The Scouse accent is one of the most distinctive and well known in the UK.

It even has an international following thanks to Liverpool’s football prowess, the Beatles' worldwide fame and a certain Billy, whose attempts at the accent have won him internet fame.

However where did it come from and what makes scouse so unique?

Dr Paul Cooper, of the University of Liverpool, has carried out research into the history of dialects and confirmed what we have always known - that the Scouse accent is special.

He explained: "Liverpool is historically part of Lancashire, but there have been lots of influences from place like Scotland, Ireland and lots of other English dialects. That was particularly true in the 19th century, when growth really drove immigration to the city.

“Liverpool became a real linguistic and cultural melting pot in the 19th and 20th centuries.

"This meant that a lot of immigrants arrived, with the Irish have a very strong influence on the voice of the city.

"Yet we can’t be sure if they were the sole originators as the people constant coming and going on the docks or on the railways could have had an impact as well.”

But what is it about Scouse which makes it so unique, compared to anything else found in the region?

Dr Cooper said: “It interests me because no matter where you are or what you are doing, you can always hear a Scouse voice over the din.”

The sounds that make us Scouse

He gave us some example of uniquely Scouse sounds that make it stand out. These are:

The ‘K’ sound becoming a ‘Keh’, which could come from similar pronunciations in Irish Gaelic.

Video Loading

The ‘UR’ sounds becoming and ‘EHR’, as heard in words like girl or nurse.

The ‘TH’ sound becoming a D or a T,  creating a hard start words like that and there.

A lack of pronunciation of R’s that follow vowels. This is shared with the majority of English speakers. You can notice the difference it makes when you emphasise the R in words like farm.

These were the main differences highlighted but some grammatical issue were also raised.

Dr Cooper said: “There are, of course, grammatical differences but these can be harder to pin directly to Scouse English. Examples that people may know are ‘the Asda’ or ‘Lolly Ice’.”

Liverpool's strong cultural identity is also part of the Scouse accent's resistance to national changes.

Dr Cooper said: “We particularly see that areas with a link between their identity and their voice are more resistant to change.

"This is especially so in Liverpool, where the majority of people view their identity with pride.”

Although he did explain that during his research, he had seen some younger Scousers beginning to adopt the Glottal stop.

This is part of a wider national trend, which has led to some accents lose the T sound from words like bottle.

Dr Cooper said: “It’s hardly been adopted by Scousers on the most part and it's happening a lot slower than the national trend."

So as with all accents, Scouse English is still evolving and will continue to evolve in the future.

Yet it still remains one of the UK’s best known accents and looks set to continue to resist national trends to keep its unique character.