English language in southern England
South East England and the Home Counties (the counties bordering London) tend to reflect the interface between the London region and other regional accents. Affluent districts are associated with a modified Received Pronunciation (RP) accent, reflecting their traditional popularity with upper middle and upper-class residents which has spread throughout more social classes broadly in rural areas with commuting access to London. Less affluent areas have traditionally mainstream London accents (that is, variants of the Estuary English accent) that grade into southern rural outside urban areas.
Phonological history of English high back vowels
This has remained as such in some Welsh, northern English, and American accents, so that, in a variety of Welsh English, "threw" is distinct from "through" . In the majority of accents, however, the falling diphthong turned into a rising diphthong, which became the sequence . This change had taken place in London by the end of the 17th century. Depending on the preceding consonant and on the dialect, this either remained as or developed into by the processes of yod-dropping or yod-coalescence. Hence the present-day standard English pronunciations of "duke" (or ), "new" , "few" and "rude" .