Birmingham Accent in Peaky Blinders Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis

Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta

Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky

Bakalářská diplomová práce

2019 Roman Šťáva

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Roman Šťáva

Birmingham Accent in Peaky Blinders Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: PhDr. Kateřina Tomková, Ph.D.

2019

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature

Acknowledgement I would sincerely want to thank my supervisor PhDr. Kateřina Tomková, Ph.D., for her incredible patience with my person during the process of writing of this thesis, for all of her advice about the topic that I have chosen and also for all the encouragement that has allowed me to finish this work. I would also like to thank my family for always supporting me in any of my endeavours.

Table of Contents List of Figures ...... 1 List of Tables...... 2 1. Introduction ...... 4 1.1 Peaky Blinders’ Plot Summary ...... 5 2. The Accent Theory ...... 7 2.1 What is an Accent ...... 7 2.2 Received Pronunciation (RP) ...... 8 2.2.1 Some features of RP: ...... 12 2.3 Birmingham Accent (Brummie) ...... 13 2.3.1 Prosodic features: ...... 14 2.3.2 Vowels of Brummie: ...... 14 2.3.3 Historical background of the Birmingham accent ...... 16 2.3.4 The Accent Coaches of the Actors of Peaky Blinders ...... 18 2.3.5 Brummie popularity over the course of the series ...... 19 2.4 Accent Intonation and its Effects ...... 24 2.5 Discussion ...... 28 3. Accent in the series and its performance by the actors ...... 30 3.1 Cillian Murphy as Thomas “Tommy” Shelby ...... 30 3.1.1 Speech Examples ...... 32 3.2 Helen McCrory as Aunt Polly (Elizabeth Gray) ...... 37 3.2.1 Speech examples: ...... 39 3.3 Harry Kirton as Finn Shelby ...... 43 3.3.1 Speech examples: ...... 44 3.4 Accent as an expression of villainy ...... 49 3.5 Discussion ...... 50 4 Conclusion ...... 51 Bibliography ...... 52 Sources ...... 52 References ...... 55 Summary in English ...... 56 Summary in Czech ...... 57 Appendix A – CD with related audio recordings from the series ...... 59

List of Figures

Figure 1 – Brummie vowel system ...... 13

Figure 2 – Google Trends 2013 ...... 22

Figure 3 – Google Trends 2014 ...... 22

Figure 4 – Google Trends 2016 ...... 23

Figure 5 - Google Trends 2017 ...... 23

1 List of Tables

Table 1 – RP and trad-RP vowels ...... 10

Table 2 – RP consonants ...... 12

Table 3 - Brummie Study ...... 24

Table 4 - Brummie Malarski study 1 ...... 27

Table 5 - Brummie Malarski study 2 ...... 28

Table 6 - C. Murphy S1E3 - base ...... 32

Table 7 - C. Murphy S1E3 - RP...... 33

Table 8 - C. Murphy S1E3 - Brummie ...... 33

Table 9 - C. Murphy S4E4 - base ...... 34

Table 10 - C. Murphy S4E4 - RP...... 35

Table 11 - C. Murphy S4E4 - Brummie ...... 36

Table 12 - H. McCrory - S1E2 - base ...... 39

Table 13 - H. McCrory - S1E2 - RP ...... 40

Table 14 - H. McCrory - S1E2 - Brummie ...... 40

Table 15 - H. McCrory - S4E5 - base ...... 41

Table 16 - H. McCrory - S4E5 - RP ...... 41

Table 17 - H. McCrory - S4E5 - Brummie ...... 41

Table 18 - H. McCrory - S4E6 - base ...... 42

Table 19 - H. McCrory - S4E6 - RP ...... 42

Table 20 - H. McCrory - S4E6 - Brummie ...... 42

Table 21 - H. Kirton S4E3 - base ...... 44

Table 22 - H. Kirton S4E3 - RP ...... 45

Table 23 - H. Kirton S4E3 - Brummie ...... 45

Table 24 - H. Kirton S4E3 scene 2 - base ...... 46

2 Table 25 - H. Kirton S4E3 scene 2 - RP ...... 47

Table 26 - H. Kirton S4E3 scene 2 - Brummie ...... 48

3 1. Introduction

In this day and age, there are many television series being produced and often they are following a tried and true framework to guarantee that the viewers will stay with the show and that the sales generated by the production will be satisfying.

Regrettably, shows that employ such limiting resources can never truly shine. If a show is made in a way that it does not try to excel in some respect it ultimately loses some of its potential charm. Television works, not having the usual constraints of reality, can achieve so much and yet many shows simply decide to follow something that has been done many times before, merely copying them and staying in the pre-determined tracks.

In this respect, the series Peaky Blinders is different and that is why I have decided to look into the work behind this series in more detail.

First I am going to introduce the accents that I will be working with – Received

Pronunciation and Brummie – and present some of their linguistic features. In the following chapter the historical background of Brummie will be discussed briefly to get acquainted with the accent on a deeper level and to explain some possible irregularities related to the name.

Next the voice coaches of the series are shortly discussed before moving to how the show itself has affected the popularity of the Brummie accent.

The following chapter deals with the intonation of an accent, in this case,

Brummie. The ways in which intonation affects the delivery and reception of Brummie are looked into and discussed. It is further explored how the intonation of Brummie heavily influences the way others perceive the Brummie speakers, possibly even carrying negative connotations in the listener’s head.

The next chapters deal with the experiences of the chosen actors and their performance of the target accent in the Peaky Blinders production. I have chosen Cillian

4 Murphy, who represents Thomas Shelby in the series, then I have included the character of Aunt Polly who is played by Helen McCrory. Finally, I have also included the actor

Harry Kirton who represents Finn Shelby in the series. I have decided to include Mr

Kirton because he is the only one of the main cast who is actually from Birmingham and as such he has native command of the control accent. Following a brief description of each of the actors and their experiences with getting familiar with the Brummie accent, transcripts of chosen dialogues are included along with phonetic transcripts in

RP and then Brummie. Of course, it is important to keep in mind that the Brummie transcription follows the actors’ performance of the accent and as such it may not fully represent how a phonetic transcript of a true Brummie speaker would look like.

1.1 Peaky Blinders’ Plot Summary

In the first season of the series, the Shelby family is trying to increase their sphere of influence and get into the horse racing business on a larger scale. At the same time, they are buying hunted by a Belfast Chief Inspector of the name Chester

Campbell. Mr Campbell was sent to recover stolen machine guns and a considerable amount of ammunition which being under the direct command of Winston Churchill. It was the Peaky Blinders who stole the guns, of course, and so the game of cat and mouse is played. At the same time, Tommy is trying to improve the living conditions of his family and to get a larger slice of the horse driving pie and so he gets involved with

Billy Kimber, a notorious criminal boss.

In the second season, the Shelby family has to deal with more issues directly threatening their existence and prosperity. Tommy is leading an expansion to London and gets involved with the character of Alfie Solomons and fighting against the

Inspector Campbell again along with the new criminal boss of the name Darby Sabini.

5 In the third season, all of the characters are experiencing ever more woes and hardships. Tommy is being blackmailed and the family is general chaos. They all manage to pull through though.

As for the fourth season and the last for the moment, the whole family is fighting a threat greater than ever before. And so again, Tommy, Polly and all the Shelby family members and gang member of the Peaky Blinders have to stand together to rise victorious.

6 2. The Accent Theory

In this section of the thesis I am going to lay out the groundwork of the theoretical aspects of the Birmingham accent (Brummie) and Received Pronunciation

(RP). Furthermore, the focus will be on the Brummie accent and the ways in which it has been utilized or affected by the show.

2.1 What is an Accent

In the words of J. Wells, accent is a pattern of pronunciation used by a speaker for whom English is the native language or, more generally, by the community or social grouping to which they belong. Every speaker has an accent and oftentimes the accent is individual to a person but at the same time it is still a part of one idiolect. (Wells, 1982a, p. 1)

Wells goes into even more detail about what an accent is to him:

More specifically, I refer to the use of particular vowel or consonant sounds and

particular rhythmic, intonational, and other prosodic features; to the syntagmatic

(structural) and paradigmatic (systemic) interrelationships between these, and to

the more abstract (phonological) representations which can be seen as

underlying the actual (phonetic) articulations, together with the rules which

relate the one to the other; and to the relationship between all of these and the

individual words or other items which constitute the speaker's mental lexicon or

vocabulary.

(Wells, 1982a, p. 1)

There are many accents of English but the focus of this thesis are going to be just two – RP and Brummie.

7 2.2 Received Pronunciation (RP)

Received Pronunciation, also known as “BBC English” and “Standard English”

(Wells, 1982a, p. 117), is by many phoneticians perceived as the accent that enjoys the highest prestige of all accents of English. With the wider spread and higher interest in teaching English as a foreign language, there was suddenly a need for some sort of standardized variant of English. (Gimson, 2014, p. 77) The person whose books have spread far and wide to educate the public was Daniel Jones. What his books established would later be known as “Received Pronunciation”. (Gimson, 2014, p. 77).

Considering the amount of literature discussing the changes to RP, most of the community of the people researching the accent has been able to agree on certain things pertaining to the rules of RP but the agreement is not quite across the whole board.

Some still believe that certain alterations should be incorporated into the generally accessible RP. (Gimson, 2014, p. 77)

More about how Mr Jones achieved to establish the brand of the “Received

Pronunciation” and the ways in which he was able to promote it and make it easily accessible to a wide array of people:

Living in a hierarchical, south-east-focused and male-dominated world, Jones’s

stance on a model accent was understandable, and might be expected to have

passed unquestioned in his day. Early twentieth-century assumptions are not

necessarily ours, however: education is now more democratic in respect of both

gender and class, and Southern England no longer holds a grip on linguistic

prestige which it had on Britain a century ago. And to be fair to Jones, he

himself was not completely locked into a narrow description of the accent.

