LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 15.MAY.2000 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 15.MAY.2000 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Edwin Michael Alexander [edsells at idirect.com]
Subject: LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 14.MAY.2000 (02) [E]

At 03:28 PM 05/14/00 -0700, John Feather wrote:
>  I caught the end of a TV programme about the US/Canada relationship this

>evening. It included a new ? Molson commercial for US TV in which the
>presenter, before declaring "I am a Canadian" says "I say `about', not
>`aboot'" [cartoon boot]. He pronounces "about" in a purely US/BE way.

(1) He's making fun of what most Americans think they hear when they hear a

Canadian speak.  The fact that Americans think that they hear Canadians say

"aboot" must tell you something.  Even my father used to think that was
what my Canadian wife was saying.  Are these Americans crazy?  Or are they
hearing the "ou" diphthong pronounced differently from the way they say it
(at least in Chicago)?
(2) The distinction is not as easy to hear as you might imagine.  It is
really a question of the length of the "u" part of the diphthong.  I
personally shift quite easily from one pronunciation to another, depending
on the context.  As I write this, I am listening to a show on the TV in
which Prince Edward is narrating a documentary about the Royal Family, and
note how similar his pronunciation of the "ou" diphthong is to what one
might hear in a VERY rural area of middle Ontario.  The average Canadian
pronunciation falls somewhere between Edward's and the average Midwestern
American pronunciation.
(3) As I mentioned, but perhaps did not make myself clear, the "pure"
version of the "Canadian" accent is not normally heard in the media.  Like
most "regional" dialects everywhere in the world, it is eschewed by people
in commerce and media for a more "international" type of speech.

Example:  I have a friend who is from Scotland and has a very profound
"Scottish" accent, despite living in Canada for many years now.  Years ago,

I forwarded several interesting "Scots" submissions to this list to her,
and she pretended to know nothing of it, as if it was an "inferior" way of
speaking Engish.

Similarly, if one travels in the Champlain Valley in Vermont, unless you
listen very closely, you will not hear the "New England" speech
patterns.  However, if you stop by a farm or an orchard, you may hear it in

this speech even if you are not looking for it, though not
necessarily.  However, if you travel up in the Green Mountains, and talk to

a farmer in one of these remote valleys, then you'll really have to pay
attention to be able to understand them at all!

I have a cousin in his '90's who has an orchard about 4 miles from Lake
Champlain and you can really hear it in his speech.  However, I have a
friend who is a former classmate of mine (and hence about 40 years younger
than my cousin) who lives in Burlington, VT (also on Lake Champlain), whose

speech is much more "general American".  However, when we told her we were
taking the ferry across to New York State at Port Charlotte (Char-lotte),
she was quick to correct us, saying, you mean "Paut Chaalaught."

In general, the general Canadian accent is quite hard to distinguish from
the general American, since they have a common ancestor in the dialects of
the southwest of England, and, as everywhere in North America, more
distinct regional speech patterns are best to be found "on the ground" and
not "on the air".

Ed Alexander
JAG REALTY INC.
80 Jones Street Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8R 1Y1
Pager: 905-545-0177  Fax: 905-525-6671 Email: edsells at idirect.com
Jag Realty Inc.: http://www.deerhurst.com/jag/
Ontario Ultra Series:  http://ous.kw.net/
Burlington Runners Club: http://www.deerhurst.com/brc/

----------

From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Orthography

Here is what I had written on March 14, 2000:

"My first and most influencial phonology instructor was a Canadian who grew
up
in the east and later lived in British Columbia.  She explained that
Canadians
are almost evenly divided between [?@'baUt]- and [?@'boUt]-speakers.  In
other
words, about half pronounce it pretty much the way most US residents do."

In other words, no one ever claimed that *all* Canadians say [oU] or
whatever it may be.  Nevertheless, because that pronunciation is perceived
as distinctive and is used by many Canadians it is popularly considered
"Canadian."

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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