Weasley accents (was Obsessed with Harry )

[Ali]

No: HPFGUIDX 81842

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jeffl1965" <jeffl1965 at h...> 
wrote in a discussion about the Weasleys having "Cockney" accents:


>>>  Ok, well, I guess I was meaning rather thicker, more Scouse or 
 extreme Eastender type. When I think of Londoners, I think of more 
 proper, like what one would hear on BBC news. Many seem to think of 
 Cockney as terrible English. Even Richard Burton, who was Welsh, 
 spoke more like a BBC reporter than most Londoners. :) Also some 
 country folk I've met speak with a cockney accent. I knew some nice 
 folk from near Blackpool, and they sounded different as well. 
    Anyway, what I mean is that I think the Weasleys are country 
 mentality and have thick accent, be it cockney or scouse. :)<<<

Erm, I think that you're confusing English accents a little bit. 
Somebody is said to be Cockney if they were born within the sound of 
Bow Bells in East London. Cockney is very much a London accent. 
These days Londoners come in all shapes and sizes, it is a very 
cosmopolitan city. But, if you're talking about a "London accent" it 
is certainly not the "BBC" accent you describe. An archetypical 
London accent is one where "h's" are dropped, and t's not pronounced 
at the end of words.

With the advent of television, accents have changed rather a lot and 
many people across Southern England have what could be (very) 
loosely termed a London accent. 

Devonshire accents are very different to London accents. If the 
Weasleys spoke with strong Devon accents, then they would sound much 
more like Hagrid than Harry. In fact though, there is no evidence 
from the books that the Weasleys come from Devon. We believe that 
Ottery St Catchpole is probably within the vicinty of Ottery St 
Mary's, in Devon, but we don't know. Also, just because they live 
there, it doesn't mean that they come from there. I might soon have 
to move done to Devon, but I stem from London.

Scouse accents are again very different. Scousers come from 
Liverpool, in the "North", it is very much a City accent. There is 
no evidence that the Weasleys speak with a Scouse accent.

My reading of the Potterverse is that Ron has a vaguely Southern 
accent. He seems to speak with *more* of an accent then Harry. The 
movie characters also seem to follow this interpretation.

On a different note, the fact that somebody says "Bloody Hell" does 
not make them a Londoner or Cockney - it is a swear word used 
through the country. Also, IIRC, Ron says it in the film not the 
book.


Ali