Is Bristol losing its accent?

Bristol. Gateway to the West and all that comes with it. But also a modern, cosmopolitan city regularly named as one of the best places to come and live in the UK.

Given that the city is caught between the two, and is only becoming more and more attractive to outsiders, is it fair to say the accent here is dying out?

Over Christmas last year, a carefully written map was circulated on social media – not for the first time – with place names tweaked to fit the local dialect. Henleaze becomes Enleez, naturally. Barton Hill becomes Bar Nil and Bedminster Down becomes Bemmie Down.

“I couldn’t get ‘El Dub’ and still don’t quite understand that one,” said Pamela Crummay, commenting on one of the posts. (It’s Lawrence Weston, by the way – L W).

But, like many, Pam then added: “All the rest are great! All disappearing now though…sad reelee….!!”

And she may have a point, according to James Hawkey, lecturer in linguistics at the University of Bristol and supervisor of a PhD in Bristolian.

He says we are experiencing something very natural in Bristol known as “levelling”. All accents are slowly coming a little bit closer to each other.

This means that perceived distinctions between people from north Bristol and people on the other side of the river are, perhaps, dying out. Although try telling that to someone from Filton or Hartcliffe.

“It would be a shock to see it dying out altogether,” Hawkey says. “But you can see it softening.”

He says that according to research we have almost already lost the famous “L”, as in “Good IdeaL” or “AsdaL”.

But one thing which isn’t going away is the strong pronunciation or “idiosyncratic use” of the “Rs” (known as rhotacism) in the city, such as in “proper”.

So why is the language softening? There are many reasons, James says. But one is the stigma which comes with a local dialect.

“Bristolian to some indicates a lower level of education or social class,” he says. “People don’t consciously do it, but they are changing their speech to move away from stereotypes. It must be social pressures that push certain uses out.”

James is conscious that on top of all this you have a fast-changing demographic through national and international migration which also affects the way people talk.

This “social baggage”, as another linguistics researcher, Katiuska Ferrer, puts it,  probably isn’t helped by typical Bristolian caricatures such as Vicky Pollard or Terry the Odd Job Man.

One man who is quick to dismiss the “social baggage” that comes with the accent is proud Bristolian and former England rugby player Gareth Chilcott.

As close as you get to to being a professional Bristolian, Gareth, 49, who grew up in Bedminster, says: “In my career I’ve mixed with all types, from royalty to proper locals all over the place and I’ve met an array of classes.

“I’ve always spoken with my accent, never changed it and never found it a problem. I think if anything Bristolians are proud of where they come from.”

At the same time, Gareth sees the accent dying away in certain areas, such as the centre, where he has an office in his club The Tunnels, underneath Temple Meads. 

“More recently Bristol has become a cosmopolitan place. It’s named as the place to be and people are moving here and working here like never before. It’s becoming diluted in a way.

“But there are strong areas you go to where you will always hear Bristolian in its broadest.” Plus, he says, when you have a few ciders, “people from here tend to become a lot more Bristolian”. Losing their inhibitions maybe? Or the unknown magical powers of proper scrumpy perhaps?

Former teacher Lucy Holloway comes from an interesting position, having seen the accent die out in her own family. Her grandparents, from Bishopston, were both clearly Bristolian.

But her mother Hilary’s accent was lost after she took elocution lessons. Now, Lucy’s own accent and that of her two younger sisters Emily and Jo, is closer to what is known as received pronunciation (BBC English, more or less).

But having taught kids in Speedwell, she says there’s no chance the dialect is dying out anytime soon. “I haven’t noticed it in my lifetime. You only have to walk around the city and you still hear it spoken everywhere.

“But I can see for sure that there’s more people living in Bristol now that aren’t from Bristol. That’s going to have an effect.”

Softening, levelling or a slow move away from some of the redundant features, whatever you say about the accent in Bristol, it is changing, says Kate Beeching, director at the Bristol Centre for Linguistics.

In some ways what we are hearing among the younger generation growing up now is a “new Bristolian”, she says. Where this will end up eventually is anyone’s guess.