Why do accents differ?

Question

why do accents differ in the same country? e.g in England the London accent is different to a Midlands accent and both are different to Yorkshire and a North East accent. In the US its the same aswell, from NY, to Texas, to LA. Is it the same in Spain and France and other European countries?

does anyone know why?

thanks

Answer 1

Accents in Britain are left over from when York was a VERY long way from London - most people would never make such a journey, rarely venturing outside their villages and local town. Because they were all relatively isolated individual accents develop pretty randomly, through odd pronounciations and accents perculiar to the area, as well as having regional dialects mixed in.

This can also occur when various different languages are spoken in parts of the country. For instance the westcountry accent borrows heavily from Anglo-Saxon. For instance, in German you would say "Ich bin" and someone with a westcountry accent would say "I be" - wheras most people would say "I am". This may be continued as "Du Bist", "Thee bist/beest", "Er ist" "He be". Various countries have accents accordingly.

Accents in the new world are somewhat different, because of the mixing of various immigrant groups. For instance, although Americans often talk with a variant on the 16th or 17th century western English accent, they could also have traces of Italian, German, Spanish and Scottish in their accent.

Answer 2

Mordent's answers pretty much sums is all up.