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The phonology therein shows the shift of words like "what" in the direction of "wot". This isn't uniquely American; it is heard in Irish dialects and at one point existed in Northern England. Many linguists theorize a strong Irish influence on the Northern Cities Vowel shift.
In a similar but not exactly related vain, the California and Canadian Vowel Shifts show a tendency to similar vowels heard in Northern Ireland as well as inflection. Ulster vowel patterns show a sound closely heard on the Left Coast and parts of Canada. They don't shift the U in the same direction however and maintain the "o" sound on that letter just like a lot of non-Ulster dialects. So "what" sounds like "wot" still and not "whuuut" in the American West or parts of Canada.
I think the Irish are the reason Americans don't sound as British. Even without different vowels, Americans just "sound" more Irish than English people with inflection alone. The English don't raise their vowels much if at all. When they do it happens in areas where the Irish influence is stronger like Northern England. RP speakers just have a more British character to their speech and are definitely more "stiff upper lip" in sound. Notice when Brits imitate Americans their inflections become more pronounced and their voice goes up at the end of sentences which is very common in the US to the point that we aren't even aware we do it.
It's one of the reasons the English sound pretentious to American ears. Their lack of inflection (compared to us) just sounds different and more "upper crust". Heck you'll notice the Boston Brahmin who speak in a contrived Transatlantic accent do this a lot.
The phonology therein shows the shift of words like "what" in the direction of "wot". This isn't uniquely American; it is heard in Irish dialects and at one point existed in Northern England. Many linguists theorize a strong Irish influence on the Northern Cities Vowel shift.
In a similar but not exactly related vain, the California and Canadian Vowel Shifts show a tendency to similar vowels heard in Northern Ireland as well as inflection. Ulster vowel patterns show a sound closely heard on the Left Coast and parts of Canada. They don't shift the U in the same direction however and maintain the "o" sound on that letter just like a lot of non-Ulster dialects. So "what" sounds like "wot" still and not "whuuut" in the American West or parts of Canada.
I think the Irish are the reason Americans don't sound as British. Even without different vowels, Americans just "sound" more Irish than English people with inflection alone. The English don't raise their vowels much if at all. When they do it happens in areas where the Irish influence is stronger like Northern England. RP speakers just have a more British character to their speech and are definitely more "stiff upper lip" in sound. Notice when Brits imitate Americans their inflections become more pronounced and their voice goes up at the end of sentences which is very common in the US to the point that we aren't even aware we do it.
It's one of the reasons the English sound pretentious to American ears. Their lack of inflection (compared to us) just sounds different and more "upper crust". Heck you'll notice the Boston Brahmin who speak in a contrived Transatlantic accent do this a lot.
The English spoken in the North of the UK is now much closer to the English spoken in the South, there was a time when people from different parts of the UK (North, South, East & West) couldn't hardly understand each other, as time goes by accents are becoming less distinct. I don't think the English spoken by somebody in the South East has ever been more 'proper' than the English spoken anywhere else on this island. For anybody that wants a general range of English accents they should watch a 1980's program call Auf Weidersein Pet, which was about a group of English builders (from different parts of the UK) working in Germany.
The English spoken in the North of the UK is now much closer to the English spoken in the South, there was a time when people from different parts of the UK (North, South, East & West) couldn't hardly understand each other, as time goes by accents are becoming less distinct. I don't think the English spoken by somebody in the South East has ever been more 'proper' than the English spoken anywhere else on this island. For anybody that wants a general range of English accents they should watch a 1980's program call Auf Weidersein Pet, which was about a group of English builders (from different parts of the UK) working in Germany.
Yeah I know. That's why I said "used to". Dialects like the classic Mancunian and Geordie have shifted just like dialects of Suffolk and Essex. Heck the Scouse accent is much more different than back in the 60s when the Beatles made it famous to American ears.
Yeah I know. That's why I said "used to". Dialects like the classic Mancunian and Geordie have shifted just like dialects of Suffolk and Essex. Heck the Scouse accent is much more different than back in the 60s when the Beatles made it famous to American ears.
The Beatles have a soft 'Scouse' accent, one of the guys in the series I spoke about is a Liverpudlian with a traditional Liverpudlian accent.
The Beatles have a soft 'Scouse' accent, one of the guys in the series I spoke about is a Liverpudlian with a traditional Liverpudlian accent.
