'American English' based on the pronounciation of Ireland ?

[Creoda]

Huh? He says that in the video? I missed that. Anyway, he's not a linguist (as he states himself), so it's not the most serious video in the world. But it's still accurate to say that in 18th century England they spoke more like American English.

The British settlers coming to different parts of America in the 17th and 18th centuries were from different regional, class, and religious backgrounds, and brought with them distinctive ways of speaking. Puritans from East Anglia contributed to the classic Boston accent; Royalists migrating to the South brought a drawl; and Scots-Irish moved to the Appalaichans. Today’s American English is actually closer to 18th-century British English in pronunciation than current-day British English is. Sometime in the 19th century, British pronunciation changed significantly, particularly whether “r”s are pronounced after vowels.

https://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8053521...xplain-english

In the video you posted his portrayal of 17th/18th century English from SE England sounded nothing like American English. Americans like to say that their accent is closer to Elizabethan or even Georgian English in England, but it's not a fact. It ignores that 'British English' is much more varied, then and now. The rural West Country accent (like the 20th century rural Southern English accents I posted) is the closest living accent to 17th/18th century Southern English dialects, and 17th/18th century Northern English or Scottish dialects certainly weren't closer to American English than to modern Northern English and Scottish accents, even with rhoticism. Non-rhotic speech also existed in SE/East England in the 17th century, even if a minority then.

[Hulu]

I don't understand why Australia's accent is different from American then since they were both settled at approx the same time

[Östsvensk]

I don't understand why Australia's accent is different from American then since they were both settled at approx the same time

Well, an alternate theory I have heard is that American English evolved partially from non-English settlers, like Dutch, who after they learned English influenced it that way with their foreign accents. This is perhaps supported, I guess, from that they say Dutch people can learn to speak American English fairly well (although others might say that's just because they've been influenced so much from American movies and television).

[Creoda]

I don't understand why Australia's accent is different from American then since they were both settled at approx the same time

Not exactly, the English/British settlement of America started in the early 1600s, the settlement of Australia started in the late 1700s. Evidently in the 1600s most of Southern England had rhotic speech, whereas in the late 1700s London and much of SE England (from where the Aus accent mostly comes) must have been non-rhotic. Plus Australia was still a set of colonies mostly populated by British migrants and their children until the 20th century, whereas America had separated in the 18th century and had many generations more to develop uniquely and in isolation.

Canada is bit of a mystery though. Obviously they share a border and practically free movement/cultural exchange with the US, but considering they were still a British colony/dominion until the 20th century, with loads of expats, it's strange that they sound so un-British or un-Australian, and are so culturally removed from other Commonwealth nations.

[Östsvensk]

Canada is bit of a mystery though. Obviously they share a border and practically free movement/cultural exchange with the US, but considering they were still a British colony/dominion until the 20th century, with loads of expats, it's strange that they sound so un-British or un-Australian, and are so culturally removed from other Commonwealth nations.

Among the English-speaking Canadians are the descendants of over 40,000 Americans who migrated there at the time of the Revolution. Many of the New Englanders went to the Maritime Provinces. The New Yorkers, however, favored Lower Ontario, where they were joined by a few Southerners and their house slaves. Between the Revolution and 1812, the number of Americans emigrating to Canada exceeded that of Europeans immigrating to the United States. As a result most English-speaking Canadians have an American accent, with a few Scottish modifications.--The Living Races of Man, C.Coon, 1965, pp.310

[Ruggery]

Among the English-speaking Canadians are the descendants of over 40,000 Americans who migrated there at the time of the Revolution. Many of the New Englanders went to the Maritime Provinces. The New Yorkers, however, favored Lower Ontario, where they were joined by a few Southerners and their house slaves. Between the Revolution and 1812, the number of Americans emigrating to Canada exceeded that of Europeans immigrating to the United States. As a result most English-speaking Canadians have an American accent, with a few Scottish modifications.--The Living Races of Man, C.Coon, 1965, pp.310

Do you mean that there are more Canadians of American descent than of English or British descent?

[Anglo-Celtic]

Huh? He says that in the video? I missed that. Anyway, he's not a linguist (as he states himself), so it's not the most serious video in the world. But it's still accurate to say that in 18th century England they spoke more like American English.

The British settlers coming to different parts of America in the 17th and 18th centuries were from different regional, class, and religious backgrounds, and brought with them distinctive ways of speaking. Puritans from East Anglia contributed to the classic Boston accent; Royalists migrating to the South brought a drawl; and Scots-Irish moved to the Appalaichans. Today’s American English is actually closer to 18th-century British English in pronunciation than current-day British English is. Sometime in the 19th century, British pronunciation changed significantly, particularly whether “r”s are pronounced after vowels.

https://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8053521...xplain-english

No. I just thought that the disclaimer was LOL.

[Östsvensk]

Do you mean that there are more Canadians of American descent than of English or British descent?

No, he goes on to state that there later was heavy British immigration to Canada (between 1846 and 1854, half a million British including many Irish came). He also says that some of the 19th century waves of Europeans heading for the US also went to Canada. But he seems to say that because Americans immigrated first, this developed a more American-natured accent.

[Graham]

I don't understand why Australia's accent is different from American then since they were both settled at approx the same time

People in Britain can live on towns within miles and sound very different and then within those areas you have stronger accents, in that way it makes sense.

Aussies sound more working class South East English to me, with a sort of nasal sound and upwards inflection. I know people in Somerset who again sound West Country.

I'll add that middle class Irish and Scots do slip into a transatlantic accent very easily in comparison to the English. It wouldn't take much effort.

[Tooting Carmen]

To some extent, yes.