Why do AMERICANS have STRANGE ACCENTS?
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- The American accent has come a long way since the very early British settlers, who all bar a handful had British accents of course. Like all colonial countries though, the accents changed over the years as the melting pot of people from all over, initially, the British Isles and then the rest of the world arrived to carve out a new life. The American accent developed differently to say the Australian accent, as connections to Britain, especially culturally were held onto for a longer period of time. To maintain a British accent, more specifically an English accent was seen in the early days especially as a sign of one being cultured, sophisticated and fashionable. Surprisingly the British accent influenced the American accent for much longer than most people imagine. It was there noticeable right into the 20th century. We even have recordings of Americans in interview with distinct English influenced accents, including a wonderful recorded speech by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912…who definitely had a slight English accent!
This , along with dozens of other stories, unusual facts and unheard tales comes from my history book ‘A Bash With The British Empire’
My other history book is called ‘A Romp With The Georgians’
You’ll find both books online - Thank you
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You should hear most of our NZ teenagers, mainly in Auckland. They’re sounding more and more American. Jarring to this British Kiwi’s ear 😉
You’re right. I mention this in my American accent video which now follows at the end of this one
@DavidHarperAntiquesTV there's similarly an american twang here in younger Aussies. Though, I've heard some accounts of American kids developing a temporary Australian twang thanks to the endearing popularity of Bluey! If you haven't seen it, Watch Season 3, Ep. 47: Cricket. Life-affirming stuff!
And yet as an Aussie, when I backpacked in Europe in 1990, the number of Kiwis I travelled with had either English or dare I say it a Cockney accent!🤪🤣👊🏼
@@monroemusicnz 😖noooo
That’s quite amazing. 👍
The confederate veteran was speaking in an old Virginia accent. I grew up there in the 1970s and older people all spoke that way. I never thought of it as British; more ‘southern’. But I suppose that the soft ‘r’ and other details harken back to Britain. Many southerners still use the phrase “I reckon” which comes from you guys. Roosevelt was using the trans-Atlantic accent which was taught to dignitaries and actors back then as a way to sound sophisticated. Interesting video!
Thank you for the brilliant extra information. the ‘I recon’ is still in common use here
Bettie Davis American actress spoke with a British accent.
Great video I'm actually a descendant of two signers of the Declaration of Independence Dr Benjamin Rush Richard Stockton. The Rush name was carried all the way to my grandmother. I love England very much and we travel there every year. I wish I could call it my home. I was always told growing up by my mother that we were English even though we've been here. The town in Ohio I grew up in was settled by people of English ancestry at Fort Greenville Ohio. I took one of those ancestry DNA tests and I'm still of 98 percent British Isles ancestry. My favorite part of England is the North from the Midlands up I love the Lake District Yorkshire and Northumberland. I've been to Cornwall and Devon also. I still haven't been to London even though I come to England every year.
Wonderful to hear, thank you for the comment. Coincidentally, we’re off the the Lakes today with the dog!
I was watching an early episode of Bewitched and my ears pricked when Samantha Steve’s said the word “gather” with an English twang. As I had purchased the DVD set of the series, her pronunciation of the same word changed to American accent toward the end of the series.
Samantha Steve's??? This is a typo?
Teddy Roosevelt doesn't surprise me. He came from New York City "aristocracy"; there is a photograph of him watching Lincoln's funeral cortege from his grandmother's 5th Avenue window. There were houses/mansions on that street at the time, long gone of course. His ancestry was as much Dutch as anything, they were the original New York settlers, but the fashionable accent was probably kinda-sorta British. His mother was also Southern, so that plays in too. 04:18 The gent sounds like his parents came from Ireland. Probably did. You can still hear traces of a UK accent in some Southern accents to this day. There was a lot of trade between the American south and the UK right up until out Civil War. The influences hung on. The recognized "American" accent David is talking about is most likely midwestern dialect used for broadcast television . It's fairly flat and comprensible to most Americans. News broadcasters often use it, especially older ones.
Fabulous extra info as ever, thank you
I thought the second speaker (the old Confederate soldier) sounded almost like a New Yorker, with the dropped r's.
I think the American accent is definitely flattening, or levelling out, due to mass media. I was a child when JFK was elected, and while I noted his Boston accent when he spoke (I'm from New York originally) it didn't excite me much. When my daughter (born 1979) and her classmates heard a historical recording of JFK, they all burst into laughter because it sounded so weird - how could ANYBODY talk like that?
The last part of my comment seems to have been truncated. Daughter and friends thought the JFK accent hilarious and wondered, does anybody really talk like that?
Not their fault but I find most American accents mainly the women to be whiny to the point where I often have to switch off I’m sure they’re nice enough people but damn it can be excruciating.
