jason01 said:
Interesting idea, so Southron drawl is more English than English lol.
Though I wouldnt have thought the accents of the nobility would really have much affect on the accents of the proletariat masses, as the two scarcely mixed
When you say back then exactly when do you mean?
It is often said in my region (The black country) that our local dialect and accent is closest to the old English spaked by Shakespeare. I would have thought that if all of England were influenced by the accents of the continental educated brats of the nobility, as you suggest, then surely there wouldnt be such an extremely diverse and varied mix of regional dialects and accents still in place today?
You didnt think we all speak like BBC news readers did you
RE: News readers - most of those in the US have midwest accents - very similar to my own. No matter where they are from - East coast or south - they teach them to speak like they are from the midwest before they let them on the tube.
Around here somewhere, I have a very interesting book on US speechways, named "Albion's Seed." It may oversimplify, but it says there are basically four American speechways.
One is from the Puritans, and is from East England. These folks settled in New England and today the accent is common in the New England states, New York State, and parts of Illinois and Michigan.
A second accent is from the above mentioned English Caviliers, originates in the southwest of England and is predominent in the southern American states.
A third type is from the Scotch borderers (lowland Scots and border English) and is spoken in southern and middle US hill country. This particular speechway is the most graphic - and most likely to offend.
The most predominent accent in the US comes from the Quakers originating in Yorkshire and the midlands. It is the accent you hear from our "news readers," and is in wide use except in the south and along the eastern seaboard ( this does not hold true in my case as my Puritan ancestors are from Yorkshire while my Quaker ancestors are from Wales).
According to the book, each of these speechways has their own sayings which can be traced to the part of England where they originated. I'll see if I can locate the book. I'm not sure if I buy everything it states, but it is a very intereresting book.
I've found a bit of the book online, and here is a quote:
"The four waves of British immigrants who brought their folkways to the American colonies were 1. Puritan: from east England to Massachusetts (1629-1640); 2.Royalists elite: from south England to Virginia (1649-1675); 3. Quakers: from the Midlands of England and Wales to the Delaware Valley (1675-1725); 4. Backcountrymen from The Borders: from the borders of England and Scotland to Northern Ireland and thence to Pennsylvania and the southern colonies (1718-1775). The borders is a term Fischer uses to include all of Scotland southeast of a line drawn between Glasgow in the west and Edinbrough in the east. The borders also includes the following English counties: Lancashire, Yorkshire, Westmoreland, Durham, Cumberland, and North Cumberland. These Southern highlanders or backcountrymen settled in South Carolina from the midlands to the mountains."
PG
