The rising tide of estuary English: the changing nature of oral British business communication.

"I'm off to Sco(?)lan(?) to make the sa(w)s."

"Give me a bit of brea(?) an(?) bu(?)er, wi(w) you?"

"Of course."

"Cheers. Basically you ring up clien(?)s who have been in business FOR years; if their telephones are busy, you ge(?) the Intercit(ee) to Scotlan(?), is tha(?)

This bit of overheard conversation between two United Kingdom (UK) businessmen startled me. I had difficulty understanding their audible conversation spoken in English, my native language. They were not speaking Received Pronunciation (R. P.) English, the Standard English of the UK, also known as the Queens English and BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) English. Instead they were speaking Estuary English, which is sweeping across the country like a tidal wave. According to "Everyday Basics" (1994) in The [London] Sunday Times, Estuary English is "the fastest-growing accent" that is spreading from south and east London by way of the Thames estuary "and is increasingly heard in every corner of the land" (p. 10/26).

No longer is R. P. English, English suitable to be received by royalty in court, the unchallenged standard for oral British business communication. Estuary English has inundated the British business community and is rapidly becoming the de facto standard for oral business communication. Consequently, business communicators need to know about Estuary English.

The purposes of this article, then, are to (a) define Estuary English, (b) document the usage of Estuary English in the British business community, (c) describe the milieu that causes Estuary English to be acceptable in the British business community, (d) speculate about the future of Estuary English in the British business community, (e) identify the implications of Estuary English for business communicators, and (f) discuss the implications of Estuary English for business communication teachers and consultants.

This article is based on a thorough search of the fragmentary Estuary English literature, only a little of which is business-related, and personal communication with Estuary English experts and critics, none of whom are business communication experts. While able to expound on Estuary English in general, they all declined to address its business communication applications and implications in detail.

Definition of Estuary English

Although John Wells, a prominent British linguist, prefers the term "London English" rather than Estuary English, he calls it a "vaguely-defined speech variety intermediate between Received Pronunciation (Standard English) on the one hand and broad Cockney (most extreme London working-class English) on the other" (personal communication, January 12, 1994).

Tom McArthur, editor of The Oxford Companion to the English Language, who prefers the term "New London Voice" to Estuary English, describes it as "a kind of compromise or meeting point or marriage between popular English going up and the Queens English coming down" (Darnton, 1993b, p. 13).

According to David Rosewarne (1994), who coined the term Estuary English, it is a combination of nonregional and local southeastern English pronunciation and intonation. It lies midway between R. P. English and commonplace London street speech, Cockney English.

Evolving near the Thames and its estuary, Estuary English has now spread at least as far northward as Norwich, as far westward as Bristol, and as far south-westward as Penzance, encompassing much of southern England (Rosewarne, 1994). Others think that some elements of Estuary English have spread even farther. Languages professor Paul Coggle believes that features of Estuary English are being adopted by schoolchildren in the northern parts of the UK (Ezard, 1993).

Although Estuary English varies because of speech background and pronunciation and vocabulary choices, its basic sound-unit patterns are identifiable. These can be divided into consonant and vowel patterns.

According to Rosewane (1994), where an R. P. English speaker uses the l sound, an Estuary English speaker uses the w sound in final positions and in final consonant clusters. Thus, the word sale sounds like the invented word saw with a long a. While an R. P. speaker pronounces most - but not necessarily all - t and d sounds, an Estuary English speaker replaces some - but not all - t and d sounds with glottal stops, eliminations that give a jerkiness to the speech where the t and d sounds typically would occur but are not sounded (Rosewarne, 1994). Thus, the phrase get to Scotland spoken by an Estuary English speaker might sound like the phrase get to Sco(?)lan(?). However, an Estuary English speaker does not use the glottal stop to the same degree that a Cockney English speaker does, who consistently eliminates t and d sounds (Rosewarne, 1994).

Estuary English speakers shed the phonetic j sound according to Rosewarne (1994). While many speakers of General Received Pronunciation English, the most common version of the accent, do not pronounce a phonetic j sound, which is like they in yet, after an l as in the word salute or after an s as in the word assume, speakers of Conservative Received Pronunciation English, the most conservative version of the accent, do (Rosewane, 1994).

