A Northern US Accent from the 18th to the 21st Centuries

[@mansquito2488]

I grew up in rural Pennsylvania Appalachia. That 1826 "recorded" accent sounds so similar to the way a number of the oldest generation still speaks around there, those over 80 years old. I get thrown off because it sounds like they are from another country, but they were born and lived their entire lives there.

[@raeesmerelda]

Agreed! It sounds normal for rural PA, and even the first didn't sound too far off from some.

[@linhou1051]

I live in rural Western PA & when I heard the 1826 'recorded' version thought it sounded really similar to how people sound here too.

[@odaeyss]

southern central PA checking in, you're spot-on. i never flagged that as foreign, though.. I was around some older folk with strong dutchy accents, *that* sounded a bit foreign. And for the life of me I can't speak like that at all. I'm too much an English ;D

[@GiskardRevenlov]

Sounds like everyone I know in NorCal, the Californian accent most people think of is either a valley girl accent or a SoCal accent

[@ianmurray9285]

@@linhou1051 I knew a guy in college from really rural Pennsylvania, and I remember when I first met him, I thought he was from somewhere besides the US

[@trinity_null]

it's jaw-dropping to think that this is you doing these voices and accents. you'd probably blow some friends' minds with this kind of "trick".

[@danielrobinson7872]

Actors hate him. Learn accents using this one weird trick.

[@VoidUnderTheSun]

That moment when he coughs and it's a pure Simon Roper cough and then straight back into the accent is incredible... Around 03:35

[@chubbynubby24]

This man is probably a fire dungeon master

[@trinity_null]

@@VoidUnderTheSun fr lol

[@iamthirdyt]

Yeah and on top of all the speech particularities, he also varied voice and pacing, and added all the emotions to make everything sound so perfect and real! Incredible!

[@kingofarnor1430]

I find that older people in the US have a much greater variety of accents than younger people. Thanks for the very insightful reconstructions!

[@francophone.]

Yes, and on top of that, people move around more

[@callusklaus2413]

@Rayyan khan There's a term for it! In linguistics it's called Langauge or Dialect Flattening!

[@cigh7445]

Exactly, as Rayyan and Francophone said, young people have more standardised speech today due to increased movement of people in the modern age and the mass media, essentially. In the past it took a long time for language innovations to spread from the centres of population and prestige

[@TheRagingPlatypus]

Very much so because of TV and media.

[@urphakeandgey6308]

@Rayyan Khan 'Standardise' would be a better word than 'normalize,' imo. You're right though. Media and the 'standardisation' of language has made it harder for unique accents to emerge unless they're noticeably separated geographically and culturally. (See AU or UK English then compare it to US.)

[@daviddickey370]

You have a great future in recording "historically-informed accent" audiobooks (I'm not sure that is actually a thing, but I would find it stimulating). Imagine Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson read with an accent something like what Mark Twain's own might have been like.

[@MichaelRobertHart]

This should absolutely be a thing

[@CMBauer]

That would be pretty cool

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

I would love that!

[@abrahemsamander3967]

Nice idea David! Yeah. That should be a movement on its own. They already do this for Shakespeare plays, we should do it for all sorts of books.

[@NateJGardner]

Please do it! Please do it!

[@VanirTraditionalist]

As a lifelong New Englander I’d say this is pretty spot on. It’s interesting that in NE alone the accents have extreme variations; for example Providence, RI sounds absolutely nothing like rural Vermont or Maine. Even within Massachusetts there are nuances between the North and South Shore.

[@francophone.]

Even within Maine, there are nuances (but people who are not from New England sometimes think that people have the Boston accent in Maine, which is untrue)

[@alleeum]

Absolutely. To me, even Medford (north of Boston) and Marshfield (south) sound completely different, and they're only 30 or so miles apart. (I once met a random stranger in San Francisco and he hadn't said more than two or three sentences when I interrupted to ask, "Medford?" "My God!" he said, completely freaked out. "How did you know?" :)

[@Maxime_Grisé]

Another lifelong New Englander here: I would say definitely all these qualify 100% as "Northern" accents, with speaker 5 being what I'd call a plausible New Englander, but certainly not from a speaker within 50 miles of the coast. Would love to hear you take a crack at recreating the old "Bert and I" recordings, Simon!

[@Threezi04]

Lmao it really is a *new* England, isn't it?

[@francophone.]

@@Maxime_Grisé I should have been more precise then, they do not sound like they are from Maine, New Hampshire or eastern Massachusetts. They vowels are almost close to how some people talk, but not quite (and I think that they are farther away from how some older people talk), at least sometimes, but the accents he reconstructed are rhotic, and as I said, the vowels still miss the mark (though presumably, that is because that is not the type of accent he was reconstructing, that is why it is too vague).

[@efficiencygaming3494]

It's incredible how radically the American accent had changed in a century's time. Speaker 2's accent had greatly reduced British influence compared to Speaker 1, and Speaker 3 already had an accent very similar to a modern American. Hearing Speaker 5 actually brought back memories for me. When I grew up in the Midwest, many of the older adults I encountered at school and elsewhere spoke with accents almost identical to that one. I'm sure there are still people to this day who speak with that same sort of accent.

[@KIJIKLIPS]

Speaker 2 doesn't have reduced "british" influence at all. He has reduced english influence.

[@efficiencygaming3494]

@@KIJIKLIPS Technically speaking, the term "British" is inclusive of English people as well as Welsh and Scottish, so it would not be wrong to say that Speaker 2 has reduced British influence.

[@KIJIKLIPS]

@@efficiencygaming3494 have you heard all the accents of Britain? And what Britain pertained to at the time? His accent sounds to me like it has lots of Scottish or even Irish influences. Which are British in this case.

[@efficiencygaming3494]

@@KIJIKLIPS That's mainly the reason why I chose to use the term British instead of English to describe the accent. As an American, I'm not an expert by any means when it comes to the specific dialects of Britain, but Speaker 1's accent threw me off because it sounded unlike any English accent I've heard before. In fact, I initially identified the accent as being similar to an Irish one, until he mentioned that he was from Kent, which is an English county... As for Speaker 2, his accent sounded somewhat like the first speaker's, but with reduced influence as I mentioned. In any case, it's interesting how the modern American accent evolved out of something that was originally much different.

[@KIJIKLIPS]

@@efficiencygaming3494The first speakers accent was very familiar to me as there are still many accents like that today in England that I hear frequently.

[@walfredswanson]

These are refreshing to hear. American "westerns" have resulted in a strange notion of what 19th century speech was like in America. I once evaluated a film script where one of my main criticisms was the stereotypical speech patterns in the dialog. Of course, the examples presented in this video are from the northeast. Where I live in the north central part of the country, the New England speech patterns from early lumbermen gradually mixed with the German and Scandinavian sounds, since those were the dominant immigrant groups that settled this part of the country between 1850 and 1920. One hears more and more affectations of southern speech patterns purely because of identification with particular pop culture stereotypes.

[@TheAzureNightmare]

Scandinavian. German. Shit, got some of that ancestry myself. Michigander here.

