Pre-World War English accents
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Pre-World War English accents
Does anyone have any resource on pre-war English accents? (English English) In particular, I've always heard that vowels were a bit closer pre-war ("lend" for land) and the trilled R was used more often but Google hasn't provided much nor can I find anything on Amazon; most research on English pronunciation seems to concern the GVS and even that seems somewhat scanty.
Also, was a non-rhotic accent the prestige accent in the USA even during WWII? Roosevelt was quite clearly non-rhotic and he came from some rich public school AFAIK.
I've also read about this "trans-Atlantic" accent, but have never been able to find any recordings of it, besides some vague descriptions that it was common in theatre. I believe they said somewhere that Christopher Plummer (Colonel von Trapp) performed in it? So I imagine the consonants are on the whole RP while the vowels are pre-shift General American (without the cot-caught merger)? Is Roosevelt's speech an example of this?
Also, was a non-rhotic accent the prestige accent in the USA even during WWII? Roosevelt was quite clearly non-rhotic and he came from some rich public school AFAIK.
I've also read about this "trans-Atlantic" accent, but have never been able to find any recordings of it, besides some vague descriptions that it was common in theatre. I believe they said somewhere that Christopher Plummer (Colonel von Trapp) performed in it? So I imagine the consonants are on the whole RP while the vowels are pre-shift General American (without the cot-caught merger)? Is Roosevelt's speech an example of this?
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national library
Try the British Library sound archives, you can listen to lots of old recordings, some as early as the late 1800's, online.
Evan.
Evan.
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Up until the end of World War II, I think the prestige dialect was non-rhotic: the New England dialect of old-money Ivy League types like the Roosevelts. America being America, though, I don't think Prestige Dialects mean the same as in Britain or especially in other languages like French. I think they put the speaker in line for as much ridicule as imitation, especially in the 20th Century. Then with the general cultural democratization that came with the war, Rhotic dialects came into their own. Fortunately this is one feature of Northeastern speech that hasn't spread everywhere in recent decades. (People pronouncing "cot" and "caught" the same is bad enough!)
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Re: Pre-World War English accents
Did the captain get promoted?quendidil wrote: ...Christopher Plummer (Colonel von Trapp) ...
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Re: Pre-World War English accents
Lol my bad. Captain von TrappBert wrote:Did the captain get promoted?quendidil wrote: ...Christopher Plummer (Colonel von Trapp) ...
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So does Homestar Runner. I hate cartoons, but I love HS.quendidil wrote:Also, Mr Burns from the Simpsons speaks in a non-rhotic accent and he is American.
http://homestarrunner.com/