Lois Griffin!
In New England, it's called the old Yankee accent. Within New England. Yankee has a specific ethnic identification meaning a person of English or mostly English ancestry.
Good info, thank you
Yes, its definitely scattered however, mainly to the east and north of new England, coastal areas, etc. The Boston one is also distinct. We in the west, west of Worcester, and towards the Berkshires, dont have any accent at all, but may have an occasional slip from our parents... For instance, im from Western Massachusetts at the foothills of the Berkshires, my girl says i say quahtahs for quarters, shes from coastal Connecticut, and says draahs for drawers
@TelegraphRoadWhittier I agree I'm from Western Mass, the Yankee accent is almost non-existent in our area.
did anyone else notice the shadowy figure perfectly framed in the doorway at 1:02
I’ve just seen it!
I wonder who that was?
Goast.
There is still an island off the east coast called Tangier Island it is part of America but they have a British accent still. They sound like the West country there. There's a video on UA-cam about it if you want to check it out
Fascinating…I will, thank you
You're talking about Smith Island, Maryland and Tangier Island, Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay.
The first accent, the Union soldier from 1927, sounds a little like the kind of accents that could still be heard in the mid-20th century in parts of County Durham and particularly Westmorland in the UK.
It's certainly interesting that George Washington's family had been educated in Appleby, which is also in Westmorland. Maybe coincidental, but nevertheless very fitting.
As an irish person , i have often been accused of copying an american accent. But we pre-date their English accent by about 500 years.
Now the Irish accent is one to get my teeth into. One of my grandmothers came from Co Mayo and I loved her accent
I was just saying while watching TV last night how you can detect the Irish influence on some American accents in other areas the Scottish influence is prominent
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV we don't all have the same accent in Ireland.Northern Ireland accent is rough accent sounds a bit Scottish too.
@DavidHarperAntiquesTV the Mayo accent is a soft accent typically, and it's very pleasant hear. Although, my grandparents and relatives are from there, so certainly I have a prejudice for the accent.
@lugo_9969 Actually, some Irish accents are very close to the standard American accent. A lot of American in normal speech will not pronounce a T but a D. If an Irish person actually produces the th sound rather then just a T sound then it's almost standard American English.
Watch any American movie from the 1930’s through at least the 1940’s, there’s a very strong English accent.
Very true
No that's a mid Atlantic accent they used for movies
@@Dan-eq6po Of TITANIC proportions?!🤪🤣
@@andrewd7586 thats an accent they used for movies to sound understandable
@@Dan-eq6po It's properly called the trans-Atlantic accent because it combines elements of both American and British pronunciation. An awful lot of people call it the "mid-Atlantic" accent, but that is definitely a misnomer. The mid-Atlantic region stretches from New York to Virginia, and the trans-Atlantic accent is definitely not native to that region.
That was interesting! Sometimes Dutch and Scandinavian people sound American to me. Also I guess some of the recorded famous Americans from yesteryear spent many years at Oxford or Cambridge which may have made them sound British.
Dutch especially; it's linguistically close to English, and people in the Netherlands often speak three or four languages in addition to their own.
Yes, me too
Mostly Irish influence
and alot of the Colonial soldiers in America had English accents like London ones
Interesting, especially the voice of Theodore Roosevelt.
A very good friend of mine married a charming lady from New England. They shared time equally between the UK and the USA. After my friend sadly passed away during their UK sojourn, she moved to an old part of Schenectady in an old clapperboard house not far from the Mohawk River.
She used to come to England and rent a cottage in the Lake District, nomatter the weather.
Her accent was almost completely English with very few indications of her country of origin. We used to meet up for a walk or meal whenever she was in England.
Apart from her memories of her late husband, I was puzzled as to why she loved the Lake District with all its rain, when wonderful sunny weather was to be had in the USA. She just pointed to the lush green fields, valleys and forested areas visible from the cottage and said “that’s why”.
Wonderful information thank you
4:00 But that's not surprising ;some new England states still have a very close UK accent.
Interesting, thank you
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV No worries. If you travel to some of the new England states you'll find some with an accent not fully British , but not the typical American accent either (exclude the hideous accents that are New York and New Jersey 😂)
34 Presidents of the USA have Scottish ancestry. Scots were at the forefront back in the day the great Scottish enlightenment…
I'd never thought of religious denominations in terms of social prestige until I told a friend I had begun attending a Presbyterian church. He told me the Presbyterians were second only to the Episcopalians in social prestige. I thought that was a weird comment when he made it, but now I can see that he was right.
Because a lot of the Protestant Pilgrims were Scottish. You should read Rome and Civil Liberty by JA Wylie.
