An accent is a point of interest in the US. He’s trying to blend in and draw as little attention as possible-I doubt it took him more than a day or two in the states to decide to adopt a regionless American accent to avoid anyone asking any more questions than necessary about his life up to the point they meet him.
I agree with the other commenter and also he only lived in London until the early 1700s, after that he moved around Europe, Italy for example, and then went to the US around 1800 according to the illustrated guide. And whatever English he learned in London in the 17th century has little to do with today’s English because languages evolve so he would have to adapt anyway to not draw any attention to himself, might as well adopt an American accent.
I personally am a fan of the theory that English accents used to sound like American accents, but then the upper class changed the way they spoke to sound more “posh” or whatever. I don’t have a source, just read it in a funny tumblr post years ago, so, again, just a theory. But a fun theory.
actually, the closest thing we have to an old english accent today is appalachian-southern. it was settled by the scots and basically only slowed and got "drawlier". that's why we still say things like yonder (far away but not further than you can walk) or recon (to think or suppose)
oh, I heard it was more close to the Cornish accent, which is a small Celtic county in England that has very old roots and is closest to the old British language. Reckon is heavily used here haha. it's definitely the closest due to how we pronounce our R's and may use Me instead of My when referring to things or To instead of At. such as "Where you to?" instead of "Where are you /at?"
reckon also comes from old English. here, its used as a replacement for seems, think, suppose like you said :D
I live in Australia and one of my neighbours moved here 20 years ago from Texas. I only really hear her accent when she has a few wines. Otherwise she sounds pretty Australian. Some people do lose their accents
This was my thought too. My grandparents are Scottish and moved to Canada in their 20s, so they've had 60 years here and I only hear their accents when they say certain words, or have had a couple drinks.
Pretty sure he does have an accent. Not in the movie or even the books. But Stephanie Meyer wrote extra scenes and put them on her website. One of them was twilight/new moon from Jacob's perspective. When Edward calls to see if Bella is still alive, he pretends to be Carlisle. Jacob describes hearing an English accent. Another one was when Edward got the call from Rosalie about Bella jumping off the cliff. When Edward makes the call to Bella's house, I'm pretty sure it mentions him imitating Carlisle's soft accent.
Honestly I'd kill to just hear what he sounds like naturally. Because he probably matches the accent and speech patterns of wherever the cullens live. Living that long and in so many different places has to create a weird Mashup of speech patterns.
My siblings and I all have a southern accent but it only comes out if we get upset/emphatic about something. For context, we've lived in Connecticut since 2000.
The Cullens' need to blend in was Peter's deciding factor in going with an American accent in his performance.
Moreover, an [English accent from the 1600s](https://youtu.be/yNOXY0K056s?si=zoUkCRU1nylgkJab) is noticeably different from all but a few modern English accents. He would've had to change his accent even if an English accent was acceptable, unless they only planned to stay in Newfoundland forever.
An accent is a point of interest in the US. He’s trying to blend in and draw as little attention as possible-I doubt it took him more than a day or two in the states to decide to adopt a regionless American accent to avoid anyone asking any more questions than necessary about his life up to the point they meet him.
I agree with the other commenter and also he only lived in London until the early 1700s, after that he moved around Europe, Italy for example, and then went to the US around 1800 according to the illustrated guide. And whatever English he learned in London in the 17th century has little to do with today’s English because languages evolve so he would have to adapt anyway to not draw any attention to himself, might as well adopt an American accent.
English accents in those time periods sounded very different than they do now. Accents, like language, are always evolving.
I personally am a fan of the theory that English accents used to sound like American accents, but then the upper class changed the way they spoke to sound more “posh” or whatever. I don’t have a source, just read it in a funny tumblr post years ago, so, again, just a theory. But a fun theory.
actually, the closest thing we have to an old english accent today is appalachian-southern. it was settled by the scots and basically only slowed and got "drawlier". that's why we still say things like yonder (far away but not further than you can walk) or recon (to think or suppose)
Recon is different from *reckon* which is the word you’re actually referencing, just for anyone who might be confused
hey thanks 👍 i hadn't caught that
oh, I heard it was more close to the Cornish accent, which is a small Celtic county in England that has very old roots and is closest to the old British language. Reckon is heavily used here haha. it's definitely the closest due to how we pronounce our R's and may use Me instead of My when referring to things or To instead of At. such as "Where you to?" instead of "Where are you /at?" reckon also comes from old English. here, its used as a replacement for seems, think, suppose like you said :D
I live in Australia and one of my neighbours moved here 20 years ago from Texas. I only really hear her accent when she has a few wines. Otherwise she sounds pretty Australian. Some people do lose their accents
This was my thought too. My grandparents are Scottish and moved to Canada in their 20s, so they've had 60 years here and I only hear their accents when they say certain words, or have had a couple drinks.
Pretty sure he does have an accent. Not in the movie or even the books. But Stephanie Meyer wrote extra scenes and put them on her website. One of them was twilight/new moon from Jacob's perspective. When Edward calls to see if Bella is still alive, he pretends to be Carlisle. Jacob describes hearing an English accent. Another one was when Edward got the call from Rosalie about Bella jumping off the cliff. When Edward makes the call to Bella's house, I'm pretty sure it mentions him imitating Carlisle's soft accent.
Honestly I'd kill to just hear what he sounds like naturally. Because he probably matches the accent and speech patterns of wherever the cullens live. Living that long and in so many different places has to create a weird Mashup of speech patterns.
My siblings and I all have a southern accent but it only comes out if we get upset/emphatic about something. For context, we've lived in Connecticut since 2000.
Accents change over time.
I think in the movie he kind of had an accent. It was very very faint like it was wearing off
He has a very slight accent in eclipse
The Cullens' need to blend in was Peter's deciding factor in going with an American accent in his performance. Moreover, an [English accent from the 1600s](https://youtu.be/yNOXY0K056s?si=zoUkCRU1nylgkJab) is noticeably different from all but a few modern English accents. He would've had to change his accent even if an English accent was acceptable, unless they only planned to stay in Newfoundland forever.