Originally, both the British and Americans spoke with a rhotic accent. Rhotic essentially means an accent where the letter 'r' is pronounced strongly after a vowel. Rhotic accents are strong in both the US and Scotland, but seem to have disappeared from British English and its derivatives, such as Australian and New Zealand English.
The dominant American accent (the typical accent of the mid-western US) is rhotic, and British English is, as a rule, non-rhotic. Typically, US speakers pronounce every "r", wherever they appear in a word. Most British speakers (and you will note that there are some British Isle accents that are strongly rhotic, like US) do not pronounce every "r". Americans emphasise the "r" at the end of words such as "teacher" or "neighbour", but in many non-rhotic British accents it is more of a "schwa" (an unstressed, neutral, toneless vowel sound) so it comes out as "teacha" (unstressed) or "neighba".
This main difference also varies across the country of origin. For example, the US has a clear distinction in the accents between inhabitants of the north and south, not to mention less clearly defined differences across the states. Similarly, British people have a different accent according to their locality. The "cockney" accent is vastly different to the middle and upper class accents.
Another common difference appears to be that Americans pronounce words such as 'herbal' without the 'h'. Syllables may be stressed differently, too. "Oregano" in the US tends to be pronounced "o - reg - a - no" whereas in British English it is more likely to be "o - reg - AH - no".
There is no single "American" accent, but the accent used by most newscasters (Mid-Western) is considered to be an "American" accent. Native New Yorkers tend to pronounce certain words differently from the rest of the country. For example "cawfee" (coffee), "owa" (hour), daw (door) and of course Noo Yawk (New York). New Yorkers also tend to say "a" at the end of words that end in "er" like "butta" (butter), speaka (speaker) and put "r" where it doesn't belong: "warta" (water). Some of the classic accents that you may hear in old movies like using "earl" for "oil" are not really prevalent any longer. Also, using "d" instead of "t" in the middle of words can also be heard "whaddya want? (what do you want?)
There are many sites on the internet that give full linguistic discussions on the differences that you may want to check out. Also, there are certain actors and actresses that have a native NY accent such as Robert Deniro and Rosie O'Donnell.
The various New York City accents are closely related to the various New England accents, deriving from the speech of certain parts of England as it was pronounced in the 17th Century. The dramatic difference is the "dropped R" before consonants and at the end of sentences. For example, some of us Northeasterners say say Pock ya cah heyah when the rest of America says Park your car here.
There is nothing different between the American and the British accents. The New England accent is different.
Of those two, it is closer to the British, but the Kiwi accent has evolved quite a way apart from there so as to be a completely different accent; it is closer to the Australian accent than either American or British.
Yes, she does. She was born in england. On of her parents is british and the other one is indian. In the movie she was able to do an American accent. Hugh Laurie does the same thing on House.
British, in real life. He does a American accent. I think in the show he's Canadian or from Cali
Regarding just the Australian accent: Linguists and scientists have studied the Australian accent, and come to the conclusion that it is almost impossible to reproduce accurately. Its many inflections, use of "schwa", and mix of influences on its origins have made it a completely unique accent.
Because they explained in the Exclusive behind the scenes of the movie Lemonade Mouth that she has a really good american/English accent and she was able to speak without her British accent for the whole movie in real life she will talk with her British accent, as the cast members said so.
A lot. Not to mention there are over a hundred different British accents.
They got it from the British actually. The British had what is now the accent commonly known as the American accent during colonial times.
All English accents are British accents, but not all British accents are English accents. That's because England is one country in the nation of Great Britain. So if one was to speak in a 'scouse' or 'cockney' accent, this would be both English and British. But if you were from Wales, while your accent is a British one, it is not English.
He uses an (awesome) American accent.
It is probably because you live in the states now and everyone around you has an American Accent. It is weird for me, because I have a closer British than American accent, and no one I even know has a British accent, so I guess mine is like a freak thing. (and no it is not a lysp or talking difficulty. everyone has actually told me I have a British accent, even British people..)
I believe that in American English the accent is in the middle (the second syllable), while in British usage the accent is in the beginning of the word (the first syllable). American: lyooTENant. British: LYOOtnant.
Yes they do.
British! Her accent is merging into american, due to living out there and role requirements, but she is definitely British :)
not necessary
No accent is better or worse, it all depends on the person's preferences
It might help if you spelled "beautiful" and "American" right.... just saying....
No, he is British, as you can tell by his accent :) x