Was Kirk Canadian?

[Wingsley]

This has probably been discussed before, but I simply could not resist...

I know that in STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME, Kirk said he was from Iowa. But given that William Shatner is originally from Quebec, and given his soft, but still undeniable Canadian accent, I must ask:

Is there any on-screen canon evidence in TOS (only) that James T. Kirk was a native of Iowa and not Quebec? Could it be that young Jim Kirk could have been a resident of both Iowa and Quebec at different times of his life? I'm wondering if that would explain Kirk's accent. (I have to admit I've only known one Iowa native in my life, but her accent was clearly nothing like Shatner's/Kirk's.)

Comments?

 

[scotpens]

Accent? What accent? (Aside from “sabotaage.”)

 

[Rek]

Canadian accent? lolol

I like to sit on ma' chesterfield, wearing ma' tuque on ma' head drinking pop and eating timbits when I get cold in the summer, eh.

 

[Cornholio]

if he was from Quebec, wouldn't that make him a Canadien?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Was Scotty a Canadian? That accent sure wasn't Scottish!

 

[Wingsley]

Well, Shatner didn't do the "abowt" thing, and I can't recall off the top of my head if he ever did the "pro-cess" thing when Kirk spoke, but it was always pretty obvious to me that Shatner was Canadian. And Shatner is from Montreal.

So yeah, he is a Canadien!

 

[Nerys Myk]

Kirk seems fond of Lincoln, the US Constitution and mentions his "ancestors pioneered the American frontier." in Spectre of the Gun. Sounds like he's an American.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Was Picard British? His accent SURE wasn't French. Hell, aside from saying he was from France, he hardly ever did anything remotely "French."

 

[Wingsley]

^ Good point.

As far as the point about the U.S. Constitution, etc., there's nothing wrong with a Canadian admiring his/her country's neighbors to the south, is there?

 

[iguana_tonante]

In the 23rd century, the US and Canada didn't need to be different entities. Iowa and Quebec may be just different states/provinces of the North American Union or some such. He may be born in Iowa but spent much of his youth in Quebec, or the opposite.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I never actually noticed much a "Canadian" accent.

 

[sbk1234]

Was Picard British? His accent SURE wasn't French. Hell, aside from saying he was from France, he hardly ever did anything remotely "French."

In the beginning he did seem to surrender a lot...

 

[Wingsley]

Was Picard British? His accent SURE wasn't French. Hell, aside from saying he was from France, he hardly ever did anything remotely "French."

Well, he did drink wine...

 

[Christopher]

Accents change over time. Listen to recordings of Londoners or New Yorkers from just 80 years ago and there are differences from the corresponding accents today. Over the course of several centuries, a regional accent could mutate to unrecognizability. For instance, I've heard reconstructions of the London accent of Shakespeare's time, and they sound like a cross between something Irish and the stereotypical pirate accent.

So the 23rd-century Iowa accent could easily sound Canadian to 21st-century ears. And the 23rd-century Russian and Scottish accents could sound like Chekov's and Scotty's accents.

It doesn't work for Picard, though, since we've heard (illusions of) both his parents speaking with clearly French accents. But transporters would make commuting across Europe even easier than it is already, so I tend to assume that Maurice and Yvette Picard sent their sons to boarding school in England.

 

[Cornholio]

Was Picard British? His accent SURE wasn't French. Hell, aside from saying he was from France, he hardly ever did anything remotely "French."

Well, he did drink wine...

and he drank a lot of tea too.

for whatever that's worth.

 

[Winterwind]

I was unaware that we had accents in Canada, unless we're taking about certain Maritime regions out east (and Quebec obviously). And I've never, in my life heard anyone pronounce it "a-boot". Never understood where that came from.

 

[Wingsley]

The French never drink tea?

Silly question...

 

[Wingsley]

I was unaware that we had accents in Canada, unless we're taking about certain Maritime regions out east (and Quebec obviously). And I've never, in my life heard anyone pronounce it "a-boot". Never understood where that came from.

We all have accents, relative to other regions.

I thought "a-boot" was a Saskatchewan accent...

If you listen to Amanda Tapping and Michael Shanks on STARGATE SG-1, they both let their Canadian accents slip through. Their "out" in "about" is sharper than any American accent I've ever heard.

 

[scotpens]

Was Picard British? His accent SURE wasn't French. Hell, aside from saying he was from France, he hardly ever did anything remotely “French.”

Sounds a lot like these guys.

 

[JarodRussell]

Was Spock from Massachusetts and Worf from Texas?