[@ImCarolB]

General American speech has gone downhill quickly, for the reason you mention. It affects accent and a loss of proper grammar, pronunciation, and definition. I grew up in Vermont, with New Jersey parents (1950s). I now live in downeast Maine, and the people here speak like my neighbors did when I was a child.

[@henrywallace7996]

"Walfred Swanson" is the most damn Yankee name I ever saw.

[@dr.woozie7500]

Westerns had people from the south, especially in places like Texas, Kansas, New Mexico where films were set. You got more northerners in California, Oregon, Minnesota, and Dakotas. I’d think you’d see a mix of accents from all regions in the Old West with mainly Southerners who moved west mixed with some Scot/Irish Mid-Atlantics, Englishmen, Mexican Tejanos and Scandinavians.

[@sciencerscientifico310]

In reality, there was no such thing as a uniform western American accent in the 19th century as it was populated almost exclusively by migrants from the various eastern states and abroad.

[@kales2179]

Grandpa was born in 1938, he had some kind of very humble, sweet New York accent. Never have heard anyone with it and I grew up somewhat nomadic…very tall/large Irish/Scottish decent man, heart of gold. Every time family would get together or we’d visit him he’d say to me “Why hello there!” Pick me up/hug me “You are such a beautiful young lady!” Between him and my daddy, they made me feel so treasured. He passed two years ago here in a few days and I dearly miss him. If I ever hear anyone with a similar accent to him I’d probably well up as I am now. Thank you again for another fascinating video! Happy new year!

[@honeybadgerisme]

Why, hello there beautiful young lady! I bet your Grandad is thinking loving thoughts of you just now! *Big hug from an Auntie who loved her Grandad, too!

[@gooner_duke2756]

That's very sweet. I'm sorry for your loss, but what wonderful memories you have. It makes a difference having those loving and safe relationships. I can imagine you are a nurturing person yourself...(?). I think we internalise those sort of relationships and in turn, treat others, how we've been treated. Wish you the best.

[@VinsCool]

It's really amazing how the last recording sounds 100% American. I would not guess this was someone from the UK if I listened without context. That's what I admire from language experts, they can execute their pronunciation almost flawlessly. And here I am in the middle of French Canada still struggling to not betray my accent each time I speak English lol

[@Maxime_Grisé]

faque tu parle franglais anyways ! (bonjour d'la nouvelle-angleterre)

[@VinsCool]

Bonsoir venant du Québec, voisins du sud, et joyeuses fêtes!

[@JosephNoussair]

I think he presented an excellent example of the evolution of manner of speech. Feel free to be yourselves, Vins and Sibele. This is what people cherish, and if they don't, well - just ignore them.

[@ShehrozeAmeen]

You're a frogger? What a shame.

[@VinsCool]

@@ShehrozeAmeen right? How shameful of me to have learned the froggy language during childhood :D

[@live4powderhound834]

I grew up in West Michigan. When I was 19, I moved out West and worked at a hotel. A customer came in one day and said he was a linguist and could tell me the within 20 miles where I was raised. Pretty amazing. This has always fascinated me.

[@Maliceah]

That’s funny I had a linguist tell me that I was from upstate New York and I’ve been a Mainer all my life

[@jl453]

Very Henry Higgins of him to do that👍

[@RobertEWaters]

His name wasn't Henry Higgins, was it? ;)

[@Londonbabyblue]

An Intelligence consultant tried to guess where I was from after I’d lived in VA for a year. He pegged me for California, but I grew up in Mississippi! I must have lost my accent since I was hanging around with non-Southern military folks:-).

[@Cnw8701]

Lol people say the same thing about my accent. I'm from Dayton, Ohio, and I happen to have a Southwestern Ohio accent. For those who know accents; the Southwestern Ohio accent is a combination of the Northern Kentucky, Central Ohio, and Southern Indiana accents. I say worship as "worsh-ep", "boxes" as "bahx-iz", "caramel" as "car-mell", "Concord" as "conquered", and "Chaffee" as "Chay-fee".

[@chrisbolland5634]

I'm a civil war reenactor, and any information you have on the 19th century accents of the American northeast would be incredibly great for me to make my impression more accurate. I'd love a video where you explain how to do the accents.

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

Well I can tell you sternly that It wasn't akin to that. However he tried some amount and based on text only, it is remarkable, howevere definitely no where near how my grandparents spoke or recordings of my great grandfather and mother whom were born in 1839 and 1832. Even those recording were clear as day as to the accent, it was never the film that changed and distorted that accent, that was the accent.

[@chrisbolland5634]

@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar well please give me some insights into the accent and how to reproduce it!

[@chrisbolland5634]

@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar wonderful video! I am gonna study this closely.

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

@@chrisbolland5634 oh do study this one closely too, it is a perfectly wonderful ( the superior sound quality from the 1910s called kinetope ) film in which you'll be in for a treat. Although their voices may be slightly predated to whenever the picture is set, perhaps the early 1800s. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3upcqGifM-Drbs

[@emilyb5278]

@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar were their parents or grandparents from the UK or somewhere else? If they were from the UK they may have had a different accent as the accents are very different and would evolve differently.

[@Special_Agent_NSB]

As a Vermonter, I can say that accent 5 does sound eerily like some of the old timers you hear around here. I could definitely hear myself in it as well. Good job.

[@amyhunter4309]

These accents are so beautiful, and always fabulous story telling. You can really imagine ALL of your characters as if they were living people through these videos you make. Bringing history to life is also a passion of mine. The care is curiosity you have for your projects is to delightful and shows what us young historians can really do. Would absolutely die if you ever did Canadian Newfoundland accents or just Maritime provinces in general over the centuries 😍 I’m Canadian with Scottish and Irish ancestry on my Paternal side but I am from Ontario no the east coast but have always been so intrigued by their accents and how Newfoundlander, as a people, still sound incredibly Irish

[@Kevin-wq3kj]

I second this, Newfoundland accents are incredible. There's definitely a kind of general Irish brogue that everybody uses throughout the province but then there are these incredible local dialects which are so thick to the point of being unintelligible to nonlocals. There used to be a vid on here of a Newfoundlander speaking in an English brogue, pronouncing V's like a W and "Viking" rendered as "Wiggin" but I can't find it anymore

[@talideon]

To my ear, as someone from Ireland, the cliché Newfoundland accent is almost indistinguishable from that of Wexford here, aside from the odd difference with vocabulary and small drifts in vowel phonology towards that of Canada more generally. It's a bit freaky to listen to at times!

[@leod-sigefast]

The Newfoundlander accent is from English settlers, not so much Irish. The English accent was very much like modern Irish accent back in the 16th/17th centuries. Just see Simon's video from last year on SE English accent development.

[@cigh7445]

@@leod-sigefast A large amount of Newfoundland settlers came from the southeast of Ireland too. Irish Gaelic was even spoken natively there until not that long ago. Where you're right is that the English dialects of Ireland did pretty much develop from the English dialects of that period

[@lysanamcmillan7972]

@@cigh7445 I think you mean the English dialects of Ireland came from the Irish they already spoke with influence from the English oppressors. English also sounded a lot like a Celtic language for a long time because many of its speakers originally used a Celtic language (Brittonic, a cousin/ancestor of Welsh and Cornish). The Great Vowel Shift was incredible for how far it took English away from that.

