Where do we get our accents from ?

Question

I understand we learn it from hearing it but how did the different accents in the US start ?

Answer 1

Bruhaha isn't entirely accurate in this point. There are more than 4 accents in America. And they didn't all derive from England. Have you ever had a college class from an instructor who had English as a second (or third) language? Have you listened to Henry Kissinger? He has a thick German accent. I don't think the accent the Pennsylvania Dutch use is derived from England. And Bill Cosby decries the accent of his race in America. He tells them to speak like the rest of the country. And that accent doesn't sound British, either.

People DO get their accents from their surroundings. That is why, in America, we are beginning to lose our accents. Why? Everyone is beginning to share the hearing of the language. It is called mass media. In the 50's and 60's, a lot of national newsmen came from the South. They didn't sound like it. They were trained to talk like the Midwesterners. That is the one most people could understand the best.

So, in answer to the question where did we get accents from? Usually the Mother country is the correct answer. When the Germans settled in an area, they spoke German, but also needed to learn English to conduct business. It stands to reason that their English would be heavily accented with German sounds. And their children would sound like that as well

But then, if somebody from Italy were to move into the town, they may speak with an Italian accent, but their kids would pick up many of the sounds they were hearing. And their kids may sound more German than Italian. Kids pick up languages quickly.

Finally, as stated before, mass media is changing how we speak. Kids are watching lots of TV and most TV English is of the Midwest variety, Simon Cowell notwithstanding. We will eventually lose most of the flavor of our accents as the mass media blends the languages.

Answer 2

From the language we learn as kids.
Language or dialects I should say.

Sometimes we learn the language from people with an accent, and then we will speak everything with an accent.
Otherwise we only have an accent when learning a second language.

Answer 3

I am from Chester however at any place I pass humans feel I'm from Liverpool. My favorite accessory is Geordie. As for the raised tone on the finish of a sentence, I have received to believe VALLI UM. Michael: If your American there's no means you'll coach us learn how to talk English son.

Answer 4

Good question. The key is to note that there was NEVER just one dialect or accent of American English.

In colonial times there were already FOUR main regional dialects -- and these became the foundations for the main regional dialects we have today. Contrary to some popular ideas, the differences were NOT mainly due to the influence of other groups (immigrants from other nations, Native Americans). Instead, each of the regions was primarily populated by people from a DIFFERENT region of England.

That is, there were four distinct migrations of English speaking people to America during the colonial period (1607-1775), each coming mainly from a different part of the British Isles. Thus each of these groups brought their OWN culture, including ways of speaking.

Here are those four migrations:

1. New England - Puritan Migrations (1629-40) from East Anglia
2. Coastal South (Virginia to Florida) -Cavalier Migrations (1642-1675) from South England
3. New Jersey, Pennsylvania - Quaker migrations (1675-1725)from the Midlands area of England (near Wales)
4. Appalachian English - Scots-Irish migrations (1715-1775), mostly English people from Britain's Celtic fringe (North England, Northern Ireland)

For a nice summary of each of these and how their language affected modern American English, as well as some of the other factors that helped to shape the dialects, check out the notes at this link:
http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/AmericanDialects.htm

Compare also the following article. It oddly only mentions three of the dialects, but the explanation is helpful:
http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/bgnotes.html

There is also a fine book by David Hackett Fisher, called *Albion's Seed* which describes not just the language (in fact, not mainly that), but ALL the distinct "folkways" of each of these four groups. . . and ways these can be seen in later American history.

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By the way, the distinct ENGLISH dialects themselves also go way back. Apparently, from the very beginnings of Old English there were distinct groups and dialects as the 'founders' of the language migrated from mainland Europe from different places at different times. (That is, there has NEVER been just ONE English language.)

For more on this, check out the intro and first chapter of *The Stories of English* by David Crystal (the choice of "stor-iES" instead of "story" is very deliberate.) A brief discussion of THESE dialects and the factors that explain them may be found at the beginning of the web page I cited first above.
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Apparently Rochelle and I are reading the question a bit differently. I took my cue from the explanatory note "how did our accents IN the US START".

Of course I did not intend to discuss EVERY sort of accent, but the four ORIGINAL regional accents of the US (as described by the scholars cited), which is more about the 17th century than the 20th-21st. There are more complex maps and discussions of the accents that have since come to be (though many of them are rooted IN those four), and I could cite materials that explore and try to explain them...but again, that was not what the question asked about. (And note, I NEVER claimed there are just four American English accents!)

Nor was I addressing every factor that influences the accent of individuals (since that did not seem to be the main point of the question asked).

Further, the accent of a modern non-native of the US, for whom English is a second language, while certainly worthy of study has little if anything to do with the question of how the distinctive US accents got their start.

As for the 'losing' of our accents (not the most accurate terminology, but I get the point) it is of course true that the regional dialects (and accents) have influenced each other (due in part to mass media exposure), often softening regionalisms... and leading to the development of a "Standard American English". In fact, the first link I cited includes some discussion of how each of the regional dialects has contributed to the common/standard language. But once again, this is an important but separate question from that of the START of US dialects.

One final note What I outlined above not "my" account of things -- check the sources I cite and I think you'll see I represent what THEY say. In fact, that is precisely WHY I cite sources.... rather than just telling people to "trust me". (There are areas I have my own distinctive theories about... but I don't claim quite that sort of expertise on this question.)

Answer 5

you got me on that one...cause i am from west virginia and well of course you know i have an accent....i believe it may have began back in the 1800s when people began to migrate....different regions had there own way of talking and it has just stuck since then...but yea if i travel away from here...say florida or somewhere....people like to make fun of my accent...guess cause i live up in the mountains of west virginia...like there isnt even a 4 lane road in the county i live in...theres only like 2 red lights in the whole county.....so yea we be backwoods....and my our accent is strong

Answer 6

Early Socialisations..
Parents mostly...

Answer 7

if you find out let me know ok lol thats a good one

Answer 8

u get them by your parents or generation