You write "The only way to speak without an accent would be to speak Received Pronunciation." and then you write "RP is the oldest accent". Do you mean to say RP is or is not an accent?
I have nothing against RP but it is, none the less, an accent. Sure, "People sing in RP". Some people do, others might sing in a Jamaican accent, others still sing in the Italian language.
Sure, RP is clear and easy to understand but if you came from Newfoundland then a Newfie accent would be clearer and easier to understand to you.
3% isn't exactly impressive. You write "people have been 'strictly' brought up to speak this way". You mean "some people" or maybe "3% of native speakers".
If you believe that "RP is the oldest accent" I afraid that you're very much mistaken. You would do well to study the history of the English language.
I'd support your decision to abopt the RP accent. It is a good accent but I don't agree that RP is "perfect" nor that it "is the genuine, and 'only' true way of speaking English".
There are typos above: "...I afraid..." should be "...I'm afraid..." and "abopt" should be "adopt".
RP is a very British thing. It stands for "received pronunciation", which gives you an idea of the elitist philosophy behind it. For years, people in the United Kingdom were encouraged to drop their local accents in favour of more 'acceptable' RP. However, there has been a backlash against this in recent decades and regional accents are more and more in use, e.g. on tv. Indeed it turns out that the most popular accents (and ones that people trust etc.) are Scottish and Yorkshire. I come from London and it's true that lots of people there sound like they're trying to rip you off the moment they open their mouths.
RP is a bit of an invention too - It originates from the English spoken in private schools of the last centuries, where people would be brought together from different parts of the UK. As a result it's probably not historically the most interesting. If 19th Century novels are to be believed, some areas even retained 'thee' and 'thou' for 'you' and 'you' until comparatively recently.
To my knowledge, the early English colonists in America came from the West Country of England, East Anglia and the East Midlands. RP came along after they'd already left. This may be one reason (among the billion others) why the stereotypical American accent sounds so different from British RP.
RP from the 14th century????
Well all I can say aboot Canadians is that they aint got no [American]southerners!!!!!!
What in the sam hell are ya'll talkin' aboot! There is too sounthereners [americans] in Canadia!
P.S. Where the hell is Canadia anyway?
Is that you cousin Billy-Bob? Y'all knows you aint supposed to bes a typin this late. Besides you is wrong aboot there ain't being southerners in Canadia: weve got cousin Elk, cousin Billy-Mae, Billy-Jo, Billy-Jo jr, Billy-Jo Jr Jr, Ant. Patty and Uncle Anita. There's at least...well I aint got 'nuf fingers to be countin that many...hangon...let me get mybelt out and give y'all a can ov woop-ass...shee-yit...I cain't whoop y'alls asses over this here dag-gon pees of compyuter teknology.
I suppose Canadians and americans ae very similar in some ways and different in others. As soon as you land at a canadian airport, like in the usa, you get sniffer dogs hounding you out searching for food, containing so called diseases. If the food contained diseases don't you all think we'd be eating it and bringing it in? They say it's to protect agriculture.. hah!! I'm sure it's for another reason.
Canadians are different however in a way that they still have the Queen as head of state, while america has a president. Canadians have the 2nd largest country in the world, with under 30 million people. America has the fifth largest I think and a population of over 260 million.
I think the canadian accent is like the american, but not as strong and with a french influence.
I have lived in Ontario my entire life and only have been to the states a few times... Honestly, I do recognize an accent in americans when I meet them here in Canada. Especially if they're fromt he south... I think we do speak differently but it's hard to actually mark down what sounds different. I know that the word "sorry" is pronounced more "sourry" by canadians rather than "sarry" by the americans. Of course you have those common expressions like eh (whixh I gotta admit I don't say too ofte...) I guess the definition that some here have used like "british pronounciation" is correct. And for that halfwit who said that we had no culture, I would ask you to please take a look around yourself: that is culture... Doesn't matter how similar some countries can be. At least we speak English and French, NOT AMERICAN !!!! BTW our beer taste like... beer ! And not water...hehe
You mean Canada is a trash of Britain and France where there are only the people who can bear to live next to the USA?
It is true Americans stereotype Canadians, and in return we surely stereotype them, though the extent of both is unknown to me.
However, like someone posted earlier, the intelligent americans (and canadians) can overlook this, as they know that Canada and the U.S have a history that began very much the same time and to some extent the same way.
Those who can't see past the stereotypes are simply society's sheep.
BAHHHHH.
Grow up.
going slightly off the accents thing.
to all those americans mentionned as society's sheep,
go ahead and stereotype us,
while the rest of the world stereotype's you.
and btw, someone needs to pop america's huge ego won after WWII.
thinking they were the heros and the rulers of the world.
well hey!, if I had trouble opening a bottle, twisted and turned the cap in all directions, and then passed it to my friend who opened it right away.
is she the hero? or am I? Or was it team work. I loosened it, she opened it.
we did it together.
maybe america should learn the meaning of this.
because every other country has.
That's a great point Joan! They think they won the war for Europe and all the other countries involved. They think without them, Hitler would have run rife throughout Europe and taken over many lands...It could not be further from the truth. If the japenese hadn't bombed them in the first place, they would never had helped us out (or so they say!) in the first place!
That's a great point Joan! They think they won the war for Europe and all the other countries involved. They think without them, Hitler would have run rife throughout Europe and taken over many lands...It could not be further from the truth. If the japenese hadn't bombed them in the first place, they would never had helped us out (or so they say!) in the first place!
Andrew, no, we do not all think that America was the saving grace for the British and the allies in WWII. As you guessed I am American, but I am half-English/half-American; so I usually see things through both English and American eyes. Some Americans will say that "if it were not for us..." But not me. So you cannot say all Americans think that way, now can you?
And like Joan did say, it was not just the Americans, it was the Australians, Canadians, British AS WELL AS the Americans (and the French; but not much). And yes, I think that if it were not for Pearl Harbour, America would not have joined the war at that point. However, I do not think that we are that selfish. We were neutral in WWI (I am pretty sure, correct me if I am wrong), and America entered for the last year of the Great War and ended the stale mate. So, I think America would have looked at the situation in Europe and thought about our allies getting beat up by the Nazis, and then I think America would have joined the war.