July 18, 2015

Saturday Learning Series Bonus Item - British vs. American Accents

Why did the accents in America diverge from those in Britain?  One major contributing factor might surprise you - it certainly did me.

2 comments:

  1. The difference between English and American accents? I blame the Canadians! Have you ever heard them pronounce the word "process"??

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  2. Sure, blame Canada. I've never noticed how we say process, and I say it a lot in my day job. Now I have to call a co-worker in Chicago and ask him to listen to me say it.

    While there are actually a number of different Canadian accents (nobody I know says 'aboot' instead of about), things are different than even 20 years ago. And it's the same reason that accents in North Carolina (an example I have seen first hand) have changed: Television.

    I am sure that 50 years from now, we'll all have Hollywood accents (from Texas to Nova Scotia). Canadians speak much more like Americans than we used to speak and the trend will continue.

    As an aside, anyone who tells you Hollywood reflects the culture and doesn't help shape it, accents prove that's not true, at least not entirely. Media affects culture.

    ReplyDelete

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