If the americans came from england why do we talk different?

Show all answers

RichB

The first English people settled in the United States - what, 400 years ago? And you became independent in 1776, so you've had 232 years of independence. Remember that accents change a lot over time - English people are believed to have spoken VERY differently in 1776 to the way they do now. And you've had a lot of immigration from other countries in the intervening years, too.

Australia is very different - it wasn't even colonised by the United Kingdom until the 1780s, and it wasn't an autonomous country until the 1940s (in some legal matters, it didn't entirely separate itself from the UK until the 1980s). A far higher percentage of Australians than Americans are British by birth or of British parentage.

No name.

The Australians sound nothing like a British person. Especially if you compare someone from Newcastle (North England), or a Scouser (from Liverpool) with an Australian accent.

It wasn't just the English which went to America. There was a large population of Irish who migrated to America, and there was other Europeans such as Spanish, French, Italian, German etc. The mix of accents created the American accent. The accent varies in different places depending on where the different nationalities colonised. And then overtime it changed and developed.

Vasco F

about like 300 years of not sharing ur dialects kinda does that to u....

Hello

most white americans are of irish or german descent rather than anglo-saxon - the accents just sort of mixed...

Rye

I don't know probably the same reason why bostonian people sound different then new yorkers.

I think, therefore I am.

There were more then english speaking people who immigrated there...

iamaprincessindie

australians sound nothing like english people! and why in american movies when they have english people they always pick the most toffy pratty accented ones and say thats english only like 2 % of our population speak that way?!?!?!?!

Ken B

Accents change and develop all the time, the regional accents in UK are not so pronounced as they were 50 years ago, this is probably due to mass communication.
Your additional detail does not make sense - how can aussies sound "sort of British" when there is no standard accent in Britain.
Compare Billy Connelly with Michael Caine, both are British but sound nothing like each other, and aussies sound like neither.

Niki

Australians sound just as British as Americans, yet Americans can rarely tell the difference.
It's an interesting question, but i guess it's because America is a big mix of Europeans , and it has been a long time.

www.buystuffs.co.uk

hey, You know most white americans are of irish or german descent rather than anglo-saxon.

http://www.buystuffs.co.uk

slipstreamer

Australians don't sound British, it's a very different accent actually.

The original colonists were british, yes, but the majority of Americans came from German, Irish, and other European roots. Parts of New England have regional accents like those in Maine and Massachusetts that have English roots. But every new immigrant group added to the mix. It would be impossible to tell exactly when the accent changed.

The English accent and language in the UK has changed as well - language isn't static. It evolves. Today's' English is quite a bit different than that of Shakespeare's or even Dickens time.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: