your debt problems? Did you run away from it or resolve it? |
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| Allied Nations |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ian
I once met this really hot girl |
i call bs :thepirate |
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| Ian |
| quote: | Originally posted by Allied Nations
i call bs :thepirate |
for arguments sakes, she might not have been english. does that work, greg ? :p |
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| Sushipunk |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
I'm living in Liverpool at the moment, and sweet zombie Jesus it's a horrible accent. |
:stongue: I know, it's awful. |
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