What is the way they pronounce the word alright?

[svetlana14]

What is the way they pronounce the word alright? Is it like waa (water)?

- 1:41:36

 

[probus]

To me it sounds like aw-ight. I think that pronunciation is typical of the north of England, but I stand to be corrected by speakers of BrE.

Also the t sound seems to be replaced by a glottal stop, and again I think that's a northern England thing.

 

[5jj]

It's an east London accent.

 

[svetlana14]

It's an east London accent.

Is this the case with l sound in alright? Can it be explained based on the following comment? Another feature that is different in both accents is the /l/ sound that becomes the vowel /ʊ/ in Cockney accent. In Cockney, if /l/ comes after a vowel, before a consonant in the same syllable or when it’s a syllable in itself, it becomes a vowel (Hughes, Trudgill and Watt 2012: 76). An example where /l/ comes after a vowel, is the word ‘well’. In RP this word is pronounced as /wɛl/ and in Cockney accent it’s /wɛʊ/. Another example of this feature, where /l/ changes to /ʊ/ in the same syllable with another consonant, is the word ‘milk’.

 

[jutfrank]

I wouldn't narrow it down as far as East London because it has a very large radius, but yes, it's a distinct feature of this particular London accent. It's similar in Essex too and also on the south coast.

As probus said, you could transcribe it as 'awight'. Neither letters 'l' or 'r' are pronounced. Instead, you get a /w/ sound.

 

[jutfrank]

To me it sounds like aw-ight. I think that pronunciation is typical of the north of England, but I stand to be corrected by speakers of BrE.

On the contrary, it's very much a southern thing. The area around London.

Also the t sound seems to be replaced by a glottal stop, and again I think that's a northern England thing.

That's not a northern or southern thing, or even an English thing. It's everywhere, the whole world over. But yes, it's a strong feature of this particular London accent.

 

[teechar]

I wouldn't narrow it down as far as

I would say "I wouldn't narrow it down to".

East London because it has a very large radius, but yes, it's a distinct feature of this particular London accent. It's similar in Essex too and also on the south coast.

But it's not typical of the posher parts of London (knightsbridge, Chelsea, etc.), is it? I think it's reasonable to associate it with the East End of London.

 

[svetlana14]

I wouldn't narrow it down as far as East London because it has a very large radius, but yes, it's a distinct feature of this particular London accent. It's similar in Essex too and also on the south coast.

As probus said, you could transcribe it as 'awight'. Neither letters 'l' or 'r' are pronounced. Instead, you get a /w/ sound.

Do the actors in the film pronounce ai like oi as the feature of Cockney played or imitated in

4:41. Or Cockney is not the case in the film's episode and it is a little bit different from what you are discussing here in the context of London pronunciation?

 

[jutfrank]

But it's not typical of the posher parts of London (knightsbridge, Chelsea, etc.), is it?

Not the posh parts of Knightsbridge or Chelsea, no, but the area's wider environs, yes. There are a lot of posh accents there, sure, but there are lots of lower class accents too.

I think it's reasonable to associate it with the East End of London.

Oh, yes, I think it's very typical of, and highly associated with, Cockney (a-wight, guv'nor!). But it's common in South London too (where I grew up) and really all over the London area, into Essex (where I lived for many years) and southern England generally, where I live now. I do it myself.

 

[svetlana14]

Do the actors in the film pronounce ai like oi as the feature of Cockney played or imitated in

4:41. Or Cockney is not the case in the film's episode and it is a little bit different from what you are discussing here in the context of London pronunciation?

I mean whether there is also a kinda shift in alright so that alright (in addition to all the features all of you helpfully explained before) changes to awɔɪt (like in Lie: Lɔɪ) -
Another trait of the Cockney accent is “diphthong shifting”. This consists of changing how a diphthong is ordinarily read in standard English. Thus:

• Nice: Naɪs
• Day: Deɪ
• Sold: Səʊld
• Pay: Peɪ
• Lie: Laɪ

Would sound, in the Cockney accent, as follows:

• Nice: Nɔɪs
• Day: Daɪ
• Sold: Saʊld
• Pay: Paɪ
• Lie: Lɔɪ)

 

[jutfrank]

First of all, two things about that video:

1) That's not Jason Statham. It's an actor doing a fake (and quite poor) impression of one kind of London English.

