We speak English

I was going to write about bog mummies today, but inspiration struck, so that's on hold until tomorrow. I want to talk about accents. Particularly, I want to talk about SAE, Southern American English. SAE is the target of much disdain, as anyone who has ever been north of the Mason-Dixon Line can attest. But this poor reputation is unfounded. 


English is the shared language of millions of people all across the globe, but the language is subdivided into hundreds of dialects, from Cockney to Ebonics, Gullah to Creole. Each variation uses slightly different grammatical rules, vocabulary, and pronunciations. Each is equally as legitimate as the others. But SAE has gotten a reputation for being this abominable bastardization of the King's English. It's not. For argument's sake, we'll say Received Pronunciation (RP) is the standard, unadulterated dialect. (RP is your typical British accent, by the way.) SAE actually retains many features of RP.


British English is non-rhotic, which means speakers do not pronounce the "r" sound unless it is immediately followed by vowel sound. The traditional Southern accent is also non-rhotic. This is an unusual feature in America, as other American dialects are almost exclusively rhotic. (The "r" sound is always pronounced.) 


We have