How'd We Lose Our English Accent (ancient, Washington, country, USA)

[Tek_Freek]

Interesting.

20 posts and I didn't spot a single reference to the indigenous populations.

What, the American Indians had no influence? I think perhaps they did...

[Lakewooder]

How about the difference between Aussie, Kiwi and South African accents? I always try to see if I can peg those.

[6 FOOT 3]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Interesting.

20 posts and I didn't spot a single reference to the indigenous populations.

What, the American Indians had no influence? I think perhaps they did...

Right before your post on post #20 i just asked this question.....

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by 6 FOOT 3

Right before your post on post #20 i just asked this question.....

Some days I am admittedly blind as a bat!!!

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by oldgattonian

English has evolved over many centuries and depending on where you lived, and who you were, would depend on the way you spoke, and how you spelt. Take London for example and forgetting for the moment the influx of immigrants in recent years and just look at the native population.

• You have people who talk pure English or the Queens English.
• If you live in West London then Generally you will speak not so posh but nicely
• SW London varies depending on the area from Cockney to Nice and clear
• East London is where the true Cockney’s come from and there you will find the real “cor blimey mate” stuff
• South Londoners are more like East-enders
• North Londoners speak more like West Londoners but with a slightly different accent

You only need to travel say 50/60 miles from London into rural England where you will start hearing accents which can be hard to understand and the further west you go they have accents very similar to Americans. I do believe, but may be wrong that a lot of the early settlers the New World were from the West of England so that might explain why you talk as you do.
I now live in SW London and have been here so long now, that I talk and sound just like everyone else. I was born and raised in West London and spoke with a clear accent using no slang at all.
To give you an example of how spellings for places have changed with the years here is a simple one: The Town in London I live in is called Mitcham, but 300yrs ago it was called Mecham.
There is one thing I do get offended at, is when you talk of British English, there is no such thing. English is the languages that is spoken in England, never mind the different accents.
I do hope this is a helpful to you all.

Happy thanksgiving day to you all.

That's all true, but it's also true that the various accents in the UK have become more homogenized with the introduction of television. For example, the pure Yorkshire dialect is nearly dead. I lived in Yorkshire for many years and didn't have any trouble understanding people around me, because they spoke with a Yorkshire accent but didn't really use many words that I hadn't heard before; if they still used the Yorkshire dialect I'd have had a lot more trouble!

What I observed is that people from the South spoke differently from people up North but there weren't very many lexical differences between them. One thing I found particularly irritating about some Southern accents was the tendency to originate the vowels further back of the throat and replacing Fs and THs with Vs...like "brovah" instead of "brother".

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Interesting.

20 posts and I didn't spot a single reference to the indigenous populations.

What, the American Indians had no influence? I think perhaps they did...

They definitely did, though I think their influence was more lexical than anything else.

Two great books to read about this are "The Mother Tongue" and "Made in America" by Bill Bryson; they are light but very entertaining reads for the layman. I love them both and re-read them frequently.

[internat]

Chavs speak like that.

Originally Posted by nativeDallasite

like "brovah" instead of "brother".

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by internat

Chavs speak like that.

In the South they do. Our chavs up north spoke differently.

[ProLogic]

Take a look at the people on the east coast, they have a different accent to us in the West. Their accents are more.. British per say.

[Pikantari]

Speaking of the hear and now....I have lived in Virginia since 1989, I was I guess 15 when I moved here from Maryland.

Now. I have a bit of a southern accent, an adaption from living here all these years. I am 33 now. When I go back home and I am around my family, my "Maryland" accent comes back, and its like I never left, until about three days or so after I come home to Virginia.