Accents

[beenee]

Where in Britain do people speak in a 'brummie' accent? I keep getting mixed up. Is it the same as liverpudlian? So where is Cilla Black from then - where people appear not to be able to pronounce words 'stairs' and 'hair' properly?

[tomr]

Brummies are from Birmingham.

Cilla is a scouser (Liverpudlian), from Liverpool.

Presumeably, if she can't pronounce stairs properly, can I conclude that you would pronounce grass in rhyme with your prime orifice?

[Darth, that was a deliberate pre-emptive strike!! ha ha]
No offence.

[andy hughes]

A 'brummie' is from Birmingham - the name derives from Brumigen, the old name for the city. Cilla Black is indeed a 'Scouser' - the nickname comes from Scouse, a stew made famous locally, but these days, her 'mispronounciations' of huer' and even worse for ladies with the name 'Cleure' are entirely an affectation designed to keep her 'common' appeal going. I always imagine that off-screen 'our' Cilla has an accent that would make Sarah Ferguson sound like a fishwife, but she's been a highly paid entertainer for as long as I can remember, so she must be doing something right!

[Moog]

As I understand it Cilla is from the Wirral and therefore not a Scouser but a Woolyback.

[firefly]

Beenee, you seem to be stuck in the world of rp (received pronounciation). It is also called BBC English or (wrongly) the Queen's English (wrongly because Royals speak and have always spoken a non-rp form of English). Why should a posh form of Estuary English be considered correct and all other accents wrong?

[darth vader]

none taken tomr. (as i didn't understand what offence you took).

Unless it's a question, in which case yes i do know a fence, a guy called Harry who comes in our pub.

or maybe its a guy you know called Noah Fence, in which case i don't.

Or are you trying to bar Irish people named O'Ffence from this thread?

[beenee]

Firefly - I understand what you are saying, but I have travelled all over the world and no where is 'sturs' the correct way of saying 'stairs'. Also, having studied in english-speaking schools abroad I have not derived my own speaking manner from the bbc or the monarchy, and my pronounciation of words is how I interpret their spelling, along with how they are spoken normally, widely and ordinarily (all over the english-speaking world) - excluding regional inflections and accents.

[map08]

Beenee - What? Ordinarily? I understand that you are simply saying that you say words as you see them, but do you not realise that your accent is simply one of many variants of English. Going to an extreme, let's take a random word such as 'there'; if you're going to pronounce it exactly as you see it, then surely it would be 'ther-eh'. Just because you happen to think that your way of pronounciation is correct, is doesn't fit that others are wrong: basically, there is no correct way, English is simply an organic, evolving means of communicating. Language cannot be claimed to be correct, as there is no definite fix on what it actually is.

[mikewith]

I'm struggling to keep pace with this thread and how some people seem to have taken offence and started to get antagonistic. Who would have thought that a question about accents could stir so much ill feeling?

[hal]

Moog - woollyback are from Lancashire not the Wirall -they are just'over the water''

[beenee]

Thanks Mike, I certainly didn't invite or expect such hostility, but I will answer to them since they are directed at me.

Map - just how many versions are there of English?If you mean accents, I am in a strong position to say that I indeed do not subscribe to any one 'version' as I do not speak in the 'queen's english' or have any sort of accent. As I said, I'm not from this country and so I have developed speech in which words are spoken in a pure and plain manner, without any affectations. This is why I found some regional pronounciations to be impaired. I realize that I am being quite irratatingly self-assured here, but this is one domain in which I feel I am qualified to comment. And of course I do not pronounce words as I see them - I meant that I say them their simplest form, without any affectations. I am sorry if you do not agree, I stand firm at my position.