American English began around 1607 when the first English settlement was established in Virginia. During this period, for scholars to distinguish the English language from the present day English, they referred to the language as the Early Modern English (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 104). Differences between the Early Modern English and the modern English can be seen in the differences in the dialects within the British English language. In addition, these dialects resulted to different dialects in the States as various people from the different speech regions settled in different parts of America.
The colonists who came to Virginia originated from Southeastern England in London. The fact that Virginia was associated with British speech resulted to changes in vowels and consonants. These included the removal of r after vowels and before consonants such as cart and work (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 105). The popularity of the loss of the r or the r-lessness became a characteristic of the British speech. Because of their strong ties with the Southeastern England, the colonists of Virginia promoted the r-lessness in this region. This effect is still present in this region today in contrast to other uplands region of Virginia where the r-ful is common (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 106).
The Massachusetts Bay colony became an r-less dialect area as the colonist came from the Southeastern England. Areas such as New York and Western New England became r-pronouncing regions similar to the upland regions of Virginia. This was due to settlement of r-pronouncing speakers, lack of regular contact with London and reduced dialect differences. However, over the years New York City has evolved from an r-fulness region to an r-less region where phrases such as Thirty-Third Street is pronounced as Toity-Toid Street (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 107). This spread of r-lessness occurred during the mid-ninetieth century.
The establishment of the Massachusetts Bay colony resulted to the emergence of other settlements in areas such as the Connecticut River Valley and the Hudson River Valley. Boston established itself as a cultural and linguistic center by developing speech patterns that influenced Massachusetts and the Western New England. Rhode Island became a dialectal sub region for centuries because of the strong dialectal boundaries that were founded during the period of least communication between the speakers of the different regions (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 108).
Differences in speech between the Eastern New England and the Western New England are quite diverse. Because of living off the sea, many people of the Eastern New England developed nautical expressions because of their sea activities. A term such as nor’easter refers to a storm from the north and the east, whereas lulling down and breezing up referred to the decreasing and increasing winds respectively (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 108).
Established in 1680, Philadelphia became a significant foundation of the American dialect because of the early settlers who came from Germany and Wales. Some of these Germans migrated to the west to areas like Pennsylvania where they developed their own distinct language and culture referred to as Pennsylvania Dutch (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 110).
The Scot-Irish who settled in parts of Pennsylvania had a unique speech from the one in London because they did not maintain much contact with England or Scotland. Through cultural centers like Boston and Richmond, the Scots-Irish language developed an r-fulness in their speech. Because of their increased settlement in America in 1776, the Scots-Irish had a considerable influence on the American language as they spread out through the Mid-Atlantic States. Examples of the Scot-Irish influence in the American dialect include use of till to express time (quarter till four) or use of want plus a preposition (the dog wants in) (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 111).
The African American speech developed initially from the slaves as they came up with a modified language to enable them to communicate with one another and the whites. This modified language later developed to Creole. The Creole language Gullah developed in South Carolina due to the large population of Blacks to White speakers. Gullah, a partof the Black Creole, developed into African American English because of the long segregation of its speakers. South Carolina and Georgia were influenced by Charleston speech. Florida being under the control of the Spanish people was not heavily affected by the Charleston speech. The Charleston speech developed as a distinct dialect because of the pronunciation of its vowels.
New Orleans played a crucial role in shaping the American dialect because of the French settlers. The blacks in New Orleans developed their own Creole language based on French rather than English. In 1765, the Acadians settled in Louisiana bringing with them a mixture of French that was different from the one present in New Orleans. In 1763, the Spaniards took control of New Orleans, but their language had a minimal effect on the established French language. The influence of the French language spread to other parts of America as evidenced by such terms as lagniappe to mean a small gift or bisque meaning cream soup (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 113). Invasion of New Orleans in 1803 by the British was late in influencing the heavy French dialect.
Differences between the American English and British English became apparent when United States got independence. Development of American English language was because of interaction with different speakers such as the British, Scots and the Irish. For instance, the words such as shenanigan, shanty and smithereens most likely originated from the Irish language (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 114). The Irish influence in American English can be seen in the use of articles in sentences unlike for British English. For example, he is in the hospital is American English; whereas he is in hospital is British English (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 114).
Lack of names for plants, animals and different objects in the American landscape was a factor that influenced the development of American English. Some names used were borrowed from the Native American language while others were innovated by means of resources from the English language. Examples include underbrush and backwoods. Further, in order to suit the American landscape, some existing words were given new meanings. An example is the word creek, which in Great Britain meant a small saltwater inlet, but in America, it was modified to mean any freshwater stream (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 115).
Politicians like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin had a significant impact in defining what the American English is now. Thomas Jefferson invented new words like belittle in the in an effort to distinguish them from the British (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 115). Benjamin Franklin promoted spelling reform as a way of defining their separation from the British. Some of his reforms were advocated through Noah Webster who came up with different spellings in the American language. Examples include “color for colour and tire for tyre” (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 115).
Because of the influence of the different speech patterns in the American regions the past, the American language has been able to maintain a distinct speech pattern in the different areas. Despite the fading of traditional dialects, new ones are developing every day. Several new terms especially in the farming context include rotary which has replaced the traffic circle and parkway for a divided highway with extensive plantings (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 118).
On a broad-spectrum, the pronunciation of words in the Northern part of the States has a distinct way of speech. Vowels in words such as horse are pronounced as hors, whereas hoarse is pronounced as hors (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 120). Other examples in the northern speech include use of pail instead of bucket or eaves for gutter.
Changes in the American dialect are expected to happen as time goes on because of the shifting patterns of population movement, changes in language patterns and immigration, increased access through the various regions and altering of cultural centers. (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 125)
Work Cited
Wolfram, Walt, and Natalie Schilling-Estes. American English: Dialects and Variation. MA:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2006. Print.