Well in a Hard Days Night their accents were much more pronounced and had more Northern qualities. In other instances they sounded closer to RP but that movie showcased their accents well. You can really hear it on words like "up" which Paul says "op" and "heart" which he says "haaaaht" with the Broad A. Very Northern and not RP. But they didn't have the Northern long O. Their long O sounded more Southern but correct me if I am wrong but don't the Scouse say the long O in a Southern fashion anyway?
'Pure' English is the English used by educated individuals and the English that is taught in secondary education around the world. It is not whatever somebody who happens to be standing in England speaks. You could write a thesis anywhere from the UK to the US to New Zealand and the same rules would apply universally, save a few spelling deviations and very slight regional variations. That language is 'pure' or I suppose 'standard' would be the more applicable adjective.
'Pure' English is the English used by educated individuals and the English that is taught in secondary education around the world. It is not whatever somebody who happens to be standing in England speaks. You could write a thesis anywhere from the UK to the US to New Zealand and the same rules would apply universally, save a few spelling deviations and very slight regional variations. That language is 'pure' or I suppose 'standard' would be the more applicable adjective.
Pure meaning free from outside influences would be what it means in language terms. Such a thing may not actually exist as even in England outside non Anglo influences did happen especially in the North. But perhaps that's why Estuary English is the Standard as it might be the form of English less influenced by non Anglo elements.
I've heard that French Canadians traditionally speak using colonial-era dialect that was prevalent when their ancestors came to Canada in the 1600s and 1700s. Until the advent of 20th century mass media, their descendants had relatively little interaction with the mother country France (well, I suppose they did, however, as soldiers during both world wars), to hear how the language was evolving separately in France.
I'm sure that the posters "Acajack" and "Bimbam" could elaborate on this - or look up the subject on Wikipedia.
Yes, that's quite true. Though the archaisms (and also unique expressions developed here) are slowly fading or at least now coexisting with more international French terms.
I have friends of mine who jokingly like to say about legendary French greats François 1er, Louis XIV, Cardinal Richelieu, Napoleon and Molière that... "they all talked like we do!"
There is an idea that Americans (and many Brits) have that England, being the cradle of the language of English speaks the purest, most proper form of English. Standard English (Received Pronunciation aka BBC English) is believed to be the most correct and proper while it is believed Americans bastardized English to such a level that they created a horrible relative of the wonderful version spoken in its homeland.
The problem with this is it ignores history. Americans didn't butcher English of England. What happened is the English actually made their own changes post-Revolutionary War. Some US states followed suit (New York, Virginia) and some did not (Pennsylvania, most of Jersey and Maryland). Those that maintained the then current English settled much of the country. This means that the US was actually settled mostly by those who kept the actual "pure" form of modern English while the rest temporarily adopted a contrived pronunciation heard in the mother country.
Now, it is true that with the advent of Scottish immigration, the American (including Canadian) form of English then took on new pronunciation rules that shifted from England. However, it is inaccurate to say Americans butchered English or even "forgot" how to speak it properly. Ours evolved organically and there is no reason to believe that the RP of the BBC is somehow the original form or the purist.
Tl ; Dr version: Americans don't speak improperly
Same goes with Spanish,
There's dialects in Spanish that I can't understand
The phonology therein shows the shift of words like "what" in the direction of "wot". This isn't uniquely American; it is heard in Irish dialects and at one point existed in Northern England. Many linguists theorize a strong Irish influence on the Northern Cities Vowel shift.
In a similar but not exactly related vain, the California and Canadian Vowel Shifts show a tendency to similar vowels heard in Northern Ireland as well as inflection. Ulster vowel patterns show a sound closely heard on the Left Coast and parts of Canada. They don't shift the U in the same direction however and maintain the "o" sound on that letter just like a lot of non-Ulster dialects. So "what" sounds like "wot" still and not "whuuut" in the American West or parts of Canada.
I think the Irish are the reason Americans don't sound as British. Even without different vowels, Americans just "sound" more Irish than English people with inflection alone. The English don't raise their vowels much if at all. When they do it happens in areas where the Irish influence is stronger like Northern England. RP speakers just have a more British character to their speech and are definitely more "stiff upper lip" in sound. Notice when Brits imitate Americans their inflections become more pronounced and their voice goes up at the end of sentences which is very common in the US to the point that we aren't even aware we do it.
It's one of the reasons the English sound pretentious to American ears. Their lack of inflection (compared to us) just sounds different and more "upper crust". Heck you'll notice the Boston Brahmin who speak in a contrived Transatlantic accent do this a lot.
+1, i've thought that. Recognise some accents on island of Ireland that do sound slightly American, also consider the pronunciation of some words by the Irish e.g. Water in Ireland is pronounced 'Wader'
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