Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?

[alienlovechild 75]

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

The one used by smokers when they ask you for a **.

[SuperDuper! 230]

Did poop stink the same in 1776? BOING!

[KittyPollitt 284]

I'm from Baltimore, and I know if you go to the real country, near the Atlantic coast in Maryland and listen to the way the older people speak, they sound very much like someone from Cornwall or Devonshire in England. People call us hicks, and people call them the British equivalent of hicks.. some things never change

[KittyPollitt 284]

Tangier, Virginia is a good example of old American English that hasn't been messed with too much.. look it up on wiki, it's fascinating..

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Interesting. Did they pronounce Chile like Chill-ay?

Hard to say as that nation was still part-and-parcel of undivided "New Spain" which stretched from CO/WY border to Tierra-del-Fuego.

[Mithra 1,185]

Very interesting!

I couldn't understand a word out of that first group of guys.

Tangier, Virginia is a good example of old American English that hasn't been messed with too much.. look it up on wiki, it's fascinating..

[Kathryn41 3,205]

People might find this of interest. If you click on the video link you will hear an excerpt of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream spoken in English the way it would have sounded in Shakespeare's day . http://kottke.org/10...l-pronunciation

Edited November 12, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Samoray 165]

People might find this of interest. If you click on the video link you will hear an excerpt of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream spoken in English the way it would have sounded in Shakespeare's day . http://kottke.org/10...l-pronunciation

this is cool , first time to hear this

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

this is cool , first time to hear this

Sounds like the way they speak at the Renaissance Faires I worked in California decades ago. Who would have thunk it?

(Actually, they held workshops every year beforehand, to get the dialect as authentic as possible.)

[slim 1,514]

You may also be interested in reading "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett Fischer. The language differences and nuances are explained a little in Fischer's novel. There was even an incident in Boston just prior to the war where the difference in accents caused a frenzied exit of a packed meeting house.

Since we're kind of on the subject, folks have always imagined Paul Revere shouting, "the British are coming, the British are coming." Well, Paul Revere, in fact, was British. Why would he shout, "We're coming. We're coming!" Paul Revere most likely shouted "the regulars are out."

If you've read 1776 you may be interested in the Appleseed Project. Check out the website - http://www.appleseedinfo.org