To start with, the word Cockney has a number of varied geographical, social as well as linguistic interrelations. Initially, the term was used in reference to all cities’ occupants, but it was slowly restricted to the city of London specifically the Bow-Bell Cockneys, or those who were “born within earshot” of the bells of the St Mary - le – bow, in the Cheapside district of the London City (Chisholm 627). With time, the term started being used in reference to those in London’s East End, as well as members of the working class in London as a whole. In linguistic terms, Cockney dialect means the accent of English that was traditionally used by working class people in the city of London. The present chapter will detail various aspects of this dialect including its origin and history, its users, pronunciation, grammar, and future prospects.
Origin and History
In England, only one standard language is considered official mean of communication, and thus all the other non-standard languages are viewed more as dialects as opposed to varieties and can only be utilised in limited areas. One such language that falls into this category is Cockney. The dialect originated in 1362. It initially translated to “Cock’s egg” which implied deformed egg (Thorne, 3). In the early Modern English (EModE) period, the dialect was used in reference to a weak townsman, as it was compared to strong fellow citizen. In the 17th century, the term begun being used in reference to a Londoner and traditionally referred to only specific region and speakers within the city. Cockney started being a secret dialect of the city’s underworld and typical accent for the members of the working class in the city (Wright 130). A person was considered true Cockney if he or she was “born within hearing distance of the bells of St. Mary le Bow, Cheapside, in the City of London” (Chisholm 627). In a research conducted in 2000, bells were found to have been capable of being heard around “six miles to the east, five to the north, three to the south, and four to the west” (Oxford English Dictionary). Based on these estimates, therefore, they could have been heard in “Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Stepney, Wapping, Limehouse, Poplar, Millwall, Hackney, Hoxton, Shoreditch, Bow, and Mile End, in addition to Bermondsey, south of the River Thames” (OED).
According to the OED’s records, the use of Cockney dialect begun in 1776, but there is evidence to suggest that this style of speech could have started earlier with the example of its use in 16th-century studies of English articulation. However, it is only in the 18th century that the phoneticians considered the use of this dialect (OED). One challenge that researchers faced in locating its origin is the fact that it was majorly a spoken language and few written records could be accessed for analysis. Further, dialect was used secretly by traders, thieves as well as London’s working class. The first recorded use of Cockney Dialect can be found in the conversations in the Elizabethan and Jacobean plays as well as idiomatic documentations recorded by London city dwellers of that era (Gottlieb 86).
Cockney between 18th and 19th centuries
Moreover, the 18th century witnessed grammarians and linguistics discovering the interest of non-standard form of speech, following the settlement of standard of correctness. Consequently, it is only in the middle of the century that a relevant comment with the features of the vulgar speech in London came up. The first depiction of Cockney are letters appearing in some novels of the period. Such letters cannot be perceived as serious linguistic study, but bring out some pronunciations believed to be prevalent in Cockney speech in the past centuries. The following letter adopted from (Matthews, 26) provides illustrations.
“Most Devine and Adwhorable Creeture,
I doubt not those IIs, briter than the son, which have kindled such a flam in my hart, have likewise the faculty of seeing it. It would be the heist preasumption to imagin you eggnorant of my loav. No, madam, I sollemly purtest, that of all the butys in the universal glob, there is non kapable of hateracting my IIs like you […].”
The 18th century further experienced Cockney dialect and Cockney characters, starting to have their place in literature and also the advancement of Standard English contributed to the growth of the dialect.
Etymology of Cockney
Moreover, as illustrated, the term cockney was first used in 1632 and it meant a small deformed eggs. The term was coined from two words from English language used between c. 1150 and the end of 15th
century, Coken and ey which means “a cock’s egg”. Presently, the meaning is derived from its usage by rural people from England, as attested in 1502, as a disapproving word for ‘unmanly’ city-dwellers, from an initial general sense attested in "the Reeve's Tale" of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Talesc. 1386) of a "cokenay" as "a child tenderly brought up" and, broadly, "an effeminate fellow" or "a milksop" (Chaucer, 120). It may have come along from sources above or separately together with words such as “cock” and “cocker” having a sense of “to make a nestle-cock… or darling of,” "to indulge or pamper" (OED).
