cockney English · revision 2068

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɒk.ni/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''cokeney'', ''cokenei'', literally “cock's egg”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''coken'', genitive plural of ''cok'' “cock”,^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and ''ey'' “egg”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|ang|ǣg|t=egg]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) Anatoly Liberman, quoted by Etymonline, argues instead that ''cokeney'' “milksop” is a reshaping of Old French ''acoquiné'' “spoiled”.^(Etymonline) Barnhart suggests a possible popular link with [[Cockaigne]], the imaginary land of luxury.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A pampered child, a mother's darling (about 1386).^(OED 1989) The literal “cock's egg” is recorded from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A “cock's egg” was a small or misshapen egg, the runt of a clutch.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The word came to mean a spoiled child or a milksop,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and by 1521 it was a scornful name for a townsman, soft compared to hardy country people.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It then narrowed to a Londoner, especially one born within the sound of Bow Bells (about 1600),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) and to the East End and its accent.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c1386 – a pampered child.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1521 – a townsman, as a type of softness.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1583 – verb, to pamper.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1600 – a Londoner; the London dialect.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1605 – a squeamish or affected woman (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A native of the East End of London, traditionally one born within the sound of Bow Bells.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The dialect or accent of such Londoners.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' A spoiled child, or a squeamish person.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to cockneys or their dialect.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cockneyish]]

+ * [[cockneyism]]

+ * [[cockneyishly]]

+ * [[cockneyfy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cock]]

+ * [[egg]]

+ * [[Cockaigne]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}