[@Aldrnari]

As someone born in the Western USA and raised in the Northeast, I'm incredibly impressed by this. You've managed to capture quite well, I think, not only the evolution of the accent as I understand it, but also the fact that American English is, as a rule, fairly conservative. It hasn't changed all that much in the last 300 hundred years, and that really comes through in your video. I also appreciate that you explored just a kind of non-specific, "working man's" accent instead of going down the "Trans-Atlantic" accent path that many do because they're influenced by movies from the 1930s-1950s. Well done!

[@therat1117]

I think you can tell from the video that the dialect has changed a great deal in 300 years, to the same degree as a London accent. It is not conservative at all: the innovations up to the 1820s are in common with British English, but after that diverge (as might be expected) and develop unique innovations that are not present elsewhere in English. You can see the vowel breakages and dipthongisation in the 1880s accent that are not common to even the 1820s accent (pay attention to 'ran', 'poor') or other English dialects, and by 1940s the common innovations with British English are fully present in the dipthongisation of the vowel in things like 'time' or 'pain', as well as the uniquely American loss of vowel length contrast and unrounding of short 'o' to the British 'long a' sound. Rural Irish accents can be very conservative in many ways to 1700s English, American accents as a rule are not.

[@Nova-Franconia]

@@therat1117It’s still very conservative compared to the changes that languages like German, Russian, or Bulgarian went through in the last 300 years. They’re subtle and strewn sparsely between the generations, besides maybe a couple minor differences in vocabulary, you’d be perfectly able to hold a productive conversation with the people back innige day.

[@therat1117]

@@Nova-Franconia They really aren't, and no you couldn't easily. Most Americans cannot understand Shakespeare at face value at all, whereas many British people can, and a Shakespearean accent is broadly analogous to a modern UK West Country accent, for which there is no equivalent in the modern US. Modern US people have a hard time understanding me when I authentically represent my accent. The changes 'look subtle' to you because they are normal to you, which is a bad metric. Most language changes are 'subtle and strewn sparsely', otherwise different generations of the same language community wouldn't understand each other. I can tell you that the first time I came to the US proper I could hardly understand anything because your 'conservative' dialect of English was so radically different from the accents considered conservative in the UK, that Americans and I had trouble understanding each other's basic vocabulary words. One young man I met couldn't even understand 'water' pronounced as [wɒtɚ] because the t wasn't flapped and the a was rounded.

[@Nova-Franconia]

@@therat1117 This from an outsiders perspective (German) btw, but now that you mention it, I guess I could see myself having an advantage in the fact I was taught both standard US and British RP in school. Already knowing the differences between those two accents by the time you’re out of school (usually at 16), probably alienates me from the experience a US-American might have, when encountering an accent of the same language, which turns out to be a bit different from your own, especially when you’ve solely been growing up with your native one. It’s just that with my current understanding of English, I really have no difficulties understanding these reconstructions of older accents. It’s just a bit surreal to me how well I’m able to understand them, with such “seemingly” little differences in pronunciation, at least compared to German (my native language), which underwent pretty dramatic shifts the last 300 years.

[@itsPenguinBoy]

I love how all of them 'basically' contain little Roperisms. It's like you've been sent time-traveling and we're hearing local accents only as reflected through your attempts to imitate them, but you are always present... and it works. Always love your videos... Merry Crimbo.

[@Vengir]

What is a Roperism?

[@itsPenguinBoy]

@@Vengir Aw I just made up a word for how Simon Roper says stuff.

[@Vengir]

@@itsPenguinBoy Oh, that makes sense.

As a non-native speaker, I'm curious, could you give some examples of what these Roperisms would be?

[@itsPenguinBoy]

I can't remember what I was thinking of when I first listened to this but Simon does say "so on and so forth" so maybe I meant that kind of thing or maybe I meant Simon's personality coming through in the way he speaks any dialect.

[@jh9667]

Have a lot of empathy for the last guy. Labourers getting chucked off site for carrying out work ordered by a clueless foreman is clearly a story as old as the hills 😂

[@RollTide1987]

It really didn't take long for the American accent to evolve away from the mother tongue. That second "recording" is more modern American than you might think.

[@bustavonnutz]

It didn't "evolve away", Brits are just in denial that we speak derived Elizabethan English. The Metropolitan French speakers admit that the Quebecois speak a more conservative Parisian, just as the Portuguese Europeans admit that the Brasilians speak more conservative, historical dialects as well. Only Brits refuse to believe that Americans speak a mix of older British dialects, which I find a hilarious cope.

[@mmmmmmmmmmmmm]

@@bustavonnutz This is just not true. Conservativity of a dialect is not quantifiable, and American English has changed just as much as British English has.

[@pupyfan69]

@@mmmmmmmmmmmmm yeah, the "hoi-toider" dialect of the outer banks of north carolina is pretty conservative, but thats basically it

[@mattmexor2882]

@@mmmmmmmmmmmmm "Conservativity of a dialect is not quantifiable, and American English has changed just as much as British English has" It's impossible to know whether you're right or wrong about that, but it's clear that you're wrong.

[@robertisham5279]

I guess colonizing the new world was way to preserve older forms of all these accents.

[@Freethinker225]

These accents actually morph into separate people… this is incredible!!!

[@jamesscottvideos]

Lots of far southern English and Irish sounds in those accents, which makes sense. The third one sounds perfectly mid-way between modern American and English. Good work, I'd say.

[@Veritas-dq2hs]

Irish is believable, but I've yet to hear any Englishman with "American-like" rhotacization. I believe it is a long dead sound in Britain. Links?

[@O-sa-car]

@@Veritas-dq2hs look up Original Pronunciation

[@Veritas-dq2hs]

@@O-sa-car I have. My statement still stands. There are no Englishmen who speak with the accents reconstructed by linguists today. I believe it is a dead accent in England. West Midland speakers are said to currently retain it, but I haven't heard it from current speakers. They have been too influenced by received pronunciation.

[@mrminividz]

@@Veritas-dq2hs west country?

[@jamesscottvideos]

@@Veritas-dq2hs kzbin.info/www/bejne/iH69i6qJbbhkr8U

[@lethewardssunk5833]

Simon, if you were ever so inclined it would be brilliant to hear a reconstruction of the evolution of the Australian accent - particularly a South Australian one which has distinctive features even though it is young. I understand the Aussie accent is notable fir having developed across distant colonies more or less simultaneously.

[@tahnae99]

Same here, as a fellow Aussie. It would be interesting to see the evolution of NZ accents too as they would start at a very similar place, but with more Scottish influence in NZ, particularly in the South Island.

[@johncopeland4782]

@@tahnae99 I find the interesting is the similarity between Tasmanian and NZ accents. It is subtle but clearly there.