An Estuary English speaker makes an r sound similarly to a General American English speaker, one who speaks the most common American English accent, but without retroflection, articulation with the tip of the tongue curled upward or back against or near the juncture of the hard and soft palates (Rosewarne, 1994). This contrasts with both the R. P. English and Cockney English pronunciation of the r sound (Rosewarne, 1994). Rosewarne believes that when the typical Estuary English speaker vocalizes an r sound, "the tip of the tongue is lowered and the central part raised to a position close to, but not touching, the soft palate" (p. 5).

Estuary English vowel qualities are between those of General Received Pronunciation English and unmodified regional forms of English (Rosewarne, 1994). Vowel sounds in final positions in words tend to be longer than those normally found in R. P. English, in some cases almost approaching those characteristic of a diphthong or single-unit gliding sound (Rosewarne, 1994). For example, in the word city, the final vowel sound is drawn out almost as if the word ended in two consecutively pronounced e sounds.

An Estuary English speaker displays a different rise- and-fall intonation pattern than a General Received Pronunciation English speaker does (Rosewarne, 1994). He or she often emphasizes prepositions and auxiliary verbs while speaking (Rosewarne, 1994), which can cause miscommunication. For example, emphasizing the preposition for in a phrase such as in business FOR years can cause a listener to think that the speaker is emphasizing the number four, which alters the meaning. An Estuary English speaker also makes more frequent use of such question tags as don't I? and isn't it? than does an R. P. English speaker (Rosewarne, 1994).

Rosewarne (1994) reported that Estuary English speakers exhibit a narrower frequency band of pitch intonation than R. P. English speakers do. Limited use of higher-pitch frequencies by Estuary English speakers when compared to R. P. English speakers causes listeners to perceive that Estuary English speakers are unenthusiastic, plodding, and perhaps deliberate.

A speaker of Estuary English also uses characteristic vocabulary. Rosewarne (1994), for example, noted that the word cheers is used for the expression thank you, although it can also mean the word goodby; the word basically is used frequently; the phrase there you go rather than here you are is used in offers; the phrase there is used in both singular and plural contexts; and American terminology, not British terminology, is used extensively, including the expression excuse me for the word sorry and when referring to the telephone, the word busy for the word engaged.

Coggle (1993) identified some syntactical features of Cockney English that have penetrated some variations of Estuary English, including the use of the word was for the word were and the use of the word ain't for the words am not and isn't, which forms a double negative when combined with the word no or the word never. Nevertheless, Coggle acknowledged that such forms tend to disappear as the speaker advances further away from Cockney English toward upscale Estuary English.

Thus, Estuary English is a somewhat variable manner of speaking or accent that lies between R. P. English and Cockney. Its characteristic sound-unit patterns, vocal qualities, intonation patterns, vocabulary, and syntactical features help to identify it.

Use of Estuary English

Rosewarne (1994) noted that Estuary English is commonly used in business circles, especially in the City, the business heartland of London and the UK. It is also widely used in government, the media, advertising, medicine, and education (Rosewarne, 1984). Rosewarne (1994) paraphrased Stanley Kalms, chairman of major British retailing company Dixons Group, this way: "R. P. speakers in business accommodate towards Estuary English 'to become more consumer-friendly"' (p. 4-5).

Darnton (1993b) quoted Peter Rosengard, a life-insurance salesman, describing Estuary English: "It's distinctive. . . . A lot of people in the City [the financial center of London] speak it. . . . It's disarming - no one tries to place you and figure out where you come from and what school you went to" (p. 13).

According to Anne Shelley, chairwoman of The Queen's English Society,

Many people in public life have taken to using a middle-of-the-road accent as they are afraid of being mocked for sounding 'posh.'. . . [Estuary English] has . . . spread through many sectors in the business world and is used by both younger bloods and by older businessmen who wish to be seen as still being at the sharp end of the City. (personal communication, November 13, 1993)

According to educator John Honey (1989), a British personnel executive told him that he often receives applications from public [private] school graduates who downplay the privileged educations that they would have previously emphasized. Many perceive having too privileged an education or accent as limiting ability to work with people from varied backgrounds, an undesirable characteristic outside of the areas of advertising and marketing, where an Advanced Received Pronunciation English accent, the most progressive accent form, builds credibility and authority.

Thus, the use of Estuary English is widespread within the British business community. Estuary English is seen by many as facilitating business by leveling differences in class and education, which have historically been barriers to effective communication in the UK.

Acceptability of Estuary English

To understand why Estuary English is so acceptable to the British business community, it is necessary to understand the dynamics of social forces in both past and present Britain. Profound cultural changes have allowed such societal levelers as Estuary English to come into prominence in business and other circles.

