Ok there are accents out there, a lot of them. Every one knows, but why? and how they develop? The question seems as elusive as the THD figure influence in whether an audio gear sounds good or awful
Some claim it came into California from Australia, but the origin is unclear. Certainly California is responsible for its spread, alas.
There was a female contestant on Jeopardy! recently who was roundly chided on the 'net for her exaggerated, drawn out fry.
Agree - and post 4.
My family arrived in North America from England in the 1620s and didn't go very far. The regional accent derives from that, with changes from the influences of Scotts and Germans arriving later - and time.
I hear vowel shifts all over the place. In a lot of the US, the short I sound - as in bit or sit - is becoming broader, sounding like bet and set. It's odd and a little confusing. Where I grew up we pronounced News to rhyme with pews, and said pronounced Stupid as Stewpid, not Stoo-ped. But the latter, born of non English speaking immigrants who don't have the EW sound, is taking over.
It's not just accents that spread and shft, so do terms and idioms. When I moved to London in 1980, no Brit talked about a Guy. It was bloke, chap, lad, geezer or other terms. Now even Brtis in their 70s say Guy. "I'm going to call a bunch of guys." 3 Americanisms in one sentence. Not unusual now, it would have been laughed at in '80s London.
And we pick up Britishisms here, too. "Chat up", "waiting in a queue, Bob's your Uncle , things like that.
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sometimes things are recycled. I remember when I first went to live in New York I needed a hair cut. I went to this place that I thought would suffice but wasn't sure if it was a ladies-only place, it clearly wasn't a gentlemen's barber. So I asked the lady 'do you do blokes hair?'. 'Yes' she said, 'and what style is that?' 🙂
Noticed also how a lot of the words I thought were American were actually old English usage that the mother country had stopped using, e.g. Trunk (instead of boot).
Noticed also how a lot of the words I thought were American were actually old English usage that the mother country had stopped using, e.g. Trunk (instead of boot).
I get that with English and German too as both evolved from Old Friesian.
Some old words remained in German but fell from usage in English and vice versa while other words changed in different directions.
For example the german equivalent to the english name 'John' is 'Hans'.
They look quite different but both evolved from the biblical/latin 'Johannus' Krauts and Limeys just dropped different letters over time.
Other times the words remained similar but the meaning changed.
Like 'knight' and 'knecht'. In english a person subservient only to the monarch, in german one who is subservient to almost everybody.
(At some point in history the original 'ch' changed to 'gh' and, I think due to french influence since 1066, became largely silent. The Scots retained the 'ch' as for example in 'Loch Lomond'.)
PS: Hey Pano, are you one of those few americans who can pronounce 'Worcester' correctly?
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Old Frisian is kniucht
Also how knecht is pronounced in Frisian today. On the other hand, knecht in Frisian (Friesian/Frysk) is 'Feint', but 'Feind' in German is something different altogether.
(German : Meister => Welsh : Meistr)
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This is an amusing question because New England has a lot of places that take their names from places in the U.K.
Portsmouth, NH
Worcester, MA
Plymouth, MA
Haverhill, MA
I still remember calling a hotel chain 800 number and asking them for the address of their hotel in Portsmouth. They stated quite emphatically that they did not have a hotel in that city. Turns out my correct local pronunciation went completely over their heads, the coin dropped when the woman asked if I didn't mean "Ports Mouth" and I said that while that is exactly what I meant the correct pronunciation is "Portsmuth." (I was living there at the time.)
I am sure you can imagine the mirth that ensues with Worcester and non natives.. lol Names like Scituate and Cochituate create quite a lot of problems as well..
Yes, Woostah.
And "Lester" Square in London.
Not to mention Slough, wish we jokingly referred to as Sluff.
In North Carolina there is the town of Beaufort, pronounced Bo-fert
In South Carolina there is the town of Beaufort, pronounced Bewferd
And "Lester" Square in London.
Not to mention Slough, wish we jokingly referred to as Sluff.
In North Carolina there is the town of Beaufort, pronounced Bo-fert
In South Carolina there is the town of Beaufort, pronounced Bewferd
Back in the 80's, A friend of mine once asked a taxi to take him to lie-chester square, and it apparently took a little back and forth for the driver to figure out where he really needed to go. 😉
My favourite -cester city is Towcester which sounds like a small kitchen appliance.
Oddly Lancaster is pronounced the way non-brits would expect otherwise it would be "lensta" which could lead to confusion with the irish county of Leinster, which itself sounds already dangerously close Leominster (lemsta).
Then there are Harwich (short vowels, hard r and the w is silent) and Norwich (same) but also Ipswich (ypps-which).
Most -mouth towns are -muths except Cockermouth. Probably for comedic reasons. ;-)
We've got a place called Beaulieu (Bew-li) where we have the National Motor Museum. The scale the force of wind is called Bo-fort.
Oddly Lancaster is pronounced the way non-brits would expect otherwise it would be "lensta" which could lead to confusion with the irish county of Leinster, which itself sounds already dangerously close Leominster (lemsta).
Then there are Harwich (short vowels, hard r and the w is silent) and Norwich (same) but also Ipswich (ypps-which).
Most -mouth towns are -muths except Cockermouth. Probably for comedic reasons. ;-)
We've got a place called Beaulieu (Bew-li) where we have the National Motor Museum. The scale the force of wind is called Bo-fort.
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