"Mike Spencer" wrote in message

Why do you think US and Canadian speech sounds almost identical yet so
different from British?

"Jim Wilkins" writes:

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message

[I didn't write that; you did. :-]

Why do you think US and Canadian speech sounds almost identical yet so
different from British?

To the extent that's true, I'd assume the influence of the media.
Lots of US TV here in Canada, not so much from the UK. I haven't had
a TV for 40 years but I see it periodically over my dentist's chair.
Last time to the tooth wrangler, I realized US TV can be characterized
as "fat people yelling at each other". Unfair, I know, to programs
such as yoga classes but a fair first approximation?

But then...

Many up-scale folks in Toronto & Ottawa have inflections that sound to
people from other provinces as "kinda British". Rural people in Nova
Scotia didn't sound either Brit or Merkin 50 years ago, unique
Lunenburg (German influence) and Cape Breton (Scots and Gaelic)
pronounciation and usage. After moving here 50 years ago, I had to
learn that "C'mintha hice" was an invitation to enter. That's all
fading gradually away.

In 1980, I was on a bus filled with other blacksmiths proceeding from
Ironbridge to Hereford. A guy in the seat behind me -- a certified
Brit whose normal delivery was what I took to be UK upper-middle-class
urban -- was recounting a yarn to his seatmate in some particular
English regional dialect. It sounded exactly like the adults I knew
in (Leftpondian) New Hampshire 65 years ago.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message
...

"Jim Wilkins" writes:

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message

[I didn't write that; you did. :-]

Why do you think US and Canadian speech sounds almost identical yet
so
different from British?

To the extent that's true, I'd assume the influence of the media.
Lots of US TV here in Canada, not so much from the UK. I haven't
had
a TV for 40 years but I see it periodically over my dentist's chair.
Last time to the tooth wrangler, I realized US TV can be
characterized
as "fat people yelling at each other". Unfair, I know, to programs
such as yoga classes but a fair first approximation?

But then...

Many up-scale folks in Toronto & Ottawa have inflections that sound
to
people from other provinces as "kinda British". Rural people in
Nova
Scotia didn't sound either Brit or Merkin 50 years ago, unique
Lunenburg (German influence) and Cape Breton (Scots and Gaelic)
pronounciation and usage. After moving here 50 years ago, I had to
learn that "C'mintha hice" was an invitation to enter. That's all
fading gradually away.

In 1980, I was on a bus filled with other blacksmiths proceeding
from
Ironbridge to Hereford. A guy in the seat behind me -- a certified
Brit whose normal delivery was what I took to be UK
upper-middle-class
urban -- was recounting a yarn to his seatmate in some particular
English regional dialect. It sounded exactly like the adults I knew
in (Leftpondian) New Hampshire 65 years ago.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada

My grandmother had the traditional New Hampshire accent but my mother
didn't, and my father had completely lost his southern Appalachian
accent, both before television. I think WW2 stirring the younger
people all together had a considerable effect. Chuck Yeager's
backwoods twang was said to be incomprehensible at first, then after
he gained fame many pilots imitated his drawl on the radio. In Atlanta
I noticed that network TV announcers spoke in the "standard"
Midwestern accent.

My real question is whether or not Canadians allowed themselves to be
influenced by USian speech. My impression is that like Quebecois we
are tolerated but not imitated.

http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/so...pronunciation/
Somewhere (haven't found it) I read that RP was an imitation of the
newly rich East Midlands mill owners and their public (USA: private)
school sons, a product of the Industrial Revolution that took hold
simultaneously with our Revolution, so that Americans who visited
London afterwards commented on the change while the USA and Canada
preserved the older accent.
-jsw

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message
...

"Jim Wilkins" writes:

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message

[I didn't write that; you did. :-]

Why do you think US and Canadian speech sounds almost identical yet
so
different from British?

To the extent that's true, I'd assume the influence of the media.
Lots of US TV here in Canada, not so much from the UK. I haven't
had
a TV for 40 years but I see it periodically over my dentist's chair.
Last time to the tooth wrangler, I realized US TV can be
characterized
as "fat people yelling at each other". Unfair, I know, to programs
such as yoga classes but a fair first approximation?

