Date:    Thu, 18 Jun 1998 16:03:26 -0400
<br>From:    Wendalyn Nichols <wnichols[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RANDOMHOUSE.COM>
<br>Subject: Re: Estuary English
<br>
<br>"Estuary English" is broader than merely London, which after all has its
<br>own distinct geographical variations even within its borders.  It refers to
<br>the Thames Estuary, and according to who's writing the article about it,
<br>can include the flat, less regionally marked pronunciation that is being
<br>adopted by a large number of Labour government ministers, a watered-down
<br>Cockney accent, or most of Essex (drawing the line at those who say
<br>"haitch" for the sound they drop at the beginnings of words).  Blair's
<br>accent is that of a thoroughgoingly middle-class grammar-school boy, and
<br>not strongly Estuary at all.  Major (who hails from Brixton) sounded more
<br>Estuary, and nasally so, before he tried cosmetic surgery on his accent -
<br>vowels more plummy, but that nasal quality couldn't be resculpted.
<br>Thatcher was much more successful at accent and tone reconstruction,
<br>dropping her voice by about an octave.
<br>
<br>Lord Quirk is indeed Professor Sir Randolf Quirk, author of, erm, a
<br>gazillion grammar books.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>Beverly Flanigan <flanigan [AT SYMBOL GOES HERE] OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU> on 06/18/98 02:31:10 PM
<br>
<br>Please respond to American Dialect Society <ADS-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
<br>
<br>To:   ADS-L [AT SYMBOL GOES HERE] UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
<br>cc:    (bcc: Wendalyn Nichols/Trade/RandomHouse)
<br>Subject:  Re: Estuary English
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>I haven't read the article yet, but I recall hearing that John Major was
<br>also criticized/laughed at/mocked for affecting RP.  Since only 3-4% of all
<br>Britons are native speakers of RP, I suppose Londoners of some
<br>sociopolitical weight have had to come up with a reasonable substitute to
<br>cover their own dialectal variation, hence Estuary English--ugh, what a
<br>label.  I assume Lord Quirk is as in Quirk, Greenbaum, et al.?
<br>
<br>
<br>At 09:07 AM 6/18/98 -0500, you wrote:
<br>>There's an article in today's New York Times discussing Tony Blair's
<br>>newly-affected accent. It's being described as "Estuary English."
<br>>
<br>>http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+iib-site+1
<br>>36+0+wAAA+estuary%7Eenglish
<br>>
<br>>You'll need to register for a free logon and password, if you don't have
<br>>one.
<br>>
<br>>Note near the end of the piece the member of the House of Lords and
<br>>linguist, Lord Quirk.
<br>>
<br>>Grant Barrett
<br>>gbarrett[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]dfjp.com
<br>>
<br>