In which city/region of your country is the link between accent and social class especially marked?

[Tooting Carmen]

In the UK, I'd say Bristol. While in most cities in the Midlands, North, Wales and Scotland, even the middle-classes mostly have some sort of local accent, this is not usually the case in Bristol where the middle-classes can sound very posh and preppyish, in contrast to the very West Country-sounding working-classes.

[Ayetooey]

Birmingham and the black country area from my experience, you'll have two people from the same area, one who has a very thick traditional black countrayyyyyy accent, and the other whos accent could easily pass in SE England, and it does seem to be a bit of a class thing. I've noticed some Welsh people just sound Southern English also, not sure if that is a class or regional thing though, maybe you could comment on that one.

An obvious one would be London also.

[Tenma de Pegasus]

I would say São Paulo and probably Rio de Janeiro cities > rest of the country > Central West and South.

Poor people of São Paulo speak in a totally different form to be considered "cool" by their similar.

[Tooting Carmen]

Birmingham and the black country area from my experience, you'll have two people from the same area, one who has a very thick traditional black countrayyyyyy accent, and the other whos accent could easily pass in SE England, and it does seem to be a bit of a class thing.

As someone who briefly studied at Birmingham University and still frequently travels to Birmingham for work, trust me when I say that those who could pass as SE English are an extreme minority even among the middle-classes.

I've noticed some Welsh people just sound Southern English also, not sure if that is a class or regional thing though, maybe you could comment on that one.

It's a bit of both - it happens principally in Newport and Cardiff and the rural regions surrounding them (Monmouthshire and the Vale of Glamorgan), but doesn't happen so much elsewhere in Wales, notwithstanding all the English migration there has been.

An obvious one would be London also.

Although there are some RP speakers in London, it is gradually being replaced especially among the younger middle-classes with Estuary English. As for the London working-classes, good luck finding an authentic Cockney accent nowadays (I probably hear more in Mumbles and the Gower than in most of London - no joke) - most contemporary working-class Londoners sound an odd mix of Jamaican, Somali, Indian with hints of Cockney.

[Ayetooey]

As someone who briefly studied at Birmingham University and still frequently travels to Birmingham for work, trust me when I say that those who could pass as SE English are an extreme minority even among the middle-classes.



It's a bit of both - it happens principally in Newport and Cardiff and the rural regions surrounding them (Monmouthshire and the Vale of Glamorgan), but doesn't happen so much elsewhere in Wales, notwithstanding all the English migration there has been.



Although there are some RP speakers in London, it is gradually being replaced especially among the younger middle-classes with Estuary English. As for the London working-classes, good luck finding an authentic Cockney accent nowadays (I probably hear more in Mumbles and the Gower than in most of London - no joke) - most contemporary working-class Londoners sound an odd mix of Jamaican, Somali, Indian with hints of Cockney.

Maybe "easily pass" in SE England is an exaggeration for the West Midland, but not everyone universally in the West Midlands has a distinct accent, and there is some which could pass remotely further south. Where as it feels everyone in say Manchester, or Liverpool, or Newcastle, sounds very distinct regardless of wealth and couldn't "pass" elsewhere.

And yes, you'll find more real cockneys in Essex than London. They are essentially dead as a group. The working class London accent is indeed the one you mentioned.

[Tooting Carmen]

Maybe "easily pass" in SE England is an exaggeration for the West Midland, but not everyone universally in the West Midlands has a distinct accent, and there is some which could pass remotely further south. Where as it feels everyone in say Manchester, or Liverpool, or Newcastle, sounds very distinct regardless of wealth and couldn't "pass" elsewhere.

OK that's probably true. Still, even in Leeds and Manchester you can find some very well-spoken people - or at least people whose accents are nothing like as strong as the stereotype.

And yes, you'll find more real cockneys in Essex than London. They are essentially dead as a group.

Hertfordshire, Kent and maybe Surrey too.

The working class London accent is indeed the one you mentioned.

Linguists have actually termed it Multicultural London English.

[Nurzat]

in Romania I'd say it's all over the place, in which all regions have their accent and most local people speak it, even intellectuals, but they speak it with a different degree of pronunciation, with lower classes retaining a more extreme form of the local dialect everywhere, including in Bucharest, where the local dialect isn't exactly the Romanian standard, in which even if the words and phonetics are 99% the same, the intonation is different, there is a specific intonation even among Bucharesters, the lower class, taxi drivers, market sellers having a very thick pronounced Bucharest-specific annoying (for the other regions) accent, even if they think of themselves of speaking more correctly than all others (they are quick to ask people of other regions "to speak Romanian" even if they understand 99% of the speech, but they don't like other regions' accent/intonation)

[Tooting Carmen]

in Romania I'd say it's all over the place, in which all regions have their accent and most local people speak it, even intellectuals, but they speak it with a different degree of pronunciation, with lower classes retaining a more extreme form of the local dialect everywhere, including in Bucharest, where the local dialect isn't exactly the Romanian standard, in which even if the words and phonetics are 99% the same, the intonation is different, there is a specific intonation even among Bucharesters, the lower class, taxi drivers, market sellers having a very thick pronounced Bucharest-specific annoying (for the other regions) accent, even if they think of themselves of speaking more correctly than all others (they are quick to ask people of other regions "to speak Romanian" even if they understand 99% of the speech, but they don't like other regions' accent/intonation)

Do Gypsies in Romania have their own ethnolect, or do they have the same regional accents as everyone else?

[Andullero]

Both here and in Santiago. Middle classes and elites speak a neutralish Spanish, while the lower classes speak local jargons. In Santiago, they substitute the "r" for "i" (entrai, bañai, etc/), while over here it gets substituted for "l" (lidel, puelta, etc).

[Chaos One]

I would say São Paulo and probably Rio de Janeiro cities > rest of the country > Central West and South.

Poor people of São Paulo speak in a totally different form to be considered "cool" by their similar.

This. I mean, São Paulo City has 3 different accents: The "neutral" one, used by A/B/C classes (and sometimes can be really annoying when too strong), the Italian one (Porra, mêo!) and the one used by D/E class which is full of slangs and usually has some NE influences + strong "R" (like those guys saing "paRça" or "fiRmeza")