Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
Reading David McCullough’s 1776, I found myself wondering: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents? If so, when did American accents diverge from British accents?
The answer surprised me.
If you go to Rhode Island, the river Thames there is pronounced "Thaymes" not "Timms". George I the German could not pronounce "Thaymes"; he called the Thames River the "Timms" River so all the other Brits started doing it too.
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