Despite the time-bound socio-cultural assumptions apparent in his description of

his model, as the century progressed, although the essential prescription

8 remained “public school” turned to “boarding school”, “London society” became

“Londoners”, (Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 117)

Even though the way that Daniel Jones has decided to describe the RP accent, and even though it may seem at times that the way that he has managed to go about it was not the ideal one, it was still a much needed step into the right direction of providing a unified template for people to use without too much trouble.

As for RP itself, there is not a singular variant of it but there are, as Wells has described in his study about accents, several:

There are, of course, various kinds of Received Pronunciation. A well-known classification aimed at making sense of this range is that devised by Wells (1982). There we find an upper-class accent labelled “U-RP”, and a less marked form, taken in 1982 to be the most usual and unexceptionable variety, designated “mainstream RP”. To these are added in close company “adoptive RP”, “Near-RP”, and “quasi-RP”. (Bernd

Kortmann, 2004, p. 219)

9 Table 1 – RP and trad-RP vowels

Table 1 / vowels of RP (Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 221)

The lexical sets have been created by J. C. Wells and presented in his work Accents of

English.

It will be evident from Table 1 that RP and trad-RP coincide on KIT, LOT,

STRUT, FOOT, FLEECE, FACE, PALM, THOUGHT, GOOSE, CHOICE,

MOUTH, NEAR, START, NORTH, FORCE, happY, lettER, and commA.

NURSE shows only a slight difference, in which the RP transcription is

10 indicative of a less restrictive rendering of the typical sound than is the trad-RP

transcription. The BATH vowel coincides on [ɑ:] in both varieties, with the

addition of a further [a] variant in RP. CLOTH similarly coincides, though with

a short vowel, in both varieties, with a long-vowel alternative in trad-RP. Both

accents share [əʊ] in GOAT, with trad-RP having alternative [ʊ], and both share

[ʊə] in CURE, with RP having alternative [ɔ:]. Most significant developments

have taken place, and so distinguish RP from trad-RP, in DRESS, TRAP,

PRICE, and SQUARE. (Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 220)

As for the consonants of RP and their occurrence frequencies:

RP and trad-RP correspond as regards their consonant phoneme inventory, and

essentially in realization. Cruttenden (1994: 196) provides statistics for

consonant frequencies in Received Pronunciation, based on the work of Fry (on

“Southern English”) and Perren, and these data introduce the twenty-four

phonemes.

(Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 227)

11 Table 2 – RP consonants

(Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 227)

2.2.1 Some features of RP:

Glottalisation:

The fact that there exists a glottal plosive in non-RP accents of English is nothing new and has been researched extensively. But there is an instance of glottalisation in RP as well. (Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 228) In the case of RP, it does not happen

“intervocalically within a word” but it is associated with /t/. Possible to avoid with controlled speech it can be expected regularly as part of RP in “syllable-final position preceding a non-syllabic consonant”, for example, rat trap or catflap. (Bernd Kortmann,

2004, p. 228)

12 Linking and intrusive /r/:

A present feature of RP, possible to avoid but without cause and necessity to do so.

Yod coalescence and yod deletion:

Coalescence of /tj/, /dj/, /sj/, and /zj/ to /dʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/ is a general feature of RP that be heard regularly in words such as attitude, residue or tissue. (Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p.

229)

/w/ represented in RP by the spelling , in words as when, while, whistle is invariably [w].(Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 229)

2.3 Birmingham Accent (Brummie)

The Birmingham accent is the accent of the area of Birmingham in the West Midlands conurbation.

Figure 1 – Brummie vowel system

The Birmingham accent vowel system (Wells, 1982b, p. 364)

13 As Wells (1982: 349, 353) explains, the main isoglosses dividing North from

South are the FOOT-STRUT split and BATH-broadening. Under such

a criterion, the linguistic North includes the Midlands, incorporating the

Birmingham-Wolverhampton conurbation, i.e., the West Midlands. Wells notes

that the local accent of the WM dialect is markedly different from that of the

East Midlands, although there is a transitional area including Stoke and Derby.

(Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 139)

2.3.1 Prosodic features:

According to Collins & Mees, the Brummie accent is non-rhotic and has variable h-dropping along with /r/ often being realized as a tap (2009, p. 172).

Brummie is also notable for its extended intonation patterns with frequent sharp falls, sustained low pitches or rise-falls (MORIN, 2009, p. 173).

According to Wells, the WM dialect tends not to reduce vowels in unstressed Latinate prefixes (con-, ex-) as much as RP or Southern-based varieties do.(Bernd Kortmann,

2004, p. 142)

2.3.2 Vowels of Brummie:

Birmingham, similarly to Cockney, has diphthong shift with wide glides in FACE,

GOAT and as in Cockney, the PRICE diphthong start further back and “sounding like the CHOICE of most varieties”. (MORIN, 2009, p. 172).

Furthermore, Collins & Mees highlight the fact that “The happʏ vowel is FLEECE realised with a wide glide” (2009, p. 172).

14 In regards to STRUT and FOOT distinction in the West Midlands dialect, STRUT is often realized as [ʊ] (Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 144).

Regarding FOOT, according to Chinn and Thorne’s analysis, Bm speakers typically have [ʊ] in words as took, put, could, stood. At the same time, younger speakers may have a tendency towards unrounding to [ɤ].

There has also been some intensive research done into whether the WM dialect is a distinctive variety or not:

Gugerell-Scharsach (1992) is an attempt to discover whether the Middle English

WM dialect as defined by Moore, Meech and Whitehall (1935) can be traced in

the SED material. Glauser (1997: 93) notes that Moore, Meech and Whitehall

defined their WM dialect with the help of a single phonological feature, ME /o/

before nasals, locating it in a semicircular territory with the Welsh border as its

diameter and reaching as far east as Derbyshire and Warwickshire. Glauser

further notes that 19th-century evidence in favour of a single WM dialect is

scanty, with Wright (1905) showing no east-west divide at all, Bonaparte (1875–

1876) setting up an area similar to the ME one, and Ellis (1889) delimiting the

WM with the aid of the criterion used by Moore Meech and Whitehall.

(Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 141)

Whether the Black Country and Brummie accents have “considerably” different phonetic systems is something that would be very challenging to prove but Gibson and

Heath have their own ideas to add to this matter:

15 According to Gibson (1955, cited in Heath 1980: 87), it is apparent “even to the

casual visitor” that the phonetic system of the Black Country differs

fundamentally from that of other localities in the neighbourhood of the Black

Country – or at least, it was so in the 1950s. However, Heath (1980: 87)

considers this an exaggerated claim. (Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 141)

However, Biddulph claims to have noticed significant differences between the two:

Biddulph (1986: 17) claims (anecdotally) to have noted significant differences

between the Black Country (Bilston) dialect as represented by Fletcher (1975),

and his own native dialect, that of the Nechells area of Birmingham. Specific

differences he proposes would seem to include (at least):

(1) MOUTH: Bilston [a:] versus Nechells [ɛʊ];

(2) TRAP/BATH: Bilston [ɒ] versus Nechells [æ] before nasal consonants;

(3) D: Bilston [dɜ] versus Nechells [d] in dead, death;

(4) H: Bilston [j] versus Nechells ∅ in head;

(5) H: Bilston ∅ versus Nechells [j] in year.

(Bernd Kortmann, 2004, pp. 141–142)

2.3.3 Historical background of the Birmingham accent

According to Carl Chinn, the origin of the word Brummie is the old name for

Birmingham – Brummagem:

Why Brummagem? It's simple, the people of this city are not known as Birmies

after Birmingham but instead we are called Brummies after Brummagem. That

name for the city is as correct as is that of Birmingham and is one which

16 working class folk both here and in the Black Country have used for centuries.

The term Brummagem arose in the middle ages when the 'r' and the 'i' or 'e' in

Birmingham or Bermingham were reversed in local speech. Thus in 1189

a document spelled the surname of a member of the de Bermingham family as

'de Brummingeham' and in 1200 a property transaction noted 'Birmingham' (Carl

Chinn, 2008)

Mr Chinn further explains that during the 18th century, the name Birmingham has been adopted permanently to avoid the bad name that Brummagem carried at the time because of the large number of forgers operating from and in the city.(Carl Chinn,

2008)

In the work on West Midlands English by Urszula Clark it is mentioned that

Birmingham belonged to the Middle English West Midlands dialect area:

Chinn and Thorne (2001) suggest that Birmingham was clearly within the ME

West Midlands dialect area: “Beginning as a place of some importance in 1166

when it first had a market, it was a town that was clearly embedded within its

rural hinterland. (Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 135)

Furthermore, what greatly contributed to the development of the area and its language was the fact, that during the following years, various groups of people from the surrounding villages were moving to the area of Birmingham, with cited evidence of

700 people moving to Birmingham between 1686 and 1726 and 90% of those came from within 20 miles of Birmingham itself. And of those 700 people, 200 have migrated from within Warwickshire with a similar number of people coming from Staffordshire

(Bernd Kortmann, 2004, p. 135). Even though there were migrants further places, such as Cornwall or Ireland, Chinn and according to Urszula Clark’s article “local migrants

17 continued to form the great majority of newcomers, and as late as 1951, 71% of

Birmingham’s citizens had been born in Warwickshire”. (2004, p. 135)

2.3.4 The Accent Coaches of the Actors of Peaky Blinders

In the Birmingham Live article “London execs tried to axe Brummie accents from Peaky

Blinders“, creator Steven Knight, expresses his opinions on accent coaches to be used in the production of his TV series. Mr Knight tells to the reporter that “he was approached about changing the accent - potentially to a London one” (Brown, 2018) because of the possible trouble in marketing such an accent to a wider audience. "First of all, all actors find the accent difficult. There is a tune to it." is what Mr Knight said about the difficulty in adopting the Brummie accent. And even when someone proposed a voice coach on set, he resolutely said “no”. (Brown, 2018) When it comes to the second season of the Peaky Blinders series, the accent and dialect coach Sally Hague has been giving lessons to Helen McCrory. (Hague, n.d.)

