The real roots of multicultural London English
|
Version 0 of 1. Professor Paul Kerswill, formerly of Lancester University and now of York, is an expert on the speech of young, working-class East Londoners - its components, its variations, its roots. Here's a talk he gave in 2011, shortly after that year's riots. Among other things, he demonstrates how completely wrong the know-all David Starkey was about London language, "race" and so-called "Jafaikan." Key points? Starkey is an ignoramus, multicultural London English is home grown, it transcends ethnic categories, and its speakers don't drop their aitches. As for its predecessor - what has come to be described as "traditional Cockney" - that is now mostly found in Essex and Hertfordshire, of course. Not that the Ray Winstone form of London English has yet gone from Greater London altogether. The last time I went to a council meeting in Barking and Dagenham it was alive and well in the mouths of many of the borough's Labour councillors. |