‘Happy vowel’ is a key indicator of social class in Manchester accents, study finds

Final vowel in words such as happy, baby and chilly varies clearly by social class across the city

Pronunciation of the “happy vowel” is one of the key indicators of social class in Mancunian accents, researchers have found.

A sociolinguistic study, led by Lancaster University, found that the final vowel in words such as happy, baby, chilly and city – known to linguists as “the happy vowel” – varies clearly by social class across Manchester.
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