Estuary Dialect
Specifics:
-
A blend of Cockney and RP
-
Associated with the Middle Class
-
Resonant speech—openness
-
Clipped (shortened) words
Consonants
-
Non-rhotic (implied r's)
-
Occasionally uses intrusive r's (often adds random r's to link words together, typically when one word ends in a vowel and the following word begins with a vowel)
-
Slight L/W or L/ooh substitution (although not as bold as in Cockney)
-
Depending on the degree of Estuary application, t's may become glottals, as in Cockney.
-
Stressed words may drop the h
-
Occasional th/f substitution (similar to Cockney), again, depends on the extremity of the dialect
Vowels
-
As with British Standard, Estuary has open, round vowels, and typically falls into an "AH" sound for placement triggers.
Geography: Includes Thames river. Typically London proper.
Common occupations: Business. Trade. Politics.
Stereotypes: Middle Class. The average person's dialect.
Images: In order to best accommodate the resonance for this dialect, make sure the soft palate is lifted and you are breathing from your diaphragm. Imagine that there is a balloon inside your head. Whenever you inhale, air enters through your lips and the balloon in your mouth grows in size, lifting your soft palate and creating more openness in your sound.
Helpful hints: When speaking, keep your mouth slightly more closed than in American English. It's like the corners of your mouth are a ziplock bag that is being closed from the outside corners inward.
Use the British short "o" for words such as hot, not, got.
Been rhymes with bean in this dialect, as opposed to bin.
Links to video Recordings:
Jamie Oliver Estuary English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlK_Q7Torlg
Jamie Oliver Star Wars Interview (because why not?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMikNuRdWLI
Estuary Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD8oYM-Gt6w
"Things Only British People Do": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogiwIVFERc4
Sample Recordings:
Murray:
MURRAY TRANSCRIPTION
rɑit wʌns wɛn ɑi wʌz ʌm ʌbæʊt nɑin ji(r)s owld ɑi wʌz sItIŋ In frɛntʃ clɑs ænd
Right. Once when I was, um, about nine years old I was sitting in French class and
wi-- It wʌz ʌ vɛri strIkt skʊl ænd wi wʌ(r)nt ʌlaʊd tu: ʌ li:v jɚrIŋ ðʌ lɛsʌn
we-- It was a very strict school and we weren’t allowed to uh leave during the lesson
tʊ goʊ tu: ðʌ lu: ænd ɑi: hæd fo(r)gotn tu: go tu: ðʌ lu: æt brɛi:k tɑim ðʌ lu: bɑi: ðʌ wɛi:
to go to the loo and I had forgotten to go to the loo at break time the loo by the way
fɔ(r) ɛni:wʌn hʊ dʌzɛnt no Iz ðʌ toIɛt so ɑi: wʌz sItIŋ ðɛ(r) dɛsprɛtli: holdIŋ
for anyone who doesn’t know is the toilet so I was sitting there desperately holding
mɑisɛlf tʊgɛθʌ(r) ʌm wɛn ɑi: sʌdɛnli: riʌlɑizd ðæt ɛi: pʌdl ʌv wɔtʌ(r) hæd ʌpi(r)d
myself together um when I suddenly realized that a puddle of water had appeared
b'ni:θ mɑi: tʃɛ(r). nau:ri:mɛmbʌ(r) ɑi:m nɑi:n ji:(r)z owld so ɑi:m wɛi pɑst ðʌ
beneath my chair. Now remember, I’m nine years old so I’m way past the
wɛtIŋ wʌnzsɛlf stɛi:g. Wʌ(r)s stIl wʌz sItIŋ In frʌnt əv mi wʌz ðʌ lʌv əv mɑi lɑi:f
wetting oneself stage. Worse still was sitting in front of me was the love of my life
æt nɑi:n ji:(r)z owld, ʌm ænd ðʌ flo(r) mʌst hæv bi:n ɑt ɛi: slɑi:t slɑnt bi:kʌz ðIs
at nine years old, um, and the floor must have been at a slight sland because this
trɛi:l əv ənspikəbl lIkwId wɑs sloli: mi:ændɚrIŋ lɑi:k ʌ smɔl rIvʌ(r) bi:twi:n ðʌ
trail of unspeakable liquid was slowly meandering like a small river between the
lɛi:gz ɑv hʌ tʃɛ(r) ænd bi:twi:n hʌ(r) lɛi:gz. It got ʃi: wɔ:z In ðʌ frʌnt rʌo ʌv ðʌ
legs of her chair and between her legs. It got—she was in the front row of the
klɑs ɑi: wʌz ɪn ðʌ sɛkʌnd rʌo so ðIs trɛi:l əv wɔtʌ(r) æktʃjuʌli: ri:tʃd bijond hə(r)
class. I was in the second row so this trail of water actually reached beyond her
dɛsk ænd æt ðæt poi:nt ðʌ ti:tʃʌ(r) lʊkd daun sɔr It ænd sɛd hu dId ðæt ænd
desk and at that point the teacher looked down saw it and said “who did that?” and
ðɛn It ðʌ trɛi:l lɛd tu mi: ænd ɑi: wɔ:z wIskd ɑf ɑi: wɑz æt bo(r)dIŋ skʊl æt
then it—the trail lead to me and I was whisked off—I was at boarding school at
ðʌ tɑi:m so It wʌz fɑin ænd ɑi: kɛi:m bæk In tɑi:m fo(r) brɛi:k wIθ ʌ nu pɛ(r) ɑv
the time so it was fine and I came back in time for break with a new pair of
sho(r)ts so It wʌz fɑin. Næu ðIs wʌz ðʌ lʌv əv mɑi: lɑi:f ə gə(r)l ɑi hæd nɛvʌ(r) dɛ(r)d
shorts so it was fine. Now this was the love of my life, a girl I had never dared
spik tu ʌm so ʃi: ɑi: wʌz sItIŋ ðɛ(r) ɑn mɑi on totʌli ɛmbɛrɛsd in ðʌ
speak to um, so she—I was sitting there on my own, totally embarrassed in the
brɛi:k tɑi:m ænd ʃi: kɛim ænd sæt d:aun nɛkts tu: mi: ænd sɛd o dont wʌri: It
break time and she came and sat down next to me and said “Oh, don’t worry. It
kʊd hæpɛn tu ɛni:bodi: ænd ðɛn wi: wʌ(r) boi:frɛnd ænd gəlfrɛnd ɑftʌ(r) ðæt
could happen to anybody!” and then we were boyfriend and girlfriend after that
so Iznt ðæt ʌ nɑi:s stori? ju sʌmtɑimz gɛt wɑt ju wɑnt bɑi duIŋ ðʌ most
so, isn’t that a nice story? You sometimes get what you want by doing the most
ridIkjulʌs θIŋ
ridiculous thing.