But then...

Many up-scale folks in Toronto & Ottawa have inflections that sound
to
people from other provinces as "kinda British". Rural people in
Nova
Scotia didn't sound either Brit or Merkin 50 years ago, unique
Lunenburg (German influence) and Cape Breton (Scots and Gaelic)
pronounciation and usage. After moving here 50 years ago, I had to
learn that "C'mintha hice" was an invitation to enter. That's all
fading gradually away.


The PBS network presents BBC dramas like Masterpiece Theatre, Dr Who
and Downton Abbey, and David Attenborough narrates Nature, so we can
hear plenty of proper British if we choose to. The only Canadian show
I watched regularly was Forever Knight, set in Toronto. Geraint Wyn
Davies and Catherine Disher could be mistaken for Americans, Nigel
Bennet delivered his midnight radio host monologs as though he was
doing Shakespeare.
https://www.gryffonslair.com/fk/lccerks3.html

Others assumed various accents including Cockney. You might know Wyn
Davies from the Nova Scotia series Black Harbour.

-jsw

On 07/02/2019 06:52, Mike Spencer wrote:
"Jim Wilkins" writes:

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message

[I didn't write that; you did. :-]

Why do you think US and Canadian speech sounds almost identical yet so
different from British?
To the extent that's true, I'd assume the influence of the media.
Lots of US TV here in Canada, not so much from the UK. I haven't had
a TV for 40 years but I see it periodically over my dentist's chair.
Last time to the tooth wrangler, I realized US TV can be characterized
as "fat people yelling at each other". Unfair, I know, to programs
such as yoga classes but a fair first approximation?

But then...

Many up-scale folks in Toronto & Ottawa have inflections that sound to
people from other provinces as "kinda British". Rural people in Nova
Scotia didn't sound either Brit or Merkin 50 years ago, unique
Lunenburg (German influence) and Cape Breton (Scots and Gaelic)
pronounciation and usage. After moving here 50 years ago, I had to
learn that "C'mintha hice" was an invitation to enter. That's all
fading gradually away.

In 1980, I was on a bus filled with other blacksmiths proceeding from
Ironbridge to Hereford. A guy in the seat behind me -- a certified
Brit whose normal delivery was what I took to be UK upper-middle-class
urban -- was recounting a yarn to his seatmate in some particular
English regional dialect. It sounded exactly like the adults I knew
in (Leftpondian) New Hampshire 65 years ago.

I think TV has an influence as a number of Dutch friends, especially
younger ones, speak English with a pronounced US accent and they have a
lot of US programs on Dutch TV.

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message
...

"Jim Wilkins" writes:

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message

[I didn't write that; you did. :-]


Sorry, I forgot the ellipsis.

"David Billington" wrote in message
...
On 07/02/2019 06:52, Mike Spencer wrote:
"Jim Wilkins" writes:

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message

[I didn't write that; you did. :-]

Why do you think US and Canadian speech sounds almost identical
yet so
different from British?
To the extent that's true, I'd assume the influence of the media.
Lots of US TV here in Canada, not so much from the UK. I haven't
had
a TV for 40 years but I see it periodically over my dentist's
chair.
Last time to the tooth wrangler, I realized US TV can be
characterized
as "fat people yelling at each other". Unfair, I know, to programs
such as yoga classes but a fair first approximation?

But then...

Many up-scale folks in Toronto & Ottawa have inflections that sound
to
people from other provinces as "kinda British". Rural people in
Nova
Scotia didn't sound either Brit or Merkin 50 years ago, unique
Lunenburg (German influence) and Cape Breton (Scots and Gaelic)
pronounciation and usage. After moving here 50 years ago, I had to
learn that "C'mintha hice" was an invitation to enter. That's all
fading gradually away.

In 1980, I was on a bus filled with other blacksmiths proceeding
from
Ironbridge to Hereford. A guy in the seat behind me -- a certified
Brit whose normal delivery was what I took to be UK
upper-middle-class
urban -- was recounting a yarn to his seatmate in some particular
English regional dialect. It sounded exactly like the adults I
knew
in (Leftpondian) New Hampshire 65 years ago.