[@tahnae99]

@@UnhappyMerchant nah about 20% of NZ’s original settlers were Scottish so it’s a well documented thing. Even now in the far south, there are variants of the accent that are rhotic and have retained other features from Scottish settlers

[@KIgaming.]

I'm curious, being from SA, which are the distinctive features of a South Australian accent?

[@lornafarrelly7797]

Yes please do this!

[@jamiemitchell4042]

Take your time mate! Rather you putbout decent videos like this than rushing yourself through! Appreciate this channel so much!

[@Maliceah]

Pretty darn accurate. Speaker four sounds like most of my aunts and uncles that were born of a mother from 1878, my grandfather was born in 1898. He was an old parent to my mother, and died a year after I was born in 1963. We were forbidden from speaking like the Mainers (ever though I was born here) and now I know it's because they sound more like speaker 2-3 so maybe they felt like they were more advanced. My grandfather stood 6'3 and was a train engineer.

[@TheRagingPlatypus]

I'm amazed at how little it has changed over time. I grew up in Appalachia and the old folks and a few of the kids would have been virtually unintelligible to these people or the average modern American. But these accents to me are so similar to today's accents that it is perfectly understandable with zero effort. I never spoke in the traditional Appalachian accent and neither did my parents but I can understand it just fine. I can emulate it very well as I heard it a lot as a child. One of my favorite stories that me and a girl missed the recess bell and the teacher sent a student out to find us. When he found us, he said...and I will just use modern spelling to describe it rather than taking the time like you did to make it phonetic, "Wha chall doin' aut here wheeze dun in."

[@tinuviel42]

My mom and her whole family were born in southeastern Kentucky but moved to Chicago when she was little. We went "down home" every summer with my mammaw and papaw when I was a kid. I remember once when one of my mammaw's sisters poked (good natured!) fun at her for sounding like a yank after so many years away from home.

[@TheRagingPlatypus]

@@tinuviel42 We have the exact opposite story. Unusually, my family moved from the northeast to Appalachia. He got sick of city life and moved us to the smack dab middle of nowhere...well, that's not accurate. We actually lived on the edge of nowhere. We were literally the last house. The road ended at our house and after that, just miles and miles of woods, waterfalls, deer, bear, pileated woodpeckers, bobcats, caves... When we went back north, people would say we sounded like hicks. They weren't particularly good natured about it. I have the strongest accent as I was very little when we moved. Now, I can switch back and forth between a "proper" and a "hick" accent at will.

[@AdamOwenBrowning]

@@tinuviel42 I was born in the middle of England, but the first place I have memory of visiting in the United States was Kentucky. My friend, a local to a fairly wealthy city called Middletown (at least in my eyes, you guys have massive houses!) told me that there was nothing interesting outside of the big areas like where we were in Louisville, that everyone is a boring country bumpkin. But I loved talking to people in the middle of nowhere. I say "grandmother" but this person I met walking her dog called her grandmother "mee-maw". It's so interesting to me! Everyone was so friendly and answered all my strange questions about the way they speak. I actively changed the way I said "water" wōtuh to wa-turr. Else I'd go thirsty!

[@julialevelle6384]

Same here! I grew up in the Chestnut Ridge of northern WV, and there is quite a distinct accent here!

[@wsd6154]

@@TheRagingPlatypus It is sad that people get picked on and called a "hick" because of how they pronounce things.

[@roberterdman7268]

Simon, until recent generations, there were were remnants of 18th century English in the syntax, vocabulary and accent of Appalachian Mtns inhabitants (ie. Hillbillies of West Virginia, Kentucky, etc). I've heard the word 'crikey', long fallen out of favor, used in a rural Appalachian community. -Accent very peculiar also. I think this phenomenon of 'fossil' accents is common in isolated communities; similar use of older Spanish in parts of Peru and Guatemala..... I played your video of the Englishman describing the London Great Fire, etc to my girlfriend, an English teacher. We've enjoyed your videos, thanks for your work.

[@LordJordanXVII]

I live in West Virginia and was born here. This is so true. Both from observation and research!

[@devinsamuel3612]

My great grandmother grew up in the tiny desert mountain pass towns of New Mexico, all spanish speaking communities dating back to the early 1700s. She speaks a very strange dialect of Spanish that my modern trained ear (spanish was lost in my family for my dad's generation, I learned it from school/tutoring) and I often wonder if it's closer to Colonial era Spanish or more divergent.

[@ValerieDee123]

Not a hillbilly. I live in an isolated community. We have our own way of speaking. We can speak regular American too.

[@timoloef]

Wait.. what? Did you just spoke with a perfect American accent Simon? Very impressive! You could have a career as consultant among Hollywood actors ;)

[@doomedmessenger]

The last two both sound entirely like modern American English, like someone I'd expect on the news. The second one is halfway there already, and that's kinda interesting.

[@soupo-sandwich]

nah the second to last doesn't sound like modern american english to me at all. it's mostly american but you can hear a really decent amount of something else in there. the last one definitely sounds american, but from an old guy. a certain kind of old guy though, not like my grandpa. for context i'm from SE michigan born and raised, my parents were both born in the south but lived all over.

[@dr.woozie7500]

@@soupo-sandwich yep second to last one has a Canadian distinction to it.

[@elyenidacevedo1995]

@@dr.woozie7500 The last one sounds like a modern American accent out of all of them.

[@Hooga89]

@@soupo-sandwich The last one sounds like a 80 year old retiree from Rhode Island if you ask me.

[@meminustherandomgooglenumbers]

⁠@@Hooga89 Someone who is 80 and from Rhode Island wouldn’t have some Boston in their accent?

[@dsbromeister1546]

If I heard either of those last two accents without context, I definitely would've thought I was listening to an American. Great job! Only thing I noticed was that some of the L's sounded darker than I would pronounce them, but my accent is great lakes rather than northeast so maybe that's something I never noticed. Either way, I look forward to more of these in the future!

[@trevorlange]

The L's sound fine to me as someone who grew up in northwestern Vermont and the lakes region of New Hampshire

[@dr.woozie7500]

Well keep on mind this was someone born in 1938, at least a generation older so many they pronounced Ls heavier when he was growing up.

[@jagmannenarbrand8373]

@@dr.woozie7500 in the far north east I’ve heard 30 year olds have that dark of an L

[@someonegetsteve]

You make the stories they tell jarringly relatable; I found myself laughing along with, and responding in my head to, the dude born in the 1750's.

[@SmokeyBCN]

The series John Adams features lots of nice accents following those of speaker 2

[@gracebevill]

Just thinking this!

[@julilla1]

Yes, I was thinking of the "John Adams" series as well. They did a lot of work on the accents of the various people and it was so interesting to watch.

[@Urlocallordandsavior]

The KZbin Linguist channel called AZ Foreman called it inaccurate (even anachronistic) if any of you were wondering (when I talked to him). You can find the comment in one of his reconstructed spoken English videos.

