• Question: Why do english speaking peoples around the world have different accents?

    Asked by eliskabonich01 to Faye, Martin, Mus, Pete, Jemma on 25 Apr 2012. This question was also asked by username1223.
    • Photo: Pete Etchells

      Pete Etchells answered on 25 Apr 2012:

      That’s a really cool question, thanks eliskabonich01! We don’t know specifically why a particular sort of accent might occur, but basically, scientist think that if someone has a bit of a weird way of saying something (just because that’s how they say it), then people they know nearby might pick up saying it in that way. Over time, the entire local community will pick up that way of saying something. If you get lots of different ways of saying things in a particular area, then that eventually becomes an accent!

      It’s actually really easy to pick up an accent; so say you moved america and lived there for a few years. Eventually, even though you might not realise it, you’d start to sound american!

      What’s your favourite accent?

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