Is there such thing as a Sussex, or even Brightonian accent?

[Eeyore]

There was a Sussex accent but it was drowned out by all the erzaz mockney arrivistes from Sarf Lunnon and Esex what moved dahn sarf.

Very much so, any Brighton accent became diluted upon the arrival of the railways. Many a local family tree will trace itself back to 'The Smoke'.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Not really. The Brighton accent is just a London wannabe.

Completely contradictory sentences. Either it's a London accent (therefore no accent) or it's a London wannabe (therefore an accent).

 

[The Grockle]

As someone who's never lived in Brighton or Sussex I can pick up on a Sussex accent, although I only ever pick it up from the over 40's. Sort of home counties/london with a twang of west country. There's also a Y twang, sometimes makes brighton sound like briyton or even broyton.

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

Very much so, any Brighton accent became diluted upon the arrival of the railways. Many a local family tree will trace itself back to 'The Smoke'.

We are all ex Palace .........well actually i am a 13th century original Brighton peasant,lower town fisherman,i fought the French on the beaches you know..

 

[MissGull]

We are all ex Palace .........well actually i am a 13th century original Brighton peasant,lower town fisherman,i fought the French on the beaches you know..

and what is your accent?

 

[Luke93]

As stated by a local comedian: "I believe it's called 'educated'"

-Simon Evans, live at the Apollo.

 

[stripeyshark]

I'm from Hastings and always notice the difference in accent from people to the west of Eastbourne.

 

[Napier's Knee]

Yes virtually dead now except for odd words - twitten, somewhen. But there is an old recording on YouTube of a man speaking in broad Sussex. It's exactly how my grand dad sounded.

 

[joker]

Brighton is a bit posher than London, they say Sarfend we say soufend

 

[beorhthelm]

absolutly there is, both sussex country and brighton town. certainly the country is still there and easy to hear from anyone who's generations old particualrly in East Sussex. Brightonian is less distinct because it is a heavily London influenced accent. generations of working classes and workers in the house holds from London would have brought that down long before the mockerney trend. i recall someone in the family saying once how Attenborough grated in Brighton Rock because he obviously wasnt from local.

 

[The Large One]

I noticed whilst in Hampshire the other week, that they seem to have a slight regional accent, then as you move into Dorset and across it gets more pronounced. Essex also has a distinctive accent.
Kent and Surrey seem to speak broadly with the same accent as we do in Sussex.

However, I have a Northern friend that reckons there is a definite Brighton accent, and we can be spotted a mile off.

The harsh Essex accent we hear in popular culture is mostly overspill from east London after the urban sprawl took hold in the first half of the 20th century.

The original Essex accent; the rural Essex - before Londonisation - is much softer, more 'countrified', with its own distinctive soft vowels.

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

and what is your accent?

Bit yokel with a South london/French twang

 

[pauli cee]

The 'Sussex Twang' can still be heard quite noticeably in the older generations in my family in Worthing.

You guys really aren't missing much....

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

Got friends from Cumbria who think I am a Cockney

 

[Barrel of Fun]

We wun't be druv?

 

[Driver8]

Having left the south east over twelve years ago and now being used to Scouse/Manc/Welsh accents in a daily basis I must say Albion fans all sound like cockneys to me now!

 

[The Birdman]

The guys from Burwash are hard to understand.

 

[MissGull]

See, I find the Chichester accent the first change in accent, as it becomes closer to the Pompey/Gosport twang.

 

[seagullsslimjim]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_dialect

 

[Eeyore]

We are all ex Palace .........well actually i am a 13th century original Brighton peasant,lower town fisherman,i fought the French on the beaches you know..

I've traced our family back to around 1890. Before that it seems to be divided between Brighton and the local Sussex area. I intend to find time to pursue it back further.

The town experienced a spike in population after the railways, and I would imagine before that the accent would have sounded quite rural. I've often wondered what a Brightonian would have sounded like a couple of hundred or so years back. Probably much like many people from the outlying country regions of Portsmouth and Southampton do now, but the dialect would have been much thicker and less understandable. Populations were far less nuclear then, more insular, and less connected. There would have been a lot of unique phrases and tones.