Northern accents are becoming more similar and softer as the number of educated city-dwellers rises, research has found.
Linguistic experts at the University of Manchester found evidence of a pan-regional “general northern English” accent among middle-class northerners.
Analysis of speech patterns across the north of England, conducted using machine learning algorithms, showed there was little distinction between the accents of people in Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
However, while the suggestion is that those living in central areas of the north sound similar, people with accents from geographical outliers Liverpool and Newcastle sounded more distinct.
As part of the research, linguists also looked into the pronunciation of vowel sounds, and compared them with traditional descriptions of different northern dialects.
They found that although many traditional features are no longer present in accents, most speakers do still sound distinctly northern – using short vowels in words such as “glass” and “bath”, and pronouncing the word “crux” the same as “crooks”.
Patrycja Strycharczuk, a lecturer in linguistics and quantitative methods who led the analysis, said the inspiration for the research came from northerners suggesting their accents were no longer distinctive. She said: “I often hear statements like ‘I’m from Liverpool/Manchester/Sheffield, but I don’t have the accent’.”
Strycharczuk added that though dialects across the region were merging, they were not becoming less distinct from those spoken in other parts of the country.
“It may seem as though local accents are dying out, but we believe we’re actually seeing a new variety becoming established – educated, urban and northern,” she said. “I think its prestige has increased, and people are now less tempted to lose their accent if they’ve been to university or they do a lot of public speaking.”
However, while some urban northerners are becoming prouder of their accents, previous research has suggested strong dialects are perceived as less professional.
A 2018 study from the university found teachers in the UK from the north and Midlands felt most under pressure to adopt a more generalised English accent in order to be taken more seriously.
“The question is whether general northern English also has the same status for those who don’t speak it – can a speaker be perceived as standard in London?” said Strycharczuk. “I don’t think we’re there yet, but the shifting attitudes in the north are a first step.”
