L-Vocalisation in London English

Linguists argued that the Cockney dialect, in London, is expected to be replaced by Multicultural London English in the years to come. However, this does not imply that Cockney is dead, as recent research revealed that it just moved to Essex. This paper aims at examining whether (l) vocalisation,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ciancia, Carmen
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari 2023-10-01
Series:Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie Occidentale
Subjects:
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOc/2499-1562/2023/11/001
Description
Summary:Linguists argued that the Cockney dialect, in London, is expected to be replaced by Multicultural London English in the years to come. However, this does not imply that Cockney is dead, as recent research revealed that it just moved to Essex. This paper aims at examining whether (l) vocalisation, a common feature of Cockney, is still present in the London district of Bermondsey. Ten working-class English speakers, stratified by age and sex, have been recorded by means of sociolinguistic interviews. The results, discussed both quantitively and qualitatively, show that: (a) (l) vocalisation is present in all age cohorts, with young speakers favouring the non-standard feature; (b) preceding long vowels trigger (l) vocalisation.
ISSN:2499-1562