Draft for my Newspaper Article (500 words): I will add pictures and the correct format on my final piece.

Don’t let the BRIZZLE, drizzle dry out of our region!

‘The accent is degrading and looks like our fellow citizens have not been educated correctly – bringing down the status of the area.’ A private school English teacher strongly states.

Many disagree.

The Bristolian accent is being demolished. Claims that people are frowning upon the “common” words and pronunciations Bristolians today use, has gone viral and has influenced a vast range of people’s opinions on the matter.

Whereas some want to disown the accent others are rather sentimental about its presence, mainly as its origin floods back to our ancestors and our history.  Miss Smith, aged 87 gives us an insight to what she perceives: “I have been around for many years and all through my time, so far, I have been surrounded by the sounds of the Bristolian folk. Whenever I am away from home and hear the sweet sound of the bristolian accent I kindle in the joy – a sense of security and homeliness is created just from the words spoken – oh I do love the feeling of belonging in a community.” A lady of a similar age, who wishes to keep her identity hidden, is part of the opposition; she explains, “There are numerous negative aspects about being tied in to a group – for instance a Bristolian stereotype being that we are badly educated and common. Not everyone fits into the stereotypical category so points made could be offensive and harmful for those ‘seen’ to be part of it."

She continues… “I for one don’t want to be categorised. I'm an individual, not a clone!” Quotes like the previous have started off sparks of rivalry between citizens of Bristol and people from elsewhere.

A recent on-line survey has been completed by a wide sample of people regarding the on-going debate, 500 people took part. The results show - 80% of people believe that the Bristolian accent is an important part of their identity, 15% thought that the accent demoralises their intelligence and 5% say the accent quarrel is pity and pointless.

Apart from the statistics, merchandise shows how the Bristolian accent is ‘mint’ (gorgeous) to the residents of Bristol and for tourists who visit. A well known brand, named ‘Beast’ is a popular business which sells products with Bristolian words/phrases on them, for example – ‘gert lush’. This shows how the Bristolian accent is loved by large amounts of people, recognised and how the accent has become an icon for the city. However this could be seen with negative vision due to the fact that tourists arrive in Bristol probably with hope and false pretences that everyone in Bristol will have a strong accent but this is not the case (the Beast stock could be seen as misleading).

Phrases and words Bristolian’s are ‘seen’ to have, are some of the following: ‘All right me luvver’ (How are you?), Hark at ee (Listen to yourself) and ‘casn’t’ (Can’t you...). Although the definition was placed alongside them, many could have hazarded a guess at what they mean because of the simple structure and similarity to what’s known as ‘proper’ English.