Why did Americans lose the British accent, while Australia, S. Africa, etc., maintain a form of it?

Question

I know that the U.S. has been independent for much longer, but it seems that even in the 1800s the speech had changed in the U.S. I have some ideas as to why but would like to hear a British perspective. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

There is no such thing as a 'British accent' and there is no such thing as a composite Australian, South African OR American accent. The question is thus erroneous.

A person from Shetland is going to have a different accent from a Cockney. Someone from Cardiff is going to have a different accent from someone in Belfast. A Geordie and someone from Oxford will have different accents. A Glaswegian and an Edinburger have different accents and on and on and on... So what is a British accent? We are a tiny island, so the other places you've mentioned will likely have far more diversity in THEIR accents than we do here!

Do you see now why this question of yours makes no sense?

Addendum for Peter K and any fool who gave me thumbs down:

Oh, so you know what a British accent is, do you Peter? Please enlighten me, because as I have pointed out (in such a way that a 2 YEAR OLD would understand) there is no such thing as a British accent! There are regional accents and any stereotypical idea a person has of a British accent is a limited and thereby false one. If I reduce the quality of my answer to your level and that of the asker, then here is what i would respond:

Don't be like, you know.... duuuuh.... dumb 'n' all. American accents sounds just as British as Aussie and South African accents. Capiche?

Idiots. Both of you.

Answer 2

Don't you sometimes wonder why you asked Michael.Of course I know what you mean when you say British Accent unlike some of the Idiots who have answered
The reason is numbers, Millions of non English speaking immigrants who then when they learned to speak English spoke it with a different accent than the locals.
Whereas countries like Australia and New Zealand had a much smaller and more gradual influx of people and people mainly from the UK Well that's how I see it..P/S I live in Canada and am a British ex pat. If you look at the Island of New Foundland the people there still have their Irish Accent dating back more than 300 years

Answer 3

Why do people refer to a british accent? The accents in the British Isles are so varied, even people from neighbouring counties have different accents, so much so that in the days before mass communication, i.e. the 1960s, the peoples from various parts of the islands had difficulty in understanding each other. Your question concerning the inhabitants of the white countries of the Commonweath has no validity, none of the accents are similar to any found in these islands, with the possible exception of Newfoundland which has already been mentioned.

Answer 4

Erm... I'm a Brit and I would argue that Australians sound like Australians and South Africans sound like South Africans. Neither sound like Brits. All the accents are different.

There's an argument that the accent in the UK has changed and that the US one is closer to the accent of the pilgrim fathers.

Answer 5

Not all white settlers in the US are from Britain. A lot of Irish and German settlers landed in the states too. I actually think the New York accent has similarities with the Republic of Ireland...

Answer 6

somebody ought to write his/her dissertation in this. in case you study linguistics, you will discover that one and all languages have close by dialects. via far the biggest distinction is in the vowels sounds. in case you hear heavily to "appropriate" British accessory, then you certainly would be conscious the version between those born in diverse areas of england and eire. in case you hint the evolution of English in the U. S., you are able to discover that some human beings from New England (a mesh of British and Irish English with Dutch vowel effect) --be conscious how Bostonians nonetheless look after /er/ particularly of /u/ sound on the top of words that end with a schwa or A-- nonetheless sound extra "British" than Midwesterners. however the accessory probably began to die whilst the 1st community human beings assimilated to the language and whilst the Brits got here in touch with different explores, particularly Dutch.

Answer 7

I disagree. I think the south african, australian and new zealand etc accents' sound just as different to british as the american accent does.

Answer 8

Well early America was considered the cultural melting pot, and I'm sure the thousands and thousands of immigrants from different countries contributed to the general "American" accent of today.