Brighton / Sussex Accents

[User removed 4]

Ive just moved to hove from london, some brightonians have similar accents to the london one , but even with this there is still a distinct rural sussex aspect to it.

 

[mikeyjh]

I've been down here 15 years and I can't distinguish where anyone is from in the entire South-East. Certainly has the most homogenous accent in any region of Britain.....

 

[Buzzer]

Alright Buzzer ?
I've been asked more than a couple of times if I'm from Brighton, so I guess I do have a Brighton accent and when I go back to my mum's I can definately hear hers and my step dad's accents. Mrs Wildy Ears does a good impression of us all together !
My mums brother was a farmer who never actually lived in Brighton and he had a strong Sussex 'yokel' accent.

On a seperate note will you be having a pint before kick off tomorrow ?

Yep, yep, yep! Before Football O'Clock, definitely. When and where?

 

[Curious Orange]

I suspect the accent in Brighton is gradually getting eroded by the current invasion from London. But it is always a pleasure to hear a Brighton accent at the football, and whenever I see any of my Mum's sisters (Mum lost her accent years ago - probably when she married a Bank Manager). It is definitely different from that nasty London accent!

 

[Franks Wild Years]

The Station ? Half one ? I'll have my step dad with me, taking him to his third Withdean experience.

 

[Gully]

I've been down here 15 years and I can't distinguish where anyone is from in the entire South-East. Certainly has the most homogenous accent in any region of Britain.....

I have that trouble up norf, it is so difficult to distinguish between Lancashire and Yorkshire...although after a couple of seconds someone from the latter will tell you where they are from and how wonderful it is...problem solved!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It's not just about locality. It's about family. However much we struggle against it, we end up talking more like our parents than our neighbours. I know young people out here in Firle who speak with a distinct rural Sussex accent that they have inherited from their parents. My own kids, brought up in the same locality, attending the same school, spending a lot of time with their Sussex-speaking friends, never picked up the 'real' accent. And I know people who have moved away from the village years ago who have still not lost their accent - despite moving in the world of IT consultancy or whatever.

 

[User removed 4]

It's not just about locality. It's about family. However much we struggle against it, we end up talking more like our parents than our neighbours. I know young people out here in Firle who speak with a distinct rural Sussex accent that they have inherited from their parents. My own kids, brought up in the same locality, attending the same school, spending a lot of time with their Sussex-speaking friends, never picked up the 'real' accent. And I know people who have moved away from the village years ago who have still not lost their accent - despite moving in the world of IT consultancy or whatever.

So how come a mate of mine from Lewes whos parents both come from rural Tipperary speaks with a distinct sussex burr ?

 

[R. Slicker]

I think I have a bit of yokel going on (though not as much as some of my mates) being born & bred in a Sussex village. I find a Brighton accent has a little bit of Jonathon Ross about it.
i.e. You pronounce it Bwrighton. Am i correct in this?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I have that trouble up norf, it is so difficult to distinguish between Lancashire and Yorkshire...although after a couple of seconds someone from the latter will tell you where they are from and how wonderful it is...problem solved!

Lancashire? What accent is that? People from Bolton don't sound a bit like folk from Burnley. Ditto 'Yorkshire', or the West Midlands.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

So how come a mate of mine from Lewes whos parents both come from rural Tipperary speaks with a distinct sussex burr ?

I guess for the same reason that I don't have the geordie accent that my parents were born with. But I guess it's 'Sussex-ish', not anywhere near as precisely 'Sussex Rural' as you'll find coming out of the mouths of some people in the area.

 

[Gully]

Lancashire? What accent is that? People from Bolton don't sound a bit like folk from Burnley. Ditto 'Yorkshire', or the West Midlands.

Exactly Lord B...just like someone from Sussex doesn't sound like someone from Southend, or someone from Hertfordshire like Hampshire, etc. The poster I replied to claimed unable to distinguish between anyone from any part of the South East...which surprised me a little...despite living here for 15 years, hence my response!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

This is an old recording of a chap from near Battle. I recognise a lot of similarities with a man I know from Battle. But it sounds nothing like like the Sussex accent you find in the Chidester area.

[yt]rWKWusNNBkQ[/yt]

 

[mikeyjh]

Exactly Lord B...just like someone from Sussex doesn't sound like someone from Southend, or someone from Hertfordshire like Hampshire, etc. The poster I replied to claimed unable to distinguish between anyone from any part of the South East...which surprised me a little...despite living here for 15 years, hence my response!

Perhaps I shoud re-phrase, differences in accent down here must be much more subtle - I can detect the nuances of localities in most regions but down here I can't. I'm sure if you're born and bred you can recognise them but like I said they're not particularly defined.

 

[Elvis]

I think I have a bit of yokel going on (though not as much as some of my mates) being born & bred in a Sussex village. I find a Brighton accent has a little bit of Jonathon Ross about it.
i.e. You pronounce it Bwrighton. Am i correct in this?

I'm Brighton born/bred and a good Northern friend of mine tells me that I prononce Brighton in a Jonathan Ross way. Personally I don't get it ,but, after reading your post maybe he's got a point, perhaps I do.

I also think that unfortuately most of the South east dialects are being merged/watered down etc...

 

[Sussex Nomad]

Most of it is a southern London accent that's been adapted to the Sussex area innit me old bone? My mums neighbour in EP of 30 years has always had the Sussex twang... quite twee really, a twee twang.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Perhaps I shoud re-phrase, differences in accent down here must be much more subtle - I can detect the nuances of localities in most regions but down here I can't. I'm sure if you're born and bred you can recognise them but like I said they're not particularly defined.

To my ear, North Kent is:- (a) very distinctive; (b) horrible.

 

[Gully]

Perhaps I shoud re-phrase, differences in accent down here must be much more subtle - I can detect the nuances of localities in most regions but down here I can't. I'm sure if you're born and bred you can recognise them but like I said they're not particularly defined.

I know what you mean. I once shared a house with, amongst others, a bloke with a broad Lancashire accent from Chorley and another with a slight stutter from Swansea. Neither of them could totally understand the other to start off with, for a couple of months or so I found myself acting as interpretor!

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

This is an old recording of a chap from near Battle. I recognise a lot of similarities with a man I know from Battle. But it sounds nothing like like the Sussex accent you find in the Chidester area.

[yt]rWKWusNNBkQ[/yt]

Superb.

 

[R. Slicker]

I know what you mean. I once shared a house with, amongst others, a bloke with a broad Lancashire accent from Chorley and another with a slight stutter from Swansea. Neither of them could totally understand the other to start off with, for a couple of months or so I found myself acting as interpretor!

That could be a BBC sitcom. Sussex man shares house with a bloke with a broad Lancashire accent from Chorley and another with a slight stutter from Swansea, with HILARIOUS results.