"People living in Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster have some of the most distinctive accents in the North of England. Despite being just 35 miles apart, people living in these towns sound surprisingly different - and now scientists know why. Researchers from Lancaster University analysed recordings of people in Preston, Lancaster, and Barrow-in-Furness, from the 1880s through to today. Their analysis confirmed a stark difference between the 'rhoticity' - the pronunciation of R's - in these towns. In words like 'arm', 'park', and 'car', people from Lancaster and Preston tend to speak with harder 'arr' sounds than those from Barrow."
"According to the researchers, this difference can be traced to the intense mixing and rapid population change in Barrow in the late 1800s. 'We found very strong links between the growth of industry and the evolution of accent,' explained Professor Claire Nance, who led the study. 'This research allows us to celebrate accent as another aspect of our region's long-lasting and distinct cultural heritage.'"
"'These settlements cover an area of north-west England where the change from rhotic to non-rhotic is still ongoing,' the researchers explained in their study, published in the Journal of Sociolinguistics. 'They have distinct social and demographic makeups as a result of differing patterns of development and settlement during the Industrial Revolution.' To uncover when and why the accent divison happened, the researchers analysed an archive of interviews with working class people born from the 1880s until the 1940s. The interviews covered a range of topics, including how to weave cotton, family life and death, and preparing food such as sheep's head brot"
Lancaster University researchers analysed recordings from Preston, Lancaster, and Barrow-in-Furness spanning the 1880s to the present to map accent change. The analysis revealed a clear difference in rhoticity: Lancaster and Preston speakers generally use stronger 'r' sounds in words like arm, park, and car than Barrow speakers. The rhotic divergence is linked to rapid population growth and intense mixing in Barrow during the late 1800s driven by industrialisation. The settlements display differing social and demographic makeups that sustained a regional shift from rhotic to non-rhotic pronunciation. Oral archives of working-class speakers born 1880s–1940s supported the timeline.
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