He was a Scottish Protestant.
Don't forget it was the Scottish who invented the US navy 😊🏴😜
I've always thought there's a similarity between the American and West Country accents. Particularly in the delivery of "R".
Yes, I’ve heard this
@@Three-Chord-Trick Cary Grant (Archibald Leach) was born in Bristol, that's why he had an English/American accent. Think of Judy, Judy, Judy 😅😅😅
Why are Pirates called Pirates...They just "Rrrrr*
@@keithe8449😂😂😂
As an Irish person i am aware that American accents differ across that continent. Im also aware that a Canadian and American accent can be confused with each other. But despite these differences, we can all hear an American and Canadian accent. Now i have heard various native Americans speak and i am entirely convinced that the essence of the American accent comes from the natives. Afterall, they were right across that continent and Canada when the new settlers arrived, but for long enough new settlers from every country didnt settle everywhere in America, but the natives were all there. So in the end, England may give the world the language and native Americans give the world the accent.
Seriously, you should listen to the native Americans speak, there is something uniquely beautiful in the way they speak and it sounds as American as apple pie.
I see where your theory comes from, but it’s the other way around. The native Americans developed their accent by listening to settlers and learning English through them
Very surprising and very interesting thank you David x
my pleasure
There are some Canadians accents that blow me away,they sound Cornish Irish and another one or two accents thrown in all at once
Yes the Newfoundland accent was very Irish sounding for a long time. Very like a Waterford accent.
I'm English and I don't even know what the English accent is because if I drive 20 miles in any direction it changes for such a small country we have loads of accents
it is true…more accents per square mile than anywhere in the world!
Many regional dialects and variations with overlaps but anyone hearing knows for sure they are English accents and not Scottish, Welsh, N,Irish, or republic of Ireland accents. I find that interesting.
If you watch the Australian news from the 60’s they sound English.
Same with the CBC newsreaders of the same era.
I can't distinguish Australians from Brits unless they have the "broad" Australian accent.
@@aLadNamedNathan yes it can be quite hard . I moved from Sydney to the Hunter valley and people asked if I was English.
@@Brosef1974 Someone who speaks like Paul Hogan is easily identifiable to me as an Australian. Someone who speaks like Robert Hughes is indistinguishable from an Englishman as far as I can tell.
I've experienced something of your linguistic dysphoria. If I visit New England, everybody there thinks I'm from Georgia. If I visit Georgia, everybody there thinks I'm from Boston. Wrong on both counts!
Many people from America find it impossible to tell the difference between an Australian accent and a cockney London accent. I suppose a throwback to working class Londoners being transported.@@aLadNamedNathan
You can find this accent in Northern New England in rural areas. Most of these people are of English ancestry. Although very few people speak this way. I would say northern Vermont and New Hampshire. In isolated towns in the green mountains and white mountains.
Australian accents madecup of mix Indigenous, English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, German, Swedish , Italian and Greek.Later Lebanese and Vietnamese.
I know there’s a heavy Scot’s influence in their Scot’s swear like troopers or language is very colourful to say the least lol
To me it's mostly London and Irish.
Didn't all the colonies maintain accents closer to late 18th and early 19th century English accents than most modern English accents (apart from the West Country).
We know that Elizabethan Americans and the founding fathers would have sounded like because there are still a few Americans with this accent, on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina.
It sounds like a modern rhotic West Country accent.
What we term as a 'New Zealand' accent is just an early non-rhotic english accent because this is what people on St Helena Island and remote parts of the Falklands sound like. Clearly an Australian accent is just a modern modification of this. Whereas most people mistakenly think a New Zealand accent is an offshoot of an Australian accent when in reality it is the Australian accent that has changed, but modern English accents have changed much more and anything sounding New Zealandish is long gone.
I had a question and you answered it perfectly, had to like and subscribe
Thank you, much appreciated
What an amazingly insightful video! Thanks!
To think that likely all of the 19th century's presidents, many of whom would be considered quintessential and classic Americans (Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln etc.) spoke with British accents is just so fascinating to me, yet makes so much sense!
Thank you
The African American dialect is a kin to West Country speech. A lot of the slave ships came out of Bristol and the ships were crewed with west countrymen. The theory here is that the English the slaves learnt was from the crew who's speech wax heavily accented.
That’s a fascinating angle, thank you
I think it unlikely that the slaves would have picked up English in the time that it took to cross the Atlantic, even if that was several months back in those days.
The slavers mixed the slaves up so that they were separated from others who spoke the same language. A group of twenty slaves would usually speak twenty different languages.
The slaves obviously weren't taught English in any formal way, but had to pick it up by exposure. Each one would carry traits of his native language into his idiolect of English. The next generation would be exposed to some markedly differing idiolects spoken by their parents' generation, and their speech would be a levelling compromise of all the idiolects they were exposed to.
