Talk Like a Pirate Day: How Dialects Are Formed

Arg! That's right me matey.. International Talk Like a Pirate Day is here again. So Trace set sail in search of buried treasure and an answer to why people speak differently around the world.

Read More:
Why talk like a pirate - and how
Why do we need an International Talk Like a Pirate Day?
Make no mistake. We do. But it's a little hard to articulate why, especially when you've made the mistake of referring to your wife as a scurvy bilge rat and tried to order her back into the galley.

Why don't we all speak the same language?
"According to a biblical account found in the book of Genesis, people once spoke the same language. Then, because those people banded together to build a tower in Babylon that glorified their own achievements, rather than those of their deity, God punished them."

How to Understand the Deep Structures of Language
"There are two striking features of language that any scientific theory of this quintessentially human behavior must account for."

Is this how Eve spoke? Every human language evolved from 'single prehistoric African mother tongue'
"Every language in the world - from English to Mandarin - evolved from a prehistoric 'mother tongue' first spoken in Africa tens of thousands of years ago, a new study reveals."

Talk Like a Pirate Day? Not Even Pirates Spoke Pirate
"Brace yourself for a barrage of "salty dogs," "scallywags," and "swabbies." Wednesday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, a parody holiday and general nerdfest ginned up on an Oregon racquetball court in 1995 to honor buccaneer speech of the 17th and 18th centuries."

Watch More:
Ancient Words We Use:
Bilingual Is Better:
Foreign Language Tips:
____________________

DNews is dedicated to satisfying your curiosity and to bringing you mind-bending stories & perspectives you won't find anywhere else! New videos twice daily.

[MrYang]

I love the British accent. To me it just sounds so epic.

[Seeker]

Thanks! Bought it at Austin City Limits a few years ago -- Trace

[argella]

I'm partial to Northern English accents, Yorkshire in particular, but the good ol' Boston accent remains near an dear to my heart.

[mikecunningham]

My friend and I were just sitting in class singing Alestorm songs to celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day. It was a good day.

[oOochikaraoOo]

Others have already answered. No accent is "purer" or "truer", and everybody has one. To Brits you still have an accent, even more so to Germans.
The only thing you can argue is that somebody's accent is older. But older would sound very funny to you, so it's still an accent.

[Kurrrk]

I actually see british-english as the default english, since they invented the language. Every american has an accent.

[Windmelodie]

I'm from Germany and we also have alot of different dialects, sometimes people from one part of Germany can't understand people from another part (e.g. most Germans can hardly understand the bavarian dialect). In the area where I live, near the Rhine river, the "same" dialect can even vary between two villages/small cities. And as small as those differences are, the local people usually still hear the difference. Personally, I find dialects really interesting~

[santiagoacosta]

"I did not say that" - Albert Einstein

[SovietBearBoxing]

Trace your pirate dialect is actually pretty darn good!

[LynneSkysong]

Stephen Fry's English accent (not sure which specifically). I could listen to him all day. (And I have! He narrates some of the Harry Potter audiobooks!)

[KaigaKarasuma]

While I'm in no way related to the area (to my knowledge) I've always loved the "Rasta" accent. It sounds so interesting to me.

[ShaunDreclin]

Actually, it helps sum up the subject of the video in a few seconds and catches the viewers' interest.

[Kasumi]

I kind of like the Serbian accent. It's so romantic when said so soft, and peacefully. I really wish I still had contact to Nikola Markovic, the most romantic Serb I've ever met. I also like the Vietnamese Accent. My cousin Antoan has it, and it seems to have a multitude of tones. From Nice, To Romantic, to Even Insulting if you want to get someone away from you

[olufsen]

In Norway there are two written languages (excluding the Sami language). And ofc Norwegian is very similar to Swedish and Danish both written and spoken, so basically I know/understand 5 written languages, New Norwegian, book Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and English :P

[arkayenjay]

In Bristol, they have 'speak like a pirate day' every day!

[BBuzzy]

You guys should do a video on how animals communicate.

[crylove]

Before I ever knew what is pirates & how they talk, this "PIRATE" dialect was introduced to me with some old alcoholic guy (hobo) which was giving a heck about everything because he was drunk and happy because of that...
So I think the real pirates was just some hard robbers and alcoholics and some older one's of them was maybe even talikng like that. Maybe this actor from 1950's was pretty close when he did his job. Sorry for my bad EEngleesh :P

[zwitterelf]

Pirate language actually is very close to the accents of the North East of England particularly the coastal reagions, where it is common to say "Aye".... I think that's where the actor got it from,

[Baronvonkame]

I like to shout things at people with either a German accent or in the language itself, the funny looks I get are priceless

[ZBlue]

Most likely. In my opinion, in the future, some variants of English will either be altered slightly or just become a completely new language.
You should listen to the "English" spoken by the Angles, centuries ago.