In addition, as 17th century approached, the meaning of the term started being specifically linked with Bow Bells area. In 1617, Fynes Moryson, a travel author, indicated in his travel plan, that “Londoners, and all within the sound of Bow Bells, are in reproach called Cockneys” (Ackroyd, 126). John Minsheu, a few months after incorporated the word in the newly constrained sense in his dictionary “Ductor in Linguas” (Grose and Erick). The utilization of the term in describing all the Londoners, in general, continued only up to 19th century before becoming a preserve of those who were working and their specific pronunciation. Presently, Cockney is utilised loosely in the description of all people residing in East Londoners, despite existence of distinction of areas such as Canning Town that were incorporated to London in the middle of the 20th century.
Who speak Cockney?
There is no clearly established boundaries where people who use cockney reside. One of the widely agreed perceptions is that people born within earshot of Bow bells, the bell of St Mary-le-Bow became Cockneys. Nonetheless, this was made impossible by the destruction of the religious structure of St. Mary-le-Bow in 1966 by fire before being put up again by Sir Christopher Wren. The implication is people could not be born within the earshot implying end of Cockneys.
Despite another destruction in 1941 in the Blitz, the Bow bells had not been active from 1940 majorly because of preparation the British were making for the Second World War. Before their restoration twenty years afterward, there was a time span where it was not possible for the “Bow Bell” cockneys to be born as result of how the term within the earshot definition was literally defined.
In addition, there were also more challenges resulting from the literal definition with for instance the area surrounding the church being not occupied any longer. The noise in the surrounding made it improbable that many people would be born within earshot of the bells, even if Royal London Hospital, Guy’s Hospital as well as Thoma’s Hospital remained within the defined perimeter of the Bow bells. Before the World War II was City of London Maternity hospital before being bombed during the war. Another one was St Bartholomew's but the delivery unit was closed in the 1980s.
In the present context, the word Cockney is applied widely within the whole of London area. Nevertheless, two wide-ranging notions exist; the first one is that the array of usage is majorly on East End of London, with outlying forms shading out into nations that surround the city, particularly amid the young. In this context, the term is used in reference to widely diffused diversity of speech among the working class people in the South-eastern England.
Another notion is that as a sociolinguistic term, it is less prestigious in a variety of usages and hence ordinary language with Received Pronunciation accent is more preferred. In this context, the dialect is primarily for working-class London speech and is not appropriately applied to the mesolects of the area, which may still possess Cockney-like characteristics. Notwithstanding the perception chosen, within the London area, the degree of “Cockneyhood” are traditionally viewed in the London area as per aspects such as class, social ambitions, locality, as well as education (Yaguello, 130).
The association with Bow Bells is often nostalgically brought up by inner Londoners. Few infants are born near the St Mary-le-Bow and even those who have been in the recent past been born within its sound do not qualify to be Cockney due to their social standing. Cockney has for long time been linked with east London suburbs. Moreover, Cockney, like the rest of stigmatised urban dialects including Blooklyn, Glasgow and Scouse is vibrant and influential. However, it is majorly perceived as a liability for the upwardly mobile, both by its speakers and outsides
Pronunciation in Cockney Dialect
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, (2007), Cockney dialect has tendency of being faster in comparison with other English speakers’ speech. It is perceived as a typical speech of the working-class of the East end of London, including the harbour (OED). The dialect is considered a rhetoric accent meaning that letter /r/ is pronounced before a consonant (for instance in hard) as well as at the end of the words (such as far).
The cockney dialect speed result from the glottal stop in addition to the inclination to drop the initial unstressed syllables for instance “ouse for house” (Wright, 139). Another common feature in pronunciation in Cockney dialect is the alteration of the TH sound with /f/ or /v/for instance thin [fin], then [vɛn], three [free].
