Estuary English is the form of the
English language common in the South-East of England, especially along the river
Thames and its estuary. It is a hybrid of
Received Pronunciation and a number of South Eastern accents, particularly from the London and Essex area. Some people think it will eventually replace
Received Pronunciation as the
standard English pronunciation.
Some of the features of Estuary English are:
- the letter h not pronounced (except for things like ch, sh, th)
- the letter t pronounced as a glottal stop except at the beginning of a word, or sometimes the end of a word, or part of a multi-consonant cluster. "Stop ba'ing I fink my bruvers go'u bat"
- the letter l pronounced like a wl when at the end of a syllable.
- th pronounced as in thin pronounced as f
- th pronounced as in this pronounced as v