Prior to industrialization, urbanization, and rapid transportation, Britons knew their social status and did not rely on language differences to convey social class; but with increasing mobility came increasing social distinctions in language (Graddol, 1993). These were once so serious that George Bernard Shaw quipped that "[i]t is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman despise him" (The Economist, 1987, p. 85). Even today, accent is widely regarded as one important manifestation of class in the UK (The Economist, 1987). Gimson (1989) noted that Britons are extremely sensitive to pronunciations of their language and that "the 'wrong accent' may still be an impediment to social intercourse or to advancement or entry in certain professions" (p. 83).

Honey (1989) reported that as few as 3% of Britons actually speak the influential R. P. English accent. They now often realize - sometimes subconsciously - that General Received Pronunciation English is no longer considered a neutral accent in many circles and that both Conservative and Advanced Received Pronunciation English can cause hostile reactions (Rosewarne, 1994). Talking posh identifies people with the Establishment and as wieldere of power (Coggle, 1993), which isolates them from most Britons.

The rigid British class system reigned until the 193Os, was readily apparent in the 1950s, and, in spite of recent egalitarian reforms designed to diminish it, remains visible in contemporary Britain (Honey, 1989). Reduction in social inequities, growth in social mobility, and improvement of educational opportunities have not caused longstanding snobberies associated with accent to die; and although class consciousness may have changed, accent consciousness "is still alive and operative in a great many ways" (Honey, 1989, p. 10).

In a class- and accent-conscious country like the UK, Estuary English fulfills important functions for businesspersons and others by obscuring their socioeconomic status and origins, which tend to be humble. Estuary English allows individuals to rise, fall, or maintain their stations in life by compromising, not losing, their linguistic identity (Rosewarne, 1994). According to Anthony Flint (1994), Estuary English is known for its leveling effect; those from upper classes can use it to dilute pretension, and those from lower classes can use it to advance on the linguistic ladder. Charles Hymas (1993) noted that middle-class speakers of R. P. English have moved down-market to Estuary English to avoid being handicapped by talking posh.

McArthur views the spread of Estuary English as a move towards linguistic democracy (Daeschner, 1993). Estuary English, according to Daeschner (1993), "marks a shift in the balance of power between the upper class . . . and the lower classes" (n. pag.). Darnton (1993a) reported that McArthur believes that the speech of Britons will always be influenced by social class and that a classless Britain will never occur. According to McArthur, "People are more comfortable socially these days, and cross-class communication has become more desirable. . . . The [N]ew London [V]oice [Estuary English] is a kind of social lubricant" (Darnton, 1993a, n. pag.).

Given the fact that Britain has long been a divided society with adversarial relationships between classes and institutions (Mole, 1990), it is not surprising that the British business community has been quick to adopt Estuary English. Historically speaking, many business-related activities and occupations have not been held in high regard, especially if associated with heavy manufacturing or polluting industries. To enhance themselves and their businesses in the eyes of the public, many British businesspersons adopt Estuary English, which masks humble origins and equalizes the status of communicators. Some businesspersons acknowledge that Estuary English is a way to diminish societal prejudices against them and to build their self-esteem.

Estuary English is useful to businesspersons as they build rapport with the public. Chameleon-like Estuary English allows businesspersons to create favorable impressions by verbalizing in inoffensive variable fashion as conditions warrant, enhancing business positions and opportunities in the process.

The adoption of Estuary English by the minority of British businesspersons from privileged socioeconomic backgrounds allows them to tone down their highbrow R. P. English accents and to appear as common folks, not the elite. As McCrum, Cran, and MacNell (1986) noted, in recent years "[i]t has become smart to go down-market," reflecting some elements of working-class culture in pronunciation.

Thus, when viewed from a historical perspective, there are compelling reasons that Estuary English is so acceptable to British businesspersons. The rise of Estuary English represents a shift of power away from a privileged minority to a disenfranchised majority. Use of Estuary English empowers businesspersons, increasing their acceptability to others regardless of their origins. Because the use of Estuary English facilitates the building of business relationships with those from varied backgrounds, which translates into business, British businesspersons find Estuary English very useful.

Future of Estuary English

In all likelihood, the British business community will use Estuary English for more and more of its oral business communications. This prediction is based on the fact that to date the adoption of Estuary English by the conservative British business community has mirrored the adoption of Estuary English by the general British culture. Given the degree to which Estuary English has already been embraced by the resistant-to-change business community, it seems unlikely that Estuary English will soon fall into disfavor.

