Cockney moved East: the dialect of the first generation of East Londoners raised in Essex

This paper provides a dialectological account of the variety spoken by the first generation to grow up in a community in Essex populated by East Londoners after World War II. The dialect spoken by 15 speakers (female = 9; male =6) born between 1944 and 1969 is detailed in terms of vowels, consonants, morpho-syntactic features, and a brief discussion of Cockney Rhyming Slang. Comparisons are made with previous accounts of the working-class East London dialect, Cockney, as well as the dialects of Essex (East London’s neighbouring county), East Anglia, South East England and Multicultural London English, the dialect now prevalent in the speech of young East Londoners. There are remarkable similarities between the English spoken in this Essex community and previous accounts of Cockney, including its most defining features. This Essex dialect is certainly encapsulated within the natural range of variation within Cockney and far surpasses the Cockney influences observed in other areas of the South East. Conclusively it can be determined that Cockney did move to Essex along with the communities who relocated.