-
There is an old film called my fair lady
1960s.
The stage play script was published in 1912.
-
There is an old film called my fair lady, it's about a man that could tell what street you were born on in London by your accent. I don't know if this was ever possible but I expect the rate in distance at which accents change is probably down to how much people moved around, as we have become more mobile accents have averaged out over a wider area. Many very localized accents were probably never "discovered" as so few people spoke them that by the time anyone who cared would have got there to hear them their accent would have merged with the wider population.
Sigh.. you know you are getting old when that film is called "old".. Granted I wasnt born when the film came out.. hell neither was my dad.. but it was certainly a film that was quite famous and recognisable.. and an enjoyable watch even today..
so to even introduce that film as "old film" 
-
1960s.
The stage play script was published in 1912.
That would explain the emphasis on such localized accents. I don't know at what point "how you speak" stopped mattering so much. -
The original was Pygmalion by G B Shaw. I remember one of our primary school teachers had us read it, possibly because MFL had been released a few years earlier and he preferred the original. I did not see the movie for years. By that time I thought the characterisation of the Prof oppressive; GBS wrote stronger women.
-
Specifically for 'USA-i-ans':
This 25-question language survey can pinpoint your origin within the US to surprising accuracy (I've lived in 7 cities across 5 states; it nailed them all).
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html -
The original was Pygmalion by G B Shaw. I remember one of our primary school teachers had us read it, possibly because MFL had been released a few years earlier and he preferred the original. I did not see the movie for years. By that time I thought the characterisation of the Prof oppressive; GBS wrote stronger women.
"Just you woite, 'enry 'iggins, just you woite!"
Audrey Hepburn pretty strong. -
Talking of unusual accents reminded me of Fred Dibnah, a steeplejack, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering and appeared on numerous TV programmes during the 1980s and 90s. He was born in Bolton, Lancashire in 1938.
Be honest if you find it difficult to understand his heavy accent. -
Talking of unusual accents reminded me of Fred Dibnah, a steeplejack, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering and appeared on numerous TV programmes during the 1980s and 90s. He was born in Bolton, Lancashire in 1938.
Be honest if you find it difficult to understand his heavy accent.
I do. But more than that, watching him up there gives me the willies. -
Be honest if you find it difficult to understand his heavy accent.
Absolutely 0% difficulty ... he barely has any accent at all. Not a lot different to my grandfather and his brother, who though born in NZ in the 1910s I think spoke a lot like their father who came from a village between Leicester and Derby in the 1880s. I expect I could find old people in rural areas in NZ speaking much like him today.
If you want to have some fun understanding a few different UK accents try this:
-
Nobody here pronounces the word that way!
Seems like some kind of affectation to me.
To quote Edmund Blackadder, "Rearrange these words into a sentence: face, your, soddering, shut". -
If you want to have some fun understanding a few different UK accents try this:
Meh, amateurs.
Set phasers tae Malky!
(Can anyone translate the first phrase used in the bar fight? That's the one part I can't figure out). -
If you want to have some fun understanding a few different UK accents try this:
Meh, amateurs.
Set phasers tae Malky!
(Can anyone translate the first phrase used in the bar fight? That's the one part I can't figure out).
(According to a colleague who hails from the area)
The gentleman in red is inviting the other to avoid injury to his person by retracting some offensive statement that he's just made.
-
Ah telt ye before, any mair o’ yer pish an I’ll XXX yer clackerbag
Can't quite make out the verb. The noun is scrotum.
-
Ah telt ye before, any mair o’ yer pish an I’ll XXX yer clackerbag
For extra amusement, turn on auto-subtitles. The bar disagreement renders only as "music". -
Quote
Ah telt ye before, any mair o’ yer pish an I’ll
stick this right upQuoteyer clackerbag
As iv told you before ,any more of your rubbish and i will insert this broken bottle into your scrotum.
next question
Da ya ken ken hen? -
next question
Da ya ken ken hen?
Och aye an' fock off the noo!
(From the Edinburgh Fringe many years ago). -
I say fellows, that's a very brusque manor of parlance in which you're engaged.
It's shocking enough to make an educated resident of Massachusetts say sodder... -
I resent the insinuation that I’m only saying that because of patriotism: as I already explained, this is the conclusion of British historical linguists of the English language in England.
I still dispute that American English has changed less than British English. History is written by the winners after all, so it shouldn't be surprising it's what you've been taught, given the fact the USA is a dominant cultural power. I have also informatively studied some social science, although not linguistics and I take some of it with a grain of salt, because it isn't a matter of right or wrong as is the case for hard sciences such as engineering. It isn't as though there are recordings from 250 years ago to prove one way or the other.