[@alicethedestroyer1287]

@@Urlocallordandsavior I really respect Foreman, but I disagree with him on some points. David Crystal, the famous linguist, recreated Shakespeare’s dialect from general Elizabethan sources and by analyzing contemporaneous poetry which no longer rhymes today (but rhymed in Shakespeare’s own day). Foreman was very critical of Crystal’s work, and, while I think that Foreman has some good points (i.e. that Crystal made his version of the OP Shakespearean dialect “easier” on modern ears), I totally disagree with his characterization of rhyme analysis as a waste of time. He feels that it just isn’t useful due to inconsistency across geographical regions, but I’d counter that with the existence of regional dialects to begin with. Plus, if you can accurately predict rhyming patterns from a bygone era (or region), then using that analysis technique is probably the best way to figure out regional variance (such as the r-dropping in Boston, employed by regional poets there). Anyway, all of that said, I agree with Foreman on John Adams, but for opposite reasons. I think the series was a hit and miss, in terms of linguistic historicity. The true colonial dialect was much more blunt and rugged (almost Irish sounding in parts, but only very superficially). Many of the words which rhymed in Shakespeare’s day (“prove”/“love”, “line/loin”, etc) still rhymed in George Washington’s day, but the language (obviously) evolved well past the point where it was 200 years prior. Yes, in some places, the John Adams series does capture the “line/loin” merger (and approximates the New Englanders’ non-rhotic speech patterns - albeit incorrectly), thats about it. The Boston rebels’ non-rhotic speech wasn’t marked by long vowels (like modern RP) but was closer to the Boston accent today (it was described as a “whine” - similar to Maine speakers). Look up ACE linguist’s reconstruction of colonial American English for a pretty good approximation of a general colonial American accent.

[@Urlocallordandsavior]

@@alicethedestroyer1287 Totally agree with that in general (I'm not going to disect your analysis piecemeal since I'm the very amateur of amateur linguists (even if you can call me that). Just by going through the voice recordings of 19th century Americans (especially rural people), you can't really hear Foreman's reconstructed speech in any of that (aside from 1900 upper-class American politicians, given that the Transatlantic accent was also artificially constructed by the upper classes from both sides of the ocean, I think that's a given.) In Foreman's history of English video, I was highly skeptical of his reconstructed Byron late-18th century English (and how so little of that seems to have survived in recordings, even if it is true). I also cannot see this dramatic shift between his Franklin and his Poe dialects, it might be hard-pressed to not argue that Foreman, in essence, "moved" the Great Vowel Shift hypothesis from the 1400s-1600s to the 1600s-1800s, after American Independence (if so, why does it seem that American and Canadian English sound so similar? Even Maritime Canada doesn't sound any bit Scottish)! Don't get me wrong, I like Foreman's body of work overall. With Ace Linguist's interpretation, at least you can hear Rockefeller's 1930s voice in that. One last thing, do you think that John Adams series did a better interpretation of 18th century English dialects than AZ Foreman's? Overall?

[@davestockbridgeAWE]

As an act of theatre alone this video stands up. I watched it. Watched the follow up video and watched it again and it was like watching another video. I did not twig that it was your voice the whole time either making this an amazing performance as much as it was an intriguing subject matter. Thank God for you and your channel Simon! Well done!

[@jeffreyschweitzer8289]

My father (born 1934) and grandparents (born 1906-1911) sounded much more like Speaker 4. All from near but not in NYC. I believe that I would fall somewhere between 4 and 5. People from the larger cities and from New England sound entirely different from this.

[@MCKevin289]

I’m from Jersey and I’m definitely somewhere around 5, maybe 50 years in the future they could lend my voice to this. My grandma(born 1941) sounds similar to speaker 4. She grew up throughout New York State but eventually spending about half her childhood and youth in New York City. My grandfather has a strong Brooklyn accent. My accent sounds more like a refined and educated Tony Soprano.

[@martialhistory2354]

It appears to me that (speaking as lifelong Rocky Mountain area Westerner) the third accent has survived into the modern day in the west. It’s almost indistinguishable from several older family friends who grew up in more rural areas and is very close to how I myself speak.

[@patriciamayhew6321]

Yes, I’m from Wisconsin and the third accent reminds me of my parents who were born there about 1921. So some good similarities remain, in certain areas.

[@timsimpson9367]

This fascinates me being from the UK I've always wondered how the accents came about. I'm from the North East and the dialect changes within 10 miles. But the accents from around the world influenced by the British language from country to country is amazing. The American accents are so different and a joy to the language.

[@Urlocallordandsavior]

Very good voice acting Simon! At points, it almost sounded like a British person trying to imitate an American accent (see Peter Cook/John Lennon Not Only But Also 'restroom sketch'). There's a quite a few interpretations of old American English I found on the internet, but I thought this one was one of the more realistic interpretations, unlike AZ Foreman's guttural/Scottish-esque pronunciations (probably took too much from the voice recordings of Roosevelt/McKinley's 1900 politician/high-class accent). Like his stuff though, just that I have some trouble accepting his interpretations of Early Modern English accents. (for one, nothing survives of the reconstructed accent AZ Foreman comes up with that I've heard on the internet in today's English dialects, aside from Scottish dialects and to a lesser extent, in Ireland. Even the distinct Tidewater English has none of those guttural sounds (same so far with the Appalachian English that I've heard)).

[@brentwoodbay]

This was marvellous ! Reminds me of the job that Daniel Day Lewis did by reconstructing an old NYC accent in the film 'Gangs of New York' , but I bet it was not as well researched as this was! I have always been curious if a similar reconstruction could be done of the English spoken in Cornwall when many there were still speaking Cornish. It must have sounded a bit 'Welshy'!

[@PrestonFrankel]

Lived in New York my whole life, so this was absolutely the most exciting video of yours to me. It’s amazing how quickly the accent evolved. Great video, as always.

[@ImCarolB]

This is amazing! The fact that you can read the phonetic script so perfectly, and that the accent slowly evolves is a true wonder. I grew up in southern Vermont (New England). i'm 70 years old and now live in "downeast" Maine. People here speak like my Vermont neighbors did when I was a child. The influx of people from outside New England has resulted in Vermonters speaking more like general Northeasterners.

[@judedante4067]

Bro. These accents are phenomenal. I mean you've done accents before and they're always amazing, but there were moments here where I forgot you were the one speaking in this video. Seriously, great work :) EDIT: Also, I love how you aspirated (is that the right word?) the "wh" sound in words like "while" for Speaker 4. I've known people who grew up in the 1940s who pronounce words like that.

[@JayDonagh]

The earliest northern US accents sound pretty soft-spoken with light pronunciations, however it sounded like there was a shift in the generation in the 19th century. The 1886-"recording" sounds much more guttural and deep, very similar to the type of voices we heard in the earliest real recordings/documentation of human voices in the early 20th century, around that point in history there was lots of elderly people from the 1800s still alive for a while, and your pronunciations sounds a lot like how they spoke.

[@emmacossette8176]

Simon attempting my accent on xmas, what a gift :') Looking forward to the details of the reconstructions, especially anything on the locations of the speakers since accents vary so much within the Northeastern US. The last two I can imagine hearing here, although for the 2006 recording I would expect a much younger speaker than someone born in 1938 (although that might come down to a combination of word choice and precise location). Interesting watch as always!