Furthermore, the slaves in Charleston, South Carolina didn't even speak English during the 18th century. They spoke Gaelic. They didn't start speaking English there until the 19th century.
That is the most absurd thing I've heard in a long time
@@aLadNamedNathanGaelic? Rubbish. You must mean Gullah.
This was very interesting, David. I have to say, I hate the way Americanisms are spreading to the U.K. and Australia. Young Australians don't sound Australian any more due to movies and media.
Yes, it’s true, the young a mimicking US movies and it’s sticking! listen again to the old US movies from the 40’s and 50’s…it’s a very different accent. Such a fascinating topic I find!
The crew of a British ship sunk by the Chinese during the 1st opoum war was rescuef by a n American ship. The origin of the phrase "blopd is thicler yhan water" comes from the captain who despite unease with the mother country still recognises that we are the same.
Great piece of info, thank you
Don't be silly. The phrase is a lot older than that.
That's some very unusual spelling of "blood is thicker than water" 😅
@@davidfalconbridge8878 Anybody can spell the conventional way.
They were saying that during the Roman Empire, thousands of years ago. It actually means that bonds born from fighting battles together (blood) unites people more strongly than birth (water).
Absolutely brilliant David thank you . I love learning. Jamie 😊
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you
Listen to the British/ Irish accent on Harkers Island on the coast of North Carolina that’s still spoken today.
What’s a British/Irish accent. Both are very different?
Many of the way American’s speak are rooted in 17th century English common accents.
In fact, peasants in the 17th century in parts of the UK would sound very American to us today.
I think it’s important to point out that Roosevelt was speaking in a Transatlantic accent which was a learned accent and not a real accent.
So many of the words Americans use went out of favor in the UK but stayed popular in the United States.
@@michaeltoney2277 Very interesting, thank you
Having worked extensively in several states within America I’m always taken aback by how so many of the women there speak with cartoon character like voices, two or three octaves higher than their European counterparts. Any thoughts on why this happened more or less universally across the US?
Hmm, that one needs research!
Psychological cartoonism.
An American needs to decide on what a woman is first, before it starts asking questions like that 🤭
I’ve noticed that just on UA-cam! So many are practically screeching at you. It’s extremely unpleasant to listen to. Particularly with hyperacusis. I’ve had to stop watching some channels even though I liked their content, because I just couldn’t cope with the voice. I’ve often wondered why.
Surprisingly, the founders pondered over which one of 5 languages to make the official language of the new republic but English was not on that list. They couldn't agree to a single language so the constitution was signed without naming an official language. The issue was put to the side as was to be amended later on. Nearly 250 years later, the US still doesn't have an official or national language. However, English is lingua franca.... the common language of communication. Many people, especially Americans do not know this.
Fantastic information, thank you
That's absolute nonsense. There was never a debate about what the official language would be because English was obviously the _de facto_ language of America. That's why there is no _de jure_ official language of America.
Bring forth your proof, if you want to maintain this fairy tale. In what forum was this debate held, and when? What were the five languages proposed? Why wasn't English one of them?
This is a new permutation on the old wives' tale that German almost became the official language of America. That tale was based on the fact that in the 1790's, the Pennsylvania legislature voted on whether to publish the laws of Pennsylvania in German as well as English because there were so many German speakers in Pennsylvania at the time. The vote failed, and Pennsylvania's laws have only ever been published in English. This fact got transmogrified into the U. S. Congress taking a vote on the official language for America and English only narrowly beat out German. None of this ever happened, folks.
Enjoyed your vlog very much. Here's something I've been chewing-on for some time that has some tangential value perhaps. The times makes the tunes.
There is no 'bottom-up' Pan-American accent in either the US or Canada beyond the British substratum U refer to. Like Old Blighty, in the Colonoids there are regional ways of speaking and 'TV' talk. BBC/Oxford English is 'Standard British English' to the rest of the world but not in non-nosey Britain. But BBCese is slowly levelling the lingual regionalisms. Like BBC English, NorAm Media-speak is a product of its geography and population density and composition as well, namely rich educated New England and South Ontario. New England and Hollywood set the initial sound stage for 'American Standard', 'perfected' by around 1930 with the success of mass-market media. Canada is equally diverse, with Newfy, Atlantic, and Western (mid-American sounding) variants. They were subsumed by CBC English, aka South Ontario-en which arguably is 'Standard Canadian' English. We are all vocal jelly setting in the Media mold. I personally feel that it is a damn shame, this historic levelling, even though it promotes communication, it leaches the colour, the ownership, the locality from the speaker. The levelling effects of Pan American media-speak are solidly buttressed by the coining of a vast new scientific and technical dictionary since WW1 that has multiplied the linguistic pressure by adding a million new words from across the globe for jobs and products never seen before. This forced enlargement and necessary disuse pruning are swiftly transforming our daily language.
