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How do accents of a whole town drift?

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1

I've heard it said that accents of towns drift over time. I find this hard to comprehend as how could an accent of a whole town change?

I think it is established that we mainly pick up our accent from our peers at school. But this is also odd, since if we are separated by age, peers in an age group should not really interact that much from other age groups, so where do their accents come from in the first place? Perhaps, maybe this is the answer, that because in schools we are separated from older children to a large degree, the accent can drift as it has no correction from older children.

But this still seems unlikely to me as universal schooling is a quite recent thing, and before then we had mainly apprenticeships which children would learn from adults and presumably pick up their accents.

Another (to me) unlikely idea is that a town's accent (e.g. Liverpudlian) has changed due to people talking over machinery in factories or mills so it gets higher pitched. Can an accent of a town really change that quickly?

But what I do see is that immigration affects accents a lot, for example the Jamaican accent changing the London cockney accent. Or the Geordie accent with lots of Scandinavian words also from immigration.

So in essence, is accent drift a real thing (has it been observed) and what is the main cause?

language-change sound-change accent

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

curiousdannii

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asked 8 hours ago

zoobyzooby

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add a comment | 

1

1

I've heard it said that accents of towns drift over time. I find this hard to comprehend as how could an accent of a whole town change?

I think it is established that we mainly pick up our accent from our peers at school. But this is also odd, since if we are separated by age, peers in an age group should not really interact that much from other age groups, so where do their accents come from in the first place? Perhaps, maybe this is the answer, that because in schools we are separated from older children to a large degree, the accent can drift as it has no correction from older children.

But this still seems unlikely to me as universal schooling is a quite recent thing, and before then we had mainly apprenticeships which children would learn from adults and presumably pick up their accents.

Another (to me) unlikely idea is that a town's accent (e.g. Liverpudlian) has changed due to people talking over machinery in factories or mills so it gets higher pitched. Can an accent of a town really change that quickly?

But what I do see is that immigration affects accents a lot, for example the Jamaican accent changing the London cockney accent. Or the Geordie accent with lots of Scandinavian words also from immigration.

So in essence, is accent drift a real thing (has it been observed) and what is the main cause?

language-change sound-change accent

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

curiousdannii

2,99833 gold badges1515 silver badges3232 bronze badges

asked 8 hours ago

zoobyzooby

12833 bronze badges

add a comment | 

I've heard it said that accents of towns drift over time. I find this hard to comprehend as how could an accent of a whole town change?

I think it is established that we mainly pick up our accent from our peers at school. But this is also odd, since if we are separated by age, peers in an age group should not really interact that much from other age groups, so where do their accents come from in the first place? Perhaps, maybe this is the answer, that because in schools we are separated from older children to a large degree, the accent can drift as it has no correction from older children.

But this still seems unlikely to me as universal schooling is a quite recent thing, and before then we had mainly apprenticeships which children would learn from adults and presumably pick up their accents.

Another (to me) unlikely idea is that a town's accent (e.g. Liverpudlian) has changed due to people talking over machinery in factories or mills so it gets higher pitched. Can an accent of a town really change that quickly?

But what I do see is that immigration affects accents a lot, for example the Jamaican accent changing the London cockney accent. Or the Geordie accent with lots of Scandinavian words also from immigration.

So in essence, is accent drift a real thing (has it been observed) and what is the main cause?

language-change sound-change accent

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

curiousdannii

2,99833 gold badges1515 silver badges3232 bronze badges

asked 8 hours ago

zoobyzooby

12833 bronze badges

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

curiousdannii

2,99833 gold badges1515 silver badges3232 bronze badges

asked 8 hours ago

zoobyzooby

12833 bronze badges

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

curiousdannii

2,99833 gold badges1515 silver badges3232 bronze badges

asked 8 hours ago

zoobyzooby

12833 bronze badges

edited 7 hours ago

curiousdannii

2,99833 gold badges1515 silver badges3232 bronze badges

edited 7 hours ago

curiousdannii

2,99833 gold badges1515 silver badges3232 bronze badges

asked 8 hours ago

zoobyzooby

12833 bronze badges

asked 8 hours ago

zoobyzooby

12833 bronze badges

1 Answer
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This does indeed happen! It tends to follow the same processes that make whole languages change over time. Just on a smaller scale: smaller area, smaller changes, smaller timespans. (Intuitive example: surely the first American colonists spoke "British English", since what would be the alternative? And look at what that's led to now.)

