Phonologie anglaise | Cockney
A Guide to Cockney Rhyming Slang

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It is said that only those born within earshot of the 'Bow Bells' (St Mary-le-Bow) can claim to be Cockneys.
This map shows, in green, the area where the sound of the Bow Bells reached in 1851, and in blue, the much smaller area that it reaches now

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What or who is a Cockney?

A cockney traditionally is a person born within hearing distance of the sound of Bow bells, meaning within the sound of the bells of the Church of St Mary Le Bow in Cheapside, London, EC2 and refers to an East London accent, however to most people living outside London the term Cockney means a Londoner.

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Some basic phonetic features of Cockney English

1. As with many accents of the United Kingdom (and especially in the south), Cockney is non-rhotic. A final -er is pronounced [ə] (schwa).
2. Pronunciation of <TH>.

• /θ/ is usually pronounced [f] such as in [fɪn] "thin" or [mɛfs] "maths".
• /ð/ is usually pronounced [v] like in [ˈbɒvə] "bother"

3. The use of glottal stops in place of certain consonants in certain parts of words (/ˈbetə/ -> [ˈbeʔə])

Glottal Stop

The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is [ʔ]. Wikipedia.com

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What is Cockney Rhyming Slang?

Cockney Rhyming slang is a coded language invented in the nineteenth century by Cockneys so they could speak in front of the police without being understood. It uses a phrase that rhymes with a word, instead of the word itself – thus ‘stairs’ becomes ‘apples and pears’, ‘phone’ becomes ‘dog and bone' and ‘word’ becomes ‘dicky bird’. It can become confusing when sometimes the rhyming part of the word is dropped: thus ‘daisies’ are ‘boots’ (from ‘daisy roots’).

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Examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang

I don't Adam and Eve it!

COCKNEY	MEANING
Adam and Even	Believe
Bacon and Eggs	Legs
Bees and Honey	Money
Butcher's Hook	Look
Dog and Bone	Phone
Lemon Squeezy	Easy
Plates of Meat	Feet
Pork Pies	Lies
Apple and Pears	Stairs

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Exercices | A vous de jouer !

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You may also like:

• Dialects and Accents | The difference between a dialect and an accent
• Standard English [ Received Pronunciation ] | L'accent standard ou BBC English
• Cockney English | L'accent Cockney de East London et son Rhyming Slang
• Standard Scottish English | L'accent écossais
• The Irish Accent | L'accent irlandais aussi appelé "Hiberno-English"
• General American | L'accent standard américain (1ère partie)
• General American | L'accent standard américain (2ème partie)
  

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