Can anyone tell me about the development of the American accent and Australian accent?

Question

I mean how did the accents develop ....when the first settlers went there surely they did not speak like the modern day americans or australians?

So if there is a linguist among you or a phonetics person then please answer this question. It is a question to which i have never gotten an answer and would love to have one.

thank you

Answer 1

Both are squashed english...and i am no expert!

Answer 2

My experience in Linguistics is limited to 2 college classes but my understating of your question is this.

When two sects of the same language are geographically separated, each sect will become a different dialect until it eventually evolves into a new language altogether. For example, English was originally a form a German. Now since England and Germany are so far apart, each developed on its own thus creating 2 distinct languages over the course of about 1000 years. My figures may be off slightly, but you can expect that the languages will change in a few hundred years (however the Internet may be changing this).

Answer 3

The Australian accent is a form of Cockney. If you watch "My Fair Lady" or "Pygmalion" that will give you an idea. I don't know, but suspect that there are dialects in Australia. In America(U.S.) there are regional accents. If you pick up a copy of a good dictionary at the library, the one I have here is the "Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language" second college edition. I cant go through it all here. There is allot of info. Another idea is to look it up in an encyclopedia.

Answer 4

America was settaled by the Dutch, English, Germens, French in the early years. The rest come later in our History. Such as the Irish, Scott's, who were sent to fright in the Revolutionary War.
Now the Australain accent is a mix of Irland, Scott's, Wellch, and English prisoners so their Accent staid more British in Nature. If you travel through the States you will fine many differents minor accents like pennsylvia Dutch Throw the horse over the fence some hay! The South has their bald potato's for boiled potatoes. Others referr to women with long thin legs as phillies and heavy legs as heffier's.

Answer 5

1. German accent. When the English and German languages were put to the vote in America, English won by just One vote. Otherwise now America would speak German.
2. Australian accent comes from English convicts sent there into prisons and they kept the accent of that time.
I personally have a French accent. Amitiés.

Answer 6

America initially had a lot of Irish immigration, and you can still detect the similarities with the Irish accent, with the pronounced "R", (particularly at the end of words), longer vowel sounds, non-flattened [a] sound. (compare the word "Can't" in American vs RP English accent)

I can't really give much of an explaination of Australian, South African, Kiwi or other English-based accents (as in, from England, not just as in English language). It's a bit hard to talk about accents when it's in the written form, or without using phonetic transcript.
I studied Linguistics many years ago.

Answer 7

Well American is a mixture of English and all of the other languages and accents that were brought to America by immigrants. It is basically English that has been heavily influenced by German, Spanish, French, Native American languages, African languages, Dutch, etc. After hundreds of years of it all mixing together, we get American English.

Answer 8

The Australian accent started off as a cockney one, but spoken with your face screwed up in the sun.

Answer 9

Aussie accents stem from Cockney convicts
Americans stem from a mixture of multiculturalism and the phonetically way that they spell the English language.

Answer 10

Australian is a lazy English, derived from the North East and from London area. While American is derived from English and Spanish and a desire to win the masters tournament....

last bit was flippant, but the rest is accurate :-)))

Answer 11

American the following, i love the irish and australian accessory, yet so a procedures as my own accessory its uninteresting i'd quite opt to have a boton accessory so as that i'd be like "fuhgedaboudit"