I walk in Aberdeen, I hear an Aberdonian accent. I walk in Manchester, I hear a Manc accent. I walk in York, I hear a York accent. I walk in Swansea, I hear a Swansea accent.
I walk in Penzance, Trura, Camburn, S’nozzell, Bude, Lanson, in fact anywhere in Cornwall, what do I hear? Not one Cornish accent, be it Camburn, Trura, St Just or anywhere!
Either south-eastern English, northern English or predominately, it seems, Midland English/Birmingham…
There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark…
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October 31st, 2012 at 8:32 am
Even more annoying those young Cornish who think its cool to sound like one of the cast of East Enders.
October 31st, 2012 at 10:11 am
The same can be said for most of the ‘westcountry’ accents. Only the very old will know what a Berkshire accent sounds like, with its rolling burrs and high pitched vowels, the Bristolian accent is alive but changing, Devonian accent is retreating to the western edges of Dartmoor. Where there are fewer people, the dominant accent will take over. People watching so much TV doesn’t help either, with Cornish lads calling each other “bruv” in a London accent, purely a fashion spread through the media. It’s not cool to sound Cornish at school.
But – look at some of the ‘great’ Cornish folk in recent times. The archaeologist Charles Thomas, often called the ‘greatest living Cornishman’ doesn’t have a trace of a Cornish accent and doesn’t sound like he’s Camborne born and bred. But he is. Being Cornish is so much deeper than how you sound. I know someone who has a Cornish accent but isn’t Cornish, came down in his teens, now very old.
I know it’s sad, as it’s a wonderful accent, and being Cornish born and bred myself without an accent, I will miss it. But the absence of a Cornish accent doesn’t mean the absence of Cornish folk. We’ll always be here.