Such as in the UK Yorkshire and the Manchester accent.  What made them vary so much?
200127
Since you are asking about British accents, you might really enjoy the article "Web Project shows developement of British regional accents" at:\nhttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/world/2004-02-11-brit-dialect-Web_x.htm\n\n\nFor a more complete treatment of the development of regional accents, Wikipedia has a good entry at:\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_accents_of_English_speakers
350567
Some people's accents are very malleable.  These people are usually great language learners and very good mimics.  Actors, for example.
41384
I've heard it compared to the difference between American and British English.  That means that there would be differences in accent, vocabulary, and probably grammar.
353125
There can be numerous reasons:\na) isolation. When a group is very isolated from the main population for a few decades, their accent may remain the same whilst those around them change, or vice versa.\n\nb) politics. A group may begin to feel as if they need to assert their identity, so within the same community, people may deliberately begin to pronounce words differently. It's like a linguistic way of saying, "I'm with these guys, and you're not." (A good example was Martha's Vineyard in the US, in about the 1980s).\n\nc) ethnic influence. A group may be made up of mixed ethnicities, who in learning the language of the country they have moved to, carry over aspects of their own language, such as pronunciation or grammar. ("He walks away" vs "He walk away", "She is gone" vs "She be gone").\n\nd) socio-economics. Those lower on the social ladder, such as the middle class, may (over) emulate others in more socially prestigious positions. In exactly the same, but directly opposite way, those in much lower social positions, such as the working class, may assert their identity by deliberately choosing their own accent or dialect, and refusing to emulate the higher classes.\n\ne) media. We are going to be influenced, however slightly, by the type of language we encounter in our daily lives on the radio or TV, which in England can be a mix of BBC English (RP) and Standard American English. This again goes back to emulating those who appear to occupy a position of authority or a position to which we should aspire.\n\nIn short, the reasons are many and complex, and all interplay to muddy the waters. There are no one-sentence answers, I'm afraid.
244798
As many people have said there are many American accents. The approach would also differ for Australians and English (which in turn has a wide variety in accents). I'm an Aussie and to do a British accent involves a more forced articulation of the vowels (i.e. away from the centre mid, e.g. opening the mouth further with "a") a slight lengthening of the vowels and obviously less slurring, contractions of words and glottalisation of vowels that usually goes with an Aussie accent. In regards to intonation I generally have to put a dampener on the way I use pitch to express myself and be more strict on the way words are stressed.\nAn American accent would generally involve a degree of nasalisation of the vowels for Aussies and Brits alike. The stress intonation I generally find stronger (though not rigidly so) in an American accent than either British or Australian. The pitch intonation is weaker than Aussie accents but stronger than English ones. Glottalisation in American accents is relatively rare but moreso than British. Articulation and length of vowels varies a bit for American accents but generally closer to an Australian accent (same goes for contractions though they are used differently). Slurring varies a lot in it's degree so can't say much there. Glides on vowels I think are less pronounced than both English and  Australian accents.\nThere's also the issue of increased volume and more forced body language, though in reality it's not as big of an issue as we'd make out.
57180
Interesting question.  As you know, language is a living thing. When people settle in regions, they interact closely, and their language subtly shifts.  (That's why Boston, New York, the South etc. have distinctive accents).  Over time, there is more differentiation-and the original accent is blended into a "new accent".  With English, you can see that happened in Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa (and elsewhere) as well.
135874
I'm originally from Illinois and I was always told that, for the most part, those of us don't have a discernible accent.  There are some that are slightly nasally but for the most part they don't have an accent.
221248
Personnally, there are a lot of good things about the Brit.  I have a close friend from Wales, lots of my favorite music come from the UK (Depeche Mode, New Order (Gillian Gilbert is cute, I wished she would smile more)), it's the home origin of shows like Monte Python and Doctor Who.  Driving through the countryside, there are a lot of beautiful places to vist.\n\nIgnore the unknowledgeable...ones like that say nasty stuff about Native Americans and other people and races as well.\n\nI try to embrace the differences.  With out differences, there would be no variety.  That would be pretty boring.
287676
well for a person who has been around like gillian anderson being born in chicago, then moved to puerto rico, educated in england and go back again to the states, she would definitely have an accent!
346083
The South of England around the outskirts of London where no one has strong accents. I reccomend reading lot's of English language books to increase your vocabulary. Just use a dictionary to check any words you don't understand.
