Where did they all come from?

但它們都來自哪裡？

American accents have been evolving for hundreds of years.

美國口音至今發展了數百年。

While Americans sound very different today, here's where some of those iconic accents got their start.

現在美國人擁有各種口音，以下介紹幾個經典口音的淵源。

Let's start with New England, which was one of the first US regions to develop its own American-English accent.

首先從新英格蘭開始說起，這裡是美國最早發展美式英語的區域之一 。

Today, a speaker from New England might say, "Were you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us?"

來自新英格蘭的人也許會這麼說：「你準備抄襲全部的內容嗎？」

"Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter?"

「你對這件事情有自己的見解嗎？」

"Is that your thing?"

「這是你一貫的伎倆嗎？」

"You come into a bar, you read some obscure passage and you pretend, pawn it off as your own?"

「你走進酒吧，引用一些晦澀難解的文字，卻假裝是自己說的？ 」

For such a geographically small area, New York City certainly has a bunch of distinctive accents.

對於地理面積不大的紐約市來說，口音還真是出奇地多。

But in general, its accents evolve from a mixture of its Dutch and English roots, and numerous waves of immigration.

但整體而言，這些口音都是以荷蘭語和英語為基礎，再經過多次的移民浪潮演變而成。

A modern speaker from New York probably won't sound like what you hear in the movies.

現代的紐約客或許和你在電影中看到的口音不同。

"Hey, I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!"

喂！你沒看到我在走路嗎！開車不長眼啊！

They're more likely to say, Deep Dish Pizza is not only not better than New York Pizza, it's not pizza.

他們更有可能這麼說：「芝加哥深盤披薩不只比紐約披薩差，它根本不配叫披薩 。」

New York's New Jerseyan and Pennsylvanian neighbors sounded quite different.

紐約的紐澤西人和賓州人的家鄉雖鄰近，口音卻差很多。

Nowadays, someone from Philly might say, "We're your regular family."

如今來自費城的人也許會說：「我們就是普通的家庭。」

"We watch the Phillies on TV, we go down to the Jersey shore."

「我們在電視上看費城人隊的比賽、一起去澤西海岸。」

"But when we want great hoagies, discount prices on beer, and a great atmosphere, we go to Lee's Hoagies in Horsham, PA."

「但當我們想享受美味的潛艇堡三明治、價格親民的啤酒、美妙的氣氛，賓州霍舍姆的 Lee's Hoagies 絕對是不二之選。」

Let's take a look at what went on down south.

接下來我們把焦點轉移到南部。

The southern coast of the United States has a variety of different accents.

美國南方海岸有各種不同的口音。

One for example, is Southern Coastal White.

其中一個例子就是美國南部沿海英語。

"What concerns me about the American Press is this endless, endless attempt to label the guy some kind of kook."

「我擔心的是美國媒體永無休止地將這個人貼上騙子標籤的企圖。 」

Other southern dialects preserve some of the original remnants to this day.

其他南方方言到現在仍部分保留了原始用法。

"They come over here and get the oysters and clam and go fishin' because they right down the road, they right in Brunswick, or Savannah, or Jacksonville."

「他們來這裡收集牡蠣和蛤蜊並就近釣魚，不外乎是在布倫瑞克、薩瓦納、傑克遜維爾這些城市。」

Much later, a wave of African Americans migrated from the American South to urban centers in the North, mixing their accents together.

好一陣子後，許多非裔美國人從南部遷移到北部的城市，將南北方的口音混在一起。

"Being a kid from New York City, I mean, from Brooklyn and my aunt, God bless her soul, she used to always take me to the Rockettes."

「身為來自紐約的孩子，我和阿姨在布魯克林生活，願主保佑她，她以前常帶我去看火箭女郎。」

"You know, the Easter show and the Christmas show."

「你懂的，就是那些復活節和聖誕節表演。」

The Ulster Scots had a significant influence on many American dialects in the South and the West.

阿爾斯特蘇格蘭語對美國南部與西部的方言有顯著影響。

Most of the original accent has disappeared, and today, an American from Tennessee might sound like this:

多數原始的口音已經消失，而現在來自田納西州的人可能會這麼說：

"Now, I am just who I am."

「我就是我。」

"I'm not always nice."

「我並不總是這麼好。」

"I choose to be good."

「我只是選擇當好人。」

"I choose to have a good attitude because I want people to know

「選擇保持好的態度，因為我想讓人們知道

I am a girl of many colors."

我是一個很多元化的女孩。」

The Midwest has many diverse accents.

中西部有非常多元化的口音。

As the Appalachian settlers headed west, their accents joined with speech patterns from the North.

隨著阿帕拉契民族向西移動，他們的口音和北方的說話模式開始融合。

Today, a speaker from the Great Lakes might say, "I was born in the middle of the century, in the middle of the country.

一個來自五大湖區的人或許會這麼說：「我出生於世紀中葉，在中部地區。

A classic baby boomer."

我是經典的嬰兒潮世代。」

Or more famously, "We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses."

或更有名的例子：「我們有一整罐汽油、半包菸，天黑了，而我們還戴著太陽眼鏡。」

While another from Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas might say, "If either of these men draw, I'm gonna be forced to shoot some people and I don't wanna do that."

其他來自威斯康辛明尼蘇達、達科塔的人也許會這麼說：「如果他們其中一人拔槍，我就得被迫開槍射擊，這並非我所樂見。」

Down in Texas, a very distinct accent developed.

德州發展出獨特的口音。

The famous Texan accent that we all know from the movies, "He shot and killed a state senator named Bibbs in Waco, Texas."

這是我們在電影中熟知的德州口音：「他在德州韋科射殺了一名叫比伯的州參議員。」

Has started to level out.

整體狀況已經趨於平穩。

Visitors to big cities like Houston might be surprised to hear something more like,

遊客抵達像休士頓這種大城市可能會訝異地聽到：

"Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to beautifully capture the profundity of Deep Southern culture."

「感謝致力於用心刻劃南方文化深奧之處的人。」

Last but not least is the West Coast,

最後我們來看西海岸。

which had a very different mix of immigrants compared to the East Coast.

這裡的移民組合相較於東岸有很大的不同。

California doesn't come close to having one distinct accent.

加州並沒有單一的口音。

A modern day speaker might sound like,

現代人的口音聽起來可能會是：

"We woke up the next morning on his actual birthday and I told him I wanted to take him somewhere to lunch for his birthday."

「我們在他生日的早晨醒來後，我告訴他我想請他去吃午餐，慶祝他的生日。」

Or, "What's so powerful about this novel is everyone has their own interpretation of these characters."

或者「這部小說強大之處在於每個人對於書中人物都有自己的解讀。」

These are just a handful of American accents.

這些只是幾個少數的美國口音。

And they're all still evolving as we speak.

而且在我們說話的當下仍然不斷地演變。

We'll have to check back in a century or so and see what happens next.

就讓我們觀察一個世紀後會有什麼樣的發展。