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There was this wonderful series on pbs called the Story of English maybe twenty years ago. It followed the language from its origions to the modern variety. But one of the most interesting segments was on the time period around the 1500's into the 1600's. It started in I think North Carolina, and one of the settlement recreations of the early colonies. What they were showing was an example of the way English was spoken at the time, which has changed less there than other areas. The 'high English' accent hadn't happened yet. This was the age of Shakespeare and it was noted that there are rythems which don't work in what is now proper English. But read them in traditional Carolina and they do.
Perhaps because so many English who were poor were brought to the southern colonies early the versions of the language they spoke became the base for what became the southern norm. Most of the later migrations from other areas were concentrated in the northern areas.
I personally love the southern accents. Met a couple from the south while on holiday in Hawaii. Two of the most down to earth and humble people i have ever met. The other family from new york were the opposite. Not saying they are all like that from new york because you get your idiots everywhere.
Ha i'm sure you really struggled to understand them. The lanarkshire etc accent is terrible and probably impossible for someone not from Scotland to understand.
This is interesting- I have never thought that the Southern U.S. accent sounds close to an English accent, but I can see that the Tidewater accent may come close. I've always been told that the coastal Maine accent is most similar to (some) UK accents? Mostly because we are rural and remote enough to have retained some of the pronunciations and even some of the sayings of the English settlers of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as our proximity to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada.
An example of this accent provided here by my uncle Andrew:
(Not the narrator, but the guy running the boat. )
This is interesting- I have never thought that the Southern U.S. accent sounds close to an English accent, but I can see that the Tidewater accent may come close. I've always been told that the coastal Maine accent is most similar to (some) UK accents? Mostly because we are rural and remote enough to have retained some of the pronunciations and even some of the sayings of the English settlers of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as our proximity to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada.
An example of this accent provided here by my uncle Andrew:
(Not the narrator, but the guy running the boat. )
He's great. How I love that old timey Maine accent. It makes me wonder how close it is to the way the original English settlers spoke. Maine is one place that retains its accent, except for the touristy areas. Maine was settled very early with mostly English people.
Back to Southern accents--there are some words that they use that are the same, like reckon, probably more. I don't like a Southern drawl and have trouble understanding it sometimes but I don't know that much about different Southern accents. I do know that large parts of the South were settled by Ulster Scots.
Here's the deal - Tidewater accents supposedly sound a lot like English (as in "from England") USED to sound - around Shakespeare's time. The English accent today isn't what was in place in the 1500s and 1600s in England.
That's how I've always heard it described.
One thing is for sure, the Appalachian and Mid Atlantic regions of the US have some Old English phrases and music that still linger in the language and that are uncommon outside of those regions.
To a Southern American, this accent sounds closer to British than to American English.
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