A guide to I found to my citys accent. lololol
COVENTRIAN PRONUNCIATION
- The suffix ‘-er’ become ‘-a’
e.g., “neva” [never]; “cleva” [clever]
- The phonetic ‘th’
The phonetic ‘th’ becomes ‘v’ when used within words.
e.g., “t’geva” [together]
The suffix ‘-th’ becomes ‘-v' when used at the end of certain words.
e.g., “wiv” [with]
But also, the suffix ‘-th’ becomes ‘-f’ when used at the end of certain words.
e.g., “youf team” [youth team]; “toof” [tooth]
- The missing ‘t’
The letter ‘t’ within words should be skimmed over and ignored.
In cases where the letters before and after the missing ‘t’ are consonants it should be replaced with a almost imperceptible pause.
e.g., “t’geva” [together]
In cases where the letters before and after the missing ‘t’ are vowels it should be replaced with a lightning quick, breathy sound of exhalation*.
e.g., “wha’eva” [whatever]
*Thanks to the numerous people have pointed out that this is known as a 'glottal stop' or "more fully, the 'voiceless glottal plosive'" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop)
Also, some 't's in words almost become a 'ch' (can someone back me up on this?) like "Covenchree" [Coventry]
The letter ‘t’ at the end of words should be replaced with an ‘ugh’.
e.g., “wha’?” [what?]
- The missing 'h' <Paul Davies>
The letter 'h' should be omitted if it is the first letter of the word.
e.g., "You 'erd [heard] me."
- ‘That’ and ‘them’
The word ‘that’ becomes ‘thut’ when used in the middle of sentences:
e.g., “I always knew thut...”
But not at the start of sentences:
e.g., “That's wicked…”
Similarly, the word ‘them’ becomes ‘thum’ when used within a sentence:
e.g., “I never even looked at thum...”
But not at the start of sentences:
e.g., “Them lot...”
- The missing 'o'
Disregard the letter ‘o’ in words such as 'f'reva' [forever].
e.g., "T'geva f'reva or f' uh day ut least"
- A's become U's
When used at the start of some words a's become u's, so:
'and' = 'un''
'all' = 'uwl'
'at' = 'ut'
e.g., "un 'ee saw won ut the pub un uwl" [and he saw one at the pub and all]
NB: "Un uwl" is a common ending to a sentence, meaning "as well". Use it to emphasise something extra.
MISCELLANEOUS
The letter 'l' is pronounced 'al' not 'el' <Hannah Keningale>
e.g., "Hawl is spewt - haitch, ay, al, al" [Hall is spelt H-A-L-L]
"Do you" become's "'juh" <Claire Sloane>
"Did you" becomes "juw"
"I'm" becomes "om" <Claire Sloane>
"You" becomes "yuh"
"Me" also becomes "us" (pronounced 'uz')
e.g., "Lend us a quid mate"
"Only if you give it us back!"
<Jay Gundry>
"Going to [perform an action]" becomes either:
'Gunner' e.g., "Are yuh gunner?" or,
'Gunnew' e.g, "Yep, om gunnew"
<Jamie Thomas>
"Isn't it" doesn't become 'innit' like most places (like the East Midlands) it become "aynit"
You didn't eat something, you "et it". Unless you're asking if someone else "et it"...
"Juw eat it?" [Did you eat it?]
"Yeah, I 'et it." [Yes, I eat it.]
<Fran Lee>
No matter what direction you're heading in (north, south, east or west) - you're always going 'daan' [down] to it. e.g., "daan taan" [down town].
In addition, you never go 'to' somewhere. You either just go there (e.g., "You going town?" "Juh wanner go Jaks?") or if the place is 'the' something, you "go 'ugh' the [shop/bus stop/etc]".
<Bernadette McIntyre>
In English there are two ways to describe having been given something, "he gave it to me" or "he gave me it". Coventrians, in contrast, use a chavvy mix of both (and neither!):
"Uv give it t'yuh, ayn' I" [I've given it to you, haven't I?]
"Yeah, yuh lent it uz yesterday"
NB: Coventrians also often use "borrowed" instead of "lent" <Joanne Freemantle>
For added emphasis on ‘no’ stretch it out into a ‘naaaaah mate!’
PLACES
Bedworth should be pronounced ‘Beduf’ <Craig Fish>
Areas of Coventry need to be learned verbatim, as they are NEVER spelt as they are spoken <Sarah Blakemore>:
e.g.,
Stivichall is pronounced 'Stiychuw'
Foleshill is pronounced 'Foh'zuw' or 'Foh'zil'
Cheylesmore is pronounced 'Charlesmore'
IMPORTANT COVENTRIAN VOCABULARY
Slip these into conversation and yous'll well fit in in Cov!
Well (adjective; pronounced ‘wew’)
- meaning very
“That's well good...”
NB: This word is well important and should be included before every adjective. Alternatively, for added emphasis you can use "Proper" (pronounced 'proppa') <Nick Rooney>
Sound (adjective; pronounced ‘saa’nd’)
- meaning good (for objects) or trustworthy / of good nature (for a person)
“That's sound mate...”
“Yeah, he's sound as a pound...”
Chip; chip off (verb)
- meaning to leave
"I'm going chip off mate, laters."
"What time you gunna chip?"
<Emma O'Donohue>
Quality (adjective; pronounced ‘qualer’ee’)
- meaning good
“Quality!”
Yous (plural of you; pronounced ‘yooz’)
- meaning a group of people
“Where yous been?”
Batch (noun)
- meaning a bread roll
Originally describing one roll ripped from a batch of a dozen, but now meaning any type of bread roll.
“Chip batch please mate...”
Wounded (adjective, pronounced 'whewndid')
- meaning upset
"I was well wounded when Leicester scored"
(to a mate who's just been blanked by a girl in Jaks) "WOUNDED!"
Blag (verb)
- meaning to try to procure romantic attention from another
"Did you blag her?"
"I'm well on the blag tonight."
Entry (noun; pronounced 'enchree')
- meaning an alleyway between two buildings
"Some minker keeps riding a motorbike down the entry."
<Jo Riley>
Island (noun)
- meaning a traffic roundabout
"Take the second left on the island."
<Jo Riley>