Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

[Samoray 165]

Reading David McCullough’s 1776, I found myself wondering: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents? If so, when did American accents diverge from British accents?

The answer surprised me.

I’d always assumed that Americans used to have British accents, and that American accents diverged after the Revolutionary War, while British accents remained more or less the same.

Americans in 1776 did have British accents in that American accents and British accents hadn’t yet diverged. That’s not too surprising.

What’s surprising, though, is that those accents were much closer to today’s American accents than to today’s British accents. While both have changed over time, it’s actually British accents that have changed much more drastically since then.

First, let’s be clear: the terms “British accent” and “American accent” are oversimplifications; there were, and still are, many constantly-evolving regional British and American accents. What many Americans think of as “the British accent” is the standardized Received Pronunciation, also known as “BBC English.”

The biggest difference between most American and most British accents is rhotacism. While most American accents are rhotic, the standard British accent is non-rhotic. (Rhotic speakers pronounce the ‘R’ sound in the word “hard.” Non-rhotic speakers do not.)

So, what happened?

In 1776, both American accents and British accents were largely rhotic. It was around this time that non-rhotic speech took off in southern England, especially among the upper class. This “prestige” non-rhotic speech was standardized, and has been spreading in Britain ever since.

Most American accents, however, remained rhotic.

There are a few fascinating exceptions: New York and Boston accents became non-rhotic, perhaps because of the region’s British connections in the post-Revolutionary War era. Irish and Scottish accents are still rhotic.

http://www.nicholasjohnpatrick.com/post/767354896/did-americans-in-1776-have-british-accents

Edited November 11, 2010 by Samoray

[amykathleen2005 441]

I am interested in this topic as well. I've read that the Appalachian accent is probably the closest anyone can get to what would have been said in Shakespeare's day in England. We have so many small pockets of isolated areas that a language shift really never happened and thus an unchanging (or at least less changing) accent.

[Samoray 165]

I am interested in this topic as well. I've read that the Appalachian accent is probably the closest anyone can get to what would have been said in Shakespeare's day in England. We have so many small pockets of isolated areas that a language shift really never happened and thus an unchanging (or at least less changing) accent.

i would like to add too that the early creation of English language is far different from the English that Shakespeare used or the English that we know today, in terms of usage, pronunciation, etc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_English_language

[amykathleen2005 441]

Very interesting read. I took a linguistics class a few years ago as part of my license to teach English and find it all very intriguing.

[Maria Perry 0]

Well i didnt even knew that Americans had British accent in 1776. I always thought that Americans had the same accent they are having now, from the start. But this post is really very interesting and surprised me. Excellent sharing

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

It was the other way around. In 1776, the Brits had American accents, much like the French had Acadian accents at the time.

[luckytxn 2,263]

Nice to know that the British accents has gotten more faggy sounding as time goes on.

[thongd4me 69]

I wonder if Homer Simpson's accent came from French or Spanish....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUtl26ZW6so

[Welshcookie 17]

Nice to know that the British accents has gotten more faggy sounding as time goes on.

Which British accent do you find the most 'faggy' sounding?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Interesting. Did they pronounce Chile like Chill-ay?

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Yes they did - the ones who were British, anyway.

Virginians sounded like West Country accents from Cornwall (Sir Walter Raleigh and many of the original settlers were from there) and the settler to the Massachusetts colony had more of a Lincolnshire/Eastern English accents, which is why they drop their rs to this day.

[Jenn! 918]

It's true that in Boston we pronounce many words more like Brits than like Americans in other parts of the country.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I saw a documentary awhile back on PBS called The Story of English and they found 2 truck drivers - one from Kentucky and one from Glasgow - and put them next each other to read from the same passage of a book. It was surprising how 2 people with 2 accents that were initially so different sounding were so much alike

[amykathleen2005 441]

Nice to know that the British accents has gotten more faggy sounding as time goes on.

Um.......ok. Nice contribution....

[scandal 951]

Nice to know that the British accents has gotten more faggy sounding as time goes on.

Um.......ok. Nice contribution....

That's just Txn. Don't mind him. Be thankful he only called you 'faggy'. His epithet of choice is normally 'Socialist', as in 'you Socialist bootlicking scum'.