Matthew:
MATTHEW TRANSCRIPTION
so ɛm bɛisIkli ɑi mɑi: ɛkspiriɛns wIv junIvʌsIti: Iz ʌh fʌ(r) mɔi fʌ(r)st jiʌ(r) ɑi wʌs
So um basically I my experience with university is um for my first year I was
ʌn ɑ(r)t mɛigʌ æn(d) ɔi lIvd wɛl fʌ(r)st ʌv ol In pɑkvju ðɛn ʌ bikʌz ɑi: hɛi:tɛd It In
an art major and I lived well first of all in Parkview then uh because I hated it in
pɑkvju ɑi muvd tu ðʌ mɛin bIwdIŋ wItʃ aktʃʌli wʌz i:'n wəs ʌ so In
Parkview I moved to the main building which actually was even worse uh so in
hIndsɔit ɔi ʃʊd hæv stɛid In pɑkvju ʌm ænd It wɔz bæd bi:kɔz ʌm sɛvrl
hindsight I should have stayed in parkview um and it was bad because um several
dIfrnt rizns ʌm fʌstli: b'kʌz wɛl mostli: ðʌ noiz ɑid sɛi: It wʌz rIli: noi:zi
different reasons um firstly because well mostly the noise I’d say it was really noisy
ænd ɑi wʌznt gɛtIŋ vɛri mʌtʃ slip b'kʌz y'si ɑi hæd klɑsz kwɑit ɚli In
and I wasn’t getting very much sleep because you see I had classes quite early in
ðʌ mo(r)nIŋ fʌ(r)st θIŋ In ðʌ mo(r)nIŋ ænd pipl wə gɛdIn drʌnk ænd mɛkIŋ
the morning first thing in the morning and people were getting drunk and making
lots ʌv noiz ʌntIl əbæut goʃ ʌ It vɛrid ə bIt so(r)t əv b'twin tu ænd fo(r) ɛi ɛm
lots of noise until about- gosh, uh it varied a bit sort of between two and four am
In ðʌ monIŋ ʌm ænd ʌv ko(r)s ðɛn It dIdnd hɛlp ðæd wɛn ɑi wʌz In ðə mɛin
(in the morning) um and of course then it didn’t help that when I was in the main
bIwdIŋ mɑi wIndo ovʌlʊkd yu no ði kʌnsɚvʌtri bIt ʌv ðʌ kɑmmn
building my window overlooked you know the conservatory bit of the common
rum wɛʌ ði ʌ tɛibl tɛnIs θIŋ Iz so pipl wʌ(r) In ðɛ(r) so(r)t əv mr yu
room where the uh table tennis thing is? So, people were in there sort of Mraaa you
no ʃautIŋ ænd mɛsIŋ ʌraund ʌm æn ɑi jusd tʌ gɛt rIli rIli ʌnoid so ɑi
know shouting and messing around um and I used to get really really annoyed so I
wʌznt gɛtIŋ mʌtʃ slip ænd ɔlsʌo ði ʃɛ(r)t ʌm toilʌts ænd sInks ænd ʃowʌ(r)s
wasn’t getting much sleep and also the shared um toilets and sinks and showers
wə prIdi dIzgʌsdIŋ jiæ ɑi don no wɒt ðʌ ʌm gɛlz wʌns wʌ(r) lɑi:k bʌt ðʌ
were pretty disgusting yeah I don’t know what the um girls’ ones were like but the
boiz wʌnz wɚ prIti horIbw ʌm pipl jusd tʌ liv ɑI min ɑi rImɛmbʌ
boys ones were pretty horrible. Um, people used to leave—I mean, I remember
goIŋ Intʌ wʌn ʌv ðʌ showəs wʌns ænd ðɜ wʌ livs ænd Insekts ɔl ovʌ ðʌ
going into one of the showers once and there were leaves and insects all over the
flo əv ðʌ ʃæu:wʌ ænd bIts ʌv mʌd ɑi dʌun no wɛðʌ sʌmwʌn wʌz klinIŋ
floor of the shower and bits of mud I don’t know whether someone was cleaning
ðɛ(r) ʃuz In ðɛ(r) o(r) wɒt ɑi duno bʌt jæ It wʌz ʌ prIti horibow ɛkspiriɛns so
their shoes in there or what I dunno but yea, it was a pretty horrible experience so
ɑim rIli glæd ðæt ɑi doun ɑi lIv ɒf kæmpʌs næu so ji:æ
I’m really glad that I don’t- I live off campus now, so yeah.