Brilliant information, thank you
Aye what he said...
Excellent video. Fascinating. Did you know that George Washington was such an ardent Sunderland AFC fan that he made sure that the stars and stripes were red and white for his beloved team?
Good north country boy (well his family were) that’s why!
Canadians use words from Scotland and northern England with their dialect even, that's how you van tell the difference between them and Americans. (EG) About sounds like aboout.
everywhere ive travelled in the world the scottish accent is by far the best received and loved
Hi! I am a proud American, and I wonder when y'all will be speaking ghetto and gangsta. I still can't do the accent myself, and I live here!
Go to London.....even the white youth try to be Gangsta etc
The rest of us are more civilised
@@martinshepherd626 Really? So, being gangsta is catching on. Oh Lord, look out! Do the wannabe gangstaz in London call each other the N-word? That's when you know that you are serious. The next level up from that is irresponsible fornication, and another level-up takes you to violent crime. Will the new Labour government build more prisons? Y'all gonna need 'em.
@@GregoryTheGr8sterHaven’t you heard the latest, our idiot PM is intending to RELEASE thousands from prison - because they are crowded!! 🥺
Know wat I'm sayn😢😢
I dislike the way ‘Y’all’ is spreading. The language is English so please stick to the rules ;)
Apalachia is 100% ulster scots accent
The areas I visited they sounded more Bristolian/Cornish, and infact still used a lot of the same vocabulary, as the south west of Britain. A lot of those families had been there for around 300+ years, and given how remote they were, and there not being a stereotypical American accent among them, I dare say they haven't changed their accent since the day their ancestors stepped off the boat.
Where did you visit, JacknVictor?
Would be so curious to travel that way.
Thanks!
American women sound like an unmuffled 50cc two stroke.
What
This is hate speech
@@Trickshot72 very nasal
@@Dan-eq6po they are very nasal
I like where Desperate Dan went through the wall😂
Roosevelt seems to have a definte Scottish twang or phrasing to his speach. I don't think he was of Scottish descent either.
Yes, it’s certainly there and so very interesting
Lloyd grossman had an accent that used to baffle me
Could have been a bit enhanced for TV?
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV maybe. i think it was a boston accent which can sound a little english i believe.
It is not only a change of accent, but the content of the vocabulary, and the syntax and structure of language. I've found that I must "dumb down" my vocabulary in order to get my point across. For an example I have to stay away from the word serendipitous, and use lucky instead. The unfortunate consequences of this is meaning becomes less precise. Sorry for the rant.
Isn't it known as transatlantic accent? On another note I was researching happy days few months back and was bit shocked to hear them say trousers and stag do! It made me wonder when did it change to pants and bachelor party, was it still used just in certain areas or was it the writers vernacular
Hmm, interesting. I do think that accents and dialect changed dramatically in the 50’s with the invention of TV
I could never figure out where Boston accent came from ?😊
Hmm, worth looking into, but a lot of Irish went to Boston…including my grandmothers uncles who became policemen!
Southeast England with non-rhoticity tacked on. Interesting to me was Charlie Hunnam’s “American” accent in Sons of Anarchy. He sounded like a Bostonian to me a native Bostonian.
I knew i was right about this because i get many americans claiming their accent today was how the first settlers sounded and that we British changed. I said thats inpossible because explain why the people on Tangiers island sound like theyve just got off the boat from Gloucestershire south west England today.
Great info, thank you. I’d love to visit that island!
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV there's a video on UA-cam where someone visit this isolated fishing community just off the coast of north east US and he was interviewing this community and when they spoke they just sounded almost exactly like people around Gloucestershire, Bristol area to me. Almost like they were new arrivals.
When I heard a very early recording of one of the US presidents from the 19 century he sounded like an northerner from the north west of England where I am from.
@@kidcreole9421 Thank you, I’ll try and find that video
Scots must’ve impacted dialects, accents in the USA as the amount of Americans who thought they were of Irish stalk only to discover their DNA is Scottish when they took a DNA to discover their heritage speaks volumes . Also watching the Olympics there’s many athletes from all the commonwealth countries & USA with Scottish surnames makes me realise Scot’s certainly got about.
It’s true. wherever you go in the world, you’ll meet a Scot…but, rarely anyone from Wales!
My DNA is primarily German and English, yet my family's folkways are very Scots-Irish. The Scots-Irish won the culture war in many parts of America--even in places where they weren't the majority.
