Early American Accents

[Josquius]

How come the media hasn't removed these small, odd southern accents the way it has toned down local accents in the UK?

[Caliga]

Are you talking about the Mid-Atlantic accent (Philly/SE PA, south Jersey, Baltimore)?  I always thought it sounded like a fusion of southern and New York accents.  In western PA it's downright Appalachian IMO.

No, central PA, where it sounds like what I think you're probably referring to as western PA (by which you mean western PA south of Pittsburgh, right?)

[KRonn]

speculation into spoken english has elder forms of english sounding more like modern irish english. But, the best example of how fucking impossible it is to think about this is the story of the danish slur. The reason danes speak as if they were mentally retarded with a potatoe in their mouth in their own language (but manage to do so clearly in other languages) is that centuries ago a fad for speaking with a slur gained favor in france when the king spoke with a slur. This reached fashionable circles in Kopenhagen and became all the rage resulting in the modern unintellegability of spoken danish.

English has hints of this with slurred speech being associated with upper class twits; the "bwian" joke from "The life of brian" is a perfect example of this.

Wow, that sounds really messed up for Danish speaking!   

[dps]

How come the media hasn't removed these small, odd southern accents the way it has toned down local accents in the UK?

"The media" in this country isn't as monolithic as that in the UK.  You have, what, 8 broadcast TV channels in the UK?  We have hundreds of them in the US.  Sure, most of them fill a lot of their schedules with network or nationally syndicated shows, but they have a lot of locally producted content as well.  Heck, I grew up in a little town of about 5000 people in the middle of nowhere, and we had our own local TV channel (and had had it since 1948, which meant that from 1948-1955, our little dinky town had as many TV channels as the whole UK).  I don't know how many radio broadcast stations you have in the UK, but I wouldn't be surprised if WV alone had more than the entire UK.  And for a long time, radio stations in the US featured more local content than did TV stations (I'm not sure whether or not that is still true).

[mongers]

How come the media hasn't removed these small, odd southern accents the way it has toned down local accents in the UK?

"The media" in this country isn't as monolithic as that in the UK.  You have, what, 8 broadcast TV channels in the UK?  We have hundreds of them in the US.  Sure, most of them fill a lot of their schedules with network or nationally syndicated shows, but they have a lot of locally producted content as well.  Heck, I grew up in a little town of about 5000 people in the middle of nowhere, and we had our own local TV channel (and had had it since 1948, which meant that from 1948-1955, our little dinky town had as many TV channels as the whole UK).  I don't know how many radio broadcast stations you have in the UK, but I wouldn't be surprised if WV alone had more than the entire UK.  And for a long time, radio stations in the US featured more local content than did TV stations (I'm not sure whether or not that is still true).

It's probably nearer 60-70 TV channels.

And around 30 radio stations, excluding local and regional stations.

[derspiess]

No, central PA, where it sounds like what I think you're probably referring to as western PA (by which you mean western PA south of Pittsburgh, right?)

Pretty much, yeah. 

[Viking]

speculation into spoken english has elder forms of english sounding more like modern irish english. But, the best example of how fucking impossible it is to think about this is the story of the danish slur. The reason danes speak as if they were mentally retarded with a potatoe in their mouth in their own language (but manage to do so clearly in other languages) is that centuries ago a fad for speaking with a slur gained favor in france when the king spoke with a slur. This reached fashionable circles in Kopenhagen and became all the rage resulting in the modern unintellegability of spoken danish.

English has hints of this with slurred speech being associated with upper class twits; the "bwian" joke from "The life of brian" is a perfect example of this.

Wow, that sounds really messed up for Danish speaking!   

How Norwegians view the Danish Language, which is virtually identical in written form; but unintelligible when spoken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk

[Razgovory]

I hate the often repeated line that American is closer to old English than British is. That is just wrong.
American is probally closer to the English of a few hundred years ago than RP (a creation of modern times) but no way is it closer than other British dialects. It is recognised for instance that Bede makes more sense read with a modern northern accent than a standard English one.
The dialects of Britain largely have their basis way back in the dark ages.
American (and Australian and others)...is some weird evolution of them all splodged together.

Since British Dialects vary widely how can you say this?  Anyway, what is typically said is that American English is closer to Elizabethan English in tone and sound then modern London English.

[derspiess]

I hate the often repeated line that American is closer to old English than British is. That is just wrong.
American is probally closer to the English of a few hundred years ago than RP (a creation of modern times) but no way is it closer than other British dialects. It is recognised for instance that Bede makes more sense read with a modern northern accent than a standard English one.
The dialects of Britain largely have their basis way back in the dark ages.
American (and Australian and others)...is some weird evolution of them all splodged together.

Since British Dialects vary widely how can you say this?  Anyway, what is typically said is that American English is closer to Elizabethan English in tone and sound then modern London English.

I thought we (and some American dialects more than others) just kept a lot of words that fell into disuse in Britain.

[Phillip V]

Are you talking about the Mid-Atlantic accent (Philly/SE PA, south Jersey, Baltimore)?  I always thought it sounded like a fusion of southern and New York accents.  In western PA it's downright Appalachian IMO.

No, central PA, where it sounds like what I think you're probably referring to as western PA (by which you mean western PA south of Pittsburgh, right?)

I spent occasional stays for three years in Gettysburg, and the locals did indeed sound different.

[Valmy]

I spent occasional stays for three years in Gettysburg, and the locals did indeed sound different.

They would always say 'four score' instead of eighty for example.

[Viking]

I spent occasional stays for three years in Gettysburg, and the locals did indeed sound different.

They would always say 'four score' instead of eighty for example.

The fucking danes say "fjers" rather than the logical "åtti". But the annoying thing about "four score and ten" is that the fucking danes use "halv fems" for that.

Don't get me started on danish number ffs.

[Martinus]

Wouldn't there be some influence from immigrants from non-English-speaking countries?

[Martinus]

American accents were similar to the British accents of the time, however American accents have changed significantly less then the British since then.

Americans talk more like 18th century Brits, than Brits? 

That's not so weird. Modern Silesians talk more like 14th century Poles, than Poles.

[Josquius]

Since British Dialects vary widely how can you say this?  Anyway, what is typically said is that American English is closer to Elizabethan English in tone and sound then modern London English.

Because they used to vary even wider still?