History of the modern British accent

“Wow! Did you hear his accent? It is English.” Or, “I want to learn British English, and not American.” These are phrases, we often hear. To some people a British accent seems classier, more eloquent and yes, prettier.

Most people assume that it is this accent that is the original and more authentic English accent. However, this is a false assumption, as it wasn’t the American accent that divulged from the British. Instead, it was the reverse; It was the current British accent that developed somewhere in the 18th century, and changed from what is now known as the American accent.

Defined

An accent is the way a person pronounces a language. Everyone has one, no matter what language they are speaking, so this is not a factor that is exclusive to English; your accent in whatever language you speak, is determined by the place you grew up and the people that surround you.

In English, this pronouncing is influenced by geographical location and by other people that you come into contact with. So, those born in America, Canada, England or in any other English-speaking country will most likely have accent variations linked to that geographic location. However, these variations are not only noticeable from country to country but from region to region within the same country too.

In reality, there is no certain accent that is better than another. Some people prefer to say they have no accent or that there are people with no accent. Despite this belief, everyone has some type of accent, and this results from how and where you learn the language. In English, this can include learning it from birth, or from an American or British accent teacher.

While people from different countries may be able to distinguish you as having an accent, most cannot accurately know precisely where you accent is from, as this is dependent on how well a person understands exactly where you are from. So, while someone may be able to distinguish you as having a British or an American one, they may not be able to tell from what part of that country the accent is from.

You see; a person’s accent is associated with a specific place. So, a person from New York will have a different accent than a person from Virginia. By the same token, a person from London will have a distinctive accent, one different from someone living in New Delhi. Most people will only discern, either a British or an American accent, or may even understand that your English is a second language based on your accent.

The Difference

Linguist say that most English-language learners, no matter where they are born have a rhotic accent, which means they pronounce the “R” in most words. So a world like “hard” and “winter” would be pronounced as such. To better understand rhotic, you could say that Americans have this type of speech.

A non-rhotic accent, is one where the ‘R” is not pronounced. Linguists suggest that it is a non-rhotic accent that is most common throughout Britain, and this is what we commonly know as the British accent. This is the typical dropping of the “R” in speaking. For example, a Brit would say,”It’s “It’s been a hahd wintuh,” whereas an American might say,”It’s “It’s been a hard winter.”

Which is better?

One thing is certain; we can learn any accent we want. People aren’t born with a particular accent; it is learned, and as such we can change or control the way we use language. However, language can be influenced by the people we speak to.

So a British accent can be picked up or influenced by speaking to other people with similar accents. Often, this accent is learned without our even noticing it when in the presence of other people who use this accent.

Influencing Factors

As people group together their interests also become similar; this is true of language too. So when people socialize together they take on distinct features of each other too. Let’s use an example here: If we have a single group that splits into two and one-half of the group goes to another country, then either of the group’s language use and accent will begin to differ.

So, if we take the example of Americans and British people. When the Americans first left England, both groups initially had similar accents. However, once separate, the language begins to adapt and change.

History of Accents

Just as human nature changes over time, and people choose distinct behaviors, choose different clothing styles, religious practices, foods and cultural practices, so does language change. If you listen to a recording in whatever language you like from 60 to 70 years ago, you will note different language use, and accents.

Note, that we cannot really compare language use prior to this period, for a lack of recording technology. Still, if you compare the language used in books from 100 to 200 years ago, you’ll also notice a difference. For many young people, the type of language used in these periods is extremely difficult to understand.

Beginnings of the British Accent

Humans have always migrated from place to place. History demonstrates that humans left East Africa approximately 100,000 years ago and gradually populated the world. These groups of people created their own cultures, languages and conquered each other adapting over and over again.

Historians believe England to have been populated by about the fifth century (CE) when humans migrated here from the North Sea. English was brought to England from the Germanic tribes who migrated here and later the language was taken to several other nations such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand and the United States.

However, what is known as the current British accent did not arise until the mid 1700s. In fact, the English and Americans shared an accent during the initial British migration to the United States. But contrary to what most people believe this accent was very similar to what Americans now speak. In other words, it was more of a Rhotic accent.

However, towards the 1770s, during the American Revolution, the British accent began to change. Non-rhotic accents started to become popular with the upper classes.

This difference began because English people who suddenly became wealthy, as a result of the industrial revolution, wanted to find a way of distinguishing themselves from the poor classes. They practiced and adopted the non-rhotic British accent as a way of demonstrating their new status among the upper classes.

In conclusion, neither accent can be said to be the best. But instead, they differ from each other as tastes, cultures, clothing styles and food differ. There is no “Right” or “Wrong” type of English language-just a different British accent from other English accents spoken around the world.