The general stance of Mr Knight to voice coaching is, in his words, as “Rather than hire voice coaches who might ‘frighten’ actors, he said his philosophy was to hire the best cast possible and let them give a performance first and ‘worry about the complaints about the accents’ afterwards.” (Graham Young, 2018)

In an article by Frances Parkes, it is highlighted that the actors on the set were left alone to get accustomed to the accent and to take it in at their own pace. The aim of the show was not to go for a verbatim Brummie accent of the Birmingham today but

“all the actors were told that they were going to go for an original “Peaky Blinders” accent which wasn’t quite the same thing as a Birmingham accent” (Parkes, 2016).

18 In regards to the actors’ performance of the Brummie accent, the story relevant Romany gypsy roots of the characters that they play have to be considered as well. Due to the influence of that, there is more room for the accent to be not completely precise to what it should be if they were trying for a completely authentic accent emulation.

2.3.5 Brummie popularity over the course of the series

The Birmingham accent, as was pointed out in a previous chapter, does not enjoy a widespread popularity. Especially in Britain it is very much looked down on as the accent of the industrial working class. That, of course, means that the accent itself has not been explored in popular media much if at all. Not on any significant scale and not in such detail as a series about a specific Birmingham gang could ever allow. With that in mind, the Peaky Blinders show has created an opening, an opportunity, to present something known but generally not liked and change the shape of that something in the collective subconscious. This series has started airing in 2013 and it is worth noting, not all reactions were very welcoming. A Brummie James Delingpole noted in his review of the first season of the show

You wait a whole lifetime for a lavishly shot, starrily cast, mega-budget gangster

drama set in Birmingham to come along. Then when it does, it’s absolute

rubbish. Well, I’m sorry but it is and as a Brummie — near enough: I grew up in

a village called Alvechurch, just outside, and I come from a long line of

Midlands industrialists — I feel particularly aggrieved by the entirely unjustified

acclaim being heaped on the dismal Peaky Blinders (Delingpole, 2013).

Mr Delingpole continues by calling the actors’ Brummie accent “a mélange of

Liverpool and generic northern” and then characters sounding Irish “even when spoken by characters who aren’t supposed to be Irish” (Delingpole, 2013). As to why the

19 accents were falling so short of expectations of Mr Delingpole, he suggests that the actors either:

a) couldn’t be arsed, times being sloppy and voice coaching not being what it

was, or b) deliberately chose not to make them real on account of the Brummie

accent emerging in numerous polls as Britain’s least popular, or c) they were

worried it might jeopardise its chances with the US market (Delingpole, 2013).

James Delingpole does have a point regarding the accent work in the series but at the same time, one has to consider that the Brummie that the actors are trying to emulate is, in fact, different from what one would expect to hear today. It is also important to take into account the Romany gypsy heritage of the Shelby family and the undeniable impact it must have had in shaping the accents of the main characters.

What Mr Delingpole mentions further about how the production staff, and mainly the write, could have made the show all that much more enjoyable to the casual or even not so casual viewer only underlines his point even more:

So how do I think they could have made it more plausibly Brummie? In the

dialogue, of course. I don’t just mean the accents (did I mention them? Well I’m

going to again. It’s a disgrace I tell you and I don’t care if the Brummie accent

I did on the BBC Review Show on Sunday night was crap: that’s allowed. I’m

not paid to be an actor), I mean in that sardonic, perpetually piss-taking, sing-

song flippancy that real Brummies have. (Delingpole, 2013)

Regarding the style in which the Brummie dialogues has been written, I suppose that Mr

Delingpole does have a fair point. The characters of Peaky Blinders do take themselves dead serious pretty much all of screen time and as much as it may not hinder the enjoyment of the show by a casual watcher, considering the nature of the accent and its signature features.

20 Nevertheless, for all its accent deficiencies, the show has become a major success and it has shown to the world that there is more on offer than the well-known

RP. With articles such as “Hit crime drama Peaky Blinders has finally made

Birmingham look cool” (Franks, 2017) where the positive effects of the show were pointed out or the article about Netflix streaming statistics “Peaky Blinders is the most popular Netflix show in two US states” (Laws, 2017) shows how far reaching has this series about a Birmingham based gang become.

To further show the increase in the visibility and the far reaching promotion of the accent, I have further analysed Google Search trends for the word “Brummie”. To achieve that, I have narrowed down the search in the Google Trends to a few months before the first season of Peaky Blinders aired (which was in the September 2013) and then had the graph show the search results up till the year 2018.

21 Figure 2 (Google, n.d.)

Figure 2 – Google Trends 2013

Marked by a black star is the peak point of search history during September 2013 which correlates with the release of the first season of Peaky Blinders. From that we can see that people have become more interested in Brummie as a result of the series.

Figure 3 (Google, n.d.)

Figure 3 – Google Trends 2014

On this next graph the black star marks the peak point of October 2014 that is aligned with the release date of the second season of Peaky Blinders. Furthermore, leading up to

October and continue through December the interest in “Brummie” is at a high.

Figure 4 (Google, n.d.)

Figure 4 – Google Trends 2016

Marked by the black star is, again, the month of release of yet another season of Peaky

Blinders, the third one. Leading up to May 2016 and the months following are again showing a heightened activity in people searching for “Brummie” using Google services.

Figure 5 (Google, n.d.)

Figure 5 - Google Trends 2017

This graph shows the Google searches for “Brummie” in and around November 2017, the same month that the fourth season of Peaky Blinders was released. Judging by the numbers it would seem that the overall popularity of the show has waned over the years but the search volume increases following the airing of the series itself.

23 All of the accumulated data considered, it is safe to assume that the show did a service to the city of Birmingham and the Brummie accent because of the exposure to a wider audience who would normally not get the chance to get acquainted with it.

2.4 Accent Intonation and its Effects

The way that people speak, the rises and falls in their intonation, is an important part of the spoken language and it has the power to greatly influence the way that others perceive them. For example, Received Pronunciation is generally acknowledged by many as an accepted standard of English, easily palatable and widely accessible. On the other hand, the Birmingham accent does not enjoy quite that much popularity. Based on a research on accent attractiveness conducted by a company named YouGov, the

Birmingham accent is on the opposite side of the accessibility scale. In the article, “The

Birmingham accent is considered the least attractive accent in the British Isles – and

Southern Irish the most appealing” (Dahlgreen, 2014), the Birmingham accent has received the lowest ratings from all the surveyed accent variants.

Table 3 - Brummie Study

(Dahlgreen, 2014)

The reason behind the negative popularity of the Birmingham accent might be, as Wells puts it, its “tendency to use rising tones in circumstances where most other kinds of

24 English have falling tones“(1982a, p. 91) which in turn makes the accent itself unusual and undesirable to most. Furthermore, as is described in the research of J. C, Wells:

Within an intonation group, the last such accented syllable carries particular

pitch prominence; it is termed the nucleus (synonyms: 'tonic', 'intonation

center'). It is on the vowel of the nuclear syllable that the characteristic tone

movement of the intonation group begins (rise, fall, fall-rise etc.).(Wells, 1982a,

p. 89)

The importance of intonation in the perception of one’s accent is apparent. If people are met with something unfamiliar and possibly socially marking in a negative way, they might decide to keep their distance due to a fear of the different.

The study “Intonation in the Perception of Brummie” by Kamil Malarski about the

intonation of Brummie and the significance of its presentation. Due to the lack of research materials related to this topic, this case study is a much needed addition.

First, Mr Malarski establishes why the Birmingham accent is viewed with so much scrutiny:

The West Midlands accent is possibly the most stigmatized variety in Great

Britain. It scores worst in various accent evaluation studies that considers criteria

like intelligence, prestige or attractiveness (Giles 1970; Hiraga 2005; Coupland

and Bishop 2007). Among other things, it has been described by people as

‘‘lazy’’, ‘‘ugly’’ and ‘‘uneducated’’ (Thorne 2005). This has serious social

implications for the Brummie users. (Malarski, 2013, p. 208)

There is no single answer as to why some accents enjoy such poor popularity and might even be very much disliked by a significant percentage of population. Some may argue

25 that the socioeconomic circumstances of the speakers of an accent heavily influence its perception by other classes but the results of such inquiries are not very conclusive.

Nevertheless, it is not only about the people that utilize a given accent but also about the

“phonetic traits“ (Malarski, 2013, p. 208) of the accent in question. Due to the fact that

Brummie, along with other urban British varieties of English, uses rising tones for statements, the Brummie accent might seem as a hostile entity to a listener unfamiliar with its features. As Malarski further highlights in his research paper the nature of

Brummie and how:

These intonational contours, that is low rises and rise-falls, appear in standard

British intonation. There, however, they convey negative attitudes. In RP, low

rises communicate ‘‘resentfulness’’, ‘‘deprecation’’, ‘‘reproving criticism’’

(O’Connor and Arnold 1967, 169), ‘‘non-finality’’ and ‘‘suggestion’’ (Hirst

1999, 63). (Malarski, 2013, p. 209)

During the study, Mr Malarski had a group of students listen to and evaluate a set number of recordings of which some were Brummie speakers.

