A Brit, a Frenchman, and a Russian are viewing a painting of Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden.
“Look at their reserve, their calm,” muses the Brit. “They must be British.”
“Nonsense,” the Frenchman disagrees. “They’re naked, and so beautiful. Clearly, they are French.”
“No clothes, no shelter,” the Russian points out. “They have only an apple to eat, and they’re being told this is paradise. They are Russian.”
The typical English accent didn’t develop until after the Revolutionary War, so Americans actually speak proper English. Here comes the science.
Reading David McCullough’s 1776, I found myself wondering: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents? If so, when did American accents diverge from British accents?
The answer surprised me.
I’d always assumed that Americans used to have accents similar to today’s British accents, and that American accents diverged after the Revolutionary War, while British accents remained more or less the same.
Americans in 1776 did have British accents, in that American accents and British accents hadn’t yet diverged. That’s not too surprising.
What’s surprising, though, is that those accents were much closer to today’s American accents than to today’s British accents. While both have changed over time, it’s actually British accents that have changed much more drastically since then.
First, let’s be clear: the terms “British accent” and “American accent” are oversimplifications; there were, and still are, innumerable constantly-evolving regional British and American accents. What most Americans think of as “the British accent” is the standardized Received Pronunciation, also known as “BBC English.”
While there are many differences between today’s British accents and today’s American accents, perhaps the most noticeable difference is rhotacism. While most American accents are rhotic, the standard British accent is non-rhotic. (Rhotic speakers pronounce the ‘R’ sound in the word “hard.” Non-rhotic speakers do not.)
In 1776, both American accents and British accents were largely rhotic. It was around this time that non-rhotic speech took off in southern England, especially among the upper class. This “prestige” non-rhotic speech was standardized, and has been spreading in Britain ever since.
Most American accents, however, remained rhotic.
There are a few fascinating exceptions: New York and Boston accents became non-rhotic. Irish and Scottish accents are still rhotic.
If you’d like to learn more, this passage in The Cambridge History of the English Language is a good place to start.
Video Description:
Daniel Hannan has seen our future and it isn’t pretty. The fiery British member of European Parliament (and YouTube sensation) was at The Heritage Foundation last week to discuss his new book, “The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America
” and to sound the alarm to Americans of the creeping European-style socialism that is gaining ground among our government.
London boaters craving a cold treat on a sunny day might not to have to head ashore to find what they seek. The HMS Flake 99 is the world’s first amphibious ice cream truck.
The truck was commissioned by Cadbury in honor of Britain’s National Ice Cream Week and has been driving (sailing?) around the Thames touting its wares. The Flake 99 is named for an ice cream treat and may soon be traveling to vacation beaches or to Venice to bring ice cream cones to gondola-riding lovers.
Bompas and Parr: Return of the Jelly Knights from Gestalten on Vimeo.
Video Description:
Taking the term to whole new levels, the British food and design consultancy duo Sam Bompas and Harry Parr has breathed new, refreshingly artifical, and entertaining life into what is known as “food experience.” For example, they revived the basis of everything wobbly in Britain’s kitchen universe: the jelly, recreating—among other things—the famous St. Paul’s Cathedral in gelatinous form. Using cutting-edge technology, they even beat the gingerbread house as the known climax of architecture and food symbiosis and came up with what is known as “Alcoholic Architecture.” Though magicians won’t ever reveal their secrets, find out more about the two Jellymongers in our latest Gestalten.tv Interview.
” and to sound the alarm to Americans of the creeping European-style socialism that is gaining ground among our government.