The so-called "Scotch-Irish" descend from a great 18th Century migration from Ulster, Southern Scotland, and Northern England. Read Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fisher.
You won't find much Scottish DNA or accents in the Bahamas but the amount of Scottish names are uncanny, I think it's obvious why. Yes they got about.
Very interesting. How long?....I wouldn't know...but I would love to know if the world-wide English adopted in other places will be Texan, Mid-western, Brooklyn, North Dakotan, or maybe Ozark mountaineer talk! 😅
Now that’s a question !
Wouldn’t mind an Ozarks twang lol
My Leeds prof said Americans retained a more Germanic flavor (Hanovarians at time of our independence) where you had closer contact to Europe and more chances for dialect to evolve that way.
Hmm, I think he might have been referring to the the early King George’s who had German accents. The public, British and American definitely didn’t!
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTVit was ages ago that I took the class. He said there was a case for American English to be a purer Germanic accent. You might find this blog interesting...
separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2024/06/stodgy-and-claggy.html?m=1
Imagine all the different British and Irish and worldly accents arriving in American. Maybe many of them had never heard other accents so would have to try to speak loud and clearly to be understood and cooperate with eachother.
I find it all so fascinating, especially hearing the voices from the past
34 Presidents of the USA have Scottish ancestry including Trump Washington Roosevelt & Clinton to name but a few.
@janice506 I stayed in a multinational hostel where everybody used to get on really well all drinking and socialising together then one day one of the French guys turn to a Scottish guy and said hey man I think you are really cool and a great guy but I'm so sorry that I have difficulty understanding what you're saying.
I believe the American accent started with an interaction like this
@@tick999 I think you’re right. People would naturally change the way they speak to suit their surroundings
Absolutely fascinating.
Thank you Alan
The English accent was rhotic in thoses days.....its the basis of the classic American accent....the English accent became non rhotic in the 18th century....thats why USA "wawter..".... Australia " waawtah "....
A lot of accents in the American South are heavily Celtic-derived, as is their music.
Country Music is wonderfully influenced by English, Irish and Scottish folk music, or tavern music. I love it!
Peter? Check out Oliver Anthony - Virginia.
I got a lighter, I’ve got a bowl! I know a spot where the law don’t go now we can smoke something my daddy didn’t grow back in his day 🎵✅😉💪
Backerrrrr and beansssss
The music in the south wasn’t influenced by the English it was the rednecks a nick name for the poor Scot’s & Irish .
i could clearly hear scottishness in theodore rosavelts accent
@@markhand4530 Yes, I think you’re right
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV No, that is an affectation. It's a fake accent taught in the upper class schools of that era. Roosevelt's background was Dutch. The Dutch language was still influential in New York into the mid 19th Century. In fact, Dutch was the FIRST language of President Martin van Buren.
My daughter already fills her cart at the mal with candies for her highschool graduation party 🥴
Wow they did sound closer to the British before the early 20th century
Fascinating I think!
The American elites sounded like that. The common folk did not.
The thing is you can tell the Australian and New Zealand accent sound related to the British accent. So I still dont understand how it’s so vastly different
Different circumstances and pool of settlers. No convicts in NZ either
Also, I might have mentioned this before, but when Brits do an American woman, they usually sound like a Valley Girl.
It was the English accent that changed....Americans, Northern Irish etc speak OP
Great job David
Heaven forged that we speak American in my lifetime
Blighters can't spell properly and I will be damned if I have to acclimate to it
I would prefer to acclimatise any day
ALUMINUM😢
Haha,thanks for watching
The pronunciation of ‘across’ is similar to upper class accents in Britain about the time of the Queen Mother.
Interestingly the late Queen Didn’t have a particularly upper class accent as she was home tutored and probably picked up the accent of the servants around her.
Children pick up accent from other children NOT their parents as you’d expect.
You’re right, it’s peer to peer contact that does it
Mmmmm went to uni with a quiet, shy, stay at home boy who had a Yorkshire accent - but he had never been outside Australia.
@@pauls8456eyyyyy up lovey, just nippin down t’ shops Canberra yeah back in a jiffy
- Mick Dundee
Was Loyd Grossman born in the 18th century? 🤭
That was his TV voice!
I live in the north west of the United States and I need subtitles for people from the south and the east coast of the country I can't understand them.🤨
We’re the same on this country…as small as we are, some accents are very difficult to understand!
What really annoys me as a Scot is English speakers say they need subtitles to understand Scottish people , you never hear Scot’s putting down anyone over their accent or dialects. Also English wasn’t Scotlands first language we spoke Scots & Gallic but were punished if we didn’t speak English at school even getting the cane , it happened to my mum as a wee girl & my granny . So in Scotland we have 3 official languages English, Scots & Gallic .
