Learn English – Why is most North American speech rhotic

historynorth-american-englishpronunciation-vs-spellingrhoticspeech

Most North American speech is rhotic—why is that? Does it come from the early English settlers or perhaps from the Irish settlers?

Best Answer

As reported on Wikipedia (Rhotic and non-rhotic accents), English had become non-rhotic by the end of the 18th century; John Walker used the spelling ar for the pronunciation of aunt in 1775, and reported caad as pronunciation of card in 1791.

British colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Virginia, even though there had been previous attempts in 1586 and 1587. United States of America declared its independence on July 4 1776, when the non-rhotic accent had started to spread on Southern England.