Uk Accents, Whay So Many?

Why are there so many different accents in Britain today and where did they come from? In order to address this question, we need to look back into history, a history which can be seen to be characterised by diaspora and colonising. The history of different accents in Britain goes back to the end of the Roman Empire, when the Romans abandoned their colony on Britannia in the first millennium CE.

At the time, the native Celtic people were then marginalised by several new groups of people who sailed over and occupied the land. These groups included the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and German tribes, each of whom settled and established their own communities in different regions which were ruled by different kings at the time. With the social landscape rapidly changing, a plethora of regional dialects competed across regional borders and boundaries, the strongest of which emerged as being the Anglisc dialect of Old German, known as the language of Angle Land. As each community began to form their own dialect of Anglisc, this could be seen as the early unifying factors in the creation of what we now know as the English language. However, with the Roman Legions gone, other groups, such as the Vikings, also saw opportunity on the British Isles and colonised several northern regions. Just as those before them, they too brought their own cultural influence to the various dialects.

Then, in 1066, the Normans conquered the entire country and established medieval French as its official language. This brought about huge changes in the language, as French words, sounds and grammatical patterns influenced the emerging English forms which, once again, were varying from region to region.

This set the backdrop for a relatively more sustained and settled period for English to become recognised as the national language through the 13th century. England was now ruled by one king, but the unification of the language was a much slower process due to the ‘melting pot’ of different dialects and cultural influences. Pronunciation of similar words was at best inconsistent, and standardised forms tended only to grow out of the need for trade or if it carried cultural significance to that region. Even worse was the confusion over spelling, an issue which never got resolved, unlike other European languages, whose spelling became standardised in the 19th century.

Many of the regional British accents you hear today in the UK can be seen as the remnants of the regional dialects that existed before. These historical differences between dialects can still be heard in terms of pronunciation, as vocabulary and grammar have become fairly standardised. Any slight variations are typically put down to accent as opposed to dialect which may be inaccurate, but with the rapid improvements in transport and technology over the last few centuries, it is hard to say where the dialect ends and where we need to leave the accent behind.

Key Terms

abandoned - : left without needed protection or care

colonising - : to create a colony in or on (a place) : to take control of (an area) and send people to live there

dialect - : a form of a language that is spoken in a particular area and that uses some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations

diaspora - : a group of people who live outside the area in which they had lived for a long time or in which their ancestors lived — usually singular

melting pot - : a place (such as a city or country) where different types of people live together and gradually create one community — usually singular

occupied - : controlled by foreign soldiers or a foreign government

plethora - : a very large amount or number : an amount that is much greater than what is necessary

region - : a part of a country, of the world, etc., that is different or separate from other parts in some way

remnants - : the part of something that is left when the other parts are gone— usually plural — often + of

leave the accent behind - To part with, change or alter your original or local accent