How do we acquire accents? How do accents evolve?

Question

I would like to know how the dialects of Great Britain were formed and how they evolved. How do we all acquire accents?

Answer 1

British accents have formed over the centuries by exposure of the local people to the speech of newcomers, such as the Vikings, the Normans, etc.

If you go to those areas of Britain where the Vikings invaded and settled, you will find many local words and place names of Viking (Scandinavian) origin and that the Viking invaders' speech (the vowels, etc.) has influenced the way that English is pronounced in those areas.

You can also see the same process at work in other parts of the world. In Louisiana, USA the local dialect has many 16th century French words and sounds that date back to the period when the area was a French colony.

As a child we absorb these accents spoken by our family members and our peer groups.

Answer 2

Some people are more susceptible than others to pick up accents. I spent a year in europe when I was 30. There I spoke alot of english but eventually learned german. Before I left I was dreaming and thinking about half and half german/english...when I go home(calif) I had a german accent for about a year.
I was flown to San Antonio several times for up to six weeks at a time and came back with a texas drawl. I think it's all up to how well you fit in and communicate the easiest.

Answer 3

When young children go through the natural process of learning a language without being taught, as they do, part of that process is to mimic those that they can hear. Hence they develop the same accent as their parents.

Their are many reasons why accents develop. Much to long to go into detail here. But one aspect of accent is social. For example in Lancashire where many people worked in very noisy cotton mills etc., they had to speak in very loud, high pitched shrilly voices to be heard over the noise of the machinery. That caused their mouths to adopt different patterns when they spoke, and mouth patterns and tongue positions etc are what cause different accents. That was one aspect in the development of that particular accent. So the original Lancashire accent changed a bit once the milling industry became establishe in that area.

There are many many factors involved.

Hope that helps

Answer 4

Really good question I will be intrigued to find out why we do have different accents in the UK. I sometimes wish we all had the same accents then it would make it easier for people to understand each other (esp over the telephone)
:-)

Answer 5

I have an ear for accents and can mimic them well. I can almost do two fluent ones beside my own.

I have way too much time to practice and act the fool.

My native accent I am sure I picked up from my parents.

Answer 6

From the culture your are from or more or less from where you live. If a baby was born in china and the family speaks chinese.. the baby will also learn to speak chinese. Once this baby grows and the family moves to the U.S the chlild will learn English.. but because English is not the primary language... the child will always have a dialect when speaking English...Hope this example helps... a dialect can be changed with practice... movie stars do it all the time...

Answer 7

accents get past down through generation if the people live in the same area and it change over time.

Answer 8

Yes like dat Cap de monty

We learn to speak by imitation so accents are learned. If you have say aliverpool one it is almost impossible to unlearn it,. it comes through quite clearly especially on a microphone

Answer 9

well u get accustomed to how people speak in ur area and u pick up their traits...and they evolve over time...i mean look at old english and look at english 2day....it's way different! i think accents are so cool...especially british ones!!

Answer 10

and why don't accents normally show up when we sing?