Tower of Babel...?

Question

As the story goes, the tower came tumbling down and everybody spoke a different language.

Linguists have grouped all (or most) of the worlds known langauges into families and demonstrate their roots from ancient source languages.

I am interested in the differentiation processes that may have taken centuries to take place.

At what point do two 'varieties' of the parent language differentiate to such a degree that they are considered separate languages, and are no longer mutually intelligible?

Does pronounciation naturally change over time, or is this change brought on only by influence of other tongues?

I am especially curious about Canadian and American English. Most English-speaking settlers came from the Cornwall area of England, and I suppose several waves of migrants later, newcomers noticed a distinctive 'twang' in the voices of those who welcomed them to the colonies.

What would cause those in the colonies to develop a different pronounciation?

Answer 1

Pronunciation changes naturally over time, and is promoted by isolation, as well as other factors.
In particular where language has a use other than as an information carrier, but operates as a group, class or status identifier.

English is now so varied that it is barely one language, taking any two extreme variants.
Even in the UK, the difference between Geordie and Estuary is only a few hundred miles, and a vast gulf.

Not just pronunciation, usage.

I'm old enough to remember when wicked meant maliciously evil, and gay was a reference to mood.

There are still remnant traces of nice meaning pedantically exact, and peculiar meaning individual.

Only two hundred years ago the Duke of Wellington happily considered his army as being "disposable". No, not that. He meant it had good mobility.

Answer 2

My father was from Alabama, spoke in a very distinctive southern accent. My mother spoke only Spanish to me and my father his brand of English. I grew up in California, but people always thought I was from the east coast of the US. I think it's just the influence of the accents around you; I know for a fact the people in the colonies were not just from England; the Dutch, French, Spanish and Native Americans all contributed to the formation of the American accent.