As my lovely Southern Belle wife would remind me..."Y'all talk like a Yankee..
Something I've always wondered about, especially after all those Disney movies/TV programs from the '50's and '60's.
Both accents have obviously diverged. I wonder if we woould be able to understand our sncestors.
sncestors.
sncestors.
sncestors.
sncestors.
sncestors.
Does not compute. :O)
Something like 7 generations seperated them from Britain. As I understand it, the colonists were considerably taller than the brits as well.
Sourced, but, if this hypothesis is accurate, then why was the dialog in Dickens’ writing praised for so accurately presenting the nuances of the various regional dialects (a skill he developed while serving in some capacity as government reporter, where he could tell the region of a speaker by the accent)? Those sorts of nuances don’t develop in merely half a century.
I’m not saying that this is not possible, it is. But it is far more likely that the early colonists spoke the English they came here with and that the “America” dialect commenced when immigration began in earnest and Americans had been here for several generations. Thus, it is far more likely that we did, in fact, diverge from the English accent into an amalgamation of dialects from various immigrant accents.
I’ve always wondered about this. It isn’t like we have lots of .mp3 files of Washington giving speeches to his troops.
this is one part of an accent....
saying Hard or Haaad
what about the rest of the accent.....?
Can’t stand a Brit accent ... someone with a mouthful of marbles makes more sense.
I have always wondered the same thing. I always pictured the colonial era British sounding more like Charles Laughton of Captain Bligh, than Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits.
Looks like I was right.
There’s a band of “r” coloring (”Rhoticism”) about 50 miles wide North to South that stretches from Baltimore to the Rocky Mountains ~ just listen to it when someone says “wash” (as in Warshington) or “squash” (as in Squarsh).
There’s a band of “r” coloring (”Rhoticism”) about 50 miles wide North to South that stretches from Baltimore to the Rocky Mountains ~ just listen to it when someone says “wash” (as in Warshington) or “squash” (as in Squarsh).
There’s a band of “r” coloring (”Rhoticism”) about 50 miles wide North to South that stretches from Baltimore to the Rocky Mountains ~ just listen to it when someone says “wash” (as in Warshington) or “squash” (as in Squarsh).
I used to wonder about the quasi accents of women in old movies, ie 30’s & 40’s. I looked it up & found that in the day, acting schools taught a “mid Atlantic” accent that sounds like something of a hybrid.
I’d just like to point out for those I know who will say it is: It isn’t my fault.
So interesting. They are pretty rhotic in Northumberland. We had a great laugh with our B&B hosts - who told ME, “We enjoyed listening to your interesting accents.” (We live in Los Angeles). “Oh, no, Geoff, YOU have the interesting accent.” He also asked me, “What is that word ‘cute’ you used? I don’t know that word. I had told him his B&B was so cute. The next morning he said, “I found that word ‘cute’ — it is archaic!” “But it is alive and well in Los Angeles.”
So interesting, the English language. Thanks for posting.
And we have the recordings to prove it???
;^)
Interesting.
As my lovely Southern Belle wife would remind me..."Y'all talk like a Yankee..
You can’t use Disney films. My Fair Lady was much better.
The rine in spine sties minely in the pline.
Rex Harrison plays a professor of phonetics Henry Higgins in the movie. We can always relay on actors that play roles for expert advice. Especially when they play the role of a expert.
This is all a bit oversimplified. Visit different parts of the UK, and you’ll find that pronunciation and accent vary by region and always have. Not everyone who immigrated the US or Canada came from the west end of London. It’s probably quite rare to find any 3rd generation or greater American who doesn’t have an Irish, Scottish, German ...or Scottish by way of Ireland, or French, or (name a nationality)... ancestor. The “standard” American accent is supposedly a Midwestern accent, but it’s “standard” in name only. Your accent has everything to do with where in the US you came from, who your parents were, and how much TV you watch.
I have often thought, and I do still believe, we got into our American accents by being taught to read phonetically…the one room schoolhouse as one advanced westward, etc. Hence, we became Rhotic speakers.
I think I will stick with that belief.
But an interesting article never the less. Thank you.