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Does Canadian English exist? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Maikl Tetraglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6225 days ago 121 posts - 145 votes  Speaks: German*, Dutch, English, Spanish Studies: Turkish | Message 1 of 28 15 April 2009 at 1:05am | IP Logged |
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Hello,
is there such a thing as Canadian English - by way of accent, pronunciation, intonation ...? Are native speakers able to tell if a North American is Canadian or from the U.S.? Only recently i saw a Canadian on YouTube who said that people had complained to her that she pronounced the word "about" like "a boot". Is this exemplary of a wider range of differences between Canadian and U.S. English? By the way, i'm not referring to 'Canadisms', expressions that may exclusively be used in CAN... 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| leonidus Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6326 days ago 113 posts - 123 votes Speaks: Russian*, English, French Studies: German, Mandarin | Message 2 of 28 15 April 2009 at 2:20am | IP Logged |
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The "South Park" cartoon series makes fun of Canadian pronunciation. Personally I haven't heard a Canadian speak except on radio, but I guess they were trained to speak properly, so I didn't notice, oh and also in this cartoon. In the South Park they have this 'aboot' thing, so I guess it's not uncommon. Generally, even a non-native can tell if the person is a US native, especially if they are speaking with southern twang. In US they have more 'r's in pronunciation and other things. Canadians speak more softly. Edited by leonidus on 15 April 2009 at 2:25am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| nslombardo Triglot Newbie Canada Joined 5702 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Speaks: Italian, English*, Spanish Studies: Catalan | Message 3 of 28 15 April 2009 at 2:32am | IP Logged |
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Hi everybody. Canadian English does indeed exist, though the "aboot" thing is more or less a false stereotype!
Canadian English is typified by what's called "Canadian Raising" where dipthong sounds like that in "ice" or "bike" which are pronounced with an almost "ayce" sound in American English and almost "uice" in Canadian English. Also, most long "a"s in the American pronunciation of words like pasta or Mazda, become short "a"s in Canadian English. Generally Canadian English speakers have much more of a rising inflection at the end of their sentences. Of course, Canada is the second largest country in the world, so accents vary regionally (West Coast, Prairies, Central, and Maritimes) and then there's Newfoundland English which is entirely different! Most native English speakers would be able to tell the difference, though I know just as we North Americans have trouble differentiating between New Zealand and Australian English some might have trouble differentiating between Canadian and American English! The best way to find out though is to come visit Canada for yourself! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zerothinking Senior Member Australia Joined 6372 days ago 528 posts - 772 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 28 15 April 2009 at 3:51am | IP Logged |
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Canada does not exist. It is a conspiracy.
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| Cra-Z Tetraglot Newbie Canada vurtego.ca/Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5791 days ago 14 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English*, Russian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Kurdish | Message 5 of 28 15 April 2009 at 4:13am | IP Logged |
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nslombardo summed it up. It's mostly in slight vowel pronunciation variations and a couple regional vocabulary words.
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| Yukamina Senior Member Canada Joined 6264 days ago 281 posts - 332 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean, French | Message 6 of 28 15 April 2009 at 4:33am | IP Logged |
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I can think of a few words that we pronounce differently (ex. roof), but really, Canadian English doesn't sound any different to me than American English. I've never heard anyone say "about" like "a boot" :P
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| Cra-Z Tetraglot Newbie Canada vurtego.ca/Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5791 days ago 14 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English*, Russian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Kurdish | Message 7 of 28 15 April 2009 at 4:39am | IP Logged |
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Some words, like "roof", are actually pronounced differently regionally in the United States. "Creek" is another one that comes to mind.
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| Jeito Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5817 days ago 55 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Mandarin, German, Italian, Portuguese | Message 8 of 28 15 April 2009 at 5:33am | IP Logged |
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There is also a stress difference and a vowel shift on a few words that are a dead giveaway: for example the word "process" Americans will tend to say prah-cess with little stress. Canadians say proh-cess stress on first syllable. Edited by Jeito on 16 April 2009 at 2:05am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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