The Development of the American Accent

[Edisone]

I love that recording of Wm J Bryan - that is a beautiful American Accent ! Definitely not recognizable as a local accent to me, I being from Western New York, although I have been careful to sound more "proper" in my speech since about age 10. If you listen to 1920s recordings of WJB, you might hear that even his accent changed on purpose - he sounded less country-born in later life.

[emgcr]

There is an interesting Berliner record of "Buffalo Bill" Cody from 1898 on YouTube: I had tried to share it, but I couldn't get the link to work.

Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIQKfoReVk4

[orpington]

Unfortunately, that's not McKinley speaking: that is a studio recording. McKinley never recorded his voice.

Are you sure? Try this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya8dmsC4bfM

After listening to this one, it does indeed make my first link seem that it is not really McKinley.

It seems hard to believe that there would not be a recording of McKinley.

But, then again, Mark Twain lived nearly ten years later than did McKinley and no recordings of his voice are known to exist. But, they may be out there...

I swear, if I were Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, I would offer a $1 million reward for a proven recording of Mark Twain's voice. I am sure he did record his voice, and, whether or not it still exists is a mystery, and a reward of this sort might just shake out an original recording (or, at the very least, several fakes).

Perhaps I am not the best investor (well, none of us on this forum are, as antique phonographs continue to decline in value), BUT, if one did offer such a reward, I would think that the value of it, in the actual value of the recording and copyright rights, might exceed $1 million...

[orpington]

And, here is Grover Cleveland. He, as did Teddy Roosevelt, spent a considerable amount of time in New York, although he is about a generation earlier than Roosevelt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcyhqq6Q_bo

[FloridaClay]

Yes, having spent some time in Britain, there are a wide variety of accents and regional dialects, perhaps even moreso than in this country, so I hastily did indeed write 'British accent' in the broader sense, as if it were one.

The regional dialects in Appalachia referenced above, as being very reminiscent of Elizabethan English, are there easily accessible recordings, as I would like to hear this?

Now this is WAY back in the hills, but it is the kind of pure Appalachian speech that is rapidly disappearing. I grew up in the Tennessee Valley were modern standard English is used (albeit with a different recognizable accent), but there was enough contact with rural mountain folk that I recognize the cadences and many of the archaic words. By and large these are good, hard-working, warm-hearted people and, once you have had enough contact with them that they learn to trust you, you have a loyal friend.

As an aside, I can not now speak with the Tennessee Valley accent of my youth intentionally, but some friends say that I fall back into it in telephone conversations with people there they have overheard.

Clay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03iwAY4KlIU

[fran604g]

There is an interesting Berliner record of "Buffalo Bill" Cody from 1898 on YouTube: I had tried to share it, but I couldn't get the link to work.

Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIQKfoReVk4

Fabulous!

I'm no speech pathologist - and I'm sure there are nuances of Bill Cody's articulation that my unskilled ear misses - but to me his diction sounds very similar to Thomas Edison's on his "Let Us Not Forget" recording.

This discussion is fascinating! Especially to one such as me, who speaks mostly in the vernacular and slang of my youth, except where social accumen demands.

Best,
Fran

[orpington]

FloridaClay,

Do you have a recording of that Tennessee accent?

I had a professor when I was in college 25 years ago who had a wonderful-sounding accent, and he was from Tennessee. He was born in 1941, I think. Incidentally, he was the actual individual of which 'Dead Poet's Society' was based upon.

[FloridaClay]

I don't know of a recording of the accent in the town where I grew up.

Clay

[Lucius1958]

Unfortunately, that's not McKinley speaking: that is a studio recording. McKinley never recorded his voice.

Are you sure? Try this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya8dmsC4bfM

After listening to this one, it does indeed make my first link seem that it is not really McKinley.

It seems hard to believe that there would not be a recording of McKinley.

But, then again, Mark Twain lived nearly ten years later than did McKinley and no recordings of his voice are known to exist. But, they may be out there...

I swear, if I were Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, I would offer a $1 million reward for a proven recording of Mark Twain's voice. I am sure he did record his voice, and, whether or not it still exists is a mystery, and a reward of this sort might just shake out an original recording (or, at the very least, several fakes).

Perhaps I am not the best investor (well, none of us on this forum are, as antique phonographs continue to decline in value), BUT, if one did offer such a reward, I would think that the value of it, in the actual value of the recording and copyright rights, might exceed $1 million...

The recording you linked isn't by McKinley either: it was recorded by Len Spencer: compare it with the famous "Edison Advertising Record".

As for the first record, I am not entirely sure: but the voice definitely sounds like Steve Porter, Russell Hunting, or another of the recording artists of the '90s.

-Bill

[epigramophone]

I am not qualified to comment on American accents, but I can certainly endorse the opinion that standards of diction have decined during the past 100 years. The mumbling, grunting and wailing of today's pop singers renders the words almost incomprehensible, although with the drivel that passes for lyrics this is probably no bad thing.