26 Table 4 - Brummie Malarski study 1

Table 1 Students’ reactions to Brummie and other accents according to the 5- point Likert scale

Accent Niceness Friendliness Intelligence

Overall

RP 4.4 4.2 4.0 12.6

Rural West Yorkshire 3.8 3.9 3.5 11.2

Brummie 2 3.6 3.8 3.3 10.7

Liverpool 3.5 3.1 3.4 10.0

Brummie 1 3.3 3.5 3.0 9.8

Brummie 3 2.3 3.0 2.5 7.8

Mean Brummie 3.1 3.4 2.9 9.4

(Malarski, 2013, p. 215)

27 Table 2 Students’ attitudes towards intonation of the six varieties of British English

Table 5 - Brummie Malarski study 2

Accent Niceness Friendliness Intelligence Overall

Rural West Yorkshire 2.5 3.1 2.8 8.4

intonation

RP intonation 2.5 2.8 2.9 8.2

Liverpool intonation 2.5 2.6 2.7 7.8

Brummie 2 intonation 2.3 2.6 2.8 7.7

Brummie 1 intonation 2.2 2.3 2.5 7.0

Brummie 3 intonation 2.1 2.3 2.5 6.9

(Malarski, 2013, p. 215)

There cannot be made any definitive statements based on the results of this very limited study but it does show that Brummie has the tendency of being perceived as an accent of lower intelligence and aesthetic quality.

2.5 Discussion

In this series of chapters, the features of Received Pronunciation have been highlighted as well as the features of Brummie along with some of the specifics unique to the accent. Followed by the brief layout of the background history of the city of

Birmingham as well as an explanation of the origin of the term Brummie. In the next part the learning of the process of the actors has been somewhat introduced, in the terms of how the accent learning was handled on stage and whether voice coaches were

28 utilized during the screening or not. The next larger section deals with the impact of the

Peaky Blinders show on the promotion of the accent and of the general Brummie culture based on the search results from Google Trends. And the last part of this block on the Brummie accent deals with the potentially troublesome intonation of the

Birmingham accent. Due to the specific handling of the accent by the native speakers, it may seem like a Brummie speaker is showing hostility when they speak with their typically intonated accent but that is not the case.

29 3. Accent in the series and its performance by the actors

The performance of an accent demands a different approach from the actors than

simply reading a script. To show the audience a convincing realization of their

efforts, actors are required to thoroughly study the accent in question so that they

can act it out properly. In the case of this thesis, the Birmingham accent is the accent

that the actors had to deal with because of the setting of the show. The focus will

namely be on the performances of Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby, Helen

McCrory as Aunt Polly and Harry Kirton as Finn Shelby.

3.1 Cillian Murphy as Thomas “Tommy” Shelby

Cillian Murphy is an Irish actor. Mr Murphy plays the role of Thomas “Tommy” Shelby and as such he is the intellectual leader behind the whole Shelby family. Tommy often has to make very difficult choices, be it to withhold some information from the rest of his family or to shake hands on far from a very prospective deal, and yet they all look up to him and trust him with their lives. With that said, Tommy does have his moments of uncertainty and a great grief. Mainly due to his war experiences but also due to the immense pressure that his character is under at all times. If it were not for his aunt

Polly, the demise of the whole family would be a certainty. Those things considered,

Tommy is the leading power behind the Shelby family moving up the social ladder and gaining riches that they would not otherwise be able to achieve.

As for Mr Murphy’s struggles with trying to master the Brummie accent, he said that

“the people of the city had been ‘very forgiving’ of his own much-maligned attempts to imitate their accent” (BBC News, 2016). And when Mr Murphy wanted to get some pointers in regards to his performance, he directed his questions toward the series’

30 creator, Steven Knight. In the words of Cillian Murphy, “I would call him up and leave messages on his phone and see if he approves” (BBC News, 2016). Mr Murphy would do that because Steven Knight is from Birmingham and so he could give him the necessary pointers to improve his accent delivery. The BBC article also mentions, in the words of Mr Murphy, that Harry Kirton, who is a local talent from Birmingham and plays the role of Finn Shelby in the second season of the series, was “really helpful” and was a “great talent” in helping the production take off (BBC News, 2016). Furthermore, in an article by Irish Mirror, Steven Knight has said that Mr Murphy “spent 'a drunken

Saturday' learning the difficult accent for his role” (Hodgson, 2017). Mr Knight continues by saying, "I took Cillian up to the real Garrison, which is in Small Heath, to meet some of the people I know from round there," followed by "We spent quite a drunken Saturday just talking. He recorded it, and just got into the accent" (Hodgson,

2017) And Mr Murphy explains in greater detail the process of familiarizing himself with the Brummie accent in a video posted by the BBC Two twitter account:

Well, first of all we spent some time with Romany gypsies because the Romany

culture is very important to the Shelby family because they are half Romany and

so then we went to Birmingham and just went to a pub and drank Guinness. The

Garrison pub which what the pub in the show is based on, I listened to all of

Steve’s pals, you know, talking in Brummie and recorded them when they were

singing Birmingham City songs. It was a great day. And then I would leave

messages on Steve’s phone, you know, in a Birmingham accent to see if he

approved. Birmingham people have been very forgiving and I thank them

forever for being so forgiving. It’s a tricky one, it’s not an easy one.(BBC Two,

2016)

31 Through all this exposure and the countless hours of practice, Cillian Murphy has been able to achieve a respectable level of the Brummie accent but with his remark for the

Huffington Post article that he does not think that he “nailed it”, Mr Murphy is well aware that he still has ways to go (Frost, 2013).

3.1.1 Speech Examples

Season 1 Episode 3: Tommy x Kimber proposal

Table 6 - C. Murphy S1E3 - base

Tommy Your money, Mr Kimber. Rescued from the Lee brothers and returned

to you with a request for a fair hearing. Your own protection is failing,

Mr Kimber. Your boys are taking cuts. I want to suggest that from now

on, you contract out your racetrack security to the Peaky Blinders. We'd

be saving you a lot of money, Mr Kimber. Lot of money. In return, you

give us... Five percent of the take and three legal betting pitches at every

race meeting north of the River Severn. Rising to six after one year if

we're all satisfied with the service. What do you say, Mr Kimber?

32 British English (RP)

Table 7 - C. Murphy S1E3 - RP

Tommy jə ˈmʌ.ni | ˈmɪ.stə ˈkɪm.bə | ˈre.skjuːd frəm ðə liː ˈbrʌð.əz ənd rɪ.ˈtɜːnd tə

ju wɪð ə rɪ.ˈkwest fər ə feə ˈhɪər.ɪŋ | jər əʊn prə.ˈtek.ʃn̩ z ˈfeɪl.ɪŋ | ˈmɪ.stə

ˈkɪm.bə | jə ˈbɔɪz ə ˈteɪkɪŋ kʌts | ˈaɪ wɒnt tə sə.ˈdʒest ðət frəm naʊ ɒn | ju

kən.ˈtrækt ˈaʊt jə ˈreɪ.stræk sɪ.ˈkjʊə.rɪ.ti tə ðə ˈpiːk.i ˈblaɪn.dəz | wid bi

ˈseɪv.ɪŋ ju ə lɒt əv ˈmʌ.ni | ˈmɪ.stə ˈkɪm.bə | lɒt əv ˈmʌ.ni | ɪn rɪ.ˈtɜːn | ju

ɡɪv əz | faɪv pə.ˈsent əv ðə teɪk ənd θriː ˈliːɡ.l̩ ˈbet.ɪŋ ˈpɪ.tʃɪz ət ˈev.ri reɪs

ˈmiːt.ɪŋ nɔːθ əv ðə ˈrɪ.və ˈse.vərn | ˈraɪz.ɪŋ tə sɪks ˈɑːf.tə wʌn ˈjiər ɪf wɪər

ɔːl ˈsæ.tɪ.sfaɪd wɪð ðə ˈsɜː.vɪs | ˈwɒt də ju ˈseɪ | ˈmɪ.stə ˈkɪm.bə |

Peaky Blinder Brummie

Table 8 - C. Murphy S1E3 - Brummie

Tommy jæə ˈmʌ.ni | ˈmɪ.stə ˈkɪm.bə | ˈre.skjuːd frəm ðə lei ˈbrʊð.əz ənd rɪ.ˈtɜːnd

tə ju wɪð ə rɪ.ˈkwest fər ə feə ˈhɪər.ɪŋ | jər əʊn prə.ˈtek.ʃn̩ z ˈfeɪl.ɪŋ |

ˈmɪ.stə ˈkɪm.bə | jə ˈbɔɪz ə ˈteɪkɪŋ kʊts | ˈaɪ wɒnt tə sə.ˈdʒest ðət frəm

naʊ ɒn | ju kən.ˈtrækt ˈaʊt jə ˈreɪ.stræk sɪ.ˈkjʊə.rɪ.ti tə ðə ˈpiːk.i

ˈblaɪn.dəz | wid bi ˈseɪv.ɪŋ ju ə lɒt əv ˈmʌ.ni | ˈmɪ.stə ˈkɪm.bə | lɒt əv

ˈmʌ.ni | ɪn rɪ.ˈtɜːn | ju ɡɪv ʊz | faɪv pə.ˈsent əv ðə teɪk ənd θriː ˈliːɡ.l̩

ˈbet.ɪŋ ˈpɪ.tʃɪz ət ˈev.ri reɪs ˈmiːt.ɪŋ nɔːθ əv ðə ˈrɪ.və ˈse.vərn | ˈrʌɪz.ɪŋ tə

sɪks ˈɑːf.tə wʌn ˈjiər ɪf wɪər ɔːl ˈsæ.tɪ.sfaɪd wɪð ðə ˈsɜː.vɪs | ˈwɒt də ju

ˈseɪ | ˈmɪ.stə ˈkɪm.bə |

33 Season 4, Episode 4: Tommy speaking about his gin business

Table 9 - C. Murphy S4E4 - base

Tommy No, I don’t really have time for hobbies. This is more of a… more of

a place where I try things out. I’ve decided, if I’m gonna be stuck here

in Small Heath, I might as well do something useful. Less of a hobby.