In the UK use of Estuary English for oral business communication purposes is already so well established that a shift to another accent soon is unlikely. It is very possible that early in the next century Estuary English will be the generally accepted British oral communication standard not only in its business community but also in most other elements of society.

Rosewarne (1994) thinks that Estuary English is becoming tomorrow's R. P. English, the likely future British standard for spoken English. He argues that this is apt to happen because peer pressure in schools causes accent leveling, a process whereby speakers with local accents accommodate upwards while speakers with R. P accents accommodate downwards, converging with Estuary English. Adoption of Estuary English for schooling leads to the adoption of Estuary English for work and personal purposes. Consequently, it is likely that new entrants into the British business community will already speak Estuary English.

Gimson (1989) contended that if the younger generation continues to reject the Establishment, then R. P. English could be replaced by a standard with more popularity and a wider geographical base of support. Estuary English already meets Gimson's criteria.

In fact, Rosewarne (1994) believes that Estuary English already is more widespread and influential than Advanced R. P. English, especially among the young. McArthur thinks that Estuary English could replace standard pronunciation among the middle classes in the vicinity of London (Daeschner, 1993). British linguist Paul Kerswill thinks that in the near future powerful Estuary English will replace R. P. English, which is increasingly less acceptable to most Britons (personal communication, January 28, 1994).

Wells perceives the rise of Estuary English as nothing more than part of an evolutionary process. He writes, "For at least 500 years [,] the major innovative influence on British Received Pronunciation (or its forerunner) has been precisely the speech of the capital, and most of the phonetic innovations have, in my view, originated as vulgarisms" (personal communication, January 12, 1994). Thus, General Received Pronunciation English continues to be subjected to modification from such outside forces as Estuary English (Rosewarne, 1994).

According to Shelley, 21st century English may reflect components of Estuary English; after overpowering regional accents and dialects, Estuary English could establish itself as Standard English (personal communication, November 13, 1993).

Linguist Randolph Quirk takes a different view. He traces the rise of Estuary English to wealthy yuppies residing in gentrified areas such as Essex in the 1980s and believes that the local dialect garnered prestige the way the Liverpool accent did during the heyday of the Beatles (Flint, 1994).

Thus, most British language experts, supporters and detractors alike, believe that the Estuary English movement is a powerful force that has potential to establish a new British standard for spoken English, a standard that in all likelihood will apply to most elements of British society, including its business community, where it already has a firm foothold. Exactly when Estuary English will become the widely accepted standard for spoken British English is speculative, but it could happen early in the next century for both general and business purposes.

Implications for Business Communicators

Those who communicate orally with British businesspersons should prepare themselves for participation in inevitable conversations in Estuary English. While British businesspersons may expect most other Britons to reply in some form of Estuary English, they may expect foreigners to reply in their native English-language accent or, for non-native English speakers, either General Received Pronunciation English or General American English, which are the most common accents when English is taught as a second language.

At a minimum businesspersons must be able to comprehend spoken Estuary English accurately to participate effectively in business-related conversations. They must develop listening skills, especially decoding and interpreting skills, that draw upon British cultural perspectives. Without these skills, businesspersons will be unable to understand the exact meaning of every spoken word. In a nutshell, they will be ill-prepared to conduct business with a Briton who speaks Estuary English.

Since the Estuary English accent is variable, businesspersons must ensure that they are exposed to the broad range of Estuary English accents. Only if they have practice decoding and interpreting messages sent in many variations of Estuary English will they likely be able to comprehend fully the form customarily spoken by a British business partner.

British businesspersons who speak Estuary English must be aware that some potential business partners will react noticeably - perhaps negatively - to their accent. Consequently, Estuary English speakers must be especially sensitive to nonverbal messages from both offended listeners and from struggling listeners and quickly take appropriate corrective action to avoid jeopardizing the business opportunity. Because Estuary English allows its speakers to move up or down the language continuum, skillful speakers of the accent can alter their speech as they speak to a form that is more acceptable to the listener. By speaking a little slower than usual and by repeating and rephrasing key points in their conversations, Estuary English speakers can facilitate comprehension for struggling listeners.

Since Estuary English is widely used within the British business community, it appears to be widely acceptable to British businesspersons. How acceptable Estuary English is to businesspersons from other countries is unknown since no study relating to its acceptability for business purposes has been conducted. From a preliminary study of reactions of nonnative learners and teachers of English to Estuary English, Rosewarne (1994) concluded that "Estuary English is not rated very highly internationally" (p. 8).

