The trick is there *isn’t* a ‘base’ English, Huli. Theres NEVER been a single ancestral English from which all others branched. It’s a bit like asking ‘what automobile is the ‘base’ car?’, there just isn’t one single one. Even if you go back a millenia or two before there really *was* ‘English’, you’re still having folks learnignt he language differntly from one another, and passing that on as regional differences, etc. Linguistics is a VERY fluid concept.

Pat of it is due to travel. Back in Colonial days, you’d have a regional breakdown of accents similar to what you see in the UK. The journey westward, the railroad, and later automobiles all contributed to homogenizing the language. The current accent set is due to folks not having much reason to travel outside their large regions, rather than capacity.

California got an extra helping of this blending due to the gold rush, with folks coming from all over to try and get rich.

The one thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of the ‘words that are different in UK English and US English’ are the result of.. well.. having a big ol’ ocean between the two. Words that were made BEFORE Colonial days stayed the same, but as time went on, new inventions got their own regional nicknames. Even when travel between the two by sea became commonplace, you really didn’t see the ‘naming of things’ sync up until after WWII, when airplane, radio, and later television made it all possible to share ideas faster. This is why we have different words for car parts, but not for computer parts.

gray - 22 September 2011 08:01 AM

Nettie - 21 September 2011 07:09 PM

I can tell a Queenslander but not really anyone else back home.

I’ve never thought I have much of an accent and since I’ve been here in Canada, I’ve been asked four times if I’m British. Odd.

Depending on how much telly I’ve been watching depends on how quickly I pick up American accents. If I’ve been watching a lot of US shows, I hardly notice it but if I haven’t I find it really noticable.

I work with a couple of British guys and their accent is definitely different from yours.  Honestly I had expected yours to be a bit stronger like other Aussies I’ve met but you were totally understandable.  The one Brit we have here at work is almost incomprehensible sometimes.  When he gets excited his accent thickens and most of us have no idea what he is saying.

I’m English and have lived in the North and the South, so I have a mixed accent which flits between Northern and Southern aspects. My base accent is Lancastrian mixed with a bit of Yorkshire, then on top of that I have a south-west accent. There is also a bit of scottish from my mother. However, I too find it hard to decipher some accents. Geordie (Newcastle) can be very thick, as well as Scouse (Liverpool) accents, let alone some of the Scottish accents, principally Glasgow. The variety of local phrases and terms can also make conversation hard to understand, but I expect that the US has this as well.

Mr. R yes, some of the Cajun accents around Louisiana are nearly impossible to understand.  They seem to stand in a class of their own for sure!

Here’s the best (wait for him to finish his accordian opening only a few seconds…then try to figure out what he’s saying .. you have to know both English AND French first because he uses both BUT with a Cajun accent) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRXcpBIteEM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqfdn8_ftYQ—Spicy Cajun Accents (from AMERICAN TONGUES—- this one is just Cajun English)

Mr R - 23 September 2011 02:24 AM

gray - 22 September 2011 08:01 AM

Nettie - 21 September 2011 07:09 PM

I can tell a Queenslander but not really anyone else back home.

I’ve never thought I have much of an accent and since I’ve been here in Canada, I’ve been asked four times if I’m British. Odd.

Depending on how much telly I’ve been watching depends on how quickly I pick up American accents. If I’ve been watching a lot of US shows, I hardly notice it but if I haven’t I find it really noticable.

I work with a couple of British guys and their accent is definitely different from yours.  Honestly I had expected yours to be a bit stronger like other Aussies I’ve met but you were totally understandable.  The one Brit we have here at work is almost incomprehensible sometimes.  When he gets excited his accent thickens and most of us have no idea what he is saying.

I’m English and have lived in the North and the South, so I have a mixed accent which flits between Northern and Southern aspects. My base accent is Lancastrian mixed with a bit of Yorkshire, then on top of that I have a south-west accent. There is also a bit of scottish from my mother. However, I too find it hard to decipher some accents. Geordie (Newcastle) can be very thick, as well as Scouse (Liverpool) accents, let alone some of the Scottish accents, principally Glasgow. The variety of local phrases and terms can also make conversation hard to understand, but I expect that the US has this as well.

We had a Glaswegian guest a while back. That was… entertaining. The entire time all I could think of was Robin Williams’ bit on Scotland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2zcgieFVtE (language a wee bit spicy) - the first bit before the dissertation on the invention of golf.

Aye, I’ve seen that before. Robin should lay off of the coca plant His accent isn’t exactly there though. You should try watching Rab C Nesbitt - “Pure dead brilliant”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFPWbh4E6m8 Good luck with that!

He’s a futhee sprat…..........................(free spirit)  Some accents are painful.  This one is because I keep waiting for his curvy tongue to cramp into an enormous, thick knot….  !  Great example!

I know Renquist is from Glasgow—I’d love to have heard his accent!

Crafty Dragon - 23 September 2011 07:48 PM

I know Renuist is from Glasgow—I’d love to have heard his accent!

Why do you send him a pm or email and see if you can get him on Skype?

I’ve sent him a couple of PMs and messages through Facebook (requesting to add him as a friend), and gotten no response.  I’m guessing life has him busy for now.

He met one or two of the other Scots here; they might at least be able to tell us how stereotypically Glaswegian he sounded.