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nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Say what??? Oh no, they di'ent! Shocked

Why Do Americans and Brits Have Different Accents?
by Natalie Wolchover, Life Science | January 09, 2012
Source: http://www.livescience.com/33652-americans-brits-accents.html

In 1776, whether you were declaring America independent from the crown or swearing your loyalty to King George III, your pronunciation would have been much the same. At that time, American and British accents hadn't yet diverged. What's surprising, though, is that Hollywood costume dramas get it all wrong: The Patriots and the Redcoats spoke with accents that were much closer to the contemporary American accent than to the Queen's English.

It is the standard British accent that has drastically changed in the past two centuries, while the typical American accent has changed only subtly.

Traditional English, whether spoken in the British Isles or the American colonies, was largely "rhotic." Rhotic speakers pronounce the "R" sound in such words as "hard" and "winter," while non-rhotic speakers do not. Today, however, non-rhotic speech is common throughout most of Britain. For example, most modern Brits would tell you it's been a "hahd wintuh."

It was around the time of the American Revolution that non-rhotic speech came into use among the upper class in southern England, in and around London. According to John Algeo in "The Cambridge History of the English Language" (Cambridge University Press, 2001), this shift occurred because people of low birth rank who had become wealthy during the Industrial Revolution were seeking ways to distinguish themselves from other commoners; they cultivated the prestigious non-rhotic pronunciation in order to demonstrate their new upper-class status.

"London pronunciation became the prerogative of a new breed of specialists — orthoepists and teachers of elocution. The orthoepists decided upon correct pronunciations, compiled pronouncing dictionaries and, in private and expensive tutoring sessions, drilled enterprising citizens in fashionable articulation," Algeo wrote.

The lofty manner of speech developed by these specialists gradually became standardized — it is officially called "Received Pronunciation" — and it spread across Britain. However, people in the north of England, Scotland and Ireland have largely maintained their traditional rhotic accents.

Most American accents have also remained rhotic, with some exceptions: New York and Boston accents have become non-rhotic. According to Algeo, after the Revolutionary War, these cities were "under the strongest influence by the British elite."

(End of article)

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 9:41 am Post subject:

Seen this one before.

There is s lot of truth in this article but it is marred by some lazy generalisations and by a possible underlying claim that American English is somehow closer to purer English than what is spoken today in England

Rostom

sparks · Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 632

I think this is original English...

It sounds neither like colonists nor Hugh Grant

Hmm....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SRmtbu0iXQ

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 12:29 pm Post subject:

I find it odd and and yet significant that those who choose to live across the pond (away from the country where the mother tongue first sprang forth) have a great deal of difficulty dealing with those regional accents unique to our green and pleasant land.
Whereas, when we venture forth, (and fifth) we are able to decipher and understand the gibberish that passes for the American way of speaking, American it may be, but English, especially the British variety, I really don't think so!

Agamemnon · Joined: 24 Jun 2014 Posts: 34

Hear, hear old chap!

LPKSA · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 211

likwid_777 · Joined: 04 Nov 2012 Posts: 411 Location: NA

Aussies too. It sounds so dainty when the Americans say words like "shark". It's a bloody tiger shaahk, mate. Haha. Even as I sit here now and pronounce the "r" in a word like "dark", I truly sound like an American, even without trying to put on the accent.

johnslat · Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 9:20 pm Post subject:

" shaahk" - that's how many Bostonians (MA) say it. We also add an "r" to words: Cuber, Africer. Very Happy

Regards,
John

Agamemnon · Joined: 24 Jun 2014 Posts: 34

LPKSA,
I think you will find that not only a bit of German but also bits of French and Indian are in there too. On top of that, after the Norman conquest, the offical language as used in the courts was in fact French, not a lot of people know that, but what that has to do with the way MY language is ruined by users of my tongue from the States is really something else!
Btw, are you a Kraut?

Capt Lugwash · Joined: 14 Aug 2014 Posts: 346

I don't think accents are an issue, after all in our little part of the globe we have myriad regional ones as well.

What is more important in my view is that American is a different language and as such should be labelled accordingly instead of being called American English. It s no more English than Americans are.

Americans have a great many words which bear no relation to their British counterparts, as indeed they have sayings that would be incomprehensible to anyone who has never watched an American film.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

johnslat · Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:53 pm Post subject:

By the same token then, should Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Bahamas rename their languages? Moreover, it's also an "official language" in 58 other sovereign states and in 21 "non-sovereign entities." And it's the "de facto" language in 6. Of course, one of those is Great Britain, but then the point is raised: should Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland be required to rename their languages?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_English_is_an_official_language

Regards,
John

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Check out, "Do You Speak American?" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBXVPerzYqk); it's the first in a series of a PBS documentary.

Capt Lugwash · Joined: 14 Aug 2014 Posts: 346

Spiral perhaps that just might be a good idea - the Americans take the biggest "slice of pie" out of everything in the world anyway.

John I think you will find I was talking about language and not accents. Certainly Oz and Kiwi teach English (at least the former did when I went to school there when I was a child).

A Chinese student learning American will get on famously in Canada, the USA and probably outlying islands but would encounter serious language barriers in Europe where they teach English as opposed to a bastardisation of it.

None of you can deny that you have alien words and expressions, surely???