One way to think of it is, language is a tool for communication, and if it's not serving its purpose, it'll evolve with ruthless efficiency until it is. For a dramatic example, look at how quickly people stopped using capital letters in text messages: they were getting in the way of fast and efficient communication, so they were pruned away. Then, within five years, they were brought back, with a new purpose: SHOUTING, Distinctly Emphatic Tone, SaRcAsTiC MoCkErY, and so on. This helped communication, so it's stuck.

It might start with a "random mutation", just by chance. One man in the town pronounces his /a/ a little more like [æ]. He teaches this pronunciation to his children, who might influence their peers, until everyone pronounces that vowel slightly more to the front. This starts crowding /æ/, so over time that starts to shift upward in order to remain distinct. And so on, and so on…a small initial shift like that can lead to a complete restructuring of the vowel system, given enough time.

share|improve this answer

answered 5 hours ago

DraconisDraconis

15.9k11 gold badge2424 silver badges6666 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Hmm, but if this was just random, this sounds like it would take an awful long time for things to spread. On the other hand, if it was by people of influence, or importance, I can see that people would tend to mimic those people they admire. Just as people mimic the royal family's clothes, and even Christmas. But then again slang terms originate by 1 or 2 people and they can spread quite fast. So maybe vowel sounds can too. But this seems like a more conscious effor to sound cool than purely randomness. (Like when Londoners started mimicking the accent of the Beatles or Oasis.)
  
  – zooby
  5 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @zooby Depends! Children are extremely impressionable, linguistically, and it's very easy for them to pick up little quirks. But high-status people like the Royal Family do indeed tend to create their own standards: see "Received Pronunciation" or "the Queen's English".
  
  – Draconis
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  British English has changed too. Many features of American English are conservative.
  
  – Adam Bittlingmayer
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

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2

This does indeed happen! It tends to follow the same processes that make whole languages change over time. Just on a smaller scale: smaller area, smaller changes, smaller timespans. (Intuitive example: surely the first American colonists spoke "British English", since what would be the alternative? And look at what that's led to now.)

One way to think of it is, language is a tool for communication, and if it's not serving its purpose, it'll evolve with ruthless efficiency until it is. For a dramatic example, look at how quickly people stopped using capital letters in text messages: they were getting in the way of fast and efficient communication, so they were pruned away. Then, within five years, they were brought back, with a new purpose: SHOUTING, Distinctly Emphatic Tone, SaRcAsTiC MoCkErY, and so on. This helped communication, so it's stuck.

It might start with a "random mutation", just by chance. One man in the town pronounces his /a/ a little more like [æ]. He teaches this pronunciation to his children, who might influence their peers, until everyone pronounces that vowel slightly more to the front. This starts crowding /æ/, so over time that starts to shift upward in order to remain distinct. And so on, and so on…a small initial shift like that can lead to a complete restructuring of the vowel system, given enough time.

share|improve this answer

answered 5 hours ago

DraconisDraconis

15.9k11 gold badge2424 silver badges6666 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Hmm, but if this was just random, this sounds like it would take an awful long time for things to spread. On the other hand, if it was by people of influence, or importance, I can see that people would tend to mimic those people they admire. Just as people mimic the royal family's clothes, and even Christmas. But then again slang terms originate by 1 or 2 people and they can spread quite fast. So maybe vowel sounds can too. But this seems like a more conscious effor to sound cool than purely randomness. (Like when Londoners started mimicking the accent of the Beatles or Oasis.)
  
