In a short piece entitled "The American Invasion" (1887) Oscar Wilde comments on the accent of American girls in England:
"As for their voices, they soon get them into tune. Some of them have been known to acquire a fashionable drawl in two Seasons; and after they have been presented to Royalty they all roll their 'r's as vigorously as a young equerry or an old lady-in-waiting. Still, they never really lose their accent..."
I should imagine that the standards of English society in the 1880s were close to what we see today as a very traditional and conservative RP. What do you think is meant by a "fashionable drawl" here? And the rolling of the 'r's? Is this a comment on rhoticity? I'm not sure whether Wilde was rhotic or not (he was born in Ireland, after all). Did English Royalty roll their 'r's ([r] [4]?) in the late XIX century?
"As for their voices, they soon get them into tune. Some of them have been known to acquire a fashionable drawl in two Seasons; and after they have been presented to Royalty they all roll their 'r's as vigorously as a young equerry or an old lady-in-waiting. Still, they never really lose their accent..."
I should imagine that the standards of English society in the 1880s were close to what we see today as a very traditional and conservative RP. What do you think is meant by a "fashionable drawl" here? And the rolling of the 'r's? Is this a comment on rhoticity? I'm not sure whether Wilde was rhotic or not (he was born in Ireland, after all). Did English Royalty roll their 'r's ([r] [4]?) in the late XIX century?