A once-common feature of the Lancashire accent may end up vanishing “within the next few generations”, a new study has suggested.
If you’ve ever been to or met someone from Blackburn or Darwen, or even the more rural areas to the east of the North West region, then you may be familiar with the Lancashire accent’s distinctive ‘strong R’ sound that can sometimes be heard both within, and at the end of certain words.
Or, maybe you haven’t? Well, if it’s the latter you identify with, then you’re not the only one.
That’s because a new study by researchers at Lancaster University has found that this particular feature of the accent is dying out, and it may even have vanished all together in just a few generations’ time.
The ‘strong R’ – otherwise known as the rhotic R, rhoticity, or a feature of rhotic accents – means that words such as “car”, “park”, and “bird” are said with an emphasis on the R sound in east Lancashire accents, and this is not common among other English accents.
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A feature of the Lancashire accent may vanish “within the next few generations” / Credit: BBC | Manuel Harlan (via Curtis Brown)
Most English language accent varieties used in England are non-rhotic, which stems from a trend in southeastern England, and was accelerated in the very-late 18th century onwards.
Rhotic accents are still found in the West Country, some parts of the West Midlands and the East Midlands, particularly the Corby area due to migration from Scotland in the 1930s, and, you guessed it, several areas within Lancashire – most notably in towns and villages that are north and west of the centre of Manchester.
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Notable Lancastrians with the ‘strong R’ accent feature include comedians Eric Morecambe and Les Dawson, actress Jane Horrocks, and Bullseye presenter Jim Bowen.
The ‘strong R’ rhotic speech feature is prominent among older speakers in Lancashire, and while it can still be heard used by the younger generations nowadays, researchers have noted that it tends to be a much softer sound.
Comedians Eric Morecambe, and Les Dawson, and actress Jane Horrocks are famous for using the ‘strong R’ / Credit: BBC
“Accent change is often like a puddle,” explained Dr Danielle Turton, who is one of the authors of the new study.
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“It dries up in most places, and leave remnants around the edges.”
Dr Turton’s paper – which is titled ‘An Acoustic Analysis of Rhoticity in Lancashire’, and has been published in the Journal of Phonetics this week – is the first systematic acoustic analysis of a rhotic accent in present-day England, and has ultimately found that the disappearance of the Lancashire accent might be happening “so gradually that people don’t notice it”.
She continued: “For the youngest speakers in Blackburn, these Rs are very weak, which raises the question of whether future generations will even hear these weak Rs at all, and whether this distinction will eventually fade away.
“In the next few generations, this traditional linguistic feature may be lost.”
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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Manchester ranked among the worst UK cities for throwing away food at Christmas
Emily Sergeant
A new survey has ranked Manchester among the worst cities in the UK when it comes to throwing away leftover food at Christmas.
If there’s one thing we know for certain, it’s that a lot of food gets consumed during Christmas time, but unfortunately, what then comes along with that, is a lot of food getting thrown away too – with a new study revealing that British families are expected to bin nearly £300 million worth of festive food this year alone.
And sadly, Manchester has been named one of the top festive food waste hotspots.
Ahead of the festive season, leading electricals retailer, AO.com, is on a mission to help Brits cut back on their food waste, as 54% of Mancs have admitted to chucking out leftovers.
The survey found that, on average, a British family spends £136 on their Christmas food shopping, but 11% of that goes to waste.
This equates to a whopping £292,822,360 in Christmas food waste in total this year.
With almost 78% of survey respondents saying they would prefer to have their meals at home during the Christmas period, rather than dining out, the research uncovered that a quarter of Brits often throw away their Brussels sprouts, while one in 10 even admitted to binning everyone’s festive favourite, pigs in blankets.
Manchester has ranked among the worst UK cities for throwing away food at Christmas / Credit: Freepik | Flickr
Other northern cities ranking alongside Manchester in the not-so-coveted list of highest festive food waste offenders include Newcastle and Sheffield.
The capitals of London, Edinburgh, and Belfast also feature.
The news that Manchester has been named a festive food waste capital comes after a shocking study, also by AO, revealed back in August that Mancs throw away more than £1,000 of ‘freezable’ food every year too.
Featured Image – gpointstudio (via Freepik)
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Tyson Fury says he hasn’t spoken to his wife in ‘three months’ whilst preparing for Usyk rematch
Danny Jones
Tyson Fury says hasn’t spoken to his wife Paris for three whole months while preparing for the much-anticipated Oleksandr Usyk rematch.
The Manc fighter is set to face the Ukrainian counterpart in the ‘Undisputed’ sequel, simply dubbed Fury vs Usyk 2, which will result in one unified heavyweight champion of the world.
Usyk’s victory over the Wythenshawe-born boxer back in May saw him take that title for the first time since 1999 (the only man to have done so in the four-belt era) but with the rematch nearly upon us, Fury could be set to steal that title away from him.
With that in mind, the pressure has clearly been on ever since he lost the first bout and, according to Tyson himself, he hasn’t spoken to his wife Paris Fury for virtually a quarter of a year as part of his immensely strict training camp.
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the match this weekend, he claimed: “I haven’t spoke to Paris in three months – not a word. [I’ve] not spoke to anyone, I haven’t been on my phone.”
Explaining that he simply removed all distractions to get his head in the right space ahead of the title decider, ‘The Gypsy King’ has been known to isolate himself from the rest of the world before a big fight in the past, but cutting contact with your spouse of 10 years and partner for nearly two decades is wild.
The 36-year-old went on to detail that in order to give himself the best shot at winning, he couldn’t keep switching between “beast mode to dad mode to wife mode” and so on.
In separate interviews with other outlets ahead of the highly-awaited rematch, Fury has made various other big claims about what boxing fans can expect from his own performance, including an admission that he needs to be “more focused this time and not do as much showboating” in the ring.
Nevertheless, he also assured the media that he isn’t a quitter and has promised he will not just “f*** up” his 37-year-old opponent but “retire” him. Usyk, on the other hand, has warned he will be a different challenge than the last time the two faced each other, predicting a knockout victory too.
Having downed Tyson more than once the last time around, he’s understandably confident of his chances.
Bold words from the pair of them, indeed, but this is all just part and parcel of the usual pre-fight build-up; all we really know is that Usyk won the previous face-off and Fury is the one with the point to prove.
While younger brother Tommy Fury recently had to pull out of his scheduled fight against Darren Till, during which tensions seriously boiled over during the first press conference, it looks as though there is no risk of more cancellations and any more ‘will they won’t they?’ antics between these two at least.
The rematch, or ‘Fury vs Usyk 2: Undisputed’ to give use its full title (the latest in Saudi Arabia’s growing fight scene and live sports programming as part of Riyadh Season) takes place this Saturday, 21 December, with the two set to clash once again from 10:25 GMT.
Who do you think will emerge victorious from this one and, more importantly, when do you think we’ll see the third and ‘final’ fight when they inevitably demand a trilogy?…
Emily Sergeant -
29th December 2023 
