Why Do Canadians Talk Funny?

[Memphis Mike]

You are CanadiAN, NOTE you are?

With the emphasis on the "an" and "note" instead of "not?" :confused:

[Bruce Taylor]

I think that ear wax is affecting your hearing. smile.gif

From Wikipedia:

"The primary aspect of the Canadian English accent is a feature called "Canadian raising", where diphthongs are raised before voiceless consonants. For example, about will be raised from [əˈbaʊt], as it is in the American Atlantic dialect, to [əˈbʌʊt], a higher vowel, or nearly even [əˈboʊt] in some dialects. The stereotypical aboat pronunciation, lampooned in the American television series South Park is unusual; the stereotype may derive from an interpretation of the aboot pronunciation as heard by someone who is used to the much lower abawt pronunciation, or from a misinterpretation of the spelling of the "word" aboot. Ironically, a monophthongized pronunciation of aboat is quite common in parts of the U.S. Upper Midwest, such as Minnesota. Anecdotally, the abuhwt vowels are heard in Ontario and further west, and the aboot vowels are heard in the Eastern provinces.

Diphthong raising is shared with many American dialects in the words writer and rider, pronounced (approximately) as [ɹʌjɾəɹ] and [ɹajɾəɹ] (in IPA transcription). Note that Canadian English shares with American English the phenomenon where /t/ and /d/ become [ɾ] after a vowel and before an unstressed vowel. Canadian raising preserves the voicelessness of /t/ and the voicedness of /d/ where it is etymologically appropriate, even where the contrast is lost in the consonant itself.

Also heard is the variation in the pronunciation of the word can't, in Ontario, it is said almost as canned, whereas in the west, it becomes more like kahnt. The Northern cities vowel shift that is happening in Michigan also is heard to an extent in Southwestern Ontario, for example, Andy is pronounced [eəndi] or [ɪəndi].

A recently identified feature (1995) found among many Canadians is a chain shift known as the Canadian Shift. This is not found in the Atlantic Provinces, east of Quebec; it is only found in Ontario and further west. For people with this shift, cot and caught merge in rounded [ɒ] position. The /æ/ of bat then moves down to [a], while the /ɛ/ of bet becomes [æ], which is short-a in other accents. This shift is still a relatively new phenomenon, so not all Canadians have it. Of the ones that do, not all have the last stage. Canadians without the Shift typically pronounce cot and caught as an un-rounded [ɑ], as in the western United States.

There is a tendency to monophthongize the long a and o sounds, resulting in [beːt] for bait and [boːt] for boat (though this occurs usually in rapid speech). Finally, the broad /ɑ/ of foreign loan words in words like drama or Iraq are usually pronounced like the short a of bat: /dɹæmə/, /ɪɹæk/.

Like American English, Canadian English is largely rhotic. This means it maintains the pronunciation of r before consonants. Rhoticity has been largely influenced by Hiberno-English, Scottish English, and West Country English.

Americans sometimes claim to be able to recognize some Canadians instantly by their use of the word eh. However, only a certain usage of eh (detailed in the article) is peculiar to Canada. It is common in southern Ontario, the Maritimes and the Prairie provinces. In some parts of the United States, American English exhibits features of Canadian English, including Canadian Raising and the use of eh. Canadian accents are sometimes detected among Michiganders, Minnesotans, Western New Yorkers and their northern fellows."

[Memphis Mike]

And also the "eh," what's up with that?

Nevermind. :rolleyes:

[ 12-16-2005, 11:52 AM: Message edited by: Memphis Mike ]

[Katherine]

Zed

[Paul Girouard]

Uh , is better , EH tongue.gif

[George.]

Watchall talking aboat?

[Memphis Mike]

Thanks for clearin that up Bruce. I was concerned. For awhile there I thought yall might have some kinda speech impediment. :D

[ 12-16-2005, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: Memphis Mike ]

[ron ll]

Is yall plural or singular?

[emichaels]

Yup !

[George.]

No sheyeet...

[huisjen]

I've been to Memphis once, and you've got no room to complain about accents. :cool:

Dan

[Bruce Taylor]

Yeah, you guys all sound like cartoon characters. Foghorn Leghorn, Deputy Dawg, the Hillbilly Bears... :D

[Rick Tyler]

As long as we are airing our regional dirty laundry, am I the only one who thinks that upper-class Bostonian was developed by people with rotten teeth? They are trying so hard to cover up their black, rotten stumps that they have to talk with their mouths closed. Try, "Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd" and you'll see what I mean.

