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Why does the UK have different accents?
Most British people can recognize where someone was brought up
by their
accent
Every region has its own way of pronouncing the words and sentences of English that identifies
a speaker with a part of England.
Differences arose from the time when English was spoken in a variety of different forms
during the Middle Ages
“Northern”
… developed from Northumbrian Old English
“West and East Midlands ”
… came from Mercian Old English
“South Western ”
… came from West Saxon
“South Eastern ”
… came from Kentish
After 1500 the language of London gradually became the most powerful
… and today the London or ‘Southern’ accent is usually accepted as Standard English.
Sometimes this is called “BBC English”
because at one time all announcers on BBC radio and TV were required to speak it.
Regional accents have persisted (=continued) and changed over the centuries.
So now, an accent can identify a speaker with a general area of Britain, such as …
West Country
South Wales
…
and an accent can also identify a speaker with specific cities.
Liverpool
York
Glasgow
Although “Standard English” was once the only accepted form of English for public speaking
or broadcasting …
now all kinds of different accents are widely used on television and radio.
By the way, you can hear many of the different British accents on this website …
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/
… Want to learn BRITISH ENGLISH ???