More of a venture. Since the start of prohibition, I’ve been sending

single malt Scotch whisky to Boston, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, hidden

in crates of car parts. But my supply lines from Scotland have been

unreliable. There’s been a lot of thefts. And in this modern age,

American women drink as much booze as the men. And women,

apparently, prefer gin. So with the help of a friend of mine in Camden

Town, I’ve set up my own source of supply. Junipers, potatoes, sugar

and water, all turned into US dollars. When we’re up and running,

we’ll produce over 200 gallons a week. But before then, I need to get

my recipe right. So tell me the truth.

34 British English (RP)

Table 10 - C. Murphy S4E4 - RP

Tommy | nəʊ | ˈaɪ dəʊnt ˈrɪə.li həv ˈtaɪm fə ˈhɒ.bɪz | ðɪs ɪz mɔːr əv mɔːr

əv ə ˈpleɪs weə ˈaɪ ˈtraɪ ˈθɪŋz ˈaʊt | aɪv dɪ.ˈsaɪ.dɪd | ɪf aɪm ˈɡɒ.nə bi stʌk

hɪər ɪn smɔːl hiːθ | ˈaɪ maɪt əz wel də ˈsʌm.θɪŋ ˈjuː.sfəl | les əv ə ˈhɒ.bi |

mɔːr əv ə ˈven.tʃə | sɪns ðə stɑːt əv ˌprəʊɪ.ˈbɪʃ.n̩ | aɪv biːn ˈsend.ɪŋ

ˈsɪŋ.ɡl̩ mɔːlt skɒtʃ ˈwɪ.ski tə ˈbɒ.stən | tə ˈhæ.lɪ.fæks | ˈnəʊ.və ˈskoʃə |

ˈhɪd.n̩ ɪn kreɪts əv kɑː pɑːts | bət maɪ sə.ˈplaɪ laɪnz frəm ˈskɒt.lənd həv

biːn ˌʌn.rɪ.ˈlaɪəb.l̩ | ðeəz biːn ə lɒt əv θefts | ənd ɪn ðɪs ˈmɒd.n̩ eɪdʒ |

ə.ˈmer.ɪk.ən ˈwɪ.mɪn drɪŋk əz ˈmʌtʃ buːz əz ðə men | ənd ˈwɪ.mɪn |

ə.ˈpæ.rənt.li | prɪ.ˈfɜː dʒɪn | ˈsəʊ wɪð ðə help əv ə ˈfrend əv maɪn ɪn

ˈkæm.dən taʊn | aɪv set ʌp maɪ əʊn sɔːs əv sə.ˈplaɪ | ˈdʒuː.nɪ.pəz |

pə.ˈteɪ.təʊz | ˈʃʊ.ɡər ənd ˈwɔː.tə | ɔːl tɜːnd ˈɪn.tə əz ˈdɒ.ləz | wen wɪər

ʌp ənd ˈrʌn.ɪŋ | wil prə.ˈdjuːs ˈəʊv.ə ˈtuː ˈhʌn.drəd ˈɡæ.lənz ə wiːk | bət

bɪ.ˈfɔː ðen | ˈaɪ niːd tə ˈɡet maɪ ˈre.sə.pi raɪt | ˈsəʊ tel miː ðə truːθ |

35 Peaky Blinder Brummie

Table 11 - C. Murphy S4E4 - Brummie

Tommy | nɑʊ | ˈaɪ dəʊnt ˈrɪə.li həv ˈtaɪm fə ˈhɒ.bɪz | ðɪs ɪz mɔːr əv mɔːr

əv ə ˈpleɪs weə ˈaɪ ˈtraɪ ˈθɪŋz ˈaʊt | aɪv dɪ.ˈsaɪ.dɪd | ɪf aɪm ˈɡɒ.nə bi stʊk

hɪər ɪn smɔːl hiːθ | ˈaɪ maɪt əz wel də ˈsʌm.θɪŋ ˈjuː.sfəl | les əv ə ˈhɒ.bi |

mɔːr əv ə ˈven.tʃə | sɪns ðə stɑːt əv ˌprəʊɪ.ˈbɪʃ.n̩ | aɪv biːn ˈsend.ɪŋ

ˈsɪŋ.ɡl̩ mɔːlt skɒtʃ ˈwɪ.ski tʊ ˈbɒ.stən | tə ˈhæ.lɪ.fæks | ˈnəʊ.və ˈskoʃə |

ˈhɪd.n̩ ɪn kreɪts əv kɑːr pɑːrts | bət maɪ sə.ˈplaɪ laɪnz frəm ˈskɒt.lənd

həv biːn ˌʊn.rɪ.ˈlaɪəb.l̩ | ðeəz biːn ə lɒt əv θefts | ənd ɪn ðɪs ˈmɒd.n̩ eɪdʒ

| ə.ˈmer.ɪk.ən ˈwɪ.mɪn drɪŋk əz ˈmʌtʃ buːz əz ðə men | ənd ˈwɪ.mɪn |

ə.ˈpæ.rənt.li | prɪ.ˈfɜː dʒɪn | ˈsəʊ wɪð ðə help əv ə ˈfrend əv maɪn ɪn

ˈkæm.dən taʊn | aɪv set ʌp maɪ əʊn sɔːs əv sə.ˈplaɪ | ˈdʒuː.nɪ.pəz |

pə.ˈteɪ.təʊz | ˈʃʊ.ɡər ənd ˈwɔː.tr | ɔːl tɜːnd ˈɪn.tə əz ˈdɒ.ləz | wen wɪər

ʌp ənd ˈrʌn.ɪŋ | wil prə.ˈdjuːs ˈəʊv.ə ˈtuː ˈhʌn.drəd ˈɡæ.lənz ə wiːk | bət

bɪ.ˈfɔː ðen | ˈaɪ niːd tə ˈɡet maɪ ˈre.sə.pi ˈraɪt | ˈsəʊ tel miː ðə truːθ |

36 3.2 Helen McCrory as Aunt Polly (Elizabeth Gray)

Helen McCrory is a British London-born actress. Mrs McCrory plays a major role in the story of the Peaky Blinders. She portrays a matriarch character to other

Shelby family members, often being the one to make the difficult choices or leading the gang into new and undiscovered territories. When it comes to decision power in the family, hers would be on par with Tommy or even greater because as much as Tommy is able to come up with innovative ideas for new business ventures, his instabilities due to his war experiences often require a person to lean on, in this case, aunt Polly.

When it comes to teaching oneself an accent, it can often pose quite the challenge. Not only to aspiring new actors that are trying to get into the acting scene but also to seasoned actors such as Mrs McCrory. When she was asked about her preparation for the role of Polly, this is what Mrs McCrory said:

I started learning mine from Julie Walters,” she says. “But they said it was too

modern. So then I moved on to Ozzy Osbourne. Lord knows what that poor man

has put in his body, but apparently he speaks a more old-fashioned Brummie. In

the end the voice coach decided it for all of us. It has to be right for the time. So,

as any 102-year-old woman from Birmingham will be able to tell you, I’m now

absolutely spot on. (Fowler, 2013)

As for why Julie Walters was her first choice, it was due to the fact that they were starring together in a National Theatre play The Last of the Haussmans and because of that, she had an easy access to her abilities. Mrs McCrory goes on to mention more about her perilous adventure of trying to acquire the Brummie accent:

I got Julie Walters to sit down and do three pages of the Peaky Blinders script

for me in a Brummie accent, which I recorded. I copied that but when I turned

37 up to film, they said ‘Oh no, we can’t have that’. It was too thick, I was pretty

much incomprehensible. We had a voice coach who said ‘this is going to be the

Peaky Blinders accent’. Birmingham accents have changed considerably over

100 years. We listened to records of how people used to speak then. We are

trying to be authentic but also understandable. It is nerve-racking because you

want to get it right, you don’t want it to be distracting. (Laws, 2013)

At a first glance, Julie Walters would seem like a good choice as a representative of

Brummie but it is not quite so. Mrs Walters’ accent is indeed too thick to properly represent a 100 year old Brummie accent. Mrs Walters was born in Smethwick, an area to the west of Birmingham. Mrs Walter’s accent is more of Black Country than

Brummie due to the fact where she was born and where she was brought up. With all that in mind, the voice of Ozzy Osbourne, who is a Brummie, was a more suitable choice to help Mrs McCrory with her role.

Thankfully for Mrs McCrory, there was another opportunity for her to improve on her Brummie accent during the filming of the second season and from there on – the

Brummie actor Harry Kirton. In the words of Mr Kirton himself

Helen McCrory, who plays Polly Gray, does it sometimes, even though she

doesn’t need any tips whatsoever. She’ll say, ‘Harry, legit, does that sound

okay?’ Sometimes she’ll just ask me to speak some lines then she’ll be, ‘Right,

I’ve got it’.(Sharpe, 2017)

Helen McCrory has also said to The Birmingham Mail

We know the Georgians, we know the Victorians, we're very used to hearing

people say, 'm'lord' and upstairs downstairs, but we've never seen Birmingham in

the 20s and we've certainly never heard accents like this. Our accents are 20s

38 Birmingham, you see, and I'd just like to say that now. If anyone's listening to

my accent and thinking it's a crap Birmingham accent, it's not, it's spot on. And

I challenge any octogenarian Brummie to contradict me in that. (“Our fight to

perfect the Peaky Blinders’ accent.,” 2014)

And what Mrs McCrory says about their accent performance in Peaky Blinders is on point. They are in fact trying to emulate an old variation of Brummie and so it does take some specific preparation and execution.

