Just wanted to thank you for this posting this video. This is one of the last pieces of footage I have of my Grandmother in good health. She is working the cash register in this video.
I'm from Baltimore born and raised and had no problem understanding these conversations. They sound like particularly thick Maryland accents to me but, as others have mentioned, they also have a slight West Country English tinge to them as well. I'm descended from some of the first settlers on Maryland's Eastern Shore from England during the 17th century, fascinating to get a glimpse into how my ancestors may have sounded.
I can hear British West Country accent. My Mum was evacuated to Somerset during WW2 from London and she came back with a strong Someset accent after the war. She was a London Cockney born and bred but she still said certain words like these good people here. This must be how the first settlers sounded and over time a mix with other accents but still very strong English country in the phrasing and rhythm. I heard they still call guns "muskets" dont know if thats the case. Very interesting to hear. Thanks
Karen Fredericks As someone born and bread in Somerset, I can see where you’re coming from, but to my ear it’s much more Cornish/West Devon (think the comedian Jethro).
What you've got to remember is , is, that accent comes from a small part of Britain. It maybe how they spoke in Elizabethan England, but it isn't representative of the dialect/accent of all of Britain, only an area in the S.W. There were probably people who spoke in a highbrow way, but these would be very few as there are countless accents in Britain.
I can tell I was born and bred on the Delmarva Peninsula (the peninsula Smith Island is located off of) when I can pretty much understand everything they are saying, while others act like it’s some foreign language. The only things I couldn’t make out were because they were speaking over each other lol.
the british accent back then was actually much closer to what you're hearing here than the stereotypical british accent we hear nowadays, which only really came to be over the past couple centuries or so. Their original manner of speech was much rougher around the edges and closer to a typical Cornish or even Southern US accent
@@orfeo793 There was much more rhoticity in *English* accents specifically. They certainly didn't sound like modern Americans, and, at the time of the earliest settlement in the 16-17th centuries, English accents were different between villages on other sides of hills and rivers. Lots of American vowel sounds and sayings some from the East Midlands, East Anglia and the South West.
sounds.bl.uk/Accents-and-dialects/Survey-of-English-dialects/021M-C0908X0061XX-0400V1 This accent is of someone from East Anglia, lots of the vowel sounds are audible in some American accents
@fknwonderful yes. i've been to tangier island before on a sailing trip, (i'm from Virginia Beach) and it felt like being in a foreign country sometimes. But if the current theories are correct, these dialects are among the closest living analogues to Elizabethan English. I find that extremely interesting and I wish to keep these brogues alive.
DrIm- I love Smith island but if anyone is offended by this video I will take it off youtube. I put it here more to show people the interesting accent on the island. I have live in Salisbury most of my life and have great respect for the Watermen. Thanks for your comment and let me know your thoughts on the matter,
I heard this is the only place that has an English accent in the U.S.. I like it.I could imagine somebody saying were is Ringo LOL. It sounds better then my Brooklyn accent. Peace everyone
I'm sure you didn't mean nothing by this video but it is probably hard to hear because the young man is talking about his house that burnt down. I remember it well because I was there as a part of the Ewell Vol. Fire Co. and it's was a very sad time.
I tought three year olds,and I understood them.Tell me,was the man sitting ,in blue jacket, Captain Terry? I heard he was heavier then,and he looks and sounds like him.
@@oscarj0231 I’m from the peninsula this island is located off of and I understood them without trouble. I have the same accent as them, just less pronounced (or so I think).
@@connorpusey5912 from Texas myself, Texas having a bastardized Appalachian dialect I couldn’t understand a word. I can understand Scotsmen and Irishmen though.
@@oscarj0231 Thank you for explaining what was being said in this video! I'm from the Maryland "mainland" (DC to Baltimore area) and I did not understand a word they were saying. I find it fascinating that their accent is closer to an old English one than to a current regular Maryland or East Coast accent. I have just returned from traveling to the Eastern Shore and read up about Smith Island which is at the very bottom of the region before it becomes Virginia. Looked it up on the map and yes, although it's an island off the southern peninsula of MD, it might as well be a different country! hehe I love the Eastern Shore and the folks over there!
