Posted on 12/02/2017 9:17:33 AM PST by gaggs
Have you ever wondered if the Founding Fathers spoke with a British accent? I know I have. Well here is the answer.
The typical English accent didn’t develop until after the Revolutionary War, so Americans actually speak proper English. Here comes the science.
(Excerpt) Read more at commonsenseevaluation.com ...
Then I will use this opportunity, if I haven’t done so before, to segue into a shameless plug Medved style. The following quote from the Los Angeles times appears on page 139 in my book about the origins of the football rivalry between the Trojans and the Irish. Hopefully Jim Robinson won’t mind!
“Thanksgiving Day was spent rolling through Kansas. The scenery was described as “nothing to rave about,” but since most of the players had never been east of Arizona, they found plenty to look at anyway, even if was “only a bunch of farm houses which are deserted because their owners have pulled up and left for California.”
https://www.amazon.com/Rockne-Jones-Greatest-Rivalry-Twenties/dp/1606353306
Listen to how he says “out” around 2:40 and you’ll hear a Tidewater pronunciation. But a lot of his accent is something else, Tidewater is softer, like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RzVKCWXrRA
There is a misnomer about “southern” accents.
First, there is *no* such thing as a “southern” accent.
There is an Americanized Scot/Irish accent spoken in a great deal of the US. It’s characterized by the “hard” R sound. Remember Bob Ewell’s “accent” when he found out Atticus Finch was going to represent Tom Robinson in his trial??
Think southern Ohio/Indiana/Illinois, WV, KY, TN, etc., etc.
I can detect this same accent (albeit smoother) in farmers from Iowa.
There is also an Americanized British aristocratic accent spoken by people in the south nearer the coastal regions from VA to Houston, Tx. That lady from Mobile, Al in Ken Burns’ Documentary about WWII has a classic Americanized British aristocratic accent as did Atticus Finch in the movie TKAM.
I would tend to believe George Washington spoke something more on the order of the Crowley family in Downton Abbey.
(the Crowleys didn’t talk like someone from Liverpool or Edinburgh, or Dublin)
BTW - “Y’all” is the Americanized Scot/Irish accent of the old English word “ye all”.
In the new version of True Grit, they didn’t talk like all the old cowboys movies. I thought that was interesting and probably more correct than all that ain’t and won’t and everyone having a southern drawl stuff.
Those transplanted Southerners may have had an impact on the way we speak in Southern California. For example, when I say "end," it usually rhymes with "sinned"; "any" rhymes with "tinny," and "many," "mini" and "Minnie" are pronounced the same. These pronunciations are also heard in Texas and other parts of the South and its periphery.
Well this series came out like almost 20 years ago so it’s a somewhat vague memory. I do remember it wasn’t just blacks that they were referring to in fact it’s probably mostly whites or maybe it is that island in the Chesapeake Bay you just mentioned.
Are you sure about that regarding Patton’s family? I know he was from a Virginia family, but he was born San Gabriel and grew up in the Pasadena area. I read a good biography of him about five years ago and I don’t recall anything about his family being in what is now Orange County.
Yes, his “out” is pronounced.
I think some people in MN and the eastern part of the Dakotas pronounce “out” like that.
The man’s accent in the advertisement is definitely softer and more soothing.
Fascinating stuff.
I see all your good points.
As I said before, Washington had an upper class British accent and that agrees with what you said about the Crowley accent.
Yup!
GW is said to be related to the Spencers as in Diana Spencer.
Here is General Patton speaking in Boston.
A Calif. accent with some Southern.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9DpKDwCJcM
The Atlantic seaboard progression of accents is quite fascinating. Trabel from Florida up through George, the Carolinas, Virginia, coastal Maryland, Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Maine. Then travel along the Canadian east coast and you’ll see accents from the French, Irish, Scottish, English, German settlers. Because of the isolation before most people had any ability to travel outside of their own village, there could be significant changes in accent just 50 km down the coast.
Great question. I'm not the person who knows, but it seems like the hard g was common with Midwesterners who moved to Southern California. Later on, East Coasters brought the soft g.
That's my hypothesis anyway, and it may be completely wrong. Neither corresponds to the Spanish pronunciation. Maybe that's where the problem came from.
Maybe early arrivals tried what they thought was the Spanish pronunciation but could only manage a g rather than an h, and later arrivals didn't bother with either, but just pronounced it like in US English. The sound of "Los" also changed from a long to a short o.
Jack Webb did a lot to make the current pronunciation standard. If you've got the time and energy, there may be enough broadcasts on Youtube that you could trace the changes.
I wonder if English accents includes adding and dropping ‘aitches and haitches - one of my wife’s grandfathers, as well as Cockney
You are correct. He was raised in and near San Gabriel.
Heh. Thanks.
Very true. I was the first person in my family born in LA.
“I had to shoot him, judge, my wife was in danger.”
“Mr Redd, our records say you are not married.”
“Didn’t say I was.”
“Are you Mr John Redd, of Hawaii?”
“Yes. Honowuwu.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.