Another notable feature of this dialect is the Nasalisation particularly in vowels that precede constants /m/ and /n/ (Wright, 139). This entails minimal movements of lips and jaws with a view to preserving the lips in a roughly half-open position even in cases where pronunciation of vowels need a full opening in normal pronunciation. There is no major variation with pronunciation of vowels from the Standard English. According to Mathews however, some differences are notable in some cases where for instance in Cockney E is pronounced as a short I and the other way round, like is the case of “meracle” instead of miracle (Mathews, 169).
Grammar in Cockney Dialect
To start with, the grammar of dialect undergoes changes through the years, but this happen very slowly and it is possible to find a number of grammatical features across dialect in the country. The majority of these features are therefore evident in the Cockney dialect. One such case is the multiple negation which is often termed as double negative.
For example the negative form of the sentence “I had some lunch” in Standard English can either be “I didn’t have any lunch” or “I had no lunch.” However, it is possible to do these two things at once when using Cockney resulting to double negative: “I didn’t have no dinner.” The form “ain’t” is common among Cockneys and is pronounced [eint], [ɛnt] or [ɪnt] corresponding to the negative forms of: “isn’t”, “aren’t” or “am not”. Another notable grammatical feature of Cockney is the use of pronouns, where the objective pronoun me is often used in place of possessive adjective “my”. The dialect has regularised the formation of the reflexive pronouns for instance “hisself”, “itself” in addition to employing “them” for “those.”
In the Cockney Dialect, there is wide usage of question tags for invitation of agreement or establishing a person position. For instance, “I am coming after you, ain’t I” and more often than not, the preposition “to” and “at” are dropped with regard to constructions like “I’m going down the river” or “She round her friend’s house.” In addition comparative and superlative forms of verbs have tendency to be enhanced for instance, “littlest”, “worser” with more and most being brought to aid the effect; “It’s more worser than I fawt”. The majority of these features are therefore evident in the Cockney dialect. One such case is the multiple negation which is often termed as double negative
Adjectives on the other hand are used as adverbs for instance “You do talk foolish”. There are other notable pronunciation discrepancies like the use of the word “never” in place of “did not” as well as the use of “there is” as opposed to “there are”, which are perceived as grammatical errors in Standard English (Franklin, 265).
Cockney Rhyming Slang
Rhyming slang was initially used by the Cockney speakers in the 1840s as a secret language of the underworld in London. Wright offers that its origin can be traced to different sources such as beggars, bricklayers as well as Cockney navies who were working in the East End Docks (Wright 94). Mathews opines that the slang was initially common among the ballad sellers as well as costermongers. With the development of rhymes to be part of music hall songs and writings in sporting journals, they spread slowly amidst the Londoners and were more utilised. The Cockney vocabulary was expanded by music halls as it encompassed true folk songs that all Londoners participated in singing.
The Cockney vocabulary majorly entails slang words and in specific rhyming slang expressions which are probable the best known in addition to being the most discussed use of Cockney. The primary feature of rhyming slang is the formation through replacement of common work with a rhyming phrase of two words before omitting the secondary rhyming word which make the meaning elusive to listeners who are not aware of it. For instance the word dollar would be replaced with oxford, “Could you lend me an Oxford?” The Rhyme slangs is still used to date with creation of new rhymes. Sometimes rhymes fails to take place where the words making up the phrase are pronounced using Received Pronunciation with only Cockney accent being used. Some of the common examples of the Rhyming Slang are phrases like “Adam and Eve” for “believe,” “Kettle and Hob” for watch, “Butcher’s Hook” for “look,” “Ruby Murray” for “curry,” as well as “Dog and Bone” for “telephone.”
Representation of Cockney in Literature
The influence of the Cockney dialect can be observed in a number of literally works. By 1819, there was already a depiction of authors as Cockneys due to the language they used. For instance, poets including John Keats, William Hazlitt, as well as Leigh Hunt were labelled as “The Cockney School of Poets” in a review in the Blackwood’s magazine with the aim of pointing out their lack of sophistication and also as an attack on their class (Hughes et al.3). The poets used some vulgarisms in their work which was considered as typical Cockney style.
