How did Americans develop their way of English?

Question

I mean, most had an english accent when they first came over here so how did the American language/slangs/accents come about?

Answer 1

You're making an incorrect assumption or two about what English was like in 17th century Britain when the American colonization began. As a matter of fact, many of the accents you probably think of as "English" were not around at the time! (Example, the loss of r at the end of words is a later development, something that changed in ENGLAND.. though also influencing some parts of America that kept in closer contact with England.)

The truth is -- English has changed on BOTH sides of the Atlantic, and that includes pronunciation.

In fact, though there has certainly been influence from other sources (including Indians and other immigrant groups), the MAIN features of American English come from 17th century Britain.

And here's a key -- 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. This formed the foundation for American English regional dialects.

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

Answer 2

Speaking only of the non-native peoples: before the English arrived here there were Dutch. When the English outnumbered them, they had to learn English. Shortly after the English arrived, they were followed by Germans. Each non-English group brought their own pronunciation and words to the developing American language. Often these new arrivals were not also seen in England, so British English was not influenced in the same ways. More and more smaller ethnic groups arrived in the first 140 or so years, and while they learned English, the people here were influenced just by interacting with the immigrants. Some words from England that weren't needed were mostly forgotten; some words rarely spoken were pronounced in a way showing the Americans didn't hear them much; some words (as in all languages) evolved so that they were simpler to pronounce, or pronunciation followed spelling (because in English they don't always match). A few borrowed words appeared in writing before they appeared in speech. When the number of countries "sending" people here becomes large, it's not always easy to identify where each speech influence comes from.

Answer 3

Well my guess is that, at the time, the pilgrims resented almost anything British so they changed the pronunciations of words they didn't like.

Later in time when immigrants began to come, we adopted some of there pronunciations.

Different regions of the US speak very differently though. People from Boston tend to speak with an accent close to the English one. The New York accent is very distinct. Southern accents are also very different from the rest of the US.

Answer 4

A speech impediment due to eary settlers' mishapen teeth has resulted in all Americans being unable to pronounce the letter T, e.g. internet, pronounced 'innernet', panties pronounced 'pannies', etc.

Answer 5

the old timers people&usually they hit the spot.

Answer 6

easy. we just messed up the way of the brits