G'day Paul Burke,

You wrote (above):
It's interesting to note in that respect that what constitutes a London lower- class accent seems to have changed radically since Dickens' time, say the 1830s/40s. Sam Weller particularly, and low-life London characters as in Oliver Twist etc., show no sign whatsoever of rhyming slang, in fact the main characteristic noted is a V/W inversion ("werry good, Sam Veller"). One assumes Dickens knew what he was talking about, he lived among them.

In Mayhew's books (~ 1850 - 1860) - perhaps the first systematic reporting of London's lower classes - he says the Cockney's 'secret' speech was mainly "back-talk" ... the important words (roughly) spelled backwards - as in the well-known "yob" for "boy". He gives many examples (the books are not where I am typing this) and it is noticeable that many of the words have moved away from a 'strict' backward spelling to less obvious forms. In the (~1980s ... ?) BBC TV series on the history of the English Language, they have 'footage' of Cockney traders at the morning markets ... still using "back-talk" (with subtitles from the Beeb ...) to discuss prices and bargaining. That suggests the "back-talk" secret speech had already endured for 1¼ centuries!

The same series may also cover rhyming slang, which I seem to remember as only coming into fashion around the 1880s. I also have heard that its main use is putting on a front for the tourists (or TV programs) - not covert discussion.

It's interesting just how "Germanic" the speech recorded by Dickens sounds ... Perhaps it is a real adoption of "The Queen's English", as Victoria was not taught English until she was 3 years old ... and I have heard that she never lost her German accent.

Regards,

Bob