2006-07-25 02:31:05 · 8 answers · asked by Froggy S 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
If you want the comedically religious answer then everyone spoke the same until the Tower of Babel was built. God saw it as an affront to him and layed the smack down and so everyone spoke other languages after that... but if you want a more realistic answer and not one that would make mother goose laugh, then read any of the above.
2006-07-28 17:09:01 · answer #1 · answered by Runs_on_Coffee 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People don't just wake up and say, "Gee, I think I will start speaking with an accent, today!" Everyone has an accent but, of course, you don't hear your own accent as an accent.
Essentially, everyone adjusts their pronunciation to the pronunciation of the people round them. This process goes on all the time, so that pronunciations slowly change. When two groups are isolated from each other, their pronunciations will diverge over time. If enough time intervenes, the two populations will perceive that their is a difference in accent between them.
There are linguistic laws that describe how this happens, and what sounds are most likely to change.
2006-07-25 02:39:26 · answer #2 · answered by P. M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Different languages have different ways of pronouncing sounds. Thus, when, for instance, a american tries to pronounce the norwegian word "kjøttkake", it is going to sound pretty strange.
"unlearning" the way you pronounce sounds is quite hard, and thus people speaking foreign languages will most commonly have an accent.
A dialect is a geographic variation of a language. These are developed as new words and pronounciations are adopted from person to person; A child will learn how to talk from its parents, and later from its friends.
A "language" specific to a profession or social group is called a sociolect, or more commonly, Jargon. (I.E military jargon, "legaleeze", and so on.)
Often, even a group of friends can develop a distinctive way of talking.
Historically, (european) languages where not standardized at all before the renaissance; Arabic was standardized by the Quaran, but practically, there are lots of regional dialects.
2006-07-25 08:37:19 · answer #3 · answered by Elling P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Accents are a natural part of linguistic evolution, the first step towards developing dialects and eventually other languages.
2006-07-25 06:38:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Accents were started so a specific culture could communicate faster/easier.
2006-07-25 05:38:14 · answer #5 · answered by matt 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It develop overtime due to early people was far away from each other and it sort of nurture over the ages.
2006-07-25 02:37:17 · answer #6 · answered by mervz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The French started this accent craze and it got worse from there.
2006-07-25 02:36:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
when non speaking English people learn English they still have the accents with it even if it is a new language
the four faced master
2006-07-25 04:18:30 · answer #8 · answered by the four faced master 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