Columnists

Anton Savage: The Americans are taking over our pronunciations

Like the American grey squirrel forcing the red into extinction, US influencers and programming are now so dominant that they are pushing Irish sounds out of the mouths of younger generations

Some accents are at risk of being eradicated entirely by American influences. Picture: Getty

The current wealth of TV, streaming services, websites, podcasts, vlogs and social media apps has brought Ireland a torrent of content scarcely imaginable by previous generations. But it comes with a downside – the influx of largely American-derived material is ironing out the wrinkles that used to make our discourse so interesting and varied.

Some accents are already at risk of extinction. That’s in part because communities are less intergenerationally consistent; fewer and fewer of ...