American and Canadian accents - Telling them apart

[Tombfyre]

There are regional accents in both countries, but overall, Canucks tend to pronounce "about" in a Scottish fashion- "aboot"

I have never heard any Canadian pronounce it that way. I don't know where people are hearing it but I haven't been there.

And just for the record, my wife says ZEE and not ZED. I give her crap for it every time too.

I agree... i grew up in NW ontario and live in British Columbia now.... and I have never in my life heard anyone say "aboot".

The 'zed' test is best.... because if they pronounce it zee they deserve to be called an american as punishment for a failing in their ability to pay attention in school.

 

[TheSeeker]

My wife defends herself by saying she learned her alphabet when she was living in California. Her father was posted there.

 

[Goliath]

There are regional accents in both countries, but overall, Canucks tend to pronounce "about" in a Scottish fashion- "aboot"

I have never heard any Canadian pronounce it that way. I don't know where people are hearing it but I haven't been there.

People may hear it differently than we do, depending on what they're used to.

Like I said--to me, it sounds like "aboat." But I have had Americans say it sounds like "aboot."

The most extreme example of this I've ever encountered came when I was visiting London, and was trying to communicate to a girl from India (or somewhere in South Asia) that I wanted a bottle of water.

I thought I was enunciating quite clearly, but she just looked at me blankly. Finally she said, "wo-tare?"

"Yes!" I said. She smiled, relieved, and the transaction was concluded.

Upon reflection, I realized that what sounded like "a bottle of water" to me probably sounded something like "abodlawad'r" to her.

 

[Me-Ike]

There are regional accents in both countries, but overall, Canucks tend to pronounce "about" in a Scottish fashion- "aboot"

I have never heard any Canadian pronounce it that way. I don't know where people are hearing it but I haven't been there.

People may hear it differently than we do, depending on what they're used to.

Like I said--to me, it sounds like "aboat." But I have had Americans say it sounds like "aboot."

I once had a Canadian professor give a lecture on this topic. The Canadian vowel in "about" actually is a diphthong, even though some may not recognize it.

Apart from that, the general Canadian dialect really is quite similar to General American (the American variant of RP). I think lexical features are the most striking ones. Faucet/tap, napkin/serviette, etc. Phonetically, Canadians aspirate more often; i.e. they actually pronounce the h in which, for example, whereas which and witch are homophones in GA. This is dying out, though, the homophones are taking over. As far as I remember, only the older generations still aspirate.

These are all the differences I can remember. I'd have to look this up again.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I would count myself lucky if I could understand what English-speaking people were saying, let alone recognizing accents.

Upon reflection, I realized that what sounded like "a bottle of water" to me probably sounded something like "abodlawad'r" to her.

Yes, that probably what it sounded like. For the love of God, please, separate your damn syllables!

One time I was talking with an English guy, and he couldn't understand something. After some explanation, turns out that "asked" (which I was pronouncing "ask-ed" like any good Italian trying to speak the Queen's language), is actually pronounced "askt". That's just weird!

 

[Marc]

Of course some Canadians such as my wife will totally deny they have an accent

Though if you heard some-one from Newfoundland etc you can tell they have a different accent though whether or not you understand what they are saying is another matter.

Will say one thing - my Australian accent doesn't seem to draw any attention

 

[NickInABox]

There are regional accents in both countries, but overall, Canucks tend to pronounce "about" in a Scottish fashion- "aboot"

That's a fucking lie.

 

[Geck]

We do some of our vowels differently, I know. For example, the words "writer" and "rider" are typically pronounced more or less the same by Americans, whereas they're very distinct in Canada. The 'i' in 'writer' is a lot shorter and sharper, whereas 'rider' is more drawn out and the tongue is lower in the mouth.

 

[An Officer]

One time I was talking with an English guy, and he couldn't understand something. After some explanation, turns out that "asked" (which I was pronouncing "ask-ed" like any good Italian trying to speak the Queen's language), is actually pronounced "askt". That's just weird!

Yes, some people do say it with a "t" at the end, and they make the word sound disgusting. I find a lot of people say it as written, except the last "ed" is sped up a little. The "t" is definitely wrong, and sounds naff.

This is a really funny word - I've even heard it pronounce "aksed" - that is the worst!

