Which accent sounds MORE British? Boston or Philadelphia?

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

I fail to hear how either one sounds remotely British.

Same here. Perhaps this is this wishful thinking?

[qworldorder]

Neither sounds British (all varieties of British). They're all way too distinctive to be compared.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

I fail to hear how either one sounds remotely British.

The vowel sounds of Philadelphia are like vowel sounds heard in some English accents. Same with the glottal stop used in certain "t" sounds.

As far as Boston goes, the broad A that Boston is known for and the non-rhoticity are traits you hear in England.

When I think of accents that don't sound remotely British, I think of nasally Midwestern accents that are very rhotic, and have very tense vowels.

[dude1984]

Neither...are even close to any of the British accents.

[TowerMan2]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Hey boss, read post #4.

No.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by iAMtheVVALRUS

The Boston Brahmin accent could be somewhat similar to what the average American might think of when they here "British Accent".....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfR4DLXYpCw

But that accent is pretty much gone, and neither the average Boston accent....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wBpSWxPo6o

nor the Philly accent for that matter....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKpQRgMRAf4

sound particularly British (imo)....

Yeah I can definitely hear some British in the Brahmin Boston accent. It's too bad that it's a near-extinct accent, it sounds really charming.

[urbanologist]

Originally Posted by tcave360

Yeah I can definitely hear some British in the Brahmin Boston accent. It's too bad that it's a near-extinct accent, it sounds really charming.

Now if you go back in history when the British occupied the city the English accents were more common back then because of the many recent English settlers that were there. This explains part of where Boston's accent came from and how it evolved over time to what you have today. Then later you had the Irish immigrants arriving followed by other groups leading up to what you hear in current day Boston.


The early origins of Boston's dialect. Here you can see how early Bostonians spoke during John Adams time. Obviously, they don't talk this way any more. It's interesting how a city's dialect evolves over time. Makes me wonder what actual immigrant groups made New Yorkers sound distinctively different then Bostonians despite being in the same region of the country.