Language desk
< May 30	<< Apr \| May \| Jun >>	June 1 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

May 31

Did 17th and 18th-century British English (Early Modern and Modern English) sound similar to West Country English, the Lancashire dialect, or the Northumbrian dialect?

Given the fact that British English in the 1600s and the 1700s were rhotic, did British English in these eras sound similar to rhotic varieties of British English that exist today. Also I don't think American English sounded closer to older varieties of British English. 95.144.204.68 (talk) 16:09, 31 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Which "American English"? Northern? Southern? See blog.lingoda.com/en/southern-accent/ and www.babbel.com/en/magazine/united-states-of-accents-southern-american-english and Southern American English#History and geography; or Google 'southern us accent from england'. – .Raven ^.talk 23:18, 31 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

See Rhoticity in English.

Also BBC - How Americans preserved British English. Alansplodge (talk) 08:50, 1 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I mean't General American English. 95.144.204.68 (talk) 10:14, 4 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

95.144.204.68 -- In the 1700s, there were processes of "koineization" at work (as discussed at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2023 March 23), which meant that many or most forms of English in British North America / the United States ended up not strongly resembling any one particular local UK dialect... AnonMoos (talk) 07:24, 1 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]