Is there any distinctive difference between downtown accent and suburban accent in London?
Differences between downtown & suburban accent in Lond
first of all - there is no DOWNTOWN in Europe. That is a nonsense Americanism.
Cockney is spoken in East London (working class suburbs )
Estuary - CENTRE LONDON - and everywhere else except East.
Cockney is spoken in East London (working class suburbs )
Estuary - CENTRE LONDON - and everywhere else except East.
Downtown is never used in the UK...it's definitely an American term. Nobody in this city would say they are going "downtown" - they would simply say I'm off to town, meaning the city centre. It's Edinburgh City Centre, and never Downtown Edinburgh.
You can't identify the London accent by locality - it's a far more complex situation than just an inner/outer city location. Greater London (ie the Metropolitan area, or what the Police in London called the MPD - the Metropolitan Police District) covers a very large urban area, probably 50 miles east to west and 50 miles north to south, and like in all very big cities there are highly prosperous areas and more deprived areas, where immigrants can actually predominate in some locations, so there is a huge mix of cultures and accompanying accents.
It's true that the more deprived areas are found in the inner parts of London, where "foreign" accents or extreme Estuaryised Cockney are very common - Hackney, Bow, Paddington, Camberwell, Deptford, Southwark, Brixton, Peckham, Bermondsey, Plaistow, Eltham, Lewisham, Tottenham, and so one.... but there are also areas of Central London which are quite "posh" and where RP is widespread, areas like Westminster, Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, Hampstead, St John's Wood, Finchley, and so on. Out in suburbia, Outer London, where you are less likely to find immigrants, then RP or Estuary English English is the norm, places like Surbiton, Bromley, Bexleyheath, Barnet, Edgware, Golders Green, Putney, Kingston, Harrow, Islington, Ruislip, Blackheath, Barnes, Dulwich, Battersea, Carshalton,...and so on.
While in some ways you could say there are accent differentials between "Downtown" London (if you want to use this American term here) and Suburban London, but on the other hand you could not.
London is such a city (ask Boris Johnson!) and nothing is really cut and dried, whether its the Metropolitan accents and dialects or anything else.
You can't identify the London accent by locality - it's a far more complex situation than just an inner/outer city location. Greater London (ie the Metropolitan area, or what the Police in London called the MPD - the Metropolitan Police District) covers a very large urban area, probably 50 miles east to west and 50 miles north to south, and like in all very big cities there are highly prosperous areas and more deprived areas, where immigrants can actually predominate in some locations, so there is a huge mix of cultures and accompanying accents.
It's true that the more deprived areas are found in the inner parts of London, where "foreign" accents or extreme Estuaryised Cockney are very common - Hackney, Bow, Paddington, Camberwell, Deptford, Southwark, Brixton, Peckham, Bermondsey, Plaistow, Eltham, Lewisham, Tottenham, and so one.... but there are also areas of Central London which are quite "posh" and where RP is widespread, areas like Westminster, Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, Hampstead, St John's Wood, Finchley, and so on. Out in suburbia, Outer London, where you are less likely to find immigrants, then RP or Estuary English English is the norm, places like Surbiton, Bromley, Bexleyheath, Barnet, Edgware, Golders Green, Putney, Kingston, Harrow, Islington, Ruislip, Blackheath, Barnes, Dulwich, Battersea, Carshalton,...and so on.
While in some ways you could say there are accent differentials between "Downtown" London (if you want to use this American term here) and Suburban London, but on the other hand you could not.
London is such a city (ask Boris Johnson!) and nothing is really cut and dried, whether its the Metropolitan accents and dialects or anything else.
I also want to mention that I have a gay accent and I am a gay, and I love flirting with you guys, it turns me on, oohhh yeah, another wank...my ass is so tired now, got to find a narrow bottle, smells a bit like shit, but you get used to it....
oh well, thanks guys!
oh well, thanks guys!