And honestly, it shouldn’t even be surprising: England has far more deliberate pressures on diction, thanks to the much, much larger importance of socioeconomic class there. (Americans pretend they don’t have classes.)
Regarding the rest of your post: yep, one of the things that is very, very frustrating in layperson discussions of “American vs British” English is that examples of nonstandard (i.e. regional or other specific dialect, but also simple examples of errors) American English get compared to RP, ignoring the cornucopia of regional dialects in the UK and Ireland, most of which are scarcely closer to RP than General American dialect is! Many of those dialects retain historical features that American English also preserved.
And some of them were brought to USA as well. I don’t know as much formal history about it, but it hasn’t escaped my notice that one of the two (modern) native dialects of Dublin sounds astoundingly close to (modern) American English. Given that the Irish came to USA in droves, later than the English, it stands to reason that their dialect(s) would have a palpable influence on American speech. -
The settlement pattern of English speakers in North America resulted in isolated pockets of rural areas where the only written literature available comprised the King James Authorized translation of the Bible and (possibly) works of Shakespeare, thus retaining 17th Century language locally while the language evolved faster elsewhere.
-
Proper English:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zS-PgEFaibU
A complete course for analogue Kid:
Nope. It's analog here.
Your chauvinism and parochialism is showing, badly.
"My language is the true one! Yours is shit!"
(Not "shite" either. Here.) -
Where did I say anything about patriotism? It's what you've been taught. Nothing to do with where you're from.
I resent the insinuation that I’m only saying that because of patriotism: as I already explained, this is the conclusion of British historical linguists of the English language in England.
I still dispute that American English has changed less than British English. History is written by the winners after all, so it shouldn't be surprising it's what you've been taught, given the fact the USA is a dominant cultural power. I have also informatively studied some social science, although not linguistics and I take some of it with a grain of salt, because it isn't a matter of right or wrong as is the case for hard sciences such as engineering. It isn't as though there are recordings from 250 years ago to prove one way or the other.
I just stated that I don't buy it. The idea that American English was the original is an old myth which has been pretty much debunked.QuoteAnd honestly, it shouldn’t even be surprising: England has far more deliberate pressures on diction, thanks to the much, much larger importance of socioeconomic class there. (Americans pretend they don’t have classes.)
I think you've nailed it with you last paragraph: Irish English had more of an influence on American English, than what was spoken in South-East England. Heck, I would also bet that it was also true to some degree for the Bristol, Lancashire and Cheshire dialects, because they have big ports where people immigrated to the US.
Regarding the rest of your post: yep, one of the things that is very, very frustrating in layperson discussions of “American vs British” English is that examples of nonstandard (i.e. regional or other specific dialect, but also simple examples of errors) American English get compared to RP, ignoring the cornucopia of regional dialects in the UK and Ireland, most of which are scarcely closer to RP than General American dialect is! Many of those dialects retain historical features that American English also preserved.
And some of them were brought to USA as well. I don’t know as much formal history about it, but it hasn’t escaped my notice that one of the two (modern) native dialects of Dublin sounds astoundingly close to (modern) American English. Given that the Irish came to USA in droves, later than the English, it stands to reason that their dialect(s) would have a palpable influence on American speech. -
I think you've nailed it with you last paragraph: Irish English had more of an influence on American English, than what was spoken in South-East England. Heck, I would also bet that it was also true to some degree for the Bristol, Lancashire and Cheshire dialects, because they have big ports where people immigrated to the US.
I'm sure that the Irish had a tremendous influence on the English spoken in Boston, for instance, as they settled there in great numbers. That city is well known for its distinctive accent. I don't know the details but it seems to stand to reason that this comes at least in part from the influx of immigrants. -
Quote
Your chauvinism and parochialism is showing, badly.
At least we have things we can be proud of. We have libraries full of history books documenting institutionalized violence combined with extreme cruelty, subjugation and things like that. I like to read about those glorious times where they cooked and skinned people alive with hundreds of spectators present while sipping some beer or wine with some Bach playing in the background. -
Quote
Your chauvinism and parochialism is showing, badly.
At least we have things we can be proud of.
By "we" do you mean your fellow countrypersons? (not sure which country that would be as yours is obscured by that weird Simple Machines glitch.) Or do you mean humanity in general?
If the latter then I'll second that emotion. We "septics" have more than our share of evil historical deeds to account for.