Why didn't the Aussie and Kiwi dialects of English change as much as their North American counterparts?

Question

All 4 countries were formerly comprised of English colonies, yet for whatever reasons Australian and New Zealand English pretty much stayed the same as British English, yet American and Canadian English had a fairly significant shift in pronunciation. Why? Is it the French influence in North America?

Answer 1

That's not exactly how it happened.

There is a false assumption that British English of today is fairly close to that of the 16th century (when the American colonies were established), while American English changed. No -- BOTH changed.

In fact, there was a significant change going on in 18th century BRITISH English --AFTER most of the colonization of America had taken place. As a result, the English dialects that form the basis for modern American English were established before the change and did not share in it.

Since the founding of Australia and New Zealand was LATER -- AFTER these changes-- they, understandably, reflect those changes.

(For those who point to the influence of other language groups that settled here -- yes, there was SOME of that. But, in fact, that accounts for very little. MOST of the distinctives of American English were found in or descend from the specific dialects the settlers brought with them.)

Answer 2

Because the US has been separated from the English longer. The US had already been colonized and had declared indpendence before the English even bothered sending large numbers of people to Australia. Austalia didn't even become a country until 1901

Answer 3

Look at all the people from all over the world who came to America. It isn't just French, it's German, Irish, Italian, Slavik, Asian, African, etc. I think black people have greatly influenced the English language in America. We have an English that derived from a multitude of accents and dialects.

Answer 4

top New England (too rapid), massive apple-ease, Ebonics, and H,I,J,ok are all confusing for me to understand particularly circumstances for one reason or yet another. i'm from Scotland/London, and there are surely some accents in Britain that I would desire to artwork at awareness. yet any English/US/Australian accessory would nicely be understood in case you pay attention attentively. a minimum of it incredibly is in contrast to India and China, and another Asian countries that don't even talk the comparable language in any respect. lol Oh definite. I at present stay in Texas and haven't any subject with that. you will desire to hearken to my loopy mixed up Scottish/English/Texas accessory. lol