If there were a recipe for a dialect, one of the key ingredients would be isolation. Keep in mind, the English language as we know it today is an evolution of Anglo-germanic languages of German conquerer tribes (i.e. the hutts, the goths) but due to the fact that the island of England is isolated from Germany, they took completely differant paths. The same is true of America. The English language as told by England is properly known as Elizibethian English, but as it is compiled by Oxford and is more commonly referred to (by Americans, as I know it) as Oxford English. As Americans were isolated from their native lands (and tongues) we adapted to life in the New World and thus came up with new terminology to desrcibe everyday life. Most of this branching in language can be rooted to the migration of settlers. As we pioneered our way away from New England, our language also seperated. With America being such a large country, it could be said that most of us are also isolated, and thus Americans have no single dialect, but about 4 or 5 major ones. As Americans gave birth to a new language, it was compiled by a man named Noah Webster, and thus we call it Webser's English. Webster's dictionary of American-English was to include much of the slang that would soon evolve into creole and eventually dialect. Settlers facing steep mountains, thick forests, and barren lands were hard-pressed to keep themselves civil, let alone their tongues, and crude language emerged, slang. The easiest place to pinpoint this would be the Dixie dialect (Southeast) in comparison to the Yankee dialect (Northeast). I was personally raised by an upstate New York family, in southern Florida, so I've been exposed to both dialects (S. Florida doesn't speak so much "southern" as, say, Georgia- so my dialect could be described as about 75% yankee). Referring to it as a water fountain or drinking fountain both sound correct, with the latter sounding more proper; the same with cake- frosting and icing are both correct, the latter sounding more proper. Tennis shoes and Sneakers- interchangible. I call it soda, not pop or coke (unless it is coke). But I use southern expressions like "I'm fixing to" (I'm going to) and "on account of" (because). And who doesn't use the term "hey" to say hello? product of the south. My dialect is irrelevant, really, but the purpose is to point out that Americans have many ways of expressing themselves, depending on where they come from, mostly a result of which country settled the area and how isolated they are from their neighbors. One thing is certain, though, our dialect- diverse as it may be- is a far cry from Elizibethian, and may someday be a differant language entirely. At the stage it's in, Webster's English is almost more a creole of English than a dialect. Hope that helps :) --------------------------------------------------- Some All-American terms and words: NEW ENGLAND (Yankee) Stoop (porch stairs) ALASKA Cabin Fever (restlessness) PACIFIC SOUTHWEST ("Valley girl" / "Surfer Dude") Goner (doomed person), Fossil (old person), Dude (generic. man), Far-out / Radical (agreeable), Bogus / Gnarly (dissagreeable) WEST (Western) Belly-up (bankrupt), Maverick (dissenter), Howdy (Abbrev. "How do you do?") Adobe (house), Buckaroo (cowboy), Bronco (wild horse), Mustang (breed of horse), Lasso (rope-hoop), Wingding (celebration), Hightail (retreat), Roundup (gather), Greenhorn (adept), Corral (enclosure), Cahoots (collaboration)..... all come from the West. SOUTH (Dixie) Ya'll (Abbrev. "you all") Hey (Hello), I guess*/ I reckon* (I suppose) Peek* look, v.), Gander (look, n.), Jeans* (demin pants), Trash* (garbage), Well* (healthy) * these are terms that can be found in old Elizibethian English but are no longer used in Britain, rebron in the American south... ironic, yet retro. COASTAL SOUTH (Creole dialect) Savannah (grassland), Bad-mouth (curse, v.) Yam (sweet potato), Juju (magic), Gumbo (okra) GULF SOUTHERN (Cajun) Bayou (swampy stream), Bisque (creamy soup), Hydrant (faucet), Gallery (porch), Ya't (abbrv. "You at".

Of course, there is so simple answer. Those that were raised in England would have spoken what was then an "English" accent. Since those times, the English accent has also changed, so it would sound different to modern day English men and women just as their accent sounds different to Americans. Ironically, the isolation of certain American communities (like in the some mountains) may have allowed them to retain some features that are closer to older English dialects. Of course, things are even more complicated in that there neither was nor is a single "English" dialect. Dialects can be split up to varying degrees by geography, socio-economic status, and other variables even within a single city. While it has been noted that isolation can help promote the divergence of two dialects from one, it should also be noted that the influx of speakers from other regions accelerated this divergence. The current American dialects in many ways reflect the mixed heritage of their speakers. As for the emergence of the American dialect, I would say that it emerged with the first native born generation. Each generation speaks a little different from the one before it, and the dialect of the new generation can't (in my humble opinion) be characterized as an English dialect since that generation was not raised there. Of course, the differences would have been subtle, but over a few generations it would become more distinct, especially in more remote areas.

In addition to what has already been said, some linguists speculate that the southern Applachian dialects may be the nearest we have to preserved examples of "The King's English", owing to the ancestry and subsequent isolation of the inhabitants of the mountains. I don't understand the downrate, KK. I did not make a categorical statement. Phrases like "...some linguist speculate...may be the nearest..." say that I recognize lots of room for debate.