@@janice506 I’m working with several Scots at the moment and we’ve been talking about the huge variations in their accents, plus different words used in different parts too. It’s a fascination topic
Maybe US accents would have remained more as they once were if they had the BBC ....lol
Not so much now though. There used to be a BBC accent, but now it’s much more regional !
While it may have been true that some Americans maintained a British accent as a status symbol, it's not true that all Americans were seeking after status. I seriously doubt my ancestors sounded British even in the 18th century.
In the 18th century, your ancestors definitely would have sounded quite British!
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV No, I don't think so. They were on the bottom rungs of society, so they were making no pretentions of status. They were also living on the frontier, so no fancy education for them, either. Not to mention that there was also major influence on them from German speakers.
@@aLadNamedNathan I think the point I’m making here is that the general accent overall in the 18th century, no matter the class would have been much closer to British than anything else. Such an interesting topic to think about!
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV And I have to respectfully disagree with that. I think only the elites were still sounding British in the 18th century. To be sure, the lower classes weren't speaking American English like 21st century Americans do, but I think it had diverged enough by then to be distinct among the average Americans.
There used to be a much greater emphasis on equality among Americans than there is now, stemming from the ideology of the American Revolution. My parents and grandparents brooked no slight to their dignity from the upper class, and they even laughed at the affectations of the elite. Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy were all mocked for the way they spoke in my family's household.
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV Would American English of the 18th century have been closer to British English than it is now? ABSOLUTELY! Would it have been the same as British English of the time? No way. It had already had a century in which to diverge from British English. If you think that's not a long time for language change to occur, let me tell you that I'm in my sixties, and I'm amazed at how differently young people speak from the way I speak. And I'm not talking merely about slang here--I'm talking about all kinds of phonological and grammatical changes that just drive me up the wall. Surely there was just as much divergence back in the 17th & 18th centuries--if not more. They didn't have modern media to slow down language change.
Surely the New York city accent was heavily influenced by the original Dutch colonists?
The New England accent was influenced by the cadence of the Puritans and the regional accents of England whence they came from?
Not enough of the Dutch to influence it greatly
I find the more commercial America becomes the more the rhoticity comes to the fore so in the first half of the twentieth century the rhoticity isnt as pronounced so sounds more "English" whereas after the 50s when TV came in and the west coast accent was beamed into people homes more often then rhoticity became more and more pronounced through the 60s 70s and Id say the 80s was the peak of commercialised America where it peaked and the accent you hear now pretty much comes from that decade.
Very good point. TV in the 50’s must have had a huge impact on the US accent
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV thanks for replying, love your work in bargain hunt by the way, I'm from Australia and we love it.
Americans take a lot of things and make them their own, I mean, what is all that 'International English' vs 'US English' rubbish about? Surely, they mean 'Original English' or 'British English'...
These recording do not sound like English accents at all, they sound like late 19th and early 20th century American accents and have nothing to do with American accents of the founding fathers or earlier which would have sounded like modern English West Country accents. As was portrayed in the TV mini series 'John Adams'. The Al Pacino film 'Revolution' got it totally wrong when it tried to use modern English accents for American rebels. If you want to find an American still speaking with an older American accent just watch Kate Mulgrew in Star Trek Voyager? Or Katharine Hepburn films?
They sound like I said they sound…with a British lilt to them
What accent did Cary Grant have I wonder ?..not a Bristol one , is it?..
He adopted a transatlantic accent for career purposes.
@@JacknVictorArchibald Leach from Bristol
It doesn’t influence me.. I’d hate to sound like a yank…
Many people in England, especially the young, now seem more influenced by accents from India and Jamaica than America, especially in London. The old cockney accent is almost dead.
Your’e right about that. It’s very rare to hear a proper cockney accent now
Isn't that what is called Estuary English? Basically the accent of the Ali G character. Yes I can hear American, Caribbean and Indian accents in it. I hate it and I'm not from the London area.
I was born in sussex and around here i got asked if im london by tourists 😂. I think the accent is still around in the home counties , london has a more patois west indian style influence
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV Loved Only Fools and Horses 😅
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV I'd love to know what Americans think of the Geordie accent like mine (if they ever hear it over there)
Auf Widersehn Pet for example 😅
And The Likely Lads 😀
Another interesting video, what do you make of the claim some English once spoke like Americans do?
Oh, now that is hurting my brain! Love it!
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV 😆 but it's something I have heard repeatedly. I guess it's more that the accents have diverged over time
@@danielmaher964 lack of evidence tends to make me refute the theory.
@@garrysteptoe2279 are there studies attempting to find that evidence?
How long before we all start talking with a Toronto Hoodmans accent?
