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Sussex Accent/Dialect

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On 3 Jul 2018 at 9:23am Linguist wrote:
Conducting research into the lamentable loss of regional accents and dialects (particularly in the South). Does anyone have experience of any people speaking with the true Sussex accent and/or dialect? I can only think of two older gentlemen in my village today.
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On 3 Jul 2018 at 11:06am Chad wrote:
I agree, can't think of anyone under 90 with more than a hint of an old Sussex accent.
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On 3 Jul 2018 at 11:18am Researcher wrote:
If possible research the Pilbeam family of Chalvington. Edmund is still resident, on property that is not for the feint hearted, and is as Sussex as anyone, with a very strong accent.
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On 3 Jul 2018 at 11:20am Earl of Lewess wrote:
As a child, I remember how a middle-aged woman from Newhaven used to say "brown" so that it sounded more like a cross between "broon" and "brone" and I still hear a lilt in the villages, but it's nothing like the Sussex accents you hear if you visit the British Library's sound archive website and listen to recordings of old people, made in the 1950s and 60s.
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On 3 Jul 2018 at 11:50am Local wrote:
There are a few older people in Lewes who still have it.
I don't think people understand that what is thought of as being a "southern" accent these days was confined to London and in particular East London until quite recently.
Saying "bath" as "barth" is an upper class / cockney / estuary affectation. Until the 1930s really everyone in the rural south said "baaaath" (not the short a of notherners but the long a that you still hear in the south west, Norfolk or indeed in the USA).
It's easy to see how the accent was lost here though. I remember back in the 70s being asked by an old man (maybe in his 80s at the time) why all us youngsters were talking like Londoners.
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On 3 Jul 2018 at 12:36pm Forester wrote:
Ashdown Forest may be where you'll find some remaining accents. My Mrs. says I have one, I'm 64. P.S It's Faint hearted . Feint is lines on paper or a move by a boxer. Kind regards, mettey.
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On 3 Jul 2018 at 1:29pm And thats a fact wrote:
visit Chichester area them all speak like the county locals they is. and thats a fact
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On 3 Jul 2018 at 7:27pm Talker wrote:
My grandparents (born around 1900) had strong Sussex accents. My dad (1930s) had a slight hint of Sussex. Sadly lost now.
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On 3 Jul 2018 at 10:14pm Amy wrote:
My friends Dad lives in Fletching he still has the old Sussex accent he is in his 80s
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On 4 Jul 2018 at 9:58am Gus wrote:
Anyone you know who you think has a true Sussex accent/dialect, please record them, and possibly give the results to the Sussex Archives at The Keep.
BTW does anyone know why natives of Chichester persist in calling it "Chiddester"?
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On 4 Jul 2018 at 3:13pm @ Gus wrote:
Same reason as some say Sea- Fud. Henry Fud must be spinning,he could be confused with Elmer Ford.
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On 4 Jul 2018 at 11:29pm Steve wrote:
Why do Sussex mums always say "see you laaaayta" when ending a conversation when they have no plans to see each other later? Also "ee turned round and said...". Why do these people have conversations back to back?
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On 5 Jul 2018 at 7:13am Sussex Jim wrote:
Why is it that the BBC, who used to have a policy of checking pronounciation of names, always refer to the village between Berwick and Seaford as AL-Friston? I have always known it as ORL-Friston.
I also call our local supermarket ORL-Di; whereas many people call it AL-Di.
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On 6 Jul 2018 at 2:15pm @Steve wrote:
It's not just Sussex mums, Steve, it's everyone, and the phrase is totally meaningless. Generally said to someone they don't know and will never see again. As for the Turning Round, that isn't just Sussex either.
Why is "HAITCH" becoming so widespread? Any theories?


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