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Our forefathers came from across the pond bringing every part of British culture with them, except for their accents. It would make the most sense if we spoke the way the British do, but we don’t. Why is that?
Prior to the American Revolution, English women and men actually sounded similar to the way Americans do in our culture today. They spoke with rhotic, which means that people pronounced a hard r. Long ago, the British used to emphasize their r‘s just as Americans now do, keeping the r sound in “hard” or “water.”
Now, however, the British barely enunciate their r‘s at all, so it sounds more like “hahd” or “wotah.” This is called Received Pronunciation (R.P.) or what some may now call “The Queen’s English.” This sort of pronunciation began in London after the American Revolution. It became the country’s uniform dialect because it was non-regional and since the posh and wealthy used it, the rest of the country followed.
The reason that other English-speaking countries around the world use R.P., such as Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand, is because these places were colonized after the American Revolution when R.P. was common. Essentially, the United States just missed the time frame to inherit the R.P. way of speaking.
All across the United States, people still tend to speak a little differently. Even Americans vary in accent. Some will pronounce their words with a Southern drawl or a New York City twang. These are called dialects and greatly depend on geography and community. Different dialects are usually due to the fact that a group of people are living close together and are not close to any other communities. On the other hand, idiolects, which are an individual’s unique way of speaking, are never the same.
As a result, we end up with different dialects in the United States that are forever forming and evolving. Within each dialect there are subdialects that vary in length. In America, dialects in places such as Boston, New York, and New Jersey still have a little bit of an R.P. accent because they maintained relations with aristocratic English. They also do not enunciate their r’s as much, but it does sound different from a more proper, British accent. In New York, people pronounce their consonants harder. In some Southern regions, they do not pronounce their r’s while others do. Generally, the Southern dialect does sound much slower, as if it was drawn out. On the west coast, we often hear people speak heavier and louder. Some may even say that “valley girls” originated in this area.
Dialects and accents will always change over time as more generations come and go, but the recent development of technology has put a pause in the evolution of dialect. We have the ability to hear other people’s voices from all across the nation through technological outlets, such as social media and television.
Pronunciation that is broadcast on national television is called the Network Standard. This means that the United States could potentially morph into one single dialect. Some groups will still be socially isolated because of other factors such as poverty, racism, and class distinctions. However, regional dialects are very strongly established within communities, making it unlikely for us to see a fade in accents anytime soon.
