LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.11.10 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 10.NOV.2002 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic
               V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Candon McLean <candon3 at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.11.10 (01) [E]

> From: George M Gibault <gmg at direct.ca>

> While there may be several well-known Canadians that are US
> newscasters,
> I very much doubt that they are having a significant influence on
> American English as spoken by Americans; just because a certain
> variety
> is televised to the masses (which cant be much different from a
> perceived spoken standard of American English or it wouldn't be
> used
> anyway), doesn't necessarily mean it is having an impact on the
> speech
> of the public at large, as you have suggested. Peter Jennings does,
> from
> time to time, use features associated with Canadian English (e.g.
> Canadian Raising)in his newscasts but very few Americans (with the
> exception of maybe the northern border states) have similar speech
> patterns. Nor are they acquiring it -- I hardly think that his
> pronunciation of 'harassment' is spreading like wildfire throughout
> the
> USA.

It's true that Americans are not adopting Candain raising, but you
are wrong in thinking that Jennings' pronounciation of 'harassment'
hasn't
spread "like wildfire" in the past ten years.

>Rather, I would think that American pop culture and with
> its
> seductively superficial appeal should be held responsible for
> younger
> Canadians sounding the way they do. This influence is also playing
> a
> substantial role in the leveling of spoken regional varieties here
> in
> the U.S.

We're talking apples and oranges.  American pop culture with its
mixture of California speech patterns and ethnic-Englishes (e.g. "my
bad") appeals to children, teenagers, the 20-somethings, and the
tragically hip.

Whereas the pseudo-BBC pronunciation of 'harassment' is found by
those who are educated or wish to appear educated.  And in this
group, the frequency of the non American-Standard pronunciation is
markedly increased.

Candon McLean

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