Cockney: Is it a dialect?

Question

I am wondering about the history of Cockney. For some reason I associate it with Liverpool, so is a regional dialect or slang? Is it recognized as a language? Socially, does it put a person who speaks it on a different social level? I can only understand a few words, and even then I have to listen carefully. Generally, can the population of Britain understand it? The only time I have ever heard it used was by rock stars, mainly of the past.

I am born and raised in SoCal, or what is also known as Southern California, Los Angeles area. What is "you don't half go on"????

Also, the Brits I know here say it is basically poor grammar.

Answer 1

Cockney Rhyming Slang, China - you'll hear it in the Rubs and on the Frogs of London, not Liverpool.

As with any other dialect/slang - the native speakers can deliberately make it understandable or completely un-understandable to "outsiders".

It is constantly being enhanced, daily - it's a "living" sub-language, not a brown school subject

Glossary:
China: China Plate = mate (buddy, pal, friend)
Rub: Rub-a-Dub = Pub (bar, ale-house)
Frog: Frog and Toad = Road
Brown: Brown Bread = Dead.

It has moved throughout the country, but the Scausers(Liverpudlians) et. al. are more likely to complete the Rhyme, i.e. say "Brown Bread" as opposed to simply "Brown".

It used to be used more by people considered to be socially inferior, but the class system is pretty much dead - important people these days have money and/or fame rather than "good-breeding"

And you thought American English was difficult?

Answer 2

Old-time traditional Cockney is an East London dialect of English which has evolved, certainly over the last hundred years: go and read Charles Dickens, who phonetically sets down cockney English as it would have been spoken in the 1870's and 1880's, read it out loud, and you will be able to see where some of the changes and evolutions have occured.

The London accent is stioll evolving: the traditional Cockney we think of as London working class dialect English is developing into something called "Estuary English" (I'n assuming the estuary in question is the Thames) where the marker is an increased use of the glottal stop and a reluctance to accept the existence of the twentieth letter of the alphabet.

This is spilling over from a relatively small part of the south-east to the whole of England these days, largely via the BBC employing presenters whose first dialect is Estuary English - there is no constraint on BBC voices to learn RP English these days, alas.

An example would be radio and TV presenter Micah Parris, who is an example of a Londoner speaking EE, to whom the word "glottal" might come out as "glo'al" and any other internal use of the "t" sound would be foreign. The net effect of an hour spent with ms Paris is the indefinable but distinct sensation of fingernails being scraped down a blackboard, and a compulsion to correct her pronunciation and insert the missing "t" sounds.

A more typical "Cockney" voice might be radio and TV presenter Jonathan Ross, who has turned a speech impediment to an advantage. Look up BBC Radio 2 on the Internet and pick up their respective programmes, if you don't live in the UK.

Answer 3

Cockney is a specific East End London accent and does not pertain to any other area of London, and certainly not the rest of the country. It's certainly not a Liverpudlian accent.

Cockney's are very particular about who is considered to be a genuine cockney, you have to be born within a certain area to qualify!

I would say it was technically a working class accent. As for whether the rest of us can understand it, I'd say occasionally.

What makes cockney harder to understand is a kind of language they use called 'Cockney rhyming slang' which is really difficult and complicated to understand e.g if some says 'I'm on the dog and bone' they mean 'I'm on the phone'. Very confusing!

I'm from Wolverhampton, which is nowhere near London, so I'm really not an expert!

Check out this link for a more in depth history!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney#Cockney_area

Answer 4

Cockney is a dialect, and to be classed as Cockney, you must be born within sound of the Bow Bells, in East London. You can see Bow Road and the area on a London Underground Map, towards the eastern end of the District Line.

Its typically seen to be linked with the working classes, with famous Cockneys including Phil Daniels (who performed Parklife with Blur). Films such as Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and the like give a good idea of a typical Cockney. Usually quite a cheeky kind of speech.

There is also such a thing as Mockney, a fake cockney, as used by Jamie Oliver.

Answer 5

A cockney is somebody born in London, traditionally within a two-mile radius of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church in London's East End. Cockneys are considered to be the 'true' Londoners.
But cockney can also refer to the accent or dialect of native Londoners from the East End.

Answer 6

My Fair Lady is a pretty good movie to go off of if you want to listen to cockney. Also, some British sitcoms on PBS have Brits using cockney, y'know?

Answer 7

Cockney originated in east London ( as I'm an east Londoner myself). I'm not too sure if it is a dialect or not but I think its just a passing down of the way people talked in the Victorian times. Just as the Queens English (posh) was passed down.

Answer 8

I am sorry to say this to you it but you don't half go on"???? It means say you are angry about something instead of letting us know one time you let us know 10 times. Every city has its own slang but cockney slang is associated with London. I am from London and understand Cockney slang but i wouldn't understand slang say from Newcastle or Liverpool or Glasgow.

Answer 9

Cockney refers to London not Liverpool and it is an accent as well as a slang term for a Londoner

Answer 10

for starters cockney ryming is a london thing traditionally used by people from the east end people with-in the sound of bow bells. and it has nothing to do with liverpool and it is more commonly known as "cockney rhyming slang"