[cedar savage]

Originally posted by Bruce Taylor:
Yeah, you guys all sound like cartoon characters. Foghorn Leghorn, Deputy Dawg, the Hillbilly Bears... :D Bruce shoots! HE SCORES!!!!

[Steve McMahon]

If you think Canadians talk funny you should talk to a Newfoundlander! Well, they are Canadians too, but in a total differant speech catagory.

[Rick Tyler]

English needs a plural second-person pronoun. The current fad for "you guys" is pathetic. I suggest that we just adopt the southern "you all" to fill this need. Of course you all already know that "all y'all" means "you all" with an emphasis on "every single one of you all."

[Bruce Taylor]

he current fad for "you guys" is patheticYeah, everyone knows it's "youse guys."


f you think Canadians talk funny you should talk to a Newfoundlander!The farmers out here in the Gatineau hills (Ottawa valley Irish) sound pretty Newfesque.

[Popeye]

Originally posted by Memphis Mike:
And also the "eh," what's up with that?

Canadians say 'eh' because Canada is spelled

C - 'eh' - N - 'eh' - D - 'eh'

[huisjen]

Originally posted by Bruce Taylor:
Yeah, you guys all sound like cartoon characters. Foghorn Leghorn, Deputy Dawg, the Hillbilly Bears... :D And then there's Elmer Fudd. It's not quite Maine: New Hampshire maybe?

Dan

[John Bell]

Originally posted by ron ll:
Is yall plural or singular?Yes.

BTW, the correct spelling is y'all.

[huisjen]

I thought it was "yawl".

http://www.classicmarine.co.uk/images/ness_yawl_-_b26.jpg

[Memphis Mike]

And just what is it with these guys?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/Bob_and_Doug.jpg

[John Bell]

I thought Bob and Doug were just kidding until the first time I went Thunder Bay.

Eh?

[Meerkat]

Originally posted by popeye:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Memphis Mike:
And also the "eh," what's up with that?

Canadians say 'eh' because Canada is spelled

C - 'eh' - N - 'eh' - D - 'eh'</font>[/QUOTE]That would be the Newfie version, eh? tongue.gif ;)

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Why Do Canadians Talk Funny? Because that man whore Jed Clampet didn't get much further than your town. ;) :D :D

[Bruce Taylor]

Originally posted by Memphis Mike:
And just what is it with these guys?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/Bob_and_Doug.jpgOn another thread, Chad's asking what we were like in high school. Well, I'd be the guy on the left...

[Popeye]

short of travelling all the way to Inverness where the Queen's own English is spoke , i think you may be out of luck

[WWheeler]

And to think we owe the McKenzie brothers to the CBC:

"The CBC, which was carrying a one-hour version of SCTV on Fridays (and airing it almost an hour earlier than NBC) had its own requirements, and to that end Thomas and Moranis created those 100-per-cent Canadian dummies, the McKenzie Brothers. If Thomas and Moranis had the McKenzies, John Candy and Eugene Levy developed their own hilarious brothers act."

[Jagermeister]

Bruce Taylor:
Yeah, you guys all sound like cartoon characters. Foghorn Leghorn, Deputy Dawg, the Hillbilly Bears... :D
Bruce Taylor: I think you'll find that when you fling an insult, and then grin broadly at your own cleverness, the effect of the insult is actually somewhat increased. Can I be excused thinking "the inclusion of the [Big Grin] would take any harm out of it"?

[High C]

Oooohh Jager! :D

[Bruce Taylor]

[/quote]Can I be excused thinking "the inclusion of the [Big Grin] would take any harm out of it"?[/quote]

Nope. I was ribbing Mike, razzing him...rubbing it in and then grinning about it. I hope he's furious! :D How about it, Mikey! You all steamed up? :D

But that's the kind of thread this is, "Jagermeister."

[Memphis Mike]

" How about it, Mikey! You all steamed up?"

Nope. It takes a loat more to get me riled than that. :D

[Bruce Taylor]

:mad: :mad: :mad: :D

[Memphis Mike]

And what aboat those funny little hats you guys wear.....eh?

