Variation in Traditional Cockney and Popular London Speech

Abstract

In this paper I examine recordings of two elderly Londoners, one male and one female, in an attempt to show the range of variation that can be found in the traditional speech of London as regards typical features such as H-dropping, TH-fronting, T-glottalling and L-vocalization. The female speaker lacks some of the traits that are generally considered characteristic of Cockney. Keywords: English dialectology, English sociolinguistics, Cockney, Popular London speech.