Author Topic: The real difference between Birmingham and the Black country accent/Cannock etc  (Read 32319 times)

wooo

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Ok, i'm sure there's been a few similar threads already (so forgive me!) but i've always been really interested in accents, especially in the west midlands.


Lots of people use the black country dialect to differentiate the 2 e.g people from birmingham don't say 'yam alroite' etc. as an example, but my mom's from walsall born and bred yet she doesn't say that either or any others apart from, she will say 'her' instead of 'she' , so what is the actual difference in the pronnunciation of words between brummies and people from the black country if there is no slang involved? is there much of a difference?


I live in south staffordshire near rugeley, so i'm all a bit confused in this - i don't come face to face with either accent everyday.


i was also wondering if anyone knows anything about the accent in cannock? to me that's a very broad accent, similar to my nan who was born in walsall, is there any difference?


sorry for all the questions, just genuinely interested  O0

Phil

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Hi wooo
 
Welcome to the forum, this is a difficult question to ask a Brummie because we will all say that we don't speak like that. I have often said that I don't think I have an accent at all. The thing is when I listen to a recording of my voice I don't think that anybody would have a problem placing where I come from.
 
You are right when you say Brummies don't have a black country accent, I don't think our accent is anything like theirs, but it makes no difference because most folk in the rest of England think Birmingham is a little place just outside Dudley.
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

berniew

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I think the accent varies from place to place in theBlack country but they have a tendancy to combine words and shorten them at the same time .
Yam    you am instead of you are
day instead of didn't
weem   we am instead of we are
doh instead of don't
Bernie

janey

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You know I have noticed that in Birmingham, accents can change from area to area particularly amongst youngsters, but I think theres a distinct difference with the black country accent,

dontheturner

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Hi woooYou are right when you say Brummies don't have a black country accent, I don't think our accent is anything like theirs, but it makes no difference because most folk in the rest of England think Birmingham is a little place just outside Dudley.
 Phil
Hello Phil ,  This is all rather strange.   I have always been involved with regular visits to Birmingham,right from an early age , and adore it.  There is no other place in the world, to compare.  However, as you know, I am Walsall born & bred, but when I was called up,into the RAF, i was instantly nicknamed ''Brummy''.and it is repeated, all over the world, whereever I go!  But, at the age of 15, we moved to West Brom, and the first thing I noticed, was when you leave, anyone, you have chatted to from there, they always say ''Ta Raa A Bit''  The only thing that was so evident to me, -  dontheturner
With Wife No 3 (from Thailand), and now back in Wellington Shropshire.

janey

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I think the reason people mistake the Brummy accent for the Black Country accent, is whenever an actor is supposed to be doing a Brummy Accent, they do a Black Country one, Actors don't seem able to do a Brummy acccent.

Phil

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Don,
 
I'll tell you what I have noticed and that is young children born in this country of immigrant families soon pick up accents when speaking English be it Scouse, Welsh, Cockney or whatever. Though I have never heard any of them speak with a recognisable Birmingham accent. Black country yes, but not Birmingham, does this mean we have no accent or that being born and bred in Brum we can't hear it.
 
The other thing is, I wonder if these accents are discernible by their own countrymen when speaking their native language. It amuses me to think that two Indian chaps could be chatting away in their native language and the one says to the other "by the sound of your accent you are a Brummie".
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Phil

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I think the reason people mistake the Brummy accent for the Black Country accent, is whenever an actor is supposed to be doing a Brummy Accent, they do a Black Country one, Actors don't seem able to do a Brummy acccent.

Janey
 
I think the reason for this as I have said before, I don't think true Brummies have a discernible accent. So actors pick on the black country dialect because it is easy to copy.
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

janey

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Could be I never thought of it like that.

kelama

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Strange no one has mentioned Janice Nicholls...
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIWbjIw9YrM

Phil

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Why mention Janice Nicholls other than to say she was another person associated with Birmingham because of her accent who actually came from the black country Wednesbury in point of fact.
 
Phil
 
 
Phil died in 2020. RIP.


 

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