Name: 為什麼美國人捲舌，英國人不捲舌？🤯 (Why Americans Say the R and the British Don't)
Uploaded: 2026-01-26T04:26:05.000Z
Duration: 5 min 36 s

Did you know that when the people from England first invaded and started living in the land that is now the United States, they pronounced the R like we do, or most of us do today in the United States.

你知道嗎？當英國人剛開始入侵並定居在現在美國的土地上時，他們發 R 的音，就像我們，或者說我們現在在美國的大多數人一樣。

最初的英式英語 R 就是 R 的發音。

程度副詞

So we said mother hard, just like we pronounce the R today in standard American English, just like how I pronounce the R, like in the word car.

所以我們說 mother hard，就像我們現在在標準美式英語中發 R 的音一樣，就像我發 R 的音，在 car 這個字裡。

That is how they talked in the 1600s when they first came over to the United States.

這就是他們在 1600 年代剛來到美國時的說話方式。

It wasn't until the 1700s and 1800s that it became fashionable in London and Southern England, especially among the upper classes, to drop the R.

直到 1700 年代和 1800 年代，在倫敦和英格蘭南部，特別是上流社會，才開始流行省略 R 的發音。

And forgive my British impersonation, I'm not really good at it.

請原諒我的英式腔調模仿，我真的不太擅長。

But they started to say, instead of hard, they say hard.

但他們開始這樣說，而不是 hard，他們說 hard。

Basically, they dropped the R and they started to do the ah or the R or the something like that.

基本上，他們省略了 R，然後開始發 ah 或 R 或類似的音。

You know, I'm not good at it, but you know what I mean?

說真的，我不太會，但你知道我的意思吧？

They did have an influence on the United States.

That's why the regional accents of the east coast, from New England up in Boston and all the way through New York and all the way through the south, even like in Charleston, South Carolina, they tried to drop their R to sound more like the sophisticated people in London.

這就是為什麼東岸的地區口音，從波士頓的紐英格蘭，一路到紐約，再到南方，甚至像南卡羅來納州的查爾斯頓，他們試圖省略 R 的發音，聽起來更像倫敦的時髦人士。

That's why my grandmother, who has a strong Maine accent, doesn't say, park the car.

這就是為什麼我奶奶，她有很重的緬因口音，不會說 park the car。

So that's why the regional accents of the east part of the United States, especially the east coast, they do drop the R.

所以這就是為什麼美國東部的地區口音，特別是東岸，他們確實會省略 R 的發音。

But all of the people who moved out to the Midwest, the Midwest is like over by Chicago and even further west all the way to California.

但是所有搬到中西部的人，中西部就像是芝加哥那邊，甚至更往西一直到加州。

These people maintained the original R. So eventually these people established geographical dominance over the country.

這些人保留了原始的 R 音。所以最終這些人就在全國建立了地理上的主導地位。

And the original R pronunciation was more neutral.

And it was good for all classes, not just people trying to imitate the upper class.

而且它對所有階層都很好，不只是那些試圖模仿上層階級的人。

所以媒體就這樣把它發揚光大了。

So the standard American English R pronunciation became the default English, the, the media friendly English.

所以標準美式英語的 R 發音就變成了預設的英語，就是，媒體友善的英語。

That's why nowadays most of the younger generations, like my generation, like Gen Z millennials and even younger, most of us don't have or use the regional accents.

這就是為什麼現在大部分年輕一代，像我這一代，像 Gen Z、千禧世代，甚至更年輕的，我們大部分人沒有或不使用地區口音。

Most of us just speak homogenized standard American English and we pronounce our R's like R.

我們大部分人就講標準化的美式英語，而且我們發 R 的音就像 R。

But you can still hear the regional accents in older generations and in very places, specific communities.

但你還是可以在老一輩和在非常地方性的、特定的社群裡聽到地區口音。

A lot of young people can imitate them because, you know, they're our grandparents.

很多年輕人可以模仿他們，因為你知道，他們是我們的爺爺奶奶。

Some of our parents kind of talk like that, but

我們有些父母講話有點像那樣，但

we don't talk like that most of the time.

我們大部分時間都不會那樣講話。

That's why I tell students to not really worry about regional accents and just kind of focus on standard American English, because that's what you're going to hear most of the time, especially on the Internet.

這就是為什麼我會告訴學生，不用太擔心地區口音，只要專注在標準美式英語就好，因為那才是你大部分時間會聽到的，尤其是在網路上。

So next time somebody says that British English is the original English, well, that's wrong for many reasons.

所以下次有人說英式英語才是原始的英語，嗯，這有很多原因都是錯的。

The most important reason is just the simple fact that even in England, they don't talk like how their ancestors talked.

最重要的原因就是，即使在英國，他們講話也不像他們的祖先那樣講話。

Even in England, there isn't one way of talking.

即使在英國，講話也不是隻有一種方式。

Like, nobody today speaks the original version of their language.

就像，沒有人今天還會講他們語言的原始版本。

But another interesting reason that you might not have thought of and that I didn't even know until recently is, is the fact that the standard American English dialect actually pronounces the R more like original English, while the British just randomly decided that they don't think it's cool to pronounce the R like that anymore.

但另一個你可能沒想到，甚至我最近才知道的有趣原因，就是標準的美式英語，其實更像原始的英語一樣發「R」音，而英國人只是隨便決定他們覺得不再酷，不再像那樣發「R」音了。

They don't think it sounds sophisticated.

他們覺得那聽起來不夠有氣質。

And that, of course, also affected Australian English.

So if you ever hear a British or Australian person saying that Americans pronounce the R strange, you can tell them that we actually use the original R pronunciation.

所以如果你聽到英國人或澳洲人說美國人發「R」音很奇怪，你就可以告訴他們，我們其實是用原始的「R」發音。

Different dialects are what makes life and languages interesting.

不同的方言才讓生活和語言變得有趣。

As a person who is learning English, do you prefer the original R pronunciation, the R, or do you prefer the British and Australian R pronunciation?

身為一個正在學英文的人，你比較喜歡原始的「R」發音，還是比較喜歡英國和澳洲的「R」發音呢？

If you prefer dropping the R, then you probably will like the Boston and New York accents.

如果你比較喜歡省略「R」的發音，那你可能會喜歡波士頓和紐約的口音。

I'm thinking about making a video comparing those two accents because they're pretty funny and a lot of people can't really identify what makes them different, but

我正在考慮做一個比較這兩種口音的影片，因為它們很有趣，而且很多人其實搞不清楚它們的差別在哪裡，但是

So let me know if you're interested in a video about that.

所以如果你對這個主題的影片有興趣，請讓我知道。

And also just all of the accents in the United States I'd like to make a video about.

還有，我其實也想做一個關於美國各地口音的影片。

Just focus on standard American English because that's what you're going to encounter the most.

你只要專注在標準美式英語就好，因為這是你最常會遇到的。

她會說「foa」，但她算是個例外。

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為什麼美國人捲舌，英國人不捲舌？🤯 (Why Americans Say the R and the British Don't)

eventually

pronunciation

obvious

sophisticated