Not long!
...Now whenever I watch a movie featuring early America, I'm going to be mildly frustrated that they never get the accents right.
Thanks a lot, ya jerk living in a beautiful spot! (Show us the dog.)
My pleasure, it’s a fascinating topic
Katherine Hepburn had that British accent , but was American. English actors can do a great Southern accent… I often wonder why
Hepburn had what was known as the transatlantic accent which was a made up affectation actors in Hollywood often had to make themselves sound classier, Cary Grant had it too. It was sposed to be a balance of both accents it wasn't an organic accent though as it only existed in film and eventually died out.
I suppose he tale end of clinging on to the old accent which was believed to make people sound classier. 1950’s TV put an end to it I’d suggest
Spot on
It wasn't an affectation or made up.
Across 20th century the accent sounded less British and more All-American.
It is the period when the original accent is transforming into modern American.
@@danielburger1775 no sorry that's incorrect, the transatlantic accent WAS deliberately created for movie stars to sound more English so yes it was an affectation, Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn did not grow up sounding like that. They were coached to alter their accent by voice coaches in Hollywood as were many actors of that era.
Not a “melting pot”. We do not get along with one another.
It’s the same all over now. We’re more divided than ever!
British people are much more eloquent, shame America lost its ability to speak properly, everyone is so lazy nowadays
Including a lot of the British I’m afraid!
Because they were British.
What an amazing video - thank you David.
Those accents ! Wow, they sound so English…..
Sorry David, but there are many American accents which are very loud and grating. I would like to think we keep our accent, and the Americans keep theirs.
Many thanks!
Because they are not here - things change - same as Australian - less local influences there - English dialects change in a few miles - so no surprise.
Very informative but this couldn't be true. The american accent could be sourced to a regional English accent that is no longer spoken there. The British RP itself has gone through significant evolution in the last century. Compare the British actors from the 1930s with the ones from 1960s onwards. Likewise, the American elite spoke mid-Atlantic accent because the regular American accent was considered too corny which could be true because it didn't sound as clear as the American accent did now. Of course, the southern and Northern accents were out of the question until a famous actor popularized it and secured its acceptance. The southern accent got its acceptance though even till present, it's ridiculed with the accent being used by offensive characters like hillbillies.
The American accent which can be rooted back to California is taking over not just the world but all the regions of the US. Evolving, some features like the r is becoming more pronounced but it's not because of the influence of the other cultures. Instead, it's influencing cultures around the world.
Thanks for the comment. What you say is effectively what I’ve said on the video
Are you still buying Royal Crown Derby bowls ?
No, but if you have a large collection (value over 5k) then I can help you sell and make an interesting video for my subscribers…which will help with the sale too
There seems to be an awful lot of assumption here. Essentially the different in accent amounts to an R.
I'll give you another vocal phenomenon, why is there very little differential pronunciation with the Australian accent?
The language might be an english, but the melody and intonation is irish, scot and german.
With no English influence?…that’s impossible
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV No, not no influence... but I feel it my mouth(palate and tongue) and ears, how american english is much much easier to understand and speak than english/oxford english for me... though I love the good old british "Carry On..." movies and they help a lot. 😁
Most of em were German or Flemish! With a few paddy’s to do the hard work!
When America was a British colony, most were British
British colony but was discovered by the Dutch and Portuguese many years before so why don't Americans have their accents?
for obvious reasons…they didn’t stay around!
Nice Merc David.
30 year old 320CE. I love it !
A great era for Mercedes, happy motoring.
To my ear none of those recordings smacked of Britishness. If I heard someone today speaking with those sorts of accents, I'd place them distinctly in the USA, definitely not England. Of course, I grew up hearing recordings of people like FDR and never considered such an accent anything but expressing the America of a particular time. Just as you would react to hearing BBC radio presenters from the 1920-30s. You'd say, "Nobody talks that way anymore, it's definitely not today's British, but indisputably British all the same."
Interesting observation thank you
Smacked?????
English accent, British people have many accents
They do, but there all English or British
From Scottish and Irish settlers surely.
A bigger mix than that
Newfies entered the chat
there's no visual...i could be a blind person
try again, as the visual is definitely there!
@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV No no no. Watching it again. Complete blank.
@@AlbertPaysonTerhune Sorry about that. Everyone else can see it, don’t know what the problem is?
Im afraid the Brits better brush up on their Arabic for the next century 😞
Spot on! Plus African, Rumanian, Albanian etc etc etc.
@@stevewilson6390”…plus African” There is no hope for you.
God save the Allah
Ah but was ok for Brits to go around invading countries, wipe out local culture and force English language on them whilst no Arab nation is doing the same.
Hopefully never!