3.2.1 Speech examples:

Season 1 Episode 2: Polly and Ada talk transcript

Table 12 - H. McCrory - S1E2 - base

Polly The longer you leave it, the worse it gets. Believe me. I know. I was 16. And

I didn't dare tell anyone. In the end, I did it myself. I did it to myself. And

I almost died. And he didn't come back. They don't. Why should they? You

know the words. You're a whore. Baby's a bastard. But there's no word for the

man who doesn't come back. One day, on your wedding day, you'll have a good

man on your arm. And you'll say, "Polly, "thank you, "for common sense." This

woman's in Cardiff. We'll take the train tomorrow. Go to the castle afterwards

for a treat.

39 British English (RP) phonetic transcript

Table 13 - H. McCrory - S1E2 - RP

ənd ˈaɪ ˈdɪdnt deə tel ˈe.ni.wʌn | ɪn ði end | ˈaɪ dɪd ɪt maɪ.ˈself | ˈaɪ dɪd ɪt tə

maɪ.ˈself | ənd ˈaɪ ˈɔːl.məʊst daɪd | ənd hi ˈdɪdnt kʌm ˈbæk | ˈðeɪ dəʊnt | waɪ ʃəd

ˈðeɪ | ju nəʊ ðə ˈwɜːdz | jər ə hɔː | ˈbeɪ.biz ə ˈbɑː.stəd | bət ðeəz nəʊ ˈwɜːd fə ðə

mæn huː ˈdʌznt kʌm ˈbæk | wʌn deɪ | ɒn jə ˈwed.ɪŋ deɪ | jul həv ə ɡʊd mæn ɒn

| wil teɪk ðə treɪn tə.ˈmɒ.rəʊ | ɡəʊ tə ðə ˈkɑːs.l̩ ˈɑːf.tə.wədz fər ə triːt |

Peaky Blinder Brummie phonetic transcript

Table 14 - H. McCrory - S1E2 - Brummie

ənd ˈaɪ ˈdɪdnt deə tel ˈe.ni.wʌn | ɪn ði end | ˈaɪ dɪd ɪt maɪ.ˈself | ˈaɪ dɪd ɪt tə

maɪ.ˈself | ənd ˈaɪ ˈɔːl.məʊst daɪd | ənd hi ˈdɪdnt kʊm ˈbæk | ˈðeɪ dəʊnt | waɪ ʃəd

ˈðeɪ | ju nəʊ ðə ˈwɜːdz | jə ˈr ə hɔː r | ˈbeɪ.biz ə ˈbɑː.stəd | bət ðeəz nəʊ ˈwɜː rd fə

ðə mæn huː ˈdʌznt kʌm ˈbæk | wʌn deɪ | ɒn jə ˈwed.ɪŋ deɪ | jul həv ə ɡʊd mæn

ˈkɑː.dɪf | wil teɪk ðə treɪn tə.ˈmɒ.rəʊ | ɡəʊ tə ðə ˈkɑːs.l̩ ˈɑːf.tə.wədz fər ə triːt |

40 Season 4 Episode 5: Polly to her son Michael about the reasons to hide transcript

Table 15 - H. McCrory - S4E5 - base

Polly Michael, you’re number two on Luca Changretta’s hit list. If you stay in a hotel,

I’ll know where you are. So will the people who take you there. So will the

people who work in the hotel. And hotels don’t move around. They don’t even

know where they’ll be tomorrow. They follow the patron and the crows.

RP phonetic transcript

Table 16 - H. McCrory - S4E5 - RP

Polly | ˈmaɪk.l̩ | jə ˈnʌm.bə ˈtuː ɒn ˈluːk.ə tʃʌngretəz hɪt lɪst | ɪf ju steɪ ɪn ə ˌhəʊ.ˈtel |

aɪl nəʊ weə ju ɑː | ˈsəʊ wl̩ ðə ˈpiːp.l̩ huː teɪk ju ðeə | ˈsəʊ wl̩ ðə ˈpiːp.l̩ huː ˈwɜːk

ɪn ðə ˌhəʊ.ˈtel | ənd ˌhəʊ.ˈtelz dəʊnt muːv ə.ˈraʊnd | ˈðeɪ dəʊnt ˈiːv.n̩ nəʊ weə

ˈðeɪl bi tə.ˈmɒ.rəʊ | ˈðeɪ ˈfɒ.ləʊ ðə ˈpeɪ.trən ənd ðə krəʊz |

PB Brummie phonetic transcript

Table 17 - H. McCrory - S4E5 - Brummie

Polly | ˈmaɪk.l̩ | jə ˈnʌm.bə ˈtuː ɒn ˈluːk.ə tʃʌngretʌz hɪt lɪst | ɪf ju steɪ ɪn ə ˌhəʊ.ˈtel |

aɪl nəʊ weə ju ɑː | ˈsəʊ wl̩ ðə ˈpiːp.l̩ huː teɪk ju ðeə | ˈsəʊ wl̩ ðə ˈpiːp.l̩ huː ˈwɜːk

ɪn ðə ˌhəʊ.ˈtel | ənd ˌhəʊ.ˈtelz dəʊnt muːv ə.ˈraʊnd | ˈðeɪ dəʊnt ˈiːv.n̩ nəʊ weə

ˈðeɪl bi tə.ˈmɒ.rəʊ | ˈðeɪ ˈfɒ.ləʊ ðə ˈpætrən ənd ðə kroʊz |

41 Season 4 Episode 6: Polly to Tommy about the family curse transcript

Table 18 - H. McCrory - S4E6 - base

Polly Shit. Maybe it’s in us. It’s with Shelbys. It’s in our Gypsy blood. We live

somewhere between life and death, waiting to move on. And in the end, we

accept it. We shake hands with devils and we walk past them.

RP phonetic transcript

Table 19 - H. McCrory - S4E6 - RP

ˈsʌm.weə | bɪ.ˈtwiːn laɪf ənd deθ | ˈweɪt.ɪŋ tə muːv ɒn | ənd ɪn ði end | wi ək.ˈsept

ɪt | wi ʃeɪk hændz wɪð ˈdev.l̩ z ənd wi wɔːk pɑːst ðəm |

PB Brummie phonetic transcript

Table 20 - H. McCrory - S4E6 - Brummie

ˈsʌm.weə | bɪ.ˈtwiːn laɪf ənd deθ | ˈweɪt.ɪŋ tə muːv ɒn | ənd ɪn ði end | wi ək.ˈsept

ɪt | wi ʃeɪk hændz wɪð ˈdev.l̩ z ənd wi wɔːk pɑːst ðəm |

42 3.3 Harry Kirton as Finn Shelby

Harry Kirton, as a Birmingham-born actor, is in a unique position in regards to all the other actors of the main cast and in a place from where he can help even his much more experienced colleagues to correct and improve their Birmingham accent. Harry Kirton plays the role of Finn Shelby. Mr Kirton has joined the cast starting with the second season of the series and has been a regular cast member ever since. Finn Shelby is the youngest of the Shelby siblings and as such he has always been kept separate from all the dangerous happenings during the course of the series. His involvement has increased starting with the third season of Peaky Blinders where Finn was no longer the sheltered child but started to become a full member of the gang. With the fourth season of the series, his responsibilities ever so increased and he has been consistently given more demanding tasks to perform, possibly to replace John in his duties so that the Shelby family business could continue to prosper.

Harry Kirton is one of the younger actors among the cast and so his involvement in the making of this series, that takes place in the place where he was born, must be all the more inspiring to his fellow Brummies. As to how an article from Birmingham Live describes Mr Kirton:

He’s the freckle-faced gangster who was revising for his exams one minute and

drug dealing the next. Teenager Harry Kirton combined his first TV role with

revising for his GCSEs. He won the part of the youngest Shelby, Finn, in the

BBC2 hit drama Peaky Blinders by queuing for five hours at an open audition.

(Laws, 2014)

Due to the fact that Mr Kirton has a good knowledge of the control accent, it puts him into a position where he is ahead of his otherwise considerably more expert actor colleagues. With that in mind, Mr Kirton said that “although he frequently pesters his

43 more experienced colleagues for acting tips, when it comes to the Midlands twang he is the one dishing out advice” (Sharpe, 2017). Furthermore, when some of his fellow actors came to him for an advice if they are saying their lines the way that should, Mr

Kirton had to apologetically respond to them “No, sorry” and he show them the proper way to pronounce whatever it is they need help with (Sharpe, 2017).

3.3.1 Speech examples:

Season 4 Episode 3: Finn in charge, transcript

Table 21 - H. Kirton S4E3 - base

Finn The rule is that door should always remain locked until 9

AM.

Polly Right. Boy. Boy, where are you going?

Finn Well, Arthur's not coming in today. He's taking the day off.

So...

Lizzie So what?

Finn So today, Tommy said that I'm in charge.

Polly Sorry, you're in charge?

Finn Yeah. That's what he said.