[@bleepiestofbloops]

Man, I've wanted to know what they sounded like early on my whole life. I really would not have thought people sounded that "American" already by the revolutionary period. Edit: Before anyone else says "British prople sounded different then": After hearing #1, I expected #2 to sound way more like #1 than #2. There was already a large shift earlier than I expected. That's all.

[@skepticalbadger]

I've researched this as best I can over the years and due to something called "levelling", immigrant accents can develop very quickly, within a couple of generations.

[@yerdasellsavon9232]

They sound very west country

[@bleepiestofbloops]

@@yerdasellsavon9232 It's certainly not all the way there, but if I weren't listening closely, I could be fooled. That's what's surprising to me.

[@dessertstorm7476]

None of these sound American to me except the final one

[@bleepiestofbloops]

@@dessertstorm7476 Cool

[@Bille994]

The progressing dates and accents in this video make you realise how young the USA actually is as a country and culture. It's mind blowing!

[@calvinlafave3665]

i'm fascinated by the influence of scandinavian immigrants and their accents on the modern minnesota accent specifically

[@sauces_official]

it's always funny to watch something in swedish without understanding it, yet recognizing patterns and cadences you hear in minnesota.

[@KoriEmerson]

The cenral Utah accent has a strong Scandinavian accent influence. .

[@Steve-zc9ht]

@@KoriEmerson yes all non-southern American dialects/accents have gotten huge influence from German and Scandinavian which makes sense since most Americans are of German and Scandinavian descent

[@silentsmurf]

@@Steve-zc9ht what? I doubt this applies to the Western US states

[@elyenidacevedo1995]

@@silentsmurf It depends there's 330 million people in the US.

[@danieldoyle5840]

Could you do a Southern US accent over the same time period? I’d love to hear how my accent has evolved over time!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Love this. A great example of your virtuosity at producing different accents, and your great storytelling skills.

[@tewkewl]

This is some oscar level acting. the way you have your natural pauses and shuffling. wow. it's like an old guy talking and thinking wow.

[@ConnecticutAngler]

Well done! Born and raised in Connecticut myself, where our accent is really quite neutral compared to many places immediately surrounding us in the rest of New England and neighboring NY. We have the NYC accent to the west, the Rhode Island and Boston accents to the east, and the Vermont and Maine accents up north. It would be interesting to hear these distinctive regional accents track along their own paths from the Colonial Era onward. Some components of those accents certainly seem to have close ties to the sounds in the earlier intermediate accents presented here. (Though I do think it’s worth noting that not everyone from those states/regions necessarily possess those distinctive accents. Has much to do with the exact place somebody was raised as well as the places their parents were raised.)

[@aca2983]

My father was born in western CT, and most of his family (maternal & paternal) was from NY, MA, CT, basically between the Hudson and the CT rivers. My fathers family was dispersed and I met many of them but did not know them well, but these "speakers" I all envisioned as perhaps having lived in that area. On the other hand my mother's family was all from the Delmarva peninsula and "tidewater" Virginia. The old timer relatives (when I was a kid in the 1970's/80's), sometimes I had no idea what they were saying. Even today, my mom, now 76, says stuff I sometimes have to backtrack and re-run it in my brain. The peninsula was rather isolated for a long time, so I guess there was a lot of old Scots & Irish accents that persisted.

[@hi_im_kai9111]

yo i was raised in ct too haha

[@Bsquared1972]

When I hear Gary Cooper portray Sgt York, that is what I'd imagine old American English to sound like. Those families in the Appalachian mountains still sound that way to this day, with the same mannerisms in their speech. "I'd be a-thinkin' that I'd appreciate you doin' one of them there picture shows about that!" Wonderful job with the voice acting!

[@Linlateal1990]

So fascinating! Thank you for your videos, what a gift! I get a kick out of the comments that say you did the “American accent” spot on, as if we have only one…

[@elijahm3688]

I love how you can hear the 1818 speaker ALMOST say "son of a bitch" and then correct himself xD

[@LaserGryph]

People of 1750: Talking about farms and drainage ditches. People of 2006: Taking about offices and drainage ditches.

[@rebeccamorrison3666]

Interesting! I recently discovered that where I’m from in the US uses a lot of old words from England that even Brit’s today don’t use! I’m from southern Maryland, and when someone is being slow, we say they’re being poky. I assumed everyone said that. It wasn’t until I was watching a tv show and a woman from my area said someone was poky that I realized this is pretty much a southern Maryland word. The host, who was from boston, asked her what poky meant. I was shocked, doesn’t everyone say poky? She explained and said that it’s a word that comes from Cornwall and wales from the time of the first Chesapeake settlers. My family is actually from other parts of the us, but I’ve lived in Maryland my whole life and never noticed, even though I’ve traveled extensively around the us, that only Marylanders say poky. Crazy that after several centuries, certain words become isolated

[@ethanstump]

The USA is so large and has such a varied and spotty history that I think that there's tons of things that go unnoticed by people. I'm more into politics and the history of it than linguistics, but I would imagine that there's tons of examples of distinct utahn words that I use that isn't really used elsewhere. And my Lexicon and accent is different than my grandfather, who literally grew up on a homesteaded farm in Utah. one phrase that still sticks out to me is "hey is for horses".

[@keya2714]

You guys in southern Maryland have really beautiful accents

[@mjonesmel]

Brilliant! Some of the accents echoed the speech of older adults (born around the turn of the 20th century) when I was growing up in western New England (the rhotic part of New England!).

[@josecarrales2842]

Mr. Roper, this is quite an excellent video. It's like a form of time travel. Your work as an archeologist plays well to the linguistic cross sections you present.

[@uzeela]

Thank you Simon! Always enjoy your uploads from across the pond... Merry Christmas!

[@plrth]

i love his voice honestly. it's calming.

[@mikuhatsune184]

I am surprised they all sound so modern. Even the first guy just sounds like he’s from across the pond. And that other guy stopping himself from cursing during the transcription was hilarious 😂 Thank you for the cool video 🥰

[@albertgreene313]

Loved this. If ya haven’t, you should check out what I understand to be americas most recent vowel or accent shift taking place in the Great Lakes region.

[@jeffhands7097]

Yup, the “Northern Cities Vowel Shift” is real and fascinating! People from pronounce my first name as “Juff” for example.

[@jamesnelson2279]

I recently watch a video on David Attenborough about his career as a wild life documentary maker, and you can see how his accent gradually changed throughout the years, I actually found this was one of the most interesting parts of the documentary.

[@overlordnat]

I find it interesting that he still says things like ‘the zeebras in Keenya’ for ‘the zebras in Kenya’, instead of ‘the zebbras in Kennya’ - in very old-fashioned British films this was part of RP but it sounds very American now, I’m not sure if there’s any other Brit left alive who says it like this! (I certainly don’t).