Toques they are? LOL! :D

[Memphis Mike]

http://andsewon-embroidery.com/images/1M470M-CM.jpg

LOL! :D

[ 12-16-2005, 05:30 PM: Message edited by: Memphis Mike ]

[Bruce Taylor]

Toques are functional and elegant...not like the hats you guys wear:

http://dts.ystoretools.com/1092/images/200x200/hotdoghat.gif

[ 12-16-2005, 05:43 PM: Message edited by: Bruce Taylor ]

[Paul Girouard]

MMike ask Bruce Hooke what he call's his watch cap , ski hat.

That's what I call mine , some basterization of a french word. I think.

Anyway that toques (sp) that what most R.I. folks used to call'um .

[Harry Miller]

Now I can’t do all that pronunciation squiggly stuff like Bruce but I know toque rhymes with Duke. But most Americans don’t. I remember the fun the Blue Jays radio guys – Jerry Howarth and the late Tom Cheek - had with the “toque day” promotion. They thought it rhymed with joke and quite a joke they made of it. I think they thought it might even be cool to be in Canada instead of just cold.

[Bruce Taylor]

Mike, if you had a proper toque you wouldn't get so much wax in your ears. How ya supposed to keep warm in one of these:
http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/Hilbilly.jpg

[Donn]

"..but I know toque rhymes with Duke. But most Americans don’t." Probably because that pronounciation is the 'Canadian variant.'

From Wikipedia:

"Canadian variant

In Canada, a toque or tuque (IPA /tuk/) is a knit winter hat, originally a French-Canadian woolen hat. This "fashion" originated when coureurs des bois kept their woollen nightcaps on for warmth during cold winter days. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary regards the use of toque for this hat to be assimilated from the etymologically unrelated French word tuque."

[Bruce Taylor]

Anyway, it doesn't rhyme with "Duke"...it rhymes (I'm sorry to say) with "kook."

[Tristan]

Y'all is pleural. If you say, "Y'all goin down town?" to a single person you are implying that there are others who might go with them. You would say "Did YOU catch that bass?" to one person, but if you knew that person had a wife and two kids you might add, "Y'all gonna eat it?" Y'all is pronounced YAWL in my neck of the woods (much of the souff).

[ 12-16-2005, 06:39 PM: Message edited by: Tristan ]

[Paul Girouard]

Or the term of Maryjane users toki :D

[Donn]

One toki over the line??? :confused:

[Harry Miller]

In spite of my toque I still get ear wax. But my doctor isn't as nice as Maggie. He makes me use one of these: http://www.optimalhealthnetwork.com/images/products/adltbulb4.jpg

A little oil and a flush. If you're really profficient you can leave behind the wax that blocks your wife's frequency.

[Sue H.]

Mike, what are you talking aboot? :D

Gee thanks, Bruce. Now Mike knows what I'm getting him for Christmas.
http://dts.ystoretools.com/1092/images/200x200/hotdoghat.gif

...although that pointy moonshiner hat has a certain look to it too...hmmmm, decisions, decisions tongue.gif

[Paul Girouard]

Originally posted by Donn:
One toki over the line??? :confused: Yes, probably a wrong spelling . Tokie ? Jee I can say it , just can't spell it.

Other odd R.I. Terms "Cabinet ", meaning a milk shake . "So don't I." a dbl neg meaning "I agree ."

Up the stairs , throw me my hat."

"We park the cars side by each."

All common lang . ? :eek: :eek: used by R. I . folks when I was a young lad .

No wonder I can't spell , let's blame it all on the French , EH :D

They take little world responsibilty anyway and this is just little poop IMO. Paul

[Bruce Taylor]

Where's your family from, Paul? We have Girouard's up here.

[Paul Girouard]

Originally posted by Bruce Taylor:
Where's your family from, Paul? We have Girouard's up here.I'm from Harrisville , R.I. . A cousin from Vt. does the family tree thing , I've put in info but never gone. We do have extended family up your way . They had a big "sort of " reunion in Eastern Canada this past year and a bunch of "family " lives in La. area.
I alway look in the phone book when I travel , seldom find Girouard's listed .