It's the closest living dialect to what Shakespeare would have sounded like. It's spoken on the Chesapeake Islands and has been isolated for centuries.
Just wanted to thank you for this posting this video. This is one of the last pieces of footage I have of my Grandmother in good health. She is working the cash register in this video.
God rest her soul. Merry Christmas.
So this is where all the Sims are from...
I love how they constantly talk over another yet still listen.
I'm from Baltimore born and raised and had no problem understanding these conversations. They sound like particularly thick Maryland accents to me but, as others have mentioned, they also have a slight West Country English tinge to them as well. I'm descended from some of the first settlers on Maryland's Eastern Shore from England during the 17th century, fascinating to get a glimpse into how my ancestors may have sounded.
I can hear British West Country accent. My Mum was evacuated to Somerset during WW2 from London and she came back with a strong Someset accent after the war. She was a London Cockney born and bred but she still said certain words like these good people here. This must be how the first settlers sounded and over time a mix with other accents but still very strong English country in the phrasing and rhythm. I heard they still call guns "muskets" dont know if thats the case. Very interesting to hear. Thanks
Karen Fredericks As someone born and bread in Somerset, I can see where you’re coming from, but to my ear it’s much more Cornish/West Devon (think the comedian Jethro).
They sound like people I'd overhear at a pub.
This video can vote next year.
Southwest England. Anywhere between Plymouth and Cornwall. Fishing towns and ports where the oldest of English dialects are spoken.
What you've got to remember is , is, that accent comes from a small part of Britain. It maybe how they spoke in Elizabethan England, but it isn't representative of the dialect/accent of all of Britain, only an area in the S.W. There were probably people who spoke in a highbrow way, but these would be very few as there are countless accents in Britain.
I can tell I was born and bred on the Delmarva Peninsula (the peninsula Smith Island is located off of) when I can pretty much understand everything they are saying, while others act like it’s some foreign language. The only things I couldn’t make out were because they were speaking over each other lol.
This is great. I would bet this is how early Americans sounded.
Hahahah No Actually, the Brits had American accents
the british accent back then was actually much closer to what you're hearing here than the stereotypical british accent we hear nowadays, which only really came to be over the past couple centuries or so. Their original manner of speech was much rougher around the edges and closer to a typical Cornish or even Southern US accent
@@orfeo793 There was much more rhoticity in *English* accents specifically. They certainly didn't sound like modern Americans, and, at the time of the earliest settlement in the 16-17th centuries, English accents were different between villages on other sides of hills and rivers. Lots of American vowel sounds and sayings some from the East Midlands, East Anglia and the South West.
sounds.bl.uk/Accents-and-dialects/Survey-of-English-dialects/021M-C0908X0061XX-0400V1
This accent is of someone from East Anglia, lots of the vowel sounds are audible in some American accents
Diggle Doggle I can 100% hear similarities with American English.
Hearing em talkin makes me miss everyone more ..... I feel so homesick now ...
That’s bizarre! It’s kind of a hybrid between an American Southern accent, and a British accent.
They sound exactly like the people on the outer banks of North Carolina. It's a mix of southern and Elizabethan.
Not Elizabethan, but West Country, primarily Somerset and Devonshire.
Damn coffee makers
ED and Mary Gladden were my parents, they talked very well of the islanders,
Just amazing...I only understood a few words here & there. :-)
Fascinating. It's a place I have to go before it washes way or turned into a resort.
always wanted to go to smith island.
thank god for smith island and smith island cake
@fknwonderful yes. i've been to tangier island before on a sailing trip, (i'm from Virginia Beach) and it felt like being in a foreign country sometimes. But if the current theories are correct, these dialects are among the closest living analogues to Elizabethan English. I find that extremely interesting and I wish to keep these brogues alive.