2) Jason Statham doesn't have a cockney accent. He's from somewhere around Crystal Palace. I know that because I met him once in the early 90s. What Jason Statham has is a true London accent but it isn't Cockney, though I imagine he might put it on a bit sometimes in his films. There are some differences between East and South London accents.

The diphthong shift that you refer to is a feature of Cockney, yes.

 

[svetlana14]

First of all, two things about that video:

1) That's not Jason Statham. It's an actor doing a fake (and quite poor) impression of one kind of London English.

2) Jason Statham doesn't have a cockney accent. He's from somewhere around Crystal Palace. I know that because I met him once in the early 90s. What Jason Statham has is a true London accent but it isn't Cockney, though I imagine he might put it on a bit sometimes in his films. There are some differences between East and South London accents.

The diphthong shift that you refer to is a feature of Cockney, yes.

Do you mean that alright can be pronounced as awɔɪt?

 

[jutfrank]

Do you mean that alright can be pronounced as awɔɪt?

Yes, I do, and it's not just Cockneys or even Londoners who do this. I have a friend who speaks exactly like this, who was born and brought up in Brightlingsea in Essex.

I should say though that the final /t/, although it could be pronounced for a certain effect, would not normally be pronounced at all, giving way to a glottal, especially if there's no subsequent word, as is usually the case when this word is used a greeting.

 

[svetlana14]

Yes, I do, and it's not just Cockneys or even Londoners who do this. I have a friend who speaks exactly like this, who was born and brought up in Brightlingsea in Essex.

I have heard (it seems to me) that that pronunciation was typical in Peaky Blinders.

 

[emsr2d2]

I have heard (it seems to me) that that pronunciation was typical in Peaky Blinders.

Peaky Blinders was set in Birmingham, 130 miles north of London! It's part of what we call "The Midlands". There might be some crossovers but I can assure that no native British English speaker would ever confuse a Brummie (someone from Birmingham) with a Cockney or an Essexer.

 

[jutfrank]

I don't watch Peaky Blinders but I imagine it features characters from London as well as Birmingham, right?

 

[emsr2d2]

Alfie Solomons is a long-standing character who was based on a London gangster. In later seasons, the Peaky Blinders do go to London so there will have been London accents involved. I thought svetlana14 was suggesting that Cockney (or similar) was the predominant accent in the show.

 

[svetlana14]

Alfie Solomons is a long-standing character who was based on a London gangster. In later seasons, the Peaky Blinders do go to London so there will have been London accents involved. I thought svetlana14 was suggesting that Cockney (or similar) was the predominant accent in the show.

I find it interesting that in one of the video recordings posted on Youtube (https://youtu.be/UQzK9hMkM5Y?t=63 1:03 ) a guy on the video imitates more common phrases and words said by Arthur Shelby. I hear the pronunciation of right is similar to what we discussed. Is it true? Yet I am still trying to find his way of pronouncing alright. Unfortunately, I could not find immediately the speech of Arthur to have a reference to. The guy on the channel said by the way that Arthur speaks with a hint of Cockney.

 

[jutfrank]

Brummies have their own distinct way of pronouncing the greeting 'all right'. It's very different from the way the people in Fish Tank pronounce it. You can hear it here:

As we've said before, in Fish Tank they're using a /w/ sound in the middle. Brummies don't do that.

 

[svetlana14]

Brummies have their own distinct way of pronouncing the greeting 'all right'. It's very different from the way the people in Fish Tank pronounce it. You can hear it here:

As we've said before, in Fish Tank they're using a /w/ sound in the middle. Brummies don't do that.

I hear the man on the video recording pronounces all right using trap r while l is clear.