British expertise requested

[cdybedahl]

How would Martha Jones likely categorize Rose Tyler's accent?

Comments

[watervole.livejournal.com]

London possibly.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

But London generally, not as being from the kind of less-rich area where Rose lived before she met the Doctor?

[watervole.livejournal.com]

YOu can't tie regions within London down that specifically these days.

Martha's own family aren't that different in origin - compare Martha and Rose's accents. Martha has risen above her family, so would probably not think of Rose's accent as 'chav' or 'lower class'.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

Ok. Thanks!

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

I don't think that's true ... there's definite South London, Hampstead and East London accents, plus there's the Brixton/Southwark/Clapham poor "black" accent (as common among the lower class estate white kids as the black ones).

Rose's was a slightly clearer, probably south London estate accent (or at least an attempt at one)

[watervole.livejournal.com]

You live closer to London, so you've probably got a better ear for it than I have.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

We do have a clue - in the PIGSSSS FROM SPAAAACE episode Aliens of London the flying saucer flew over Rose's flats, then hit Big Ben, then crashed into the river flying roughly NNE




To me this says that it came from approximately SSE of the Houses of Parliament, roughly in the direction of Nine Elms / Vauxhall, where there's quite a lot of council housing. This fits in fairly well with the "South London" theory.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Looking at this picture and Google Earth again, the most probable line flies over quite a lot of flats on the North side of the Thames too - so it could be just North of the river, in Westminster, or to the South, but more in the Battersea area.

[fifitrix.livejournal.com]

Rose has a very definately South London accent.
Not overtly chavvy but definately south london as opposed to East or North.

I say not East because the east london accent has more rounded vowels sounds and Rose is just on the clipped side of that which makes me say south.

It's a really fine distinction though and unless you live near it or have family with that accent (like me!) then it's not really going to be picked up.
I think Martha would call Rose a south london girl.

Interestingly although Rose sounds "south" london to me, Jackie comes across as more east end than that. Probably a function of the fact that Billie Piper is quite posh voiced in real life and the actress who plays Jackie (whose name escapes me) is more or less using her own voice for the part.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

I think just "London" will do fine. I was more interested if there'd be any obvious class/status connotation to it. Which I gather there isn't.

[fifitrix.livejournal.com]

No indeed. There isn't a huge difference class wise between Rose and Martha as regards their accents. Martha is better spoken but I still wouldn't class her accent as posh.

[seaya.livejournal.com]

Oooh. This sounds promising! :-D

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

Don't hold your breath. I've been horrible about starting stories and never finishing them lately.

[zero2aries.livejournal.com]

Cockney here.... genuine cockney not just "London" or "Estuary"...

Rose is South London (south of the river Thames) working class - not quite strong enough to be deptford or woolwich but with that kind of inflection.

Martha is home counties lower middle class by the sound of her... but not posh.... she would think of Rose as a "chav"