[@mr.flibblessumeriantransla5417]

The third speaker’s “accent” reminded me very much of my grandmother on my father’s side. Especially the vowel quality of the o’s. Uncanny. Excellent video! Always love your readings. An interesting accent to look into that you may not have heard of is that of the old Chesapeake and Tidewater accent of the estuaries of Maryland and Virginia. A specific variety of which is known jokingly has “Hoi Toider” (High Tider), and is one of the most archaic accents in the U.S. Have a merry Christmas and happy new year! Much love from Maryland!

[@amyhunter4309]

Looking up this accent rn!!!!! Love the comment section on these videos.

[@TheExtremeLead]

Oh what? I spent some time in Maryland a few years back and I should've gotten out and spoken to some more locals, that sounds interesting

[@kernowforester811]

I'm from Cornwall/Devon region of the UK. I've heard the Tidewater accent from recordings. Many of the original settlers in the 1680s came from north Cornwall, around Padstow, only a few miles from my home town. I find the Tidewater accent, a heavily modified generic Westcountry (Cornwall and Devon) accent, which has lost much of its original characteristics, (vowels, diphthongs etc), adopting some more modern American characteristics. Not surprising considering the time elapsed. There is also a remnant accent found on Newfoundland, Canada, that came from Devon in the 18th, due to the Cod Fisheries. I've heard that, and again, it is like a heavily modified and diluted Westcountry type accent.

[@amyhunter4309]

@@kernowforester811 absolutely! and I’ve also read that there are more Gaelic speaking peoples living in the Canadian Maritimes than parts of Scotland/Ireland today. Thanks for the little history lesson too :)

[@FireRupee]

I think he mentioned Tidewater accents in a video once. Really cool accents to hear and read about.

[@huntrrams]

This is awesome! I’ll love to hear you do a Mid-Atlantic accent used in old Hollywood films from the 30s to 40s US.

[@christinameyer6984]

This is very fascinating. The last couple accents remind me of my flatmate’s grandparents and great grandmother who are from Virginia and were all rather well-educated. My family is from rural, farmland in Minnesota and industrial Ohio, descending from Irish and German immigrants in the late 19th century respectively. There’s a sort of roundness to those accents that isn’t represented here, naturally, but it is interesting to see how the shift in this video somewhat mirrors the generational shift between my grandparents, my parents, and me. Not a linguist, but an amateur enthusiast and your channel is a wonderful resource!

[@riley02192012]

It's really cool to think about how people may have sounded in the past. I love listening to people's accents or regional dialects. I think it's so cool.

[@weirdlanguageguy]

In the 1766 reconstruction, you have thing transcribed as [ðɪŋ]. Is this a mistake (the recording sounds like θɪŋ to me) or was th in thing actually voiced back then? In the 1826 reconstruction, due is pronounced [dɨʊ]. Why did you reconstruct the first vowel as [ɨ] as opposed to [i]? Also, I had no idea tapped ds and ts were that old of a feature, I assumed that was a new development within the last 50 years or so. Excellent video, I can't wait for the explanation coming up! Merry Christmas!

[@kerrytakashi12]

So Wonderful! I appreciate how you kept your regular pitch and didn’t push it down. Many times I hear actors mimic the accent and also sound like 5 packs a day smokers.

[@alicethedestroyer1287]

A soldier in Washington’s continental army would have pronounced the word “time” much closer to the Irish pronunciation today (/tɔɪm/, “toy-m”, or “toim”). For the most part, the line/loin merger was still in place. In the north however (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Connecticut) the seeds of the Boston “whine” were developing (even in the 18th century) and the r’s had already begun to drop from common parlance (you can see this in the poetry of New Englanders), whereas the other colonies very likely trilled their r’s. As was noted at the time, New England was the most distinct of the regional dialects, and in many ways that contributed to their cultural independence. Of all the colonies, they were the most “different”, linguistically, from the motherland. The Sons of Liberty likewise were the most adamant voices in favor of separation. I’m curious if, like in Quebec, that simple difference in cultural life (speech and identity) contributes to an overall separatist spirit.

[@mysteryman6918]

Read Albion’s Seed. Unfortunately New Englanders have always been at the forefront of various revolutionary movements.

[@acle_]

Well the Quebec sovereignty movement does exist and has for some time

[@lysanamcmillan7972]

The thing about Quebec history that contributes to separatism is frankly how the British are very sore winners. Canada was the name for Quebec until the Crown government lifted it. The Crown attempted to erase French from the province even centuries after the Acadian Clearances did it to the Maritime Provinces. Linguistically, Quebecois French began as a mix of several French dialects and pre-French regional languages. They had at least mostly standardized on the King's French before the Revolution and the split began from there.

[@Kevin-wq3kj]

Even today the “toim” pronunciation is still pretty noticeable in the New York, West Virginia and Newfoundland accents, and isolated pockets in southern Appalachia, Chesapeake Bay, Outer Banks, downeast Maine and Canadian Maritimes too

[@alicethedestroyer1287]

@@Kevin-wq3kj there are very interesting artifacts from that early period that linguist David Crystal (famous for the Shakespearean OP) was rather surprised to see matched up with Elizabethan dialects of 200 years prior. Obviously, it’s not the same accent, but there is obviously a direct line there. If you ever get bored, find some 18th century American poems (or rough poetry from continental soldiers) and compare the rhymes. Look at the rhyming patterns and you’ll see that the word “prove” is still pronounced in a way that rhymes with “love” (“pruv”). Even Thomas Jefferson wrote a few poems in his day and when he used the word “tear” (as in teardrops) it rhymed with “care”. Ben Franklin’s phonetic alphabet is likewise a treasure trove of information. He even went as far as describing the individual phonemes and how the mouth and tongue were positioned to produce them. The R’s (outside of the New England area) were often trilled, a lot like the Scots today. That lasted until early sound recording and became not only regionally dependent but class dependent too (google a wax cylinder speech by Eugene Debs to hear that one).

[@francismarion1786]

This is so fascinating! Please consider doing a southern US version as well if you have time.

[@garrettcrayton4493]

As someone who’s from CA but goes to school in PA, the accents sounded incredibly accurate. That being said, you 100% set yourself up for a challenge by trying to avoid any “city dependent” accents lol.

[@DarkForcesStudio]

You are an incredible actor. I found myself being invested in the stories, rather than listening to the accents. Great work sir.

[@TomQuiNEstPasLa]

It's so enjoyable listening to this slowly evolve from general 18th century English into perfect PTA meeting WASPishness.

[@mycoolhandgiveit]

man what amazing luck to be able to just watch an interesting discussion from someone with very specific knowledge at the click of a button

[@gilliankirby]

It’s amazing to hear that what I think of as a NE US accent didn’t really start to sound like that til well into the 20th C.

[@tshandy1]

These are such well crafted pieces of work. I really appreciate them. Thank you!

[@caliali1000]

A large part of my family came from Kent in the 1600s. Nice to get an idea what they might have sounded like. I live in the southwest part of New Mexico. What I hear here, as well as my grandniece on Southern California, is a strong Mexican cadence underlying English even in young native English speakers.

[@alexnobody]

I don't know how I stumbled upon this video but wow. This is really so awesome! What a talent to be able to do this to share with all of us, thank you!

