What is the Cockney Accent of the English Language?

If you are dying to learn the English language, you can’t miss what this article says speaking of which. For sure, taking some effective and good lessons in Received Pronunciation is a good start, but nevertheless, it’s not enough.

What you need most to look like an authentic English man is picking an English accent.

There are almost fifty different accents different in the UK, each one spelled and pronounced its own way. However, if you have ever found the Cockney accent riveting, grab the edge of your chair and keep on reading.

The first issue to be faced is the origin of the word Cockney, and there is more than a theory about it. According to one of them, this word derives from the Norman word “Cockaigne,” which means sugar cake. Actually, it seems that Normans named London “the land of sugar cake” and hence Cockney. On the other hand, the word Cockney appeared in some idiomatic expressions Cock’s eggs stand for lazy people.

Hence it seems impossible to get to the bottom of the question, but it is unequivocal that this term is customary since the dawn of time.

If you are asking if all British people are Cockners, you can bet your bottom dollar: the answer is not. To be an original Cockner, you need to be cradled by the melody of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church in Cheapside since you were born. This is, in fact, a language specific to the East End, particularly the boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets, even if it is actually used by many other regions of the country now.

What are some typical characteristics of Cockney? In a classic East-End Cockney accent probably, you will hear “he’s on the dog and bone” to mean “at the phone” or “Would you Adam and Eve it?” that is “to believe.” This switching of a word or phrase with another that rhymes with the original are commonly known as Rhyming Slang.

What gave rise to this weird way of disguising words

Someone assumes it was used by criminals to get around the law, bamboozling police. For other ones, it was employed by salesmen and costermongers as a kind of pattern. But it’s not over. Cockney revolutionized the world in such an extraordinary way as the RP. In cockney, the h sound isn’t pronounced at all, and the voiceless voiceless “th” /θ/ in words like “think,” “theatre,” “author,” has been replaced with /f/. Similarly, voiced “th” in “the,” “this,” and “Northern,” would be pronounced /v/. All we have left to do is declare the Cockney accent as rude, downmarket, or even a barrier to social progress or undoubtedly one of the most distinctive and fascinating British accents in vogue not only in the world of music (see Adele) but also in Hollywood pronounced by stars and celebrities such as the most important Londoner spokesman Jason Statham. It is for posterity to judge.