In my opinion the Australian accent is converging with the American accent.
And with the increase in the Hispanic population, English and Spanish are converging in America. In a few decades I believe we’ll have a separate language called Spanglish. It’s already beginning.
Which one? If you put a Maine lobsterman in the same room with an Alabama sharecropper you'd have difficulty believing they are speaking the same language.
I've found it hard to distinguish between the two at times. Australians sound just like Americans, until they hit a vowel. :-)
Sorry I couldn't keep up with the thread. We are in the process of finishing a move from our house to an apartment and I was...umm...detained.
This article and the discussion is very interesting to me. I have worked in radio, sound and music for over 30 years so perhaps that is the reason.
Is there a connection between the written and spoken word?
Documents from the Revolutionary period appear to be difficult for the average person today to comprehend. However the Founding Fathers wrote these documents (presumably - my take) for the common man.
Did they write as they spoke? If so, and if the language devolved, is it no wonder so many today do not grasp the documents of our foundation?