[@ilijamitrevski1210]

I love this. This is amazing. Amazing job simon, best video I've seen in a long time. Bravo truly, please make more of these. I loved the first one too. I really hope that I'll be able to mimic accents as well as you some day

[@Rango37]

Thank you for this, Simon; I love your videos. I am a self-proclaimed living historian, volunteering at the David Bradford House in Washington, PA. I have an event next week and decided I would try to add an accent in an effort to spice up my impression. As David Bradford was a leader in the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s, I am currently crafting my own influenced version of your 1766 and 1826 accents here. I'm not sure how it'll go, but I am excited to try it out. Thank you for all you do, your content is truly some of the best on this platform!

[@FuelFire]

Merry Christmas, Simon 🎅

[@Maverick4023]

I'm absolutely fascinated by these old language videos of yours Mr Roper. I can't even begin to imagine the hard work and dedication that must have gone into researching the information for them. These videos are one of the closest things we have to time travel! Also you would make a fortune as a professional voice actor!

[@brokengothdoll6203]

YAY! Simon on Christmas day! I'm not alone now!

[@alexxxO_O]

FACTS

[@dianeaishamonday9125]

This is so good! The way you pronounced "tragedy" at 4:04 was weirdly satisfying!

[@MadMogsy]

Merry Christmas all! 🎄

[@emmetor]

Incredible.... I've just been reading about an elderly childminder Ann Goody who couldn't speak English and was imprisoned for praying in Irish.. and her amazing story... Mather - a puritan guy who soothed fits from witchcraft through stroking women's tummies - and Robert Calef who supported Ann Goody and was devastated when the confused old lady, exiled from home, later widowed in barbados, and seeking a new life in New England - now showing signs of ill-treatment and possible dementia - couldn't defend herself from execution. The more I looked into it, I started imagining a Tarantino movie in my mind.. full of maniacally religious torch bearing mobs and the drama of a witch-hunt - and these voices, have given life to the imaginary boston puritans in my mind... This incredible work by Simon brings history back to life.. plus the QE1 was also excellent. Thank you Simon. You're amazing.

[@emknight84]

As someone born and raised in New England I have to applaud you for doing a really good job, especially with the last one. Which I would say is an accent that is from New Hampshire and non coastal Maine. In some ways even people here with strong accents like Merrimack Valley will talk like this when they are trying to be more formal or in an academic environment. There are so many accents here just like in the UK when you really pay attention. Downeast Maine, Southern Maine, New Hampshire native, Merrimack Valley, Boston Blue Collar, Boston Brahmin, South Shore, and Providence really stand out.

[@Commietaku]

Speaker 5 isn't too far off for a middle-aged guy from Portland, but he clearly wasn't born in 1938. I've got family of all ages from rural western Maine and they sound way more "Mainah" than this.

[@brianarmor3409]

Your prosody and intonation when reading these excerpts is amazing ... like a musical virtuoso! F-ing brilliant!!

[@mayuri4184]

Happy Christmas, Simon. 🎅🏻🎄🎁

[@jonap5740]

I heard you on the news a couple of nights ago. Might have been "The World" or the bbc ---must have been about 3a.m. where I am. It was fun! Good work, Simon!

[@rdizzy1]

Damn that American accent is good on the last one, Im from upstate NY and it sounds pretty damned similar to here.

[@herrfister1477]

Perfect production, accent, content and so interesting! Best yet, really well done!

[@Mars-mz8nl]

I’m a northerner, speaker 2 has the same pronunciation as myself. I didn’t know I was speaking with an old American English accent. People actually have a difficult time understanding me. It feels strange knowing that my vocal consistencies are out of date. I didn’t fathom that I sounded old. This explains why people say I have an accent.

[@frankharr9466]

I'm an American form the north, Hi. That is utterly fascinating. I cannot wait to do the video where you explain the process and how you arrived to your conclusions. Unfortunately, I have to take my laundry downstairs first. I hope I can wait without bursting.

[@KeyWestChrisRehm]

Great video! One note of interest. As an American, having attended grade school in northern New Jersey, in a town with a Native American name, "Ho-Ho-Kus", I found the curriculum was angled largely to that geographic area. After all, a significant part of The American Revolution took place both there and in the surrounding areas. One of the things that struck me was the fact that in the American Revolution, American spies would pose as British troops, giving misinformation to the British military hierarchy. This suggested to me that during the American Revolution, the American accent was fairly close to the British accent.

[@weebunny]

Or at least the Americans were familiar enough with the British soldiers' accent to imitate it convincingly.

[@Alex.Holland]

@@weebunny I believe most of the "British" soldiers in the American revolution were either Prussian mercenaries or Americans loyal to Britain.

[@brooklynnchick]

This is fascinating! I must learn more than about this; thank you for the time you spent on this. You’ve ignited my love for learning for a new area!

[@cwbrooks5329]

This is fascinating and your performance is amazing. I know it's probably not your main area of interest, but I as others have written I hope you will consider doing voice acting or book narration. BTW, as an East Coast American with New England roots I hear this as absolutely spot on.

[@jacklandismusic]

It’s honestly really cool to see such a cohesive illustration of how my own accent came to be! You can really hear the evolution of speech when clips are played back to back like this.

[@kirbywaite1586]

Extraordinary acting skills. The delivery of the lines is better and more convincing than nearly any American actor I can think of ( man or woman) It sounds as if one is actually overhearing a genuine conversation.

[@Grombulisian]

I got to say as an american the last two certainly sounded like older people that i have heard in recordings or in person quite a bit

[@davidminken4094]

I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering about Simon's take on the U.S. Great Lakes and Northern Plains accents. Like what we'd hear in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

[@ohcanada8084]

Well, that would be a nice mixing bowl of accents! 🥰

[@bnic9471]

What's a northern plains accent? Squeaky Fargoese? I speak a melange of Minnesota squeak and the Milwaukee version of the Northern Cities shift.

[@Dharmanarchist]

Spent some time in Belfast, Northern Ireland a few years back and the accent definitely felt familiar having spent many summers in northern Maine with my dad's family.

[@jlpack62]

As an American, it has always seemed to me that American English was greatly influenced by Irish immigrants in the early/mid 19th Century, and the subsequent waves of immigrants that assuredly shaped our pronunciation over time, and by introducing new words into our vocabulary. I'd like to think that my Slavic forbearers made some small contribution to that shaping.

[@NotThatKraken]

I find Irish accents much easier to understand than Scottish or rural English accents. I’ve assumed that’s because of the huge Irish immigration to the US in the 19th century influencing the standard American accent.

[@PsychoticAndChaotic]

@@UnhappyMerchant quiet, anglo

[@georgio101]

It seems plausible, but I'm struggling to think of any phonetic features that are clearly Irish in origin. The difficulty is that the stand-out things that Irish and American English share (rhoticity with an approximant, sometimes retroflex, R and unrounded 'LOT' vowel) are also shared historically by Southern English English.

[@jamespenn5788]

I am from the Northwest Coast (67 years old) of the US. The speakers just sound like people I grew up with in Oregon.