44 RP phonetic transcript

Table 22 - H. Kirton S4E3 - RP

Finn | ðə ruːl z ðət dɔː ʃəd ˈɔːl.weɪz rɪ.ˈmeɪn lɒkt ʌn.ˈtɪl naɪn | ˈzɪə.rəʊ

æm |

Polly raɪt | ˌbɔɪ | ˌbɔɪ | weər ə ju ˈɡəʊɪŋ |

Finn wel | ˈɑː.θərz nɒt ˈkʌm.ɪŋ ɪn tə.ˈdeɪ | hiz ˈteɪkɪŋ ðə deɪ ɒf | ˈsəʊ |

Lizze ˈsəʊ ˈwɒt |

Finn ˈsəʊ tə.ˈdeɪ | ˈtɒ.mi ˈsed ðət aɪm ɪn tʃɑːdʒ |

Polly ˈsɒ.ri | jər ɪn tʃɑːdʒ |

Finn jeə | ðæts ˈwɒt hi ˈsed |

PB Brummie phonetic transcript

Table 23 - H. Kirton S4E3 - Brummie

Finn | ðə ruːl z ðət dɔː ʃəd ˈɔːl.weɪz rɪ.ˈmeɪn lɒkt ʌn.ˈtɪl naɪn |

ˈzɪə.rəʊ æm |

Polly raɪt | ˌbɔɪ | ˌbɔɪ | weər ə ju ˈɡəʊɪŋ |

Finn wel | ˈɑː.θərz nɒt ˈkʌm.ɪŋ ɪn tə.ˈdeɪ | hiz ˈteɪkɪŋ ðə deɪ ɒf | ˈsəʊ

Lizze ˈsəʊ ˈwɒt |

Finn ˈsəʊ tə.ˈdeɪ | ˈtɒ.mi ˈsed ðət aɪm ɪn tʃɑːdʒ |

Polly ˈsɒ.ri | jər ɪn tʃɑːdʒ |

Finn jeə | ðæts ˈwɒt hi ˈsed |

45 Season 4 Episode 3: Finn x Tommy “be a man” talk, transcript

Table 24 - H. Kirton S4E3 scene 2 - base

Tommy Finn? Come here. How was your day?

Finn Yeah, it was okay.

Tommy Good man. Well done. No trouble?

Finn No. No trouble.

Tommy And she looked after you?

Finn I don't want it like that ever again, Tom. Not when they don't even

want to do it, except for the money.

Tommy Everything's for the money, Finn.

Finn Yeah, I know. But... She said: "Be a man."

Tommy And were you a man?

Finn Yeah. But then I apologised to her. Because she just looked so tired.

Tommy Sit down Finn. Right, listen to me, Finn. She was right. You need to be

a fucking man. People get tired. Working in a fucking factory gets you

tired. I don't go around apologising, do I?

Finn No.

Tommy There's an empty space here to be filled. Do you understand?

Finn Yeah.

Tommy So... Be a fucking man.

Finn Okay, Tom.

46 RP phonetic transcript

Table 25 - H. Kirton S4E3 scene 2 - RP

Tommy | fɪn | kʌm hɪə | ˈhaʊ wəz jə deɪ |

Finn jeə | ɪt wəz ˌəʊˈk.eɪ |

Tommy ɡʊd mæn | wel dʌn | nəʊ ˈtrʌb.l̩ |

Finn nəʊ | nəʊ ˈtrʌb.l̩ |

Tommy ənd ʃi lʊkt ˈɑːf.tə ju |

Finn ˈaɪ dəʊnt wɒnt ɪt ˈlaɪk ðət ˈev.ər ə.ˈɡen | tɒm | nɒt wen ˈðeɪ dəʊnt ˈiːv.n̩

wɒnt tə də ɪt | ɪk.ˈsept fə ðə ˈmʌ.ni |

Tommy ˈev.rɪ.θɪŋz fə ðə ˈmʌ.ni | fɪn |

Tommy ənd wə ju ə mæn |

Finn jeə | bət ðen ˈaɪ ə.ˈpɒ.lə.dʒaɪzd tə hə | bɪˈkɒz ʃi dʒəst lʊkt ˈsəʊ ˈtaɪəd |

mæn | ˈpiːp.l̩ ˈɡet ˈtaɪəd | ˈwɜːk.ɪŋ ɪn ə ˈfʌkɪŋ ˈfæk.tə.ri ˈɡets ju ˈtaɪəd |

ˈaɪ dəʊnt ɡəʊ ə.ˈraʊnd ə.ˈpɒ.lə.dʒaɪz.ɪŋ | də ˈaɪ |

Finn nəʊ |

Tommy ðeəz ən ˈemp.ti speɪs hɪə tə bi fɪld | də ju ˌʌn.də.ˈstænd |

Finn jeə |

Tommy ˈsəʊ | bi ə ˈfʌkɪŋ mæn |

Finn ˌəʊˈk.eɪ | tɒm |

47 PB Brummie phonetic transcript

Table 26 - H. Kirton S4E3 scene 2 - Brummie

Tommy | fɪn | kʌm hɪə | ˈhaʊ wəz jə deɪ |

Finn jeə | ɪt wəz ˌəʊˈk.eɪ |

Tommy ɡʊd mæn | wel dʌn | nəʊ ˈtrʌb.l̩ |

Finn nəʊ | nəʊ ˈtrʌb.l̩ |

Tommy ənd ʃi lʊkt ˈɑːf.tə ju |

Finn ˈaɪ dəʊnt wɒnt ɪt ˈlaɪk ðət ˈev.ər ə.ˈɡen | tɒm | nɒt wen ˈðeɪ dəʊnt ˈiːv.n̩

wɒnt tə də ɪt | ɪk.ˈsept fə ðə ˈmʌ.ni |

Tommy ˈev.rɪ.θɪŋz fə ðə ˈmʌ.ni | fɪn |

Tommy ənd wə ju ə mæn |

Finn jeə | bət ðen ˈaɪ ə.ˈpɒ.lə.dʒaɪzd tə hə | bɪˈkɒz ʃi dʒəst lʊkt ˈsəʊ ˈtaɪəd |

mæn | ˈpiːp.l̩ ˈɡet ˈtaɪəd | ˈwɜːk.ɪŋ ɪn ə ˈfʌkɪŋ ˈfæk.tə.ri ˈɡets ju ˈtaɪəd |

ˈaɪ dəʊnt ɡəʊ ə.ˈraʊnd ə.ˈpɒ.lə.dʒaɪz.ɪŋ | də ˈaɪ |

Finn nəʊ |

Tommy ðeəz ən ˈemp.ti speɪs hɪə tə bi fɪld | də ju ˌʌn.də.ˈstænd |

Finn jeə |

Tommy ˈsəʊ | bi ə ˈfʌkɪŋ mæn |

Finn ˌəʊˈk.eɪ | tɒm |

48 3.4 Accent as an expression of villainy

Characters in the works of television production have an accent different from the main characters and are usually in odds with the main heroes as well. Those characters possessing a different accent are often portrayed as either being of a lower social standing or having evil aspirations. In a study conducted by Julia Dobrow and

Calvin Gidney, after analysing the offerings of aired children shows for a time, they have come to a conclusion that:

The majority of shows used dialect stereotypes to indicate a character's

personality or status as a hero or villain or as serious or comic. In many shows,

villains spoke with recognizable foreign accents or with varieties of nonstandard

American dialects. The foreign accent most often employed by villains was

British English. (Dobrow & Gidney, 1998, p. 115)

Furthermore, the study mentions that the villainous characters in the show

Project G.eeK.eR speak “an exaggerated BBC English” and the evil witch Shakata from

Alladin also speaks in a British manner (Dobrow & Gidney, 1998, p. 115). Of course, in this case the problem is related solely to the American television market but it still shows a certain pattern of usage of British varieties of accents to highlight uncanny persons.

A more general look into the ways in which children television programmes are made and the fact that due to the nature of the content they often have to rely on the linguistic features of a language to get a point across:

The shows in our sample can be divided into three groups: those that do not

attempt to correlate language or dialect with character; those that use language

or dialect to illustrate some quality of the character's personality or disposition;

and those that portray no linguistic diversity. The majority of our sample falls

49 into the second category, a fact that suggests that children's television relies

heavily on language to mark characters' personalities. (Dobrow & Gidney, 1998,

p. 114)

Pertaining to the Birmingham accent, a research conducted by Dixon et al. on how people perceive criminals based on their accent and other defining features, an especially curious result that they were able to obtain was the fact that

The Brummie suspect was rated as more guilty (M=4.27) than the RP suspect

(M= 3.65), an effect of moderate strength, η2= 0.041. This result broadly

supports Seggie’s (1983) Australian data, suggesting that attributions of guilt

may also be affected by accent in a British context. (Dixon, Mahoney, & Cocks,

2002, p. 165)

If we were to apply this logic to the series Peaky Blinders, we would end up with an image of these razor-wielding, Small Heath gangsters who hold nothing sacred while maintaining the order around them with their Brummie accent. On one hand, due to the fact that they do have their base of operations in their home city, they are widely supported by the people of their class. At the same time, whenever a new opponent enters the scene, they are looked down on as the “rabble” that is trying to make waves in the higher circles of society while they are assumed to have no cause or power to do so.

3.5 Discussion

In this series of chapters, 3 actors have been introduced. Cillian Murphy who portrays

Tommy Shelby in the series, Helen McCrory who plays Aunt Polly in the Shelby family and Harry Kirton who plays the youngest Shelby sibling. Each of the actors has been researched in terms of how they interacted with the script that was given to them and what their preparation towards their role was. Furthermore, for each of the actors

50 a transcript of a short monologue or a dialogue has been made. Each transcript in 3 versions has been created – plain English, phonetically transcribed RP version of the text and phonetically transcribed variant of the English that was spoken by the actor.

And as the last aspect of the Brummie aspect to be researched in this part of the thesis is the villainy aspect of the accent. Or to be more precise, the fact that American movie industry has for a time made it their goal to outfit all of their evil villain characters with

British accent variations.

