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0Which English accent is the oldest?
Would you like to speak with a British accent? What if I told you that there is no singular 'British' accent? In fact, linguists estimate that there are 40-60 regional accents across the UK, some of which exist very close together geographically. For instance, you can listen to Manchester's 'Mancunian' accent and then Liverpool's distinct 'Scouse' accent after just a 50-minute car or train ride.
Some southern English accents, such as 'Received Pronunciation', are associated with social prestige, but can the south claim to have the oldest English accent? Or does another UK region take the title? The story is messier than you might expect.
The first version of English, Old English, originated in the 5th and 6th centuries when tribes from northern Germany arrived in east England, a region now called 'East Anglia'. Their Germanic languages mixed with existing Latin and Celtic languages and became Old English. "It makes sense to think of East Anglia as being the source of the earliest variety of English as we know it," says Kerri-Ann Butcher, a lecturer in English Language at the University of Leeds.
Over the next few centuries, English absorbed many other languages arriving from places like the Netherlands and Scandinavia. The associated linguistic changes did not happen in an orderly way across the country.
With all these different influences, the English language became messy and inconsistent. But in 1476, some spelling norms became standardised with the arrival of the printing press. Nowadays, the words 'blood', 'food' and 'good', which all contain two letter Os, sound different, but back then, they might have rhymed.
Between the 12th and 18th centuries, something known as the Great Vowel Shift happened, where some vowel sounds across the country changed. For example, the vowel sound in 'foot' and 'strut' used to be pronounced the same, but then people in the south began pronouncing 'strut' differently. Danielle Turton, sociolinguist at Lancaster University, says the northern pronunciation is absolutely the original one. "It was the south that branched off and created this new vowel."
So, there you have it. While East Anglia may have been the home of the earliest English sounds, it did not stick to the original pronunciations like accents in northern England did. And while many think Received Pronunciation is an older-sounding English, in fact, it didn't exist until the 18th century. The north of England wins!
词汇表
linguist [ˈlɪŋɡwɪst] n. 语言学家，语言研究者
geographically [ˌdʒiːəˈɡræfɪkli] adv. 地理上，在地理方面
Manchester [ˈmæntʃɪstə(r)] n. 曼彻斯特（英国英格兰城市）
Mancunian [mæŋˈkjuːniən] n. 曼彻斯特人；adj. 曼彻斯特的
Liverpool [ˈlɪvəpuːl] n. 利物浦（英国城市）
Scouse [skaʊs] n./adj. 利物浦口音（的），利物浦人（的）
Received Pronunciation 标准发音，公认发音（常缩写为RP）
social prestige [ˈpresteɪʒ] 社会声望，社会地位
Old English 古英语（约公元450–1100年使用的英语）
originate [əˈrɪdʒɪneɪt] vi. 起源，发源
tribe [traɪb] n. 部落，部族
East Anglia [ˈæŋɡliə] 东盎格利亚（英格兰东部地区）
Germanic [dʒɜːˈmænɪk] adj. 日耳曼的，日耳曼语的；n. 日耳曼语系
Latin [ˈlætɪn] n. 拉丁语；adj. 拉丁的，拉丁语的
Celtic [ˈkeltɪk] adj. 凯尔特的，凯尔特语的；n. 凯尔特语
Netherlands [ˈneðələndz] n. 荷兰（国家名）
Scandinavia [ˌskændɪˈneɪviə] n. 斯堪的纳维亚（北欧地区）
messy [ˈmesi] adj. 杂乱的，混乱的，棘手的
inconsistent [ˌɪnkənˈsɪstənt] adj. 不一致的，矛盾的
printing press 印刷机
rhyme [raɪm] vi./vt. （使）押韵
the Great Vowel Shift [vaʊəl] 元音大移位，元音大推移（英语史上重要的语音演变）
strut [strʌt] vi. 趾高气扬地走；n. 支柱，支撑
sociolinguist [ˌsəʊsiəʊˈlɪŋɡwɪst] n. 社会语言学家
branch off [brɑːntʃ] 分岔，偏离，自立门户，脱离主流
there you have it 就是这样，事情就是这样，这下你知道了吧（用于总结或得出结论）
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