The Great Canadian Vowel Shift

[sandworm101]

The accents in north america are split east-west, not north-south. I'm from Vancouver but whenever I am in the eastern US they think I'm from california because I don't sound have the ontario/maritime accent they recognize as "canadian". "aboot" doesn’t exist in the west. Never has.

[unavoidable]

For some reason, there is a popular misconception (even among some linguists!) that "Canada" is some kind of unified linguistic zone, or that somehow it is "close enough" (maybe people are just lazy). Whereas English diversity in the US has been studied to very fine level of detail, Canada remains mostly a blob on most maps[0].

Of course, anyone who lives, say, in urban Ontario will immediately notice the differences in accent of someone from B.C. or Alberta, though that seems to just "sound Canadian" to other listeners.

[0] See e.g. http://aschmann.net/AmEng/

[kafkaesque]

I'm in LA and every time someone finds out I'm Canadian, they say, "But you don't have an accent" or "You don't sound Canadian", and on the rare occasion, people refer to my Vancouver accent as "fake Canadian accent".

I just half-smile or say "I don't know", instead of explaining how provincial their "typical Canadian accent" sounds to Vancouverites.

[douche]

Living in northern New England, my experience of Canada and Canadian accents has always been in relation to Quebec, which is a whole different beast.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a good representation of the Quebecois accent on TV. South Park butchered it awfully

[stephenboyd]

"Aboot" never existed in the east either. It's more like "a boat" but that's too subtle for caricature.

[na85]

Yep. I live in Victoria but grew up in Ontario.

I get people asking me if I'm from Seattle all the time, I guess because I sound 'murrican.

[Tiktaalik]

More so than accents I'd argue that the north-south orientation applies to culture and trade as well.

St. John's Newfoundland is geographically closer to London England than Vancouver. Aside from an interest in hockey, there's not a great deal of commonality. Seattle and Portland are more relatable and relevant.

[minsight]

Canadians say "aboot" nearly as often as Americans who plan to go drink at a "baah". After all, the United States = Boston and Canada = St John's.

[dghughes]

I'm from the Maritimes and have never heard anyone here i know say aboot I think to certain people in the US it just sounds that way.

I knew a girl from Liverpool England and she thought I was from Ireland, not 100% convinced but more so than Canada. I'm from PEI which at one point was going to be called New Ireland.

[supercanuck]

What? I'm born and raised outside Vancouver and now live in Los Angeles. There is definitely a difference between my lack of accent and Canadians in BC. but yes, they don't sound like my ex-pat colleague from Nova Scotia

[biot]

Yeah, I've always wondered why people think Canadians pronounce things like "no doot aboot it". That's basically Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons (ie: a crusty old Scottish accent).

[clessg]

Being from New Brunswick, I've never actually heard anybody say 'aboot'. (Except perhaps after watching South Park and wanting to confuse people.)

[hmhrex]

I'm from the maritimes. Can confirm.

[bentcorner]

> The English version of “baguette” stops rhyming with “vague-ette,”

Coming from central Canada, "bag" always rhymes with "vague". I get funny looks sometimes when "lag" comes up in conversation here in the Pacific NW.

[cfallin]

Interesting, I thought that was a PNW (OR/WA/BC) thing (I've heard it described as the "Northwest vowel shift")? I say "bag" and "lag" rhyming with "vague" or "bagel" too, and I grew up in Oregon.

[ChrisGranger]

By central Canada, do you mean Ontario? I've lived in Manitoba for decades and I don't know anyone who pronounces "bag" that way.

[mirimir]

Interesting juxtaposition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Cities_Vowel_Shift

[txru]

There are many more linguistically-oriented articles than usual today. I like it.

Additionally, praat is really interesting software from the University of Amsterdam that allows you to analyze speech recordings and see what the vowels and consonants actually are. http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/

[afhill]

Hmm, I left Western Canada 15 years ago to move to Denver. I thought I had grown out of the accent, but now it seems the accent is catching up with me?

I studied linguistics in school and was fascinated by the linguistic shifts in Germanic languages long ago. But it seems a shame for it to be happening now as pronunciation becomes homogenized.

[bdchauvette]

For anyone who's curious about the stereotypical 'oot' and 'aboot' vowels, Wikipedia has a nice overview[1] of the phenomenon (Canadian Raising).

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_raising

[mijustin]

As a Western Canadian (who works with a lot of folks in California, Oregon and Colorado) one thing that gets pointed out all the time is my pronunciation of:

- JavaScript - Americano - Pasta

[refurb]

Yup. Canadians often pronounce "a" as "ah" vs. "awh". A great is example of the Mazda brand. It's mahz-dah in Canada, but moz-duh in the US. Even the commercials pronounce it differently in each country.

[afhill]

Yes! Pasta was one of the first words I learned to say differently when I moved from Edmonton to the US.

[CurtMonash]

"These changes in the mouth are happening under our noses."

:)

Great line!

[microcolonel]

I spoke all of the examples at the beginning of the article, and I don't sound like any of the "new" examples; furthermore my mother was from the U.S., so I should sound more like them if anything.

I've also lived on both coasts(as well as nearer the center), and honestly I don't remember anyone speaking like this.

I've never actually heard "aboot" either.

I don't actually see any references, so I'm not sure what "linguists" they're talking to.

[Mankhool]

What a great thread - from one Canuck to all of you - "How's it goin' eh?"

[rdsnsca]

In Nova Scotia the only people you hear saying eh are from Ontario, mostly from the Toronto area it seems.

[vt240]

It's a real life Pontypool ;-)

[hmhrex]

That movie was great. Yay Canadian arts!

[hockeybias]

I'm going to miss 'oot' and the rest. RIP

[xeper]

"Soar-y" for sorry has always been my favorite. I've always associated that pronunciation with obnoxious child-actors since so many of the shows I grew up on were peopled almost entirely with Canadian actors/voice actors.