4 Conclusion

In this thesis the author wanted to introduce the Brummie accent to any that would find it as interesting as I did and to further explore the accent myself on a deeper level. Because of the fact that the accent in question is used in a series such as this, a gangster drama with a fair share of violence, it might not be accessible to everyone but ultimately the accent does fit the narrative very well. All those things considered, it is very disheartening that the Brummie accent is treated in the way that it is even though it is such a melodic and, in the author’s opinion, an aesthetically pleasing accent.

Furthermore, the author’s conviction was to closely inspect the Brummie accent as it was being employed by the actors playing their roles in the series Peaky Blinders and to research the ways in which the actors prepare for such roles that demand from them a performance like this. All of the necessary parts of the accent have been covered so as to give a somewhat clear picture of its advantages but at the same to address some of the problems that follow it and make it less accessible to the general public. Mainly the topic of intonation is, in author’s opinion, something that is often overlooked and yet carries so much more importance than most people give it. In the case of the

Brummie accent, even more so.

51 Those things considered, another important topic that the author has tried to cover was the use of accented language to portray characters with villainous tendencies.

Even in the case of the Shelby family gang of Peaky Blinders, one could argue that they are still playing the role of a villain in many people’s stories and they have the accent to prove it, too.

With all of that in mind, it is believed that the Peaky Blinders series has done a surprisingly good job at introducing an otherwise not very discussed accent and making it palatable to the mainstream audiences that might in turn develop an interest in studying accents, or just Brummie or even just in the city of Birmingham itself. The series is definitely not for everyone but in the author’s opinion, it would not disappoint anyone who would decide to give it a watch.

Bibliography

Sources

BBC News. (2016). Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy says Brummie accent “sexy.” Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england- birmingham-36205291

BBC Two. (2016). How do you master the Brummie accent? Cillian Murphy reveals it all. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/bbctwo/status/740863426302464000

Brown, G. (2018). London execs tried to axe Brummie accents from Peaky Blinders. Retrieved from Birmingham Live website: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/london-execs- tried-axe-brummie-14691765

Carl Chinn. (2008). Why Brummies Why not Birmies? Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20080509162006/https://www.virtualbrum.co. uk/brummies.htm

Dahlgreen, W. (2014). “Brummie” is the least attractive accent. Retrieved from YouGov website: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles- reports/2014/12/09/accent-map2

Delingpole, J. (2013). As a Brummie, I am aggrieved with Peaky Blinders. Retrieved from The Spectator website: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/09/brummie-james-delingpole-rubbishes- the-bbcs-acclaimed-peaky-blinders/

Dixon, J. A., Mahoney, B., & Cocks, R. (2002). Accents of Guilt?: Effects of Regional Accent, Race, and Crime Type on Attributions of Guilt. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 21(2), 162–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/02627X02021002004

Fowler, R. (2013). “I still get offered sexy roles,” says Helen McCrory. Retrieved from Telegraph website: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10277363/I-still-get- offered-sexy-roles-says-Helen-McCrory.html

Franks, R. (2017). Hit crime drama Peaky Blinders has finally made Birmingham look cool. Retrieved from News.com.au website: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/hit-crime-drama-peaky- blinders-has-finally-made-birmingham-look-cool/news- story/a3ee5ec04936e7d4b1a48f887d2ea085

Frost, C. (2013). “Peaky Blinders” Star Cillian Murphy On Perfecting A Brummie Accent, And Celebrating The Anti-Hero On Television.

Google. (n.d.). Google Trends. Retrieved from https://trends.google.com

Graham Young. (2018). Peaky Blinders creator on future of the hit BBC series. Retrieved from Birmingham Live website: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/peaky-blinders- creator-future-hit-14620467

Hague, S. (n.d.). voicecoach.tv. Retrieved from https://www.voicecoach.tv/coach/sally-hague/

Hodgson, C. (2017). Cillian Murphy “spent a drunken Saturday” learning the Birmingham accent for Peaky Blinders, says writer Steven Knight. Retrieved from Mirror website: https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/irish- showbiz/cillian-murphy-spent-drunken-saturday-9751858

Knight, S. (Creator). (2013). Peaky Blinders. Netflix.

Laws, R. (2013). Peaky Blinders will put Birmingham in a whole new light. Retrieved from Birmingham Post website: https://www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/film-tv/birmingham-star- new-bbc-drama-5833531

Laws, R. (2014). Meet the young stars of TV’s Peaky Blinders. Retrieved from Birmingham Live website: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats- on/arts-culture-news/meet-two-teenage-stars-peaky-7979752

Laws, R. (2017). Peaky Blinders is the most popular Netflix show in two US states. Retrieved from Birmingham Live website: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/peaky-blinders-most- popular-netflix-12476347

Our fight to perfect the Peaky Blinders’ accent. (2014). Retrieved from The Free Library website: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Our+fight+to+perfect+the+Peaky+Blinders %27+accent.-a0340607542

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54 References Bernd Kortmann, E. W. S. (2004). A handbook of varieties of English: a multimedia reference tool : two volumes plus CD-ROM. Mouton de Gruyter.

Dobrow, J. R., & Gidney, C. L. (1998). The Good, the Bad, and the Foreign: The Use of Dialect in Children’s Animated Television. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 557, 105–119. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1049446

Gimson, A. C. (2014). Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. (8th ed.; A. Cruttenden, Ed.). Hoboken : Taylor and Francis.

Malarski, K. (2013). Intonation in the Perception of Brummie. In E. Waniek- Klimczak & L. R. Shockey (Eds.), Teaching and Researching English Accents in Native and Non-native Speakers (pp. 207–217). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24019-5_15

MORIN, R. (2009). Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students . 2nd ed. by COLLINS, BEVERLY, & INGER M. MEES. In The Modern Language Journal (Vol. 93). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540- 4781.2009.00901_17.x

Wells, J. C. (1982a). Accents of English 1: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.

Wells, J. C. (1982b). Accents of English 2: The British Isles. Cambridge University Press.

Summary in English

This thesis is an attempt at a detailed presentation of one type of English accent

– the Birmingham accent, also known as Brummie. This accent has been somewhat popularized in recent years thanks to the TV series Peaky Blinders (of which first season aired in 2013), that has managed to become quite popular with its viewers. The show is using a historic and cultural portrayal of Birmingham of the 20th century and while watching the series myself, I have come up with the idea to make my bachelor thesis about this topic.

The first half of my thesis covers theory of accents. The accent is explained, RP and Brummie are explained along with their linguistic features. Furthermore, I have researched a study of the likeability of accents in which Brummie has been rated as the least popular. The historic background of Birmingham is also briefly mentioned. In the next part the author focuses on the series itself and the actors and creators of the show themselves. I thoroughly look at all their efforts in trying to make the accent their own and also make a deeper analysis of the performances that they put on screen. With the thesis I also include a set of chosen recordings.

The methods of research employed in the thesis also try to measure the interest of the audience in correlation to the popularity of the series and the resulting impact on the increased popularity of the Birmingham accent, using the Google Search Trends engine. The thesis further explores the tendency of villains employing a variety of

British accent and the reasons behind that are further explored.

In the end, the series Peaky Blinders and the actors that have portrayed its characters have managed to make at least some people interested in the city of

Birmingham and the Brummie accent.

56 Summary in Czech

Náplní této bakalářské práce je komplexní prezentace jednoho typu přízvuku v rámci anglického jazyka – birminghamského přízvuku (běžně označovaného též jako

Brummie) – který se do širšího povědomí dostal díky relativně nedávno vzniklé televizní seriálové produkci Peaky Blinders (první série vysílána v roce 2013), jež si dokázala u diváků vydobýt nemalou popularitu. Seriál využívá historických, kulturních a rovněž i jazykových reálií Birminghamu 20. století a právě jeho sledování se stalo výchozím motivem pro napsání této práce.

První část práce představuje teoretický úvod. Rozebírá se zde, co je to přízvuk obecně, následně jsou prezentována konkrétní specifika birminghamského přízvuku a jeho porovnání s přízvukem, který je dnes v anglickém prostředí běžně brán jako standardní

(tzv. Received Pronunciation, RP). Dále jsou představeny studie, které se zabývají zkoumáním oblíbenosti různých typů přízvuků a v nichž vyvstavá najevo, že

Birminghamský přízvuk se v anglickém prostředí příliš velké oblibě netěší. Krátká pozornost je věnována též historickému vývoji v oblasti Birminghamu.

Následně se přechází již konkrétně k seriálu Peaky Blinders, který je rozebírán právě s ohledem na snahy jeho tvůrců o autentické zpracování birminghamského přízvuku. Na vyjádřeních představitelů hlavních rolí se ukazuje, s jakými obtížemi se museli při své práci potýkat a s pomocí jakých prostředků se jim podařilo si tento nezvyklý přízvuk osvojit. Přiloženy jsou vybrané ukázky dialogů ze seriálu a s užitím fonetického přepisu je na nich poukázáno na klíčové rozdíly mezi RP a birminghamským přízvukem.

Práce se také pokouší dát do souvislosti popularitu seriálu s nárůstem zájmu o birminghamský přízvuk, čehož alespoň přibližným ukazatelem může být např. počet zadání termínu Brummie na vyhledávači Google v návaznosti na premiéry jednotlivých

57 sérií. Vedle toho jsou v práci rovněž prezentovány studie, které upozorňují na nezanedbatelné trendy ve ztotožňování minoritních přízvuků se zápornými postavami.

V závěru práce je oceněn přínos seriálu Peaky Blinders pro zvýšení povědomí o birminghamském přízvuku mezi svými diváky a v konfrontaci s prezentovanými studiemi o nepopulárnosti tohoto přízvuku je konstatováno určité zklamání, neboť při přistoupení na jeho speciální odlišnosti lze i u “Brummie” nalézt a ocenit jeho estetické kvality.

58 Appendix A – CD with related audio recordings from the series