Attitudes to the Birmingham Accent

The Birmingham Accent is seen to have a negative reputation around England. To the majority of people around Britain, the people of Birmingham are seen to be 'unsafe' and 'dirty'. Though, surely,  Birmingham is just a city like any other, so where do these conceptions come from? Could it be the native 'brummie' accent that is causing the problem?


The Birmingham accent has been studied by many to determine what about it makes it so synonymous with being annoying.


On a blog (almostwitty.com), the blogger cites the 'brummie accent' as being monotonous and says that it makes the speaker appear 'stupid and dumb'. The writer has long associated the people of Birmingham with being constantly drunk. This has led to them building this negative stereo-type of the people. The writer even acknowledges that these are noting but irrational prejudices but still associates the people of Birmingham with this stereo-type.


It's not easy for people who live in the Birmingham area to adapt to this kind of reputation with some even saying that they feel the need to eradicate their accent when applying for a job outside the Midlands (source: The Birmingham Mail).


There has been a study at the University of Birmingham (source: BBC News), that suggests that foreign visitors to England don't realise the negative connotations associated with the 'brummie accent' - and therefore have no such prejudices. The study acknowledges that although the 'brummie accent' is not inferior, it is often seen that way by the people in Britain. This has been attributed to the 'social snobbery' of other regions, 'negative media stereotyping, the poor public image of the city of Birmingham, and the North/South geographical and linguistic divide.' The researchers even went as far as to say that this kind of discrimination should be made illegal because it has no basis.


Although the phrase 'brummie accent' is common, from my point of view it seems to have no connotations. The 'brummie accent' is just an accent to me and I don't get any immediate ideas about a person by their 'brummie' accent. Apart from this I was aware of some of the thoughts about the Birmingham accent but I didn't realise that this had such an impact that people might not get a job just because of something as trivial as their accent. I realise now that problems could easily arise for people with a 'brummie' accent because of this stereo-type that has been created around them but I can't see why. It is just an accent, so why does it matter to anyone?