Lancashire accent is dying out and could disappear ENTIRELY within ‘the next few generations’, study warns

It probably won't be long until you hear one of Britain's most distinctive accents.

Celebrities such as Eric Morecambe, Jane Horrocks and Jim Bowen made the Lancashire dialect famous, but scientists say it is now disappearing.

The Lancashire dialect is unique for its use of the 'Arr' sound in words such as 'car' or 'father'.

However, researchers from the University of Lancashire say young people in the area are starting to drop so-called 'Rhotic Rs'.

Worryingly, they say the distinct dialect could disappear completely in just a few generations.

Actress Jane Horrocks is famous for her distinctive Lancashire accent, but scientists say the hard 'r' in Lancashire could soon disappear.

In the past, the whole of England sounded very similar to the Blackburn of today.

However, since the 18th century, the dialect has slowly disappeared.

Dr Danielle Turton, lead author of the study, said: “This is a healthy change that began two hundred years ago and was thought to have originated in London.”

“The whole of England was pronouncing the 'R' this way at some point, then it dried up and we have remnants in small disparate areas left,” Dr Turton said. Sunday Telegraph.

Roti – with an R – is now more common in Cornwall, Scotland and North America.

However, a study published in the Journal of Phonetics found that the dialect still exists in parts of the Northwest.

Research has found that dialects containing a hard R declined between 1962 (left) and 2016 (right). On this map, the red areas show areas where the accent is most common

Researchers interviewed 28 people from Blackburn, Lancashire to analyze how they pronounced the letter 'R' in words such as letter, beer, car and square.

Participants were also asked whether they thought the words “spa” and “spar” should be pronounced differently.

The researchers found that Blackburn's indigenous people still used the hard 'r' sound, just like speakers in Cornwall and Scotland.

Likewise, native speakers said that the words “spa” and “spar” had very different sounds, while many parts of the country would not see much difference between the two.

Dr Turton says this shows that “brutality certainly exists in Blackburn, Lancashire”.

However, the researchers also found that younger speakers have a softer R sound than the older generation.

This means monotony could disappear from the North within “the next few generations,” the authors say.

The authors believe that Blackburn may have been able to maintain her sonorous accent for so long due to her isolation and self-sufficiency.

“It has one of the highest rates of industrialization in the UK, so we are probably seeing fewer people moving out of the area than other places in the UK,” Dr Turton said.

Comedian Eric Morecambe (right), who took his stage name from the town of Morecambe in Lancashire, had a distinctive, strong Lancashire accent

“Geographically, it is in a valley, so we can imagine historically it may have been more isolated, but even today the transport links in and out of Blackburn are not as efficient as those in nearby Preston, for example.”

These thick accents have often been the subject of ridicule, as thick rhotic accents are often parodied in films and television.

The researchers said: “Routine in England at present is highly stigmatised, represents a national rural stereotype and is used in media representations of characters for ‘comedic effect’.

However, researchers say social pressures are unlikely to be the cause of the dialect's disappearance.

Instead, experts say the decline is more likely to be caused by face-to-face contact with people outside the city.

“We have more direct contact with people these days,” Dr. Turton explained.

“People are moving away for work; people don't live where their parents grew up anymore.