1. Relation of the American nation to England (especially after 1776) Schizophrenic! - Violent rejection of English tyranny - Acute nostalgia for English culture

2. Pronunciation British speakers: Received Pronunciation (RP), Oxford English, Public School English, BBC English, standard British English (around 3% of the population use RP) American English has no official standard

3. RP developed at the end of the 18 th century, during the period of the American Revolution Until the 18 th century everyone in both Britain and America spoke a local dialect Difference between gentlefolks and commoners Dialect in novels: in UK to mark class and region origins In America: for comic effect Language of London: prestige dialect

4. “Received pronunciation”: term introduced by John Walker (1791), “received” means “generally adopted and approved”, “the best” Main feature: loss of the postvocalic [r] with lengthening of the vowel Ex (BE): - horse: /h ɔː s/ - course: /k ɔː s/

5. Accents Fairfax, Virginia http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=de tail&speakerid=110 Hertfordshire http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=de tail&speakerid=443

6. Loss of [r] became the prestige norm: US areas more exposed to British influence (New England, “Old” South) followed this innovation, other areas kept the [r] Not only in the US, but in other geographical areas distant from the “linguistic center” (Ireland, Scotland) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNzPsfnN3sU &feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNzPsfnN3sU &feature=related