Multicultural London English (abbreviated MLE) is a dialect (and/or sociolect) of English that emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken authentically by working-class, mainly young people in inner London, and some outer London areas such as Brent, Ealing, Newham, Barking and Dagenham, Haringey, and Enfield. However, elements of the sociolect are widely imitated throughout southern England. According to research conducted at Lancaster University, Multicultural London English is gaining territory from Cockney.
It is said to contain many elements from the languages of the Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other Commonwealth Caribbean islands), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), African American English, as well as remnants of traditional Cockney. Although the colloquial name "Jafaican" implies that it's pseudo-Jamaican, researchers indicate that it isn't the language of white youth trying to imitate black, but rather that " more likely that young people have been growing up in London exposed to a mixture of second-language English and local London English and that this new variety has emerged from that mix".
Famous quotes containing the words british, black and/or english:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The solid and well-defined fir-tops, like sharp and regular spearheads, black against the sky, gave a peculiar, dark, and sombre look to the forest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The English Writers of Tragedy are possessed with a Notion, that when they represent a virtuous or innocent Person in Distress, they ought not to leave him till they have delivered him out of his Troubles, or made him triumph over his Enemies.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)