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When did Americans lose their British accents?

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Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#11

Post by SloopJon »

jeffadotio wrote: post #3

This is an interesting read but the article cites no sources for its claims. Even the claims that refer to linguistics debunking other theories have no citation. It also makes some suspect statements. I live in New England and saying that it is hard to find someone who does not have an accent that links them to some New England locale is just silly. Then there is the claim that the “general American” accent heard on…

The front-page article on this site is "8 Surprising Facts about James Dean," so I wouldn't take it too seriously. It reads like a high-school or undergraduate essay. Also, FWIW, it's from 2012.

Hopefully a linguist will come along with better treatments of the subject, but Google turned up a couple of articles with more links:

https://curiosity.com/topics/the-american-accent-is-older-th...

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180207-how-americans-pres...

And, of course, there's Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English

Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#12

Post by telesilla »

david_draco wrote: post #10

I read somewhere that the American accent is closer to what British was like in the 1700-1800s. Later the Queen's family, which came from a corner of England, established its accent as the norm. So the American pronounciation is original, and the British one changed in the meantime. Not sure if this is true.

Yes, this is basically considered fact. American is old-English. The same with Québécois and French.

Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#13

Post by oblio »

david_draco wrote: post #10

I read somewhere that the American accent is closer to what British was like in the 1700-1800s. Later the Queen's family, which came from a corner of England, established its accent as the norm. So the American pronounciation is original, and the British one changed in the meantime. Not sure if this is true.

There is be a certain degree of irony to English going through the Great Vowel Shift† (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift) and then having a German dynasty which manages to distort the language again††.

† Which made English less-Germanic sounding, at least to my ears.

†† In my humble opinion modern British English sounds marginally more Germanic than American English.

Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#14

Post by dmos62 »

Anyone else cringe at the choice of words in the title? If you migrate and your pronunciation gradually mutates away from what you had originally, and if you then say that you lost what you had, you're invalidating the evolution you've gone through. Or, if the "americans lose their british accents" implies that [english accent = american accent + something you can lose], it's an American-centricity that treats the English accent as if it were something you put on to be a more convicing villain on TV.

Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#15

Post by Merrill »

Class must have been important, considering that many early colonists in the mid-Atlantic and southern colonies were shipments of prisoners and indentured servants.

After the War of Independence, a large number of other Europeans left traces of their languages in the regional American accents. English are not the largest ethnic group.

Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#17

Post by jaratec »

telesilla wrote: post #12
david_draco wrote: post #10

I read somewhere that the American accent is closer to what British was like in the 1700-1800s. Later the Queen's family, which came from a corner of England, established its accent as the norm. So the American pronounciation is original, and the British one changed in the meantime. Not sure if this is true.

Yes, this is basically considered fact. American is old-English. The same with Québécois and French.

I am not sure about these "facts". Why would quebec accent stay the same for centuries? Languages are unstable, especially their pronunciation. Consider also the extraordinary diversity of accents in uk. Did only one cross the Atlantic?

Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#18

Post by thefringthing »

jaratec wrote: post #17
telesilla wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is basically considered fact. American is old-English. The same with Québécois and French.

I am not sure about these "facts". Why would quebec accent stay the same for centuries? Languages are unstable, especially their pronunciation. Consider also the extraordinary diversity of accents in uk. Did only one cross the Atlantic?

It's possible for both dialects to evolve, but at different rates. Present-day Quebecois French is not identical to 17th century French, but it's closer to it than present-day Parisian French is.

Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#19

Post by [deleted] »

jeffadotio wrote: post #3

This is an interesting read but the article cites no sources for its claims. Even the claims that refer to linguistics debunking other theories have no citation. It also makes some suspect statements. I live in New England and saying that it is hard to find someone who does not have an accent that links them to some New England locale is just silly. Then there is the claim that the “general American” accent heard on…

[deleted]

Re: When did Americans lose their British accents?

#20

Post by beerandt »

david_draco wrote: post #10

I read somewhere that the American accent is closer to what British was like in the 1700-1800s. Later the Queen's family, which came from a corner of England, established its accent as the norm. So the American pronounciation is original, and the British one changed in the meantime. Not sure if this is true.

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson covers this pretty well. Along with covering many other quirks of the English language.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29.The_Mother_Tongue

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