Quick Cockney
© 2014 Kimberly Mohne Hill…Dialect Coach
“Cockney in a Minute”
The following sounds represent the essence of the Cockney Dialect. Using the Standard British/RP as your base, adjust a few sounds and the placement of the sounds and you will get more of an East End/Cockney sound.
“Cockney in a Minute” Sentences for Practice
[h] dropped:
Harry was his biggest hero. The heckler got his hand chopped off by Horace.
[g] dropped on [-ing] endings:
Getting of the rolling bus was scaring me. The laughing hyenas were boring.
[th] ® [f/v]:
Me mother was thinking of thanking me father. I thought that was something.
[l] in final position:
Well Bill, the little call to the hall will tell you. They can tell if the spell is well.
[ʔ ] the glottal stop:
With a little bit of kittle, the cake will be better. The glottal stop is a little bit of fun.
[aw] ®very rounded [ooaw]:
They fall all over Paul when he calls. I thought the law was fraught with awful rules.
[oh] ® [ah-oh]:
I told the old goat to grow the gold coat. The boat is slow for the rowers and Joe.
[y/eye] ® [oy]:
While I was flying, my wife left in the night. Liza likes to fight the right battle.
[ay] ® [y]:
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. They came from the same place.
Samples of the Dialect:
Ray Winston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4f95AK8L4 (thanks DialectBlog)
Steve Haris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0cTyuLBFhI&feature=related
Terence Stamp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsdQYWs3nM4
Billy Bragg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F7ZtlZyx-U (thanks Eric Armstrong)
© 2014 Kimberly Mohne Hill…Dialect Coach
“Cockney in a Minute”
The following sounds represent the essence of the Cockney Dialect. Using the Standard British/RP as your base, adjust a few sounds and the placement of the sounds and you will get more of an East End/Cockney sound.
- The Question of [R] – same as RP, but more options for “Intrusive R” (“lawr and order”)
- The Cockney Consonants – big Cockney giveaways are their treatment of the consonants in words. “Clarity of utterance” is not a major motivation for their speech, so the consonants get sacrificed. Also, the area in which they lived was traditionally crowded, dirty and the air was diseased so they would not want to open their mouths very much.
- [h] is dropped/elided at the beginnings of words (‘arry, ‘ow)
- [g] is dropped on [ing] endings
- [th] is made with your bottom lip under your top teeth (sounds like a [v] or [f])
- Final [l] is made by lips, not tongue (sounds like [oo])
- Glottal Stop for [t]/[k]- (li’oo, li’, ma’in).
- The British [oh] – The sound [oh] as in “go” has an open, nasal “glide” into the sound - “ah oh”.
- The Cockney Vowels – two big diphthong changes and slight adjustments to others
- [aw] as in “always” (gets really round and sounds like “oo wise”).
- [oh] as in “go” has an open, nasal “glide” into the sound - “ah oh”.
- [eye] as in “my” becomes [oy]
- [ay] as in “pay” becomes [eye]
“Cockney in a Minute” Sentences for Practice
[h] dropped:
Harry was his biggest hero. The heckler got his hand chopped off by Horace.
[g] dropped on [-ing] endings:
Getting of the rolling bus was scaring me. The laughing hyenas were boring.
[th] ® [f/v]:
Me mother was thinking of thanking me father. I thought that was something.
[l] in final position:
Well Bill, the little call to the hall will tell you. They can tell if the spell is well.
[ʔ ] the glottal stop:
With a little bit of kittle, the cake will be better. The glottal stop is a little bit of fun.
[aw] ®very rounded [ooaw]:
They fall all over Paul when he calls. I thought the law was fraught with awful rules.
[oh] ® [ah-oh]:
I told the old goat to grow the gold coat. The boat is slow for the rowers and Joe.
[y/eye] ® [oy]:
While I was flying, my wife left in the night. Liza likes to fight the right battle.
[ay] ® [y]:
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. They came from the same place.
Samples of the Dialect:
Ray Winston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4f95AK8L4 (thanks DialectBlog)
Steve Haris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0cTyuLBFhI&feature=related
Terence Stamp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsdQYWs3nM4
Billy Bragg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F7ZtlZyx-U (thanks Eric Armstrong)