Estuary English Estuary English Estuary English is an English dialect or accent associated with South East England, especially the area along the River Thames and its estuary, centering around London. Phonetician John C. Wells proposed a definition of Estuary English as "Standard English spoken with the accent of the south-east of England" but criticised the notion that the spread of language from London to the southeast was anything new. The name comes from the area around the Thames, particularly its Estuary. Estuary English can be heard from some people in London, north Surrey, Kent, south Hertfordshire, Essex and is now also becoming
Estuary river valleys are also known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and the topography of the estuary remains similar to that of a river valley. This is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border. The width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped (in cross-section) in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed . Examples of