If businesspersons from other countries respond as negatively to Estuary English as those in Rosewarne's study did, then the adoption of Estuary English by the British business community may handicap it in the international marketplace. Even English speakers from former British colonies that have long been influenced by language developments within the mother country may not be very accepting of Estuary English for business communication purposes. The widespread adoption of Estuary English within the UK may be the death knell for its greatest export, its language, further shifting acceptance worldwide toward American forms of English.

If oral communication is difficult when Estuary English is used, then international businesspersons may prefer not to trade with partners who use it, especially when competitors offer comparable deals. Such businesspersons would instead transact business with those who speak a more acceptable form of English than Estuary English. The increasing ability of Britons to conduct business in the native languages of their international business partners (Scott & Canning, 1994) may reduce their use of English and, consequently, negative reactions to their speaking Estuary English.

The effects of Estuary English are primarily on oral communications. Estuary English influences written communications only to the extent that its written forms deviate from Standard English. To date those deviations have been minor, involving only the meanings of a few expressions and, in the case of the forms closest to Cockney English, a few syntactical features.

Thus, those who communicate orally with British businesspersons need to be able to comprehend spoken Estuary English with a high degree of accuracy. Because Estuary English has many variant forms, businesspersons need to be able to cope with all of its varieties between R. P. English and Cockney English. Businesspersons should be aware that any one variant form of Estuary English may not be acceptable to others for business purposes, especially foreigners, and should be prepared to adjust their accents up or down the Estuary English continuum as needed. Businesspersons should realize that the primary effects of Estuary English are on oral, not written, communication.

Implications for Business Communication Teachers and Consultants

Business communication teachers and consultants, especially those who specialize in international business communication, must become informed about Estuary English. If the standard form of spoken British English changes from R. P. English to Estuary English early in the next century as some have suggested, then business communication teachers and consultants need to address the powerful force of Estuary English quickly; otherwise, countless businesspersons will be ill-prepared for oral communication with British partners.

All practicing and prospective businesspersons need at least acquaintanceship-level understanding of Estuary English, and those who will actually engage in oral communication with British businesspersons will need in-depth-level understanding. Consequently, business communication teachers and consultants will need to develop a range of instructional methods and materials that meet the needs of the business community. The leaders in this instructional effort will need firsthand in-depth experiences with Estuary English as spoken by a representative sampling of British businesspersons. Those leaders should create a library of recordings of British businesspersons speaking Estuary English. Such a collection of business-related communications could prove to be both a valuable teaching and research tool. Periodically that library should be updated with new samples in order to monitor ongoing changes in Estuary English for business purposes.

The Estuary English literature needs to be strengthened through scholarly research and writing. Studies uncovering relationships between Estuary English and business communities around the world are badly needed. Such studies would begin the process of better understanding the business-related applications and implications of Estuary English. Business communication teachers and consultants should disseminate research data through publications and presentations.

As business communication teachers and consultants learn more about Estuary English, they should also disseminate that information to practicing and prospective businesspersons through instructional activities. Such information at the acquaintanceship level can be infused into existing general business communication courses since English is a major language of international business and since British English varieties constitute one dominant group of Englishes. Information at the in-depth level can be incorporated into specialized international business communication courses. Others can be reached through a variety of training and development offerings, perhaps in businesses that engage in trade with Britons.

Thus, business communication teachers and consultants have major roles to play in preparing practicing and prospective businesspersons for encounters with Estuary English speakers. Initially, business communication teachers and consultants themselves need to develop familiarity with Estuary English. They must engage in scholarly research that sheds light on relationships between Estuary English and business communities. As their understanding grows, they must offer relevant education and training.

Summary

In summary, Estuary English is surging across the UK, changing the nature of oral British business communication in the process. The adoption of Estuary English changes some of the sounds and wordings within oral business communications, making conversations at least partially incomprehensible to those who are unaccustomed to Estuary English. Without a doubt, Estuary English is well established in the British business community. Since Estuary English is an accent without class-system connotations, many British businesspersons use it to move down-market or up-market as circumstances warrant. Because Estuary English is increasingly used by the masses of Britons, Estuary English is likely to become the standard form of spoken British English in coming years not only for society as a whole but also for members of its business community. Consequently, those who communicate orally with British businesspersons should be prepared to comprehend Estuary English. Business communication teachers and consultants should engage in needed business-related Estuary English research and instruction.

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James Calvert Scott Utah State University, Logan