DrIm-
I love Smith island but if anyone is offended by this video I will take it off youtube. I put it here more to show people the interesting accent on the island. I have live in Salisbury most of my life and have great respect for the Watermen. Thanks for your comment and let me know your thoughts on the matter,
They sound like a bunch of Mr. Mackey's from south park
I heard this is the only place that has an English accent in the U.S.. I like it.I could imagine somebody saying were is Ringo LOL. It sounds better then my Brooklyn accent. Peace everyone
I'm sure you didn't mean nothing by this video but it is probably hard to hear because the young man is talking about his house that burnt down. I remember it well because I was there as a part of the Ewell Vol. Fire Co. and it's was a very sad time.
I tought three year olds,and I understood them.Tell me,was the man sitting ,in blue jacket, Captain Terry? I heard he was heavier then,and he looks and sounds like him.
This is awesome.....Virginia has SO many accents....Southside accent, Central Virginia accent, SW Va. accent, Tangiers and Smith Islands...wild!!
This is Maryland
This is at the small store in Ewell, although i have been to Tylerton as well
I can't really understand what there saying as one who speaks in a standard Midwestern American accent.
@@oscarj0231
I’m from the peninsula this island is located off of and I understood them without trouble. I have the same accent as them, just less pronounced (or so I think).
@@connorpusey5912 from Texas myself, Texas having a bastardized Appalachian dialect I couldn’t understand a word. I can understand Scotsmen and Irishmen though.
@@oscarj0231 Thank you for explaining what was being said in this video! I'm from the Maryland "mainland" (DC to Baltimore area) and I did not understand a word they were saying. I find it fascinating that their accent is closer to an old English one than to a current regular Maryland or East Coast accent. I have just returned from traveling to the Eastern Shore and read up about Smith Island which is at the very bottom of the region before it becomes Virginia. Looked it up on the map and yes, although it's an island off the southern peninsula of MD, it might as well be a different country! hehe I love the Eastern Shore and the folks over there!
That is classic!
@iguanabomb yep we are crazy bastards and damn proud of it
I've heard that their dialect it more Elizabethan than the rest of North America. I wonder whether they went through the great vowel change.
Not Elizabethan, but English West Country. Specifically, Cornwall, Devonshire, and Somerset.
a durr durr durrrrrrr
This is english?
Smith island accent. They live on a small island on the Chesapeake bay in Maryland, I live on the bay as well just not on smith island
+MrSexwaxsurfer25 I grew up mid eastern shore on a farm, much of the older farming community sounds just like this
Old english, older than most of the accents spoken in the British isles today.
Haha, my grandmother talks like that, is this in Tylerton?
im Half from there!
@mariostud D'oh!!!!
Eventhough I am a teacher of English I do not understand a word of it. What language are they speaking?
Their speaking old English which is a dialect it's a hard slow draw
It's the closest living dialect to what Shakespeare would have sounded like. It's spoken on the Chesapeake Islands and has been isolated for centuries.
West Country English.
@@Ridley369 Sounds a little bit American.
I SEE MILTYYYY
@IoSonoUomo um no they werent from smith island
@lampsofachair half? whats you're name?
@FredAtThePark kyle tyler?
@Wolf3Black last name is harrison
@balthazar2000 yea the coffee maker started the fire somehow their dog ace died in the fire
@fknwonderful hey its not hard when you're raised in it
@lampsofachair oh yea iknow some harrisons
They have accents?
No they ended up not rebuilding it.
I believe the accent is also called Queens English. It's quite lovely.
That accent is terrible
Sounds like people who dont speak English trying to sound as if they do
HAHAHAHAHA
lol wtf
God, I've got some Newfie family, and that's damn close to the same accent, just a tad bit of what, Cajun thrown in maybe?
DJ Wise Pariah no, there's no Cajun whatsoever. It's purely English Westcountry.
lol wtf