An Upper-Class Southern British Accent, 1673 - 2023

I wonder how many more of us would be linguists if schools made linguistics half as interesting as Simon does.

The upper classes were the only ones with enough spare time to actually think about describing how they speak. It’s fascinating and I’m glad they did !

Hi, I'm a linguistics professor and I showed this video in my class. It seems very well done.

I would also mention that looking at rhymes is a tool that is used for reconstructing pre-recording pronunciation. On example that immediately comes to mind is that, at one point “join” and “line” used to rhyme in English. Shakespeare’s work flows so much better when you hear it in a reconstruction of the, likely, original pronunciation.

"I'm not formally qualified to [talk about this]"… proceeds to smash it! Quality as always Simon - thanks!

May all the world put down their arms and listen to Simon for a peaceful day.

Hello, American here ... 🙂 It goes both ways. During the Coviid lockdowns of 2020-2021, American children watched SO much Peppa Pig while on lockdown, their parents reported them developing British accents! 😮

Fascinating as always! Great work. Remarkable how Irish the 1723 accent sounds.

We also know about accents from the working class due to spelling mistakes in their writings.

A Simon Roper Christmas video is the only gift I need.

I am originally from the northeastern USA, Massachusetts, New York, & New Jersey. I moved to the southern US quite a few years ago, and I noticed something when I first arrived. Whenever I found myself in a crowd of people, I kept hearing British accents. It took me a while to realize that I was hearing Southern accents and not people from the UK. I learned that certain Southern US accents are quite similar to some British accents. Since that time, I always listen for similarities in vowel sounds between the British and Americans. I've occasionally even noticed some similarities between the distinctive Eastern New England accent and certain British accents, although not nearly as often as similarities with Southern US accents.

I wish you could train actors to perfect these accents when attempting to play historical characters or when portraying certain eras.

I love these “accents through the ages” videos! I would love one for the Northern English accents as well, if it’s something you would enjoy

A short video on the connection between old rural accents of Southern England and the Southern US would make my year.

The 1700s dialects sound remarkably similar to the slightly old-fashioned rural Dorset accent such as the one my grandparents used to possess. (Edit: ha! You called it in the very next sentence) Very interesting! Thank you for your hard work.

Simon as a Lancastrian I would be really interested hearing your take on the Northern working class accents through the ages.

I'm reconstituting a parisian accent in late-18th century from English-speaking books. It's a blast. Your videos are what really made me want to become a historian of linguistics and phonetics. You're a gem❤❤

Wes þu hál! Glæd Gēol! I love these evolutionary videos. English accents are truly fascinating to me. I am an American with an upland Southern accent, but raised in part by midland English grandparents. My speech patterns reflect both, with results that Englishmen seem to immediately recognise, but my fellow Southerners find weird or slightly pretentious, lol. Keep up the great work, Mr. Roper, and may all go well for you.

Brilliantly analysed and very convincingly reproduced. Holding the accent stable in each clip was a masterpiece of tightrope-walking. All agog for more, though I realise that with the research that goes into work of this standard, it won't be next week!

What I found most revealing was that as you went back in time sounds approached French! A striking example is the French "u" sound in "nature". As you go back in time, the placement of sounds come "forward" or into a "higher" placement. I have started a YouTube project of French diction for English choirs and I have noticed that one of the biggest challenges for English singers in trying to sound French is moving the sound forward and really engaging the lips to get a French "u" and "o". Great work on the video, that's a lot of work!