 

[trampledamage]

Though if you heard some-one from Newfoundland etc you can tell they have a different accent though whether or not you understand what they are saying is another matter.

Yeah, people from Newfoundland sound more like they're from Dublin than from Canada.

 

[mimic]

The words that come to mind to me that Americans and Canadians tend to pronounce differently are 'sorry' and 'tomorrow' and 'Tuesday' (this thorough analysis is based entirely upon a band director who hails from Winnipeg)

 

[TGTheodore]

Cajun, Brooklyn, Virginia, Valley, Montana, Minnesota and about 30+ other accents are "American".

On stage and screen, the attempt is to filter out regional sounds and distortions into a single, more easily understandable neutral form of speech. Since that is the goal of most performances, I can see why someone might think they sound similar.

But to state that "Canadian" and "American" sound the same (without qualifying the statement in terms of entertainment) is far from correct.

--Ted

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The words that come to mind to me that Americans and Canadians tend to pronounce differently are 'sorry' and 'tomorrow' and 'Tuesday' (this thorough analysis is based entirely upon a band director who hails from Winnipeg)

As an avid "Whose Line" watcher I can say Ryan Stiles sounds just like that too. (he was born in Seattle but grew up in Richmond, BC)

 

[Roger Wilco]

But to state that "Canadian" and "American" sound the same (without qualifying the statement in terms of entertainment) is far from correct.

To be more exact, I should have said, I can't identify a Canadian as Canadian just from hearing him talk; of course I can tell he's probably not from Alabama or New York City.

 

[NickInABox]

Did you know that a lot of American news outlets hire Canadian reporters because of their 'neutral' accent? My professor told me that.

 

[Middle Earther]

This is a fun topic. I grew up near Philadelphia and now live in BC. The "philly" accent is pretty distinct (think Rocky), so a lot of people notice it around here. Often, people ask if I'm an American, so there's something.

One of the things I've noticed, since I'm also an elementary school teacher, is that the ZEE/ZED thing is not necessarily happening any longer. Canadian teachers attempt to teach "zed", but that is losing out to the "zee". Mostly because of the singing/rhyming aspect. There's actually a Canadian version of the alphabet song that I don't recall, but it makes the "zed" a rhyme.

The "eh?" is a good give away for a Canadian. Many Canadians use it unconciously. My Canadian wife uses it, but will deny it to others unless I'm there to point it out.

Another pronounciation that I've noticed around here is the word "often". The "t" is pronounced here. Americans tend to keep it silent.

These words "mazda", "drama" and "pasta" are pronounced with two short "a" sounds instead of the America schwa sound. Some people actually say "President O-BAM-A" here. I jokingly threaten to call there country "Ca-NAY-DA" if they keep it up.

Teacher went on too long...sorry. I'll just close with a fun link to the online Canadian Spelling Dictionary that I find informative and used a lot when I first moved here..
http://www.luther.ca/~dave7cnv/cdnspelling/cdnspelling.html

 

[Middle Earther]

Sorry one more thing about the "ou" thing. Canadians (both children and adults) will point out that I pronounce my "ou", especially in "about", "like an American". I say it and listen to them and can't hear the difference. So, you'll have to ask a Canadian about that one.

 

[Canadave]

The words that come to mind to me that Americans and Canadians tend to pronounce differently are 'sorry' and 'tomorrow' and 'Tuesday' (this thorough analysis is based entirely upon a band director who hails from Winnipeg)

As an avid "Whose Line" watcher I can say Ryan Stiles sounds just like that too. (he was born in Seattle but grew up in Richmond, BC)

I find Western Canadians tend to have a bit of a shaper accent compared to the more Eastern ones. The closer you get to the Atlantic, the more of a lilt there is in Canadian accents.

 

[iguana_tonante]

These words "mazda", "drama" and "pasta" are pronounced with two short "a" sounds instead of the America schwa sound. http://www.luther.ca/~dave7cnv/cdnspelling/cdnspelling.html

I strongly advice anybody not to try and say anything different from "pah-stah", or they you will have to deal with an angry mob. And by mob, I mean "the mob".

 

[Goliath]

There are regional accents in both countries, but overall, Canucks tend to pronounce "about" in a Scottish fashion- "aboot"

That's a fucking lie.

Spock: "It is a fucking exaggeration."