THE Cockney accent is dying out in parts of its spiritual home, according to research. A study of speech in the East End found that the accent of London’s working classes is being replaced with a new dialect.

A similar phenomenon is also taking place with other British accents, such as Scouse, English-language specialists told the BBC’s Voices project.

Sue Fox, a research fellow in sociolinguistic variation at Queen Mary College, University of London, said that a new mix of Cockney and Bangladeshi had developed. She studied youngsters in Tower Hamlets and said: “The majority of young people of school age are of Bangladeshi origin and this has had tremendous impact on dialect in the area. They are using a variety of English not traditionally associated with Cockney English. It ’s a variety that we might say is Bangladeshi-accented; and in turn what I’ve found is that some adolescents of white British origin are also using these features in their speech.”

The study discovered that young, white men have begun using words from their Bangladeshi friends such as “nang” for “good” and “skets” for slippers.

Dr Laura Wright, senior lecturer in English language at the University of Cambridge, said that the Cockney accent has shifted to towns around the capital.

She said: “East End communities were disrupted after the Second World War, and many inhabitants were transferred to the New Towns, such as Basildon and Harlow. When they resettled, they took their speech with them.”

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