Is commuting changing Welsh accents?

Dame Shirley Bassey grew up in Cardiff's Tiger Bay in the 1940s, but is her accent a thing of the past?

From Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey to Gavin and Stacey and Goldie Lookin Chain, the range of Wales' accents is mind-boggling.

From Cardiff to Anglesey and back, occasionally tongue-twisting tones provide a rich backdrop.

Now Cardiff University researchers have found some of south Wales' accents are becoming less prominent among the young and being replaced by a more uniform one.

In Cardiff, they say, the distinctive "a" sound is not as pronounced as it once was.

It is believed the influence of people from surrounding areas living and working in the city is having an effect.

Cardiff University sociolinguistics professor Mercedes Durham, is leading research on accents based on interviews with people from Cardiff, Pontypridd, Barry and Caerphilly.

She said: "Cardiff has a very distinctive accent. When you ask people they always mention the Cardiff 'a' sound.

"You still get it, but not as many people have it as before.

"It's losing some of its distinctive features while still remaining Cardiff English."

She also noticed certain words being used by Cardiff's younger residents, such as 'like' at the end of sentences - more often heard in south Wales' valleys.

Some things remain the same, like using the wrong form of the verb, as in the phrase, "I loves the 'Diff".

But outside influences, like the London "fink", have emerged.

In Pontypridd, some interviewed said "he have done that" instead of "he has done that" but this was not heard elsewhere.

The Welsh habit of repetition, appears alive and well in terms like: "I love it, I do."

Changes may be happening because of commuting and more frequent travel.

Prof Durham said: "People would say, 'the person from that valley sounds different to the person from that one' because the contact between them was not that much historically.

The accent in Pontypridd, just over 10 miles (16km) from Cardiff, may be influencing how people speak in Wales' capital

"Now we are much more connected. If you live in Pontypridd, you may work in Cardiff."

Some features of accents were being lost, Prof Durham believed.

"Dialects and accents tend to transmit from urban centres outwards," she said.

"But what is interesting is the south Wales features in Cardiff are coming from the valleys rather than going out from Cardiff."

A reason for this could be people seeking a stronger Welsh identity.

Prof Durham said: "Maybe younger people in Cardiff want to show they are more broadly Welsh so they are picking up features that are used in the surrounding areas in a way that older speakers did not find they had to do."

Prof Mercedes Durham is leading research into Welsh accents

Comedian Tom Rix, from Pontarddulais, Swansea, has tens of thousands of social media fans familiar with his Welsh accent impressions.

The 33-year-old honed his inflection collection listening to customers he chatted to working in Swansea call centres.

"Wales is such a small country, we all live so close together, and yet our accents are so different, sometimes from people living a few minutes away," he said.

"But the accents are changing."

The comic blamed social media.

"We are much more connected now than we have ever been and I think it's having a major impact on the traditional accents of an area," he said.

"I have had a few people in Cardiff calling me 'butt', I have never had that before."

The word "butt" is more typically associated with the south Wales valleys.

Lucy Crocker, from Cardiff, who works in the city's market, said: "Within my generation the accent is strong but I don't think it is as strong with the younger ones."

So maybe we should enjoy classic "Kairdiff-isms" like "Alf a daark in Kaairdiff Aarms Paark" while we still can...