Posted by Peter Ceresole on September 02, 2011 at 03:13:25 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: Pronunciation posted by John Lambert on September 02, 2011 at 00:31:38:
in the U.S. the three major radio networks: ABC, NBC and CBS were (ans still are)broadcasted over the whole country.
Of course you're right; I wasn't trying to say that broadcasting was the whole story. But I do think that it had a huge role in flattening the British local dialects. Famously, the railways unified time across the country, and the Beeb killed the local accents. Not entirely; I can still have an interesting time interpreting people in canny Newcassle, let alone Glasgow where as far as I am concerned it'd be nice to have subtitles. But I was helped by having a friend who was an engine driver in Dundee, so I could play myself in before I went North.