Victorian Speech!

Everybodies gotta practise talking like a Eliza Doolittle! :D

Cockney deviated from Standard Speech mainly through pronunciation. As observed in numerous novels by Charles Dickens, the lower classes adapted to the cockney style. This includes,

•Dropping the “h’s” before words such as “head” to sound “ ‘ead.”
•Swallowing vowels such as “e” in “fowld” as opposed to “fowled.”
•Slurring vowels to produce “I believe yer” as opposed to “I believe you.” This later became native to Manchester and Liverpool, areas north of London.
•Most prominently “t’s” were replaced by “uh” to transform “butter” to “bu’er.”
•The “v’s” were replaced with “w’s” such as in “werry” as opposed to “very.”

Basically, try watching 'My Fair Lady' and pay particular attention to how Eliza speaks before Henry Higgins gets hold of her. It'd also be a good idea to watch this film as it is generally based around speech. Although the film was based in Edwardian period. The language is not very disimilar to what we would be speaking in the Victorian era.

Standard Speech
The aristocrats and gentry spoke Standard Speech yet still formed their own slang. However, this slang was not pervasive to the English language, as cockney was thought to be, but instead was primarily regional and an upper class prerogative.

•Members of the upper class concentrated on correct pronunciation.
•The term “gentleman” was thought to be too inappropriate and was “passed down to the lower classes” (Phillipps 8). Thus “ladies and gentlemen” was replaced with “ladies and men” (Phillipps 8). This replacement was justified because the word “gentleman” created an impression of unctuousness which was unfavorable. It thus became too informal of a term to use amongst such high caliber.
•Speech was very much characterized by “slow, drawling speech” in order to express an attitude of laziness and languor: an effortless attempt at perfection (Chapman 172).
•Some upper class slang replaced “r” with “w” as opposed to the v/w exchange in cockney. For example, “Gwacious Heavens!” (Chapman 172).
•Prominent upper class language is usually metaphorical, expressed with confidence and vitality to convey the upper class privilege.

Occupational Speech (Middle Class)

•Many slang terms were invented by University students, such as Oliphant’s example in Phoebe Junior. Clarence Copperhead has been “plucked” or has been expelled from Oxford. Sir Robert conveys a strong dislike to the usage of this slang, a characteristic of his upper class status
•It was said that one was going “up” to Oxford or Cambridge and going “down” to London (Phillipps 44).
•Occupations such as schoolmasters, legal positions and doctors all required slight usage of technical terms incorporated into speech. For example, in Our Mutual Friend, the narrator portrays that Mortimer Lightwood is an intelligible man of his occupation who can say the word ‘affidavit,’ yet Rogue Riderhood mispronounces it as an “Alfred David” (Dickens 12).

Therefore, language in the Victorian era was important in ranking members of classes and occupations. Language had the potential to assess and reflect upon one’s regional, educational, occupational and family background.

I found all this information here :
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/agunn/teaching/enl3251_spring2005/omf/KATARIA.htm
It seems quite useful!
Try it oooooout.
Tish x