  – zooby
  5 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @zooby Depends! Children are extremely impressionable, linguistically, and it's very easy for them to pick up little quirks. But high-status people like the Royal Family do indeed tend to create their own standards: see "Received Pronunciation" or "the Queen's English".
  
  – Draconis
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  British English has changed too. Many features of American English are conservative.
  
  – Adam Bittlingmayer
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

2

This does indeed happen! It tends to follow the same processes that make whole languages change over time. Just on a smaller scale: smaller area, smaller changes, smaller timespans. (Intuitive example: surely the first American colonists spoke "British English", since what would be the alternative? And look at what that's led to now.)

One way to think of it is, language is a tool for communication, and if it's not serving its purpose, it'll evolve with ruthless efficiency until it is. For a dramatic example, look at how quickly people stopped using capital letters in text messages: they were getting in the way of fast and efficient communication, so they were pruned away. Then, within five years, they were brought back, with a new purpose: SHOUTING, Distinctly Emphatic Tone, SaRcAsTiC MoCkErY, and so on. This helped communication, so it's stuck.

It might start with a "random mutation", just by chance. One man in the town pronounces his /a/ a little more like [æ]. He teaches this pronunciation to his children, who might influence their peers, until everyone pronounces that vowel slightly more to the front. This starts crowding /æ/, so over time that starts to shift upward in order to remain distinct. And so on, and so on…a small initial shift like that can lead to a complete restructuring of the vowel system, given enough time.

share|improve this answer

answered 5 hours ago

DraconisDraconis

15.9k11 gold badge2424 silver badges6666 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Hmm, but if this was just random, this sounds like it would take an awful long time for things to spread. On the other hand, if it was by people of influence, or importance, I can see that people would tend to mimic those people they admire. Just as people mimic the royal family's clothes, and even Christmas. But then again slang terms originate by 1 or 2 people and they can spread quite fast. So maybe vowel sounds can too. But this seems like a more conscious effor to sound cool than purely randomness. (Like when Londoners started mimicking the accent of the Beatles or Oasis.)
  
  – zooby
  5 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @zooby Depends! Children are extremely impressionable, linguistically, and it's very easy for them to pick up little quirks. But high-status people like the Royal Family do indeed tend to create their own standards: see "Received Pronunciation" or "the Queen's English".
  
  – Draconis
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  British English has changed too. Many features of American English are conservative.
  
  – Adam Bittlingmayer
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

This does indeed happen! It tends to follow the same processes that make whole languages change over time. Just on a smaller scale: smaller area, smaller changes, smaller timespans. (Intuitive example: surely the first American colonists spoke "British English", since what would be the alternative? And look at what that's led to now.)

One way to think of it is, language is a tool for communication, and if it's not serving its purpose, it'll evolve with ruthless efficiency until it is. For a dramatic example, look at how quickly people stopped using capital letters in text messages: they were getting in the way of fast and efficient communication, so they were pruned away. Then, within five years, they were brought back, with a new purpose: SHOUTING, Distinctly Emphatic Tone, SaRcAsTiC MoCkErY, and so on. This helped communication, so it's stuck.

It might start with a "random mutation", just by chance. One man in the town pronounces his /a/ a little more like [æ]. He teaches this pronunciation to his children, who might influence their peers, until everyone pronounces that vowel slightly more to the front. This starts crowding /æ/, so over time that starts to shift upward in order to remain distinct. And so on, and so on…a small initial shift like that can lead to a complete restructuring of the vowel system, given enough time.

share|improve this answer

answered 5 hours ago

DraconisDraconis

15.9k11 gold badge2424 silver badges6666 bronze badges

share|improve this answer

answered 5 hours ago

DraconisDraconis

15.9k11 gold badge2424 silver badges6666 bronze badges

answered 5 hours ago

DraconisDraconis

15.9k11 gold badge2424 silver badges6666 bronze badges

answered 5 hours ago

DraconisDraconis

15.9k11 gold badge2424 silver badges6666 bronze badges