When I was in France while on deployment in the USN I'd just show my ID card and the name flowed from their lips , not" ah,"" eh" , how do I say your name?

So that's it Bruce , we/I , family came out of Quebec ,built the old family home in R.I. before 1896 as my Pip (granddad ) was born it in 1896 , youngest of like 11 kids of which 8 lived beyond 2 years of age . WW-1 doughboy , his picture hangs in my living room as I type. Paul

[Ron Williamson]

Paul
When I lived in Montreal,there was a street nearby,named Girouard.

This is Rural Southern Ontario.
Second person plural is youse,pronounced "yiz".
Garage is "graj".
Erin is "eern"
Mono is "Moe-No"
Tobermory, "tub'murry","tobahmurry","tubbermurry"
R

[Paul Girouard]

Originally posted by Ron Williamson:
Paul
When I lived in Montreal,there was a street nearby,named Girouard.

This is Rural Southern Ontario.
Second person plural is youse,pronounced "yiz".
Garage is "graj".
Erin is "eern"
Mono is "Moe-No"
Tobermory, "tub'murry","tobahmurry","tubbermurry"
REh , Uh, OUI :eek: I think that ess-planes the whole deal, Uos guyies taalk funnie , like then southen" ers , rebels , hill-billy's, cage-umms :D

Crystal clear now :rolleyes:

[hoss]

A few years ago I was coaching at a International wrestling tournament and was talking to a mother from somewhere in Ohio, (she has to my ear a somewhat strong and harsh accent). What completed the picture was the way she was dressed sort of "early trailer trash" you know overweight wearing spandex. To be polite I asked her how she liked Canada. She replied that she liked the area but didn't know why "us Canadians talked so funny". I kind of lost it and said "lady who sounds more like the guy on the 6:00 news you or me?

I actualy love most accents, I hope that television doesn't cause us all to begin to sound the same.

[ 12-16-2005, 10:08 PM: Message edited by: hoss ]

[hoss]

[ 12-16-2005, 10:17 PM: Message edited by: hoss ]

[hoss]

I also live in rural Ontario and have a few good ones: Lake Huron = "Lake Urine"
Library = "Liberry"
Close = "Prittin Near" as in "that vehical (never called a car becouse most drive trucks) prittin near hit me"
Miles is never plural, as in "you go 6 mile down the black top"

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

First thing you know old Mike's a guitar player
the kin folk say, Mike move away from here
They said the big apple is the place you want to be
so he loaded up the benz and they moved to New York City..

Nightclubs... rock and roll... Lynyrd Skynrd

It's the Guitar Hillbillies !!! :cool: :cool: :eek:

[ 12-16-2005, 10:21 PM: Message edited by: Peter Malcolm Jardine ]

[Paul Girouard]

Originally posted by hoss:
[I actualy love most accents, I hope that television doesn't cause us all to begin to sound the same.[/QB]To late hoss we are all melding at least in CONUS . Go figure that one out hehe tongue.gif

[Bruce Taylor]

alway look in the phone book when I travel , seldom find Girouard's listed .It's not a particularly common surname around here, but I see a couple of columns of Girouards in the Ottawa phonebook. Probably all wear toques, too. smile.gif

[huisjen]

Some accents are nice, some aren't. Some Georgia accents are very smooth and kind of musical. On the other hand, I once visited Another One when she was stationed at Little Rock AFB. I don't think I could ever get used to that accent. Those hard R's especially made my skin crawl.

And while I like the Maine accent, Boston accents put me on edge somehow.

I once had a shipmate, an FC3 (Fire Controlman third class petty officer), who was from the hollers of Tennessee, and also on the Master-at-Arms force. We had a guy go U.A. and get caught selling acid back in Tennessee, and had to get our FC3 on the phone with them to translate, because nobody else could understand what they were saying.

Dan

[ 12-17-2005, 12:50 PM: Message edited by: huisjen ]

[Ron Williamson]

hoss

It's "Pri'near",rhymes with tin ear.

My daughter loves "cattle-beast",which is used on any mammal with four legs,that moos.
She finds it particularly appropriate for Highland cattle.

You Americans should investigate the backgrounds of some your national news anchormen.
A few are Canadian,picked,presumably cuz their accents don't grate like those from the southern,central and eastern US. tongue.gif
R