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Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

nicholasjohnpatrick.com

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Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#71

Post by philwelch »

sprout wrote: post #66
philwelch wrote: post #43

From the article: Americans in 1776 did have British accents in that American accents and British accents hadn’t yet diverged. That’s not too surprising. Really? Because that surprises the hell out of me. Americans were an ocean away from Britain for maybe a century before 1776, and the accents still hadn't diverged?

Most of the population growth was fed by immigration, and most Americans traded regularly with British merchants even after 1776.

Immigration from lots of different countries, though I'm not sure how many immigrants standardized on English at the time. And while contact with British merchants may have been a factor in port cities where trade happened, there were a lot of farmers far away from that influence as well.

Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#72

Post by jrockway »

mahmud wrote: post #59
detst wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you do sound distinctively British? Similar to Americans that saw they have no accent but there's no mistaking they're American.

Ethnocentrism 101: Only other people have accents, never us.

Yeah, the American English that people use in the Midwest and on TV is the correct form of English. Everyone else has an accent.

Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#73

Post by davidw »

jacquesm wrote: post #11
Rod wrote: post #7

Interestingly, it's also hypothesized that Brazilian Portuguese is closer to Portuguese proper 500 years ago than Portuguese proper today. The fact that the Portuguese spoken in former Portuguese colonies in Africa sounds more Brazilian Portuguese than Portuguese proper suggests the hypothesis is right. Moreover, Portuguese poetry of the Renaissance period only makes sense phonetically if spoken with a Brazilian acce…

Same for Spanish, Spanish as spoken in Colombia is very crisp and precise, Spanish spoken in Spain much less so.

Spanish from Spain sounded really ... almost guttural to me the first time I heard it. Plus they do that lisp thing - thinco instead of sssinco. I think I prefer the new-world variety.

Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#74

Post by barredo »

Rod wrote: post #69
barredo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, Castilian (Castellano) is Spanish, and Spanish is Castilian according to definition. Although all of them are 'Spanish languages' because they are languages spoken in Spain. I guess difference, if we call it that way, between Spanish and Castellano as terms, is the similar of English and British. Right? I'm not sure, but I guess they are close. Check this map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castellano-Espa%C…

I understand the definition Castellano = Spanish , as it simplifies a lot of things. The danger of such definition is that it overshadows the other languages spoken in Spain. The definition British English = English proper is one thing, but British = English is another, as it obscures the fact that there are other languages spoken in Britain and, thus, is somewhat "imperialistic". In any case, I have never met a Span…

Totally agree with you. In Spain we usually say 'castellano' (as stated by the wikipedia), and almost everyone say 'castellano' in areas where there is more than one official language.

In America is different, as there are no more 'Spanish languages' spoken there (apart from Portuguese being an 'Hispanic language') it's more fair to say 'Español' again: I guess.

The difference between 'Spanish' and 'Hispanic' will fill books and books. I remember studying when Queen of Castille and Navarre, and the King of Aragon married and thus, creating what's mostly known today as Spain, calling it something like 'Ispania / Espanya' and get an angry letter from King of Portugal saying something like:

"You can't call your kingdom that way, because 'Hispania' refers to the whole peninsula and Portugal is not part of the kingdom, so change it asap, thanx bye"

History is sure fun

Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#75

Post by JacobAldridge »

weeksie wrote: post #32
liedra wrote: post #27

I think Australia will be an interesting country to watch accent-wise. At the moment there are very obvious "city" (closer to British non-rhotic) vs. "country" (Steve Irwin) accents, but it's much harder to tell which city and which part of the country any particular Aussie is from. Considering the distances needed to travel between towns and cities, it'll be interesting to see if, over time, these accents become mor…

Hrm. I never noticed a large difference until I left. Now that I'm in NY I can usually pick someone's state right away. Folks from Melbourne have the most pronounced accents, I reckon. Something about how the 'e' becomes all elongated when they Melbourne, it sounds like 'Mahlbourne' to my Sydney-sider ears. The difference is probably about as pronounced (if not moreso) as the difference between a middle class non-reg…

You can always tell a Victorian, you just can't tell him much.

As a Queesnlander, I find South Australians easiest to pick, slightly more refined vowel sounds, although my fellow cane toads do stand out when I'm at work in Sydney or Melbourne.

Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#76

Post by hugh3 »

ErrantX wrote: post #51
hugh3 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does "no accent" mean? How can anyone not have an accent?

I just mean there is no discernible accent; you can't tell where in the UK I am from.

So you have a nonregional English accent, then?

Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#77

Post by mahmud »

detst wrote: post #18
wwortiz wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your typing comes off with a very thick accent, something you don't find often online.

Right, but which one? He says "us Somalis", "...the U.S (we...", mentions in his profile that he lives in Northern Virginia but also calls Sydney home yet the diction (i.e. "shopkeepers", "Chavs", "piss-taking", etc.) of his post screams British to me.

Hi, I am Amy Walker, I am 25, and I was born in Somalia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k

(make sure to not miss a second)

Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#78

Post by brc »

liedra wrote: post #27

I think Australia will be an interesting country to watch accent-wise. At the moment there are very obvious "city" (closer to British non-rhotic) vs. "country" (Steve Irwin) accents, but it's much harder to tell which city and which part of the country any particular Aussie is from. Considering the distances needed to travel between towns and cities, it'll be interesting to see if, over time, these accents become mor…

There are a few clues. Queenslanders will say 'castle' with a short 'a', rhyming with hassle. South Australians will always elongate the 'a' - 'caarstle'. Then there's the dialect differences - Victorians will go to the 'milk bar' to get some milk. Queenslanders will pack a 'port' to go travelling.

It's true, though, it wasn't until I lived overseas that I could start to pick up the differences. And as for the city/country difference, I would say it is more a function of education level than geography.

That said, I think there will be no more divergence in Australian accents because of high population mobility and nationalised TV broadcasting.

Re: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

#79

Post by ErrantX »

hugh3 wrote: post #76
ErrantX wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just mean there is no discernible accent; you can't tell where in the UK I am from.

So you have a nonregional English accent, then?

Yes (though it's not the accent most Americans expect).

It's worth pointing out that whilst I often get ribbed for having no accent...

it was a light hearted comment :)

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