Hunt for instance, in “The story of Rimini,” that was written in 1816, made the use of some vulgarism with intention of being sexually wicked. John Keats on the other hand borrowed a lot in terms of style from Hunt and therefore in Poems like Odes, there were some features of Cockney dialect (Hughes et al. 3). William Hazit was popular for his humanistic essay and in “On Londoners and Country People”, written in 1823, he defined a Cockney and disapproved how they lived (Hughes et al. 13). Another famous author who exemplified Cockney literature in his language and character is George Shaw, an Irish writer. In his works, he showed different perspective of languages including Cockney, demonstrating how social class affected dialect use.
Social perception of Cockney and how it influenced the Standard English
The first certain remarks regarding the recognised form of English language can be located in manuscripts written during the era of Queen Elizabeth. At the time, there was attempts to unify English speech using absolute pronunciation. Such attempts are estimated to have been initiated between the 16th and 17th centuries. The England’s capital’s relevance as the focus of the official and cultural life of the entire nation led to the London English becoming standard. Nonetheless, the movement towards unifying the language only kicked off in the 20th century, as evidenced by the fact that in the Middle English era, no speech was perceived as superior to others.
By the end of the 16th century, the population of London was almost ten percent of the entire population of England, and Wales and there has been a gradual increase in this number in the course of time (Wrigley 5). Furthermore, the coming of printing press and increased number of institutions of higher learning led to the diffusion of the new standard. Even though the London speech was the popular and accepted one, it was not practical that everyone in the country could use it in the same way, leading to different accents.
The implication is that the London speech when adopted as the accepted speech by different people in the country was artificial due to the fact that it was only used where it was strictly necessary. In a view of understanding the difference between two forms of a similar speech, linguistic experts made comparison of the speech of a group of good speakers with the speech of the ordinary London population simultaneously and found that misspelling of these people, compared well with those of Cockneys. The misspelled words like many others were earlier used by Cockneys as well as the best speakers of that era. Therefore, Cockney has formed part of the most critical of all non-standard dialect of English due to its impact as accepted speech. In the EModP, the city’s vulgar dialect served as the model for the accepted language, and afterward, following the formation of Standard English, it developed to the criterion error through which the accurate speech could be assessed (Matthews, 203).
Future prediction for Cockney Dialect
The cockney dialect presently is highly varied for numerous reasons, and many people won’t understand literary work produced in strictly in this dialect. The city of London has now become dynamic. With a mixed population, it impossible to have uniform pronunciation with such factors as education producing numerous modifications of the characteristic sounds. According to a report compiled by Sarah Knapton, a science editor with the Telegraph, the Cockney dialect is likely to become extinct by 2066 (Knapton).
The sound “th” specifically is being predicted by linguistic experts to have vanished completely in the city of London due to the presence of many foreigners who struggle to pronounce interdental constants. Estuary English which is a hybrid of Cockney and Received Pronunciation and which is widely used in South East is already being swapped by Multicultural London English (MLE) and which has huge influence of Caribbean, West Africa as well as Asian communities. Experts are warning that with the increase of immigrants, the next decades will witness fundamental alteration of the language with “th” sound being replaced by and ‘f’, “d”, or ‘v” meaning a word like “mother” will be pronounced as “muvver” (Knapton).
Conclusion
Cockney Dialect is among the most popular in England tracing its origin in 1362. Oxford English Dictionary outlines that the dialect could have started earlier than the 16th century. The language experts however only considered the dialect important in the 18th century. The challenge researching about this dialect is due to the fact that it is majorly spoken and therefore there is lack of written records.
Further, it was used secretly by traders, thieves, and member of the working class in London. Despite lack of clearly defined boundaries for where the speakers of this dialect reside, it was widely acknowledged that they needed to be born within ear shot of the Bow bells. However, presently the dialect is common among East Londoners. With the increase in migrations, the dialect is being affected and experts have warned that is will probably fade away in a few decades.
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