What exactly is the British accent?

Question

I'm from the UK and I never understand what people mean when they talk about a British accent. The English language has been widely spoken in the British Isles for over 1000 years, and as a result there is more diversity in accents in the UK than in the rest of the world put together. Yes it's true that not all Americans or Canadians or Australians have the same accent, but in England alone the accents are so diverse that often someone from the south might not be able to understand someone from the North at all.

When you talk about a British accent, which one do you mean?

Sorry but I refuse to accept that it simply depends on perspective (ie. I only notice the differences because I'm from here). The fact is that some British accents really are very extreme (I'm thinking Geordie, Black Country, Scouser, Brummie). A person from say, London, would find these accents harder to understand than any American accent. This proves that they are indeed very different and not just a case of variations in an overall British accent.

Oh and Include Glasgow and other parts of Scotland in that list above.

I'm guessing the problem stems from the fact that most Americans (let's face it, that's who we're talking about here) have never heard any of the accents I listed above, so they don't know of their existence.

Answer 1

We mean all of them. Basically, it's geographical ignorance on our part. And I don't mean that in a rude way.
We use "British" the same way you could use "American" to refer to any regional accent in the US. Here, most of us are aware of our own regions enough to be able to identify a Texas accent from a New York, New England, Boston, Southern, Cajun, Minnesota/Northern Plains (etc.) accent We know that there are lots of different accents that all come from Great Britain.
When we say British or English accent, we could be referring to the refined Queen's English, Cockney, Yorkshire, Midlands, North Country, Birmingham, Bristol, Welsh, a hybrid of some of the above, others we don't know the names of, or even (I shudder to think...) Irish (Dublin, Belfast, or some other) and Scottish (be it Highland or Lowland, etc). It's just that we either aren't aware enough of the hallmarks that define each accent to identify them by name, or we don't even know the names to begin with.
I think most Americans can tell the Irish and Scottish brogues from English accents, but not always. But we usually can't separate them any further than their country of origin. So we often lump them together the same way: "Irish accent", "Scottish accent".

Answer 2

Actually, the British used to sound more like the Americans until they met up with the Scotts. That is when their dialect and pronunciation took on what is known as a "British" accent.

How your accent is perceived depends upon where you are. If a person from another country is in the US, then they are usually perceived as having an accent from their native country. However, If I were in London, then people would tell me that I sounded like I have an American accent.

Also, I am from Texas. If I went to New York City, they would tell me that I have a "soutnern" or "Texas" accent. Of course, in Texas I don't have any accent...but a New Yorker sure does!

So it all depends on where you are and who is listening.

Most Americans do not know enough about the different areas of England and what the different accents sound like, but there is a similarity to all of them that says "British" to most Americans.

Answer 3

Americans, in general, are generalizing. Not many folk from ouside a particular geographic area that shares a "common" language have a well enough trained ear to hear the differences. I live in the US and I can hear differences, let's say, in a southern drawl. I can't be too accurate but I do know that someone from Arkansas doesn't sound quite the same as someone from North Carolina. Maine is different from New York. Same as it ever was. When I've visited the Azores folks on Faial said they had trouble understanding folks from San Miguel. Still Portuguese though.
Not bad or good, just different. Seems we've made progress in the building of the Tower of Babel.

Answer 4

i think people have an idea of what a stereotypical/generalized british accent is. but sometimes i've noticed that some americans can't tell the difference between most of the accents in the UK.

Answer 5

It seems like something you might hear on the BBC or maybe the Monty Python guys. That is where we most often hear British English. Is there a lot of variety of accents on those programs? Seems not to most of us.

Answer 6

I've heard only two accents from Englanders. One is the way the rich/cultured people (the royal family, for example) speak, and the other one is (I believe) called cockney, maybe? I'm not sure, but those people sound like the American version of white trash when they speak.

Answer 7

I believe the Oxford English.

Answer 8

It basically is, your Dialect, the Enunciation, the sound you make, your expressions, and to some extent body language. Every place has there own dialect and enunciation pattern, that distinguishes them from the rest.... hope this helps.

Answer 9

when u always stretch the words infinitely while speaking, it's called British accent.

Answer 10

It's usually just with the O's. In America our mouths are open and more round when we say them and when the British say it their mouths are smaller.