British accents are being “diluted” all across the UK with the exception of Glasgow, a study has found.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow studied samples of recorded speech from the early 20th century to the present.
It showed some evidence of a common UK accent developing - with characteristics including a dropped letter “l” in words such as “people” (“peopo”) - although researchers found the Glaswegian accent to be far more distinctive than its cousins.
The study, called Sounds of the City, has been ongoing for three years and is funded by the Leverhulme trust.
Professor Jane Stuart-Smith, Director of the Glasgow University Laboratory of Phonetics (GULP),who led the research, said: “We were quite surprised by what we found. The assumption is that traditional dialects generally across the UK are being eroded and some are dying out altogether, but what we have learned particularly with the Glasgow accent is that Scots accents are actually flourishing.
“Interestingly, what is not happening in Scotland is the dilution of accents to a more homogenised anglicised accent on the scale that we are seeing in England, and in fact the Scots accent remains very distinctive.”
The homogenisation of accents is thought to be caused by “the large population movement during World War II and the post-war years of urban regeneration”, according to Professor Stuart-Smith.
She also attributes the phenomenon to the popularity of TV shows set in London, such as Eastenders.
Local features unique to traditional regional dialects have been levelled away while characteristics from elsewhere have become common, particularly the “f” sound replacing “th” in words like “tooth” and “south”, which originates from London. Some linguists predict there will be less diversity in accents in England by 2030.
The Glaswegian accent appears to be the most resilient, and is said to be changing on its own. A set of finer changes, which are local to Scotland, include the way vowels are pronounced in words like “boat”, “goat” or “coat”, or stop sounds that are pronounced in words like “pin”, “top” and “cat”.
Evidence suggests these changes have been happening for 100 years or more. The team has created an online resource in hopes it will be a valuable educational tool for students. Professor Stuart-Smith also hopes to carry out a similar study in Edinburgh.