262099
Yes its true. They say it without the 'r' but it sounds like they said it with the 'r'. Its more common with Yorkshiremen and Australians, I think.
238632
She seems to have this obsession with all things English, and that's why her accent has changed.  It doesn't sound natural though, and really seems like she's thinking her every word before she says it so that it comes out as an English accent.
648877
The short answer is that spelling conventions like -our (colour, flavour) and -re (centre, theatre) came from French, which was introduced into England in the Norman Conquest of 1066. After that, French became, in effect, the "official language" of England, and dramatically influenced (and enriched) the English language.\n\nHowever, spelling conventions in Britain and America were not codified until the 18th and 19th centuries. The British chose to keep the French influence, while the Americans, newly independent, chose to drop the "u", as a way of differentiating themselves from the former "mother country." Noah Webster, the dictionary author, had a lot to do with this, though he didn't invent it -- it was already taking place. He just chose to call it "correct."\n\nAs for why non-native English speakers in Europe and elsewhere use British spellings, it's because most countries consider British English the "correct" or "authentic" form of English. In fact, many foreign countries still teach students to speak English with an English accent, which often produces an odd effect.
204618
Actually they don't all say that.  And anyway it's not true.  Language is in a constant state of flux anyway.  Let's take 'Fall' (US) v 'Autumn' (UK).  'Fall' was in widespread use in the West of England (where most of the early US settlers came from).  It changed in UK but remained the same in US.  So, the change happened in UK, NOT the US.  This is true for a number of other word/phrase pairs.\n\nIf you assume - as all linguists know - that languages change over time, then it is obvious that in the 400 years or so that English speaking people have lived in America, that their language would diverge from that of the UK.  The same happened in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and, under slightly different pressures, in India, Singapore etc.\n\nEnglish in, say, Georgia and English as spoken in New York have diverged in the same period.  As a Brit, I had real difficulty understanding some of the rural residents of Georgia I met on a recent visit.\n\nThe reason many Brits use the word 'bastardised' to describe American English (yes, with an 's'!) is not so much to do with the language butmore to do with their feeling that America is insular, arrogant and full of itself.  (A view which is only partially justified, I feel).  The assumption by some Americans (as perceived by many Brits) - and largely the assumption of the US Government - that the whole world should aspire to become more like the US, that the US system of doing everything is best, that the US can and should bully other nations leads to a groundswell of feeling of alienation from America.  As we all know, it is traditional in the UK to mock people because of the way they speak!\n\nWinston Churchill (I think) said of Britain and America that we are 'two great nations divided by a common language'.  In general (unfortunately) I think he was about right.
260767
Yes, southern accents are hot.  For that matter, so are most southern women.\n\nMy experience is that there are two kinds of southern "accents".  One makes you sound like a hill billy and the other is just an accent.  In terms of sounding more "intelligent", I think it comes down more to what and how you say it rather than your accent.
522012
Hmm, there really isn't a difference between being British and English, in fact anyone who's English is actually both. Saying that you are English implies that you live in England whereas saying that you're British could mean that you're English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish (though I doubt anyone from Scotland or Wales would use British over Scottish or Welsh). \n\nPaki is actually a somewhat offensive term used in England to describe people from Pakistan and can be compared to the word 'N ig g e r' used in the USA (though it is nowhere near as bad and doesn't have the history behind it either). \n\nGeezer is slang for describing anyone really (usually a man though) and is used quite alot where I'm from (Manchester).\nPoof is used in place of Gay, and can be a little offensive but its not really that bad, simialr to saying 'he's a fruit' in the USA.\n\nAs for some other slang words, Muppet is used down south alot and roughly means idiot, Pillock is similar but more ofensive, Wanker is quite rude (i'm pretty sure you don't need me to explain that one), Chav/Scally describes young people who wear hoodies and cause alot of trouble, Random is a word used in Birmingham and the midlands and means nothing at all, they just throw it into any sentance, Tosser is again a rude word similar to wanker, Boff is pretty much the same as Geek, Manc (pronounced mank) is short for Mancunian i.e. people from manchester and slag/slapper is the same as 's l u t' in USA. Sorry that most of those were insults but we English like to make as many varied insults as possible :-). \n\nBy the way, If the film you watched was trainspotting or snatch then I think you'll need a slang dictionary to understand all the coloquial terms in them.
51564
same stuff you do just with a different accent