Multicultural London English (abbreviated MLE), colloquially called Jafaican, is a dialect (and/or sociolect) of English that emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken mainly in inner London, with the exception of areas such as Brent, Newham, Haringey and Enfield. According to research conducted at Queen Mary, University of London, Multicultural London English is gaining territory from Cockney.
It is said to contain many elements from the languages of the Caribbean (Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), and West Africa,[1][2] as well as remnants of traditional Cockney.[2] Although the street name, "Jafaican", implies that it is "fake" Jamaican, researchers indicate that it is not the language of white kids trying to "play cool" but rather that "[it is] 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".[3]
MLE is used mainly by young, urban working-class people.
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The past tense of the verb "to be" is regularised, with "was" becoming universal for all conjugations, and "weren't" likewise for negative conjugations. This leaves "I was, you was, he was" etc., and "I weren't, you weren't, he weren't" etc.[4]
Tag-questions are limited to "isn't it", realised as "innit", and the corresponding "is it?".
While older speakers in London display a vowel and consonant system that matches earlier descriptions, young speakers largely have different qualities. These qualities are on the whole not the levelled ones noted in recent studies of teenage speakers in south-east England outside London, e.g. Milton Keynes, Reading and Ashford. We would expect the youth to show precisely these levelled qualities, with further developments reflecting the innovatory status of London as well as the passage of time. However, evidence contradicts this expectation:
Some features continue changes already noted in the south-east:
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