Queen Elizabeth II sounds more like her subjects than she did a half century ago, when she first assumed her royal "dutays," according to an academic study released Monday.

"In 1952, she would have been heard referring to 'thet men in the bleck het.' Now it would be 'that man in the black hat,' " said Jonathan Harrington, professor of phonetics at the University of Munich, who conducted the study.

"Similarly, she would have spoken of the 'citay' and 'dutay,' rather than 'citee' and 'dutee,' and 'hame' rather than 'home.' In the 1950s she would have been 'lorst,' but by the 1970s this became 'lost.' "

Harrington said the queen is unique in having a good-quality archive of recordings for every year since 1952, in similar formal settings.

"We can monitor sound changes without having to worry about the influence of speaking styles," he said.

"One of the principal changes that has happened in the English community is that the accent now sounds slightly less aristocratic than it did 50 years ago," said Harrington.

"In the 1960s and the 1970s there was something of a collapse in the rigidity of (the) class structure," he said, "and this was also reflected in the change of accent."