at what point in history do you think americans stopped having british accents
whAT THE FUCK
I’m too tired for this
Always add in the video that according to linguists, Native southern drawl is a slowed down British.
T’ be or not t’be, y’all.
Actually, Americans still have the original British accent. We kept it over time and Britain didn’t. What we currently coin as a British accent developed in England during the 19th century among the upper class as a symbol of status. Historians often claim that Shakespeare sounds better in an American accent.
@foejoe WELL DAMN RIGHT I WILL
ok, first off. Language!!!!! ISN’T !!!! STATIC!!!
It changes ALL THE TIME
especially in places exposed to other languages and accents, like… I DON’t know the place where people from all around the world emigrated??? and
English in the United States changes CONSTANTLY just compare the 40s General American and modern General American!!!!
and all the accents from different parts of the US vary so much it’s like!!! so illogical!! to claim it hasn’T!!!!
(and you know what part of English-speaking world is kind of secluded with close-knit communities and not under much influence of other languages?? SMALL TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND)
So that’s like the logical-kind-of-common-sense-driven-reason-to-question-this
And now for some hard evidence - Well, I’m reminding everyone that I’m not an expert, but I AM a student of English which means I am TAUGHT by experts so I’m more-or-less reliable
I’ve yet to have History of English language class (this semester actually, and IM PUMPED) and the proferssor who teaches it also tought macrosociolinguistics which I happened to attend, and she said that at some point (around 18th-19th century, can’t be sure because i couldn’t find any source on this sadly) but the larger Southern areas around London and Oxford thought hmmmmm you know what would be cool?dropping our r’s
((AnD WHAT IRRITATED ME THE MOST ABOUT THIS POST IS AMERICANS THINKING NON-RHOTIC R IS THE ONLY FEATURE OF ENGLISH whICH I|T ISN’T ITS NOT EVEN EXCLUSIVELY A FEATURE OF THE WHOLE ENGLAND’S ENGLISH, MUCH LESS THE WHOLE ISLES))
so yeah but the North was like hmmm maybe no or actually; the South was always more advanced, more cool hip and fancy and the poor North has always been far behind and generally kind of divided from the South so the trend didn’t exactly catch on back then and it still hasn’t (thank lord, god bless the northern accents)
and there’;s other things like /ʊ/ in the North with words such as love ( which in the South are pronounced with /ʌ/ - short a ) makes the luvely luv we all know from the Scouser Beatles or Sheffield Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner
and OK EVEN IF IM WRONG ABOUT THE DETAILS, (which i probably am to a point) the general things I’m certain of, because I’d rather trust someone with Phd on linguistics than some guy in the internet.
And the other hard evidence I’ve got is a video of Shakespeare in Elizabethan English, worked out by a linguist
so yeah. The first Americans sounded a bit like they’re from depths of Yorkshire (certainly more than modern American)
