[Ads-l] How do others hear Canadian __ou_?

[Paul A Johnston, Jr]

I'd agree with you wholly, Wilson.  I hear it as either a schwa, a caret, or even a true [o] + [u] (I hear that one mostly in Western Canada), not a monophthong.  And having done my Ph. D. thesis on Border Scots and Northumbrian, I know what monophthongs in about sound like.  I have heard diphthongs with very short first elements from older Tidewater VA speakers, but not so much with Canadians.

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 7:44:10 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: How do others hear Canadian __ou_?

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      How do others hear Canadian __ou_?
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The consensus among ordinary, folk-Americans seems to be that Canadians
pronounce _ou_ in, e.g.  _about_, like "a boot." In these parts, NE PA, the
local, independent ISP service-provides Canadian TV, whether you want it or
not. I've always heard Canadian _about_ as more like "a boat" and there is
nothing in all the North-American English that I've heard, here of late, to
make me change my mind.

However, I can be persuaded that there's something wrong with my hearing.

Youneverknow.

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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