Just been reading this interesting post about Owen Hargreaves’ accent, which apart from being funny, raises an important question.
Are traditional regional accents dying out?
With immigration being a major talking point not just in Britain, but in many parts of the World, could it be that various accents could merge to form a new breed of ’super-accents’?
Look at Leicester for example, the most culturally diverse city in Britain. Apart from the traditional ‘Lest-aaah’ twang, you’ve also got people from India, Pakistan, China, Africa, Poland and many more. Add into the mix all the British residents who have moved there from other areas of the country, i.e. students, and then the accents of their ancestors.
You might even say that the voices we hear on T.V could influence the way we speak. As kids get fatter and lazier in this country, they hear American accents more and more due to all the rubbish they watch on Jetix and Cartoon Network, some even refer to currency as Dollars rather than Pounds.
This is the issue that David Cameron and the Scottish bottler should be looking at, the potential death of the traditional Great British regional accents. I like the fact that the country is so diverse; it teaches us so much about other cultures and so I’m for immigration up to a point. The only thing that worries me though is that eventually we’re all going to open our mouths and a ridiculously horrible, incomprehensible noise will come out.
So I’ve come up with a solution; accent classes in schools, with the accent taught depending on the school’s location. It’s a certain winner, and could prevent the most significant extinction since those big lizards copped it.
I will NEVER give up my accent! We Lancastrians are a proud bunch!