Is the basic British accent of today relatively the same as the British accent of years past?

Answer 1

No, unfortumately the cockney twang is taking over the country, it seems to be working its way further north every year. It is a shame as there are/where some nice dialects out there, that are slowing being taken over by this awful cockney whine.

Answer 2

I'd be absolutely amazed if it was, for two reasons.

Firstly, accents change over time. The further back you go, the more the accent and eventually the language will change. To check for yourself, access recordings of old news bulletins, looking for vox pops - ordinary people giving their opinions. Then compare it to the same for modern day. Watch films from different decades and listen to the difference to British films now. Then read some Shakespeare and see where he shows words which rhymed in his time and don't know - only the accent has changed.

Secondly, there's no 'basic British accent'. There's the Received Pronunciation English accent that news readers used to use, which was an artificial accent created to sound nice on radio, and which barely exists any more. There's the Estuary accent which a lot of TV people have, which is sort of London-and-around and made bland to be understood. Then there are very, very different accents from countries (Scottish, Welsh, Irish all sound different to English) and regions.

To my English ears, Birmingham is very different to Tyneside and neither sound like Liverpool or Somerset. Glaswegians don't sound like people from Aberdeen. (And people from the Bronx don't sound like people from San Diego).

If such small regional changes (Birmingham is really pretty close to Liverpool and Somerset in absolute terms) can make such a big difference, then so can time.

On the other hand, a given British accent of 1950 will still sound more like a given British accent from 2007 than to an American or Canadian or Australian accent of 1950.

It all depends on what you mean by 'relatively'. Relative to what?

Answer 3

No. Fifty years ago we were much more regional. Now, probably because of travel and television regional accents are being lost. There was once a vast difference between the way someone from Devon and someone from Yorkshire spoke. Regional dialects are now most strong (in my opinion) in Newcastle. The West country accent has just about disappeared with most people sounding like Londoners there.

You can still usually tell if someone is from Liverpool, Birmingham or Scotland, or indeed any other area, but it is not nearly so pronounced.

Londoners once gave away their roots by speaking either with a plum in their mouth. (A bit like the queen) or perhaps speaking like a cockney. Now the two are merging.

Dialects are forever changing and nowadays you will hear influences from many other languages due to immigration.

Answer 4

There is no "british accent", there is a vast number of different accents within the islands, however mass communication has diluted the accents, making them easier to understand for foreigners, and indeed, people from differents parts of the islands.

Answer 5

There s no such factor as a British accessory. Britain is made out of four countries: Scotland, England, Northern eire and Wales yet as quickly as I had to respond to, i could say the southern English accessory

Answer 6

Not, it's evolving. As others have said, the London accent is spreading, or rather a softened version of it, called "Estuary English".

Answer 7

I think so, yes

Answer 8

I guess so