Weasley accents (was Obsessed with Harry )

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 81863

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jeffl1965" <jeffl1965 at h...> 
wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ali" <Ali at z...> wrote:
> > 
>   <snipped since some elves are anal about it. :) )
> 

> > 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.
> >
> 
>     Jeff:
>   
>    Cor blimey!! Jus 'cuz a bloke what ain't got a bloody degree 
from 
> uni what says 'e's a friggin' genuis in dialects don't mean 'e's a 
> blitherin' idiot! Blimey you southerners are a bloody 'orrible 
smarmy 
> lot!!! :)  You mean like that? No, I'm not really confused about 
the 
> accents, just which one they would have. They're working class, no? 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> > 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. 
> >

<Snip>

 
>   Jeff:
> 
>   Indeed. Again, working class, so cockney fits. IIRC, the actor 
> playing Ron lives north of London, so that would fit. If its NE, 
then 
> he'd fit right in with the Eastender lot. :)
> 
> 
> > 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.
> >
>    Jeff:
>  
>   Oh, yes, I'm aware of that, it's just that I meant some swears 
seem 
> to be dying out and being more common in some regions, just like 
git 
> seems to be so UN-pc that it's not encouraged anymore according to 
a 
> teacher friend of mine.
>   Yes, the film has changed the perception of the characters for 
> many. I don't totally accept that version as canon, since it's too 
> compact and muddled. And yes, in the books Ron is much more 
> colourful, yet I don't know if he says sh*t or sh*te. :) And since 
> Seamus doesn't get much dialogue, it's difficult to tell where that 
> little sod is from. ;)
> 

Geoff:
Just picking up on one or two points having had a little more time to 
digest them. One other poster and myself have pointed out that to be 
a true Cockney, you have to have been born within the sound of Bow 
Bells. These are not strictly East London, because they are the bells 
of St.Mary-le-Bow which is in Cheapside, a street running between 
St.Pauls Cathedral and the Bank of England. Postal code wise, they 
are EC (East Central) but I wouldn't consider them East End, speaking 
as a London resident of 45 years. Many people speak with a similar 
accent, as I see Ron doing. As Jeff(?) pointed out there are many 
accents belonging to London residents who have moved in. There is now 
also an accent referred to by scholars as "Estuary English" taking 
its name from the Thames Estuary which is a dialect (of sorts!) 
covering a wide swathe round London.

Some folk don't have a particularly strong regional accent. I don't 
envisage Hermione having one because of her background. I lived in 
the north of England until I was 9 and then moved to London with 
a "Coronation Street" accent. Thanks to mixing with "Sarf Lunneners" 
and the attacks of my grammar school teachers on my diction, I am now 
largely accentless. Moving to Sonerset 9 years ago, I now find that 
the locals consider me to be from somewhere "in the South-East". 
Little Whinging perhaps?