Why are there slight differences in regional accents?

The age of the country. There is nothing wildly unusual about the number of accents in the British Isles when compared to anywhere else in the world where the language has been the same for a thousand years or so. read more

England created a new language due to the number of invasions, while the Irish and Scots eventually ended up with a similar language, while Wales went in a slight different direction. So right there you will have people speaking English as a foreign language at one time-with an accent. read more

Many Malaysians adopt different accents and usages depending on the situation; for example, an office worker may speak with less colloquialism and with a more British accent on the job than with friends or while out shopping. syllable-timing, where speech is timed according to syllable, akin to the English of the Indian Subcontinent. read more

The differences are as marked, as well. For example, there's no generic 'Southern' accent, as many non-Americans seem to think. That would be akin to calling the accents of, say, Liverpool and Manchester 'generic northern English', obviously a ridiculous proposition. read more