I think TV has an influence as a number of Dutch friends, especially
younger ones, speak English with a pronounced US accent and they
have a lot of US programs on Dutch TV.


The Germans who spoke English sounded American too. Generally the
well-educated foreign English speakers I've met, such as from
Argentina and Africa, had British accents. I don't expect American to
be the world standard.

On Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 11:37:30 AM UTC-5, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"David Billington" wrote in message
...
On 07/02/2019 06:52, Mike Spencer wrote:
"Jim Wilkins" writes:

"Mike Spencer" wrote in message

[I didn't write that; you did. :-]

Why do you think US and Canadian speech sounds almost identical
yet so
different from British?
To the extent that's true, I'd assume the influence of the media.
Lots of US TV here in Canada, not so much from the UK. I haven't
had
a TV for 40 years but I see it periodically over my dentist's
chair.
Last time to the tooth wrangler, I realized US TV can be
characterized
as "fat people yelling at each other". Unfair, I know, to programs
such as yoga classes but a fair first approximation?

But then...

Many up-scale folks in Toronto & Ottawa have inflections that sound
to
people from other provinces as "kinda British". Rural people in
Nova
Scotia didn't sound either Brit or Merkin 50 years ago, unique
Lunenburg (German influence) and Cape Breton (Scots and Gaelic)
pronounciation and usage. After moving here 50 years ago, I had to
learn that "C'mintha hice" was an invitation to enter. That's all
fading gradually away.

In 1980, I was on a bus filled with other blacksmiths proceeding
from
Ironbridge to Hereford. A guy in the seat behind me -- a certified
Brit whose normal delivery was what I took to be UK
upper-middle-class
urban -- was recounting a yarn to his seatmate in some particular
English regional dialect. It sounded exactly like the adults I
knew
in (Leftpondian) New Hampshire 65 years ago.

I think TV has an influence as a number of Dutch friends, especially
younger ones, speak English with a pronounced US accent and they
have a lot of US programs on Dutch TV.


The Germans who spoke English sounded American too. Generally the
well-educated foreign English speakers I've met, such as from
Argentina and Africa, had British accents. I don't expect American to
be the world standard.

A few decades ago, linguists were saying that the main influence that distinguished American English was that of German immigrants. The blended result was the general accent we Murkins have today.

I haven't checked to see if this opinion has remained the same in the years since.

Of course, there were many other influences as well, and a lot of regional differences that are slowly disappearing. For example, the area of New England from Providence to the north still tends toward non-rhotic ("r" is silent) pronunciations, except for those who came from southwestern England (like my ancestors).

--
Ed Huntress

On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:34:54 AM UTC-8, Jim Wilkins wrote:
[about Saugus ironworks ]

I remember thinking the hammer drive didn't seem built to withstand
much use, as I had made toy wooden models of machinery and seen how
fast wood rubbing surfaces wear.

In the age of sail, the wood used for rubbing surfaces was lignum vitae
or similar; it wore rather better than one would expect.
And, it's endangered with very little available for modelmaking.

Some old eighteenth-century clocks with lignum vitae bearings
are still telling time.

"whit3rd" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:34:54 AM UTC-8, Jim Wilkins
wrote:
[about Saugus ironworks ]

I remember thinking the hammer drive didn't seem built to withstand
much use, as I had made toy wooden models of machinery and seen how
fast wood rubbing surfaces wear.

In the age of sail, the wood used for rubbing surfaces was lignum
vitae
or similar; it wore rather better than one would expect.
And, it's endangered with very little available for modelmaking.

Some old eighteenth-century clocks with lignum vitae bearings
are still telling time.

https://lignumvitaesolutions.com/ind...rine-industry/

My family heirloom wooden-geared grandfather clock is still telling
the time every 6:03.

My memory of visiting the Saugus Iron Works some 60 years ago was that
it looked "authentic", ie crude, compared to the structure in our 1830
mill owner's house.