Regional Accents

[LucilleBluth]

I was just reading the Sean Bean thread in chat. Lots of posters talking about his accent and how he has refused to change it and also a bit of snobbery.

I have a regional accent and I live in a different area…my accent is commented on frequently, especially in my work. I’ve also lived abroad where it was remarked upon. I have a degree, I’m WC now probably living a more MC life but I want to know if anyone else with an accent is actually really proud of it or has tried to shed it.

I find that I’m prouder the older I get. And I would say that there’s definite prejudice around accents in the UK. It’s one of the last things we can judge people on.

Ok?

Sean Bean’s voice is just him, really lovely, and probably more authentic English than a “BBC” accent.
It’s only since the advent of broadcasting that we have had snobbery around spoken English, with the BBC’s clipped RP style conferring some kind of acceptance that it was the “correct” way of speaking (and which in the last 50 years they have been continually trying to shake off that notion).
I love regional accents, and hate it when my own boring Home Counties one is used by others to judge me for being posh (I’m very much WC) - it goes both ways!

I once observed that my fucked upp central/eastern European accent is more accepted and less "you are not really smart are you" than English (not Scottish, NI or Welsh) accents, especially from North. It's still less accepted and not "smart" like Asian on the other hand.
It really reflects proper stereotypes and class stereotypes in England and it's absolutely fascinating actually.

It’s one of the last things we can judge people on.
This is bot of a positive thinking though. People judge on ANYTHING. Postcode, shoes, car, hair. Literally anything is properly judged here. And if you don't fit perceived class bracket (many of us foreigners don't) it makes some people uncomfortable.

The accent where i grew up is almost completely hidden. Very rarely heard on the tv, certainly never heard in tv dramas or films. The West country accent. (Please correct me if a west country-sounding person has turned up reading the news or starring in eastenders or corrie!)

I have wondered whether it is due it sounding neither sexy nor especially intelligent (sorry!!!). But now i do remember that Alice and another character from the vicar of dibley had it. Both very thick and the accent probably helped the comedy. (Not that I minded - loved the vod!)

Sad though because the accent seems to be dying out in the young. Bristol is still holding strong though (i think!).

So, i agree with the OP in the case of my accent! Also the brummie accent has a fairly hard time (although like a big joke rather than ignored!).

Everyone has a regional accent.
Even RP is based on a Southern English accent.

Sad though because the accent seems to be dying out in the young
True, they are all adopting American accents and idioms.

I think his accent is lovely but I am from Yorkshire so maybe my opinion is skewed. His accent is actually more mellow than most in South Yorkshire, I reckon he’s toned it down to fit in.

I love the variation of accents throughout the UK personally and love the fact you can go from one city to another 10 miles away and it’s totally different.

I think there are regional accents and non-British accents, which are lovely and entirely acceptable and then there is lazy, dullard speech.
The two are often conflated in an attempt to make lazy speech acceptable.

I like hearing different regional accents. I don't have much of an accent at all, but my husband's is really strong and it's one of the things I find attractive about him.

Sean Bean has a beautiful accent.

I have a strong accent, it definitely had an effect for me at work. I wouldn't say detrimental though (for me) I was always underestimated.

I grew up same area as Sean and agree he has toned down, so much so I barely hear any accent from him at all now.

You do get judgy people but one of the side effects of speaking broad Yorkshire is that few people can understand you anyway

We've got one of the most fascinating collections of accents and dialects in the world, here in the UK. It's even possible to pinpoint different areas in the same city!
I am a Scouser. I don't live in that region any more and haven't for a long time, so it's probably mellowed somewhat. I have never thought about toning it down despite being judged on my perceived intelligence because of it (I actually have a PhD). However, one of my siblings has done and people don't believe we're related now!

I have a regional accent but have spent most of my adult working life in the south east. I have never made any conscious effort to change my accent but I think over time it has changed somewhat but most would know still easily recognise I am from the north and many people would be able to pick out the specific region. I find the idea of being proud of an accent quite strange however.

I had a strong northern accent but slowly changed it as I was sick of people mocking me for it. It’s a lot more neutral now I live in the south and people are often surprised when I say where I’m originally from

An "educated" accent of any kind is lovely (think Timothy Spall for instance) and there's nothing the matter with being proud about where you're from.

There are ones which are like nails down a blackboard and excruciating - probably depends on the listener to which are the worst.

It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him - George Bernard Shaw, writing in 1913 in the preface to his play Pygmalion.

It seems that nothing much has changed in 100 years.

My bil was brought up in East Yorkshire, now tries to sound 'educated west London' but he actually sounds like an idiot.

His brother (my husband) stays true to who he is and sounds infinity better! IMO of course

People remark on my accent so often.
I am from the East Coast of Scotland and have lived in the North West for over a decade.

The reason that people are so intrigued by my accent i1s because I am South Asian by ethnicity, and they automatically assume I am Indian and will speak in a heavy 'foreign' accent.
As one lady once put it.

I won't ever be deliberately changing it though, I am content with how I sound.

I love regional accents, I love foreign accents as well. Apart from guessing where the person is from originally, more from an interest and conversational perspective, I would not judge a person's "class" by their accent. Not bothered by "class" anyway, more is this a nice person which is more important, how they treat others. I would judge dimly someone that treated others poorly based on accent or assumptions of "class".

The fact that people are describing accents as sounding 'educated' is confirmation of how people are judged for their accent.

Ps I know of one person that had changed purposefully their accent by having lessons,.

Also know people whose accents have changed or developed, eg my mum's Liverpool accent has all but gone apart from when she is having a row. 🤣

I came from a Liverpool working class background but found that my accent began to naturally "disappear" when I went into a profession and I became a lot less northern than my family. Later in life I had a second career as an academic and was teaching students from many cultures. Some of them simply would not have understood me had I spoken in a strong regional accent so I fell into speaking "received" English.

I am still very proud of my Liverpool heritage. There is something very special about the resilience and the humour of the people.

Nevertheless I have moved on.

I think as back in the day, many grammar schools taught children to speak with an RP accent, that continued the snobbery in certain more recent generations, and that was passed down a bit but is gradually fizzling out, thankfully. Things take time to change but I think we are coming out of this one.

Have you got a working class SE accent? I think that’s unfortunately the accent looked down on the most.

In the other regions, people have more or less have the same accent depending on where they live regardless of class (certainly that’s the case where I come from) but in the SE the accents are very different depending on class rather than on geography.

People always say “oh I love a scouse/Georgie/West Country/northern Irish/welsh/Scottish/french accent”, but no one ever says they love a Cockney/Essex accent!

I love regional accents, and hate it when my own boring Home Counties one is used by others to judge me for being posh|

Are you me? Until covid I worked in Sheffield. I have lovely workmates, but they still think I have a posh accent. I dont, I have a South London accent

I love the variety of accents we have in the UK, and the different words and expressions that are used in different areas. The local South Yorkshire accent is stronger than Sean Bean's, and I love the friendly "ey oop" greeting.

I don't understand the fuss that people made about Steph McGovern's accent. I love it. It sounds so friendly.

As DH and I are not from South Yorkshire DD doesn't have a strong local accent. Both she and DH just have generic North of Watford accents, and when she went to high school she was told that she had a posh accent.