(Apologies - this is a slightly parochial post).
We were talking in the office the other day about the death of Brian Clough and the all the Forest and Derby fans talking about him on the telly. And someone pointed out that he couldn't ever remember hearing East Midland's accents on the TV before. And that's starting to obsess me now. (Actually the EMDA draw it a bit too big for me, I think it's more like this size.)
Infact the only East Midland's accents I can think of hearing on the telly are Nigel Clough, Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine. (And there was a time when that bloke from the UDM was on a lot.)
And the only famous East Midlanders I can think of are Joe Jackson and DH Lawrence.
(And whenever people do Lawrence adaptations they always get the accents wrong and go all Yorkshire.)
I'm starting to wonder why this is the case.
Are East Midlanders too happy to be assimilated and let their accents slip away though lack of regional pride? (This has happened to me. But you don't see it happening to Yorkshire folk.)
Are East Midland's accents too unpleasant for public consumption - meaning they're less likely to become famous? Or what?
According to this Wiki article "the East Midlands has the least distinctive of all British accents. Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and The Wash, and to a lesser extent Northampton and Lincoln all have accents close to BBC English."
And this piece says that East Midland's accents are the actual basis of RP - "RP was once itself a regional accent - that of the East Midlands. It acquired its status because East Midlands speakers converged on London as it became a centre for merchants. In other words, London became the power base and the financial centre, and the East Midlands accent became the spoken standard"
That's a really interesting thought, but having grown up in Derby, it seems like bollocks to me. A Derby accent is certainly nothing like BBC English (ie RP) And it's cetainly distinct. No-one says 'ehup mi' duck' like a Derby chipshop owner. And I can remember that we could tell the difference in accent (and dialect) between places that were only a few miles apart.
Maybe this is something to do with time (or me not appreciating the timescales these authors are talking about) because this BBC piece about Chaucer says "he wrote in the East Midlands dialect (covering London, Oxford and Cambridge), the most influential in forming Modern English." And obviously you wouldn't think about those places having the same accent nowadays.
Anyway. Enough rambling.
What I'm saying is - are their any East Midlander's on the telly that I'm missing?
now, what was i saying about you uncovering my deepest lostest memories ?
i grew up just a few miles from you in leicester and remember a friend of mine being very confused when a neighbour referred to him as 'mi duck'. "but i'm a boy" he replied.
sadly i went to a posh school in loughborough which meant i ended up totally accentless (in an RP-type way).
i lived in sheffield for a few years and adopted their accent as quickly as possible, but even that's left me know.
i think i miss not having a proper regional accent.
as for east mids on TV, i think you are right.
Posted by: funkypancake | October 12, 2004 at 07:35 PM
Eh up mi duck!
As an East Midlander resident in Scotland, I find people tend to presume I'm from Yorkshire or Manchester and don't really know where Nottingham is. The worst thing about my accent is the incredibly flat vowels.. EM Accents on telly - last night I was watching 'A Thing Called Love' on BBC1 -which I think is set in Notts, and Paul Nicholls and the bloke that used to be in The Bill were having a fair stab at the accent. Best attempt I've heard anyway.
Posted by: Lucy | October 13, 2004 at 03:39 PM
I'm from Stoke on Trent and have similar feelings about the Stoke accent. I've almost lost mine now after living Down South for a couple of years and I do miss hearing it. I was surprised to discover that East Midlanders also use 'duck' as I thought it was peculiar to Stoke! I do love regional accents. They are part of our identity and I'd like to hear more of them on tv.
Posted by: Sarah | October 14, 2004 at 09:37 AM
Is Stoke the West Midlands, or the North West? Or something else.
When I was in Derby we always used to decide where the East/West boundary was based on which ATV/Central transmitter you watched.
I'm going to check out 'A Thing Called Love'.
I was watching the Brian Clough programme on BBC1 last night. And Nigel Clough reminded me of what I think of as very East Midlands. It's not just about accent, it's also quite quiet and flat. Like you have to talk with your chin on your chest. A bit mumbly. Not round and expansive like some accents.
Posted by: russell davies | October 14, 2004 at 03:29 PM
there's a letter in the Radio Times about the regional accents in 'A thing called love'.
perhaps that's what inspired you to write the post in the first place ?
i may live my life based around a magazine letters page one week. perhaps taking a different newspaper or magazine as my inspiration each day.
i may not do though.
Posted by: funkypancake | October 14, 2004 at 06:45 PM
I consider Stoke to be in the West Midlands and Liverpool/Manchester is the North West. Although I imagine some Stokies might disagree. I think it all depends on whether you feel closer to Manchester or Birmingham. I've always preferred Brum.
My boyfriend is from Derby and we both distinguish the difference between East and West Midlands by which news/Central channel you get. Oh, I do miss Nick Owen...
Posted by: Sarah | October 15, 2004 at 10:00 AM
Here's another question. We drove into Staffs the other day and I'm convinced that the sign said 'Welcome To Staffordshire - the creative county'. Can that be true? And on what basis could that be true?
Also, another archetypal East Midlands accent - Pitman, the former miner/rapper from Coalville.
Ah, Nick Owen, and Tom Coyne.
Posted by: russell davies | October 15, 2004 at 10:58 AM
Thinking about it.. Samathan Morton is from Nottingham, but very rarely does she play a part in her own accent (actually she hardly ever says anything in movies.. just does the whole wide eyed mysterious thing very well)
Posted by: Lucy | October 15, 2004 at 12:26 PM
Gary Linekar is from Leicester, right? with all those Walkers adverts. although Leicester 'feels' closer to the West Midlands than East.
Posted by: martin | October 17, 2004 at 10:03 AM
People in Northampton don't speak anything like East Midlanders...I dont really see why it is in the EAST Midlands at all..as it has much more accent wise and is closer to places that come under the South East, such as MIlton Keynes, Bedford and Luton. People in Northampton don't see themselves as 'Midlanders.' Cities such as Nottingham, Leicester and Derby are in the East Midlands, Northampton certainly is not
Posted by: Craig | April 16, 2005 at 06:09 PM
I am from Brooklyn, New York and went to college in the midwest. Everyone thought I was a gangster. I guess I had an accent. Local accents are disappearing in the US, though. Taht may be good when the accent is a disadvantage. I was definitely labeled as lower class. Even thogu I guess I lost most of it. My dis say that when I talk to my brother, we both sound like we're from sopranos. For your Brits, there are some links to American Accents on my page (I play with these things). http://www.GoodAccent.com
Posted by: Pancho | July 09, 2008 at 04:42 AM