LL-L "Phonology" 2005.06.05 (02) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 05.JUN.2005 (02) * 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) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: ANNETTE GIESBRECHT <beautyaround at email.com>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2005.06.01 (04) [E]

> From: embryomystic at cogeco.ca
> Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2005.05.23 (04) [E]
>
> Scr~{(*~}obh Cr~{(*~}ost~{(.~}ir:
>
> > I have often wondered why US English speakers parrot this
> > Canadian shibboleth as if it is [y] or [u:]. Whenever I
> > hear actual Canadians pronouncing this it sounds very
> > much more like [o:]. Hence Canadian "about" is to me
> > identical to "a boat" but nowhere near "a boot" as
> > Americans would have us believe.
> >
> > Why do Americans hear [u:] and myself - whose native
> > sound range is Nottingham English / Cornish English -
> > [o:] for this disputed phoneme? I have raised this with
> > my Australian-accented wife and my Irish-accented friends
> > and they all hear [o:], not [u:]. So what's happening?
>
> I don't know, honestly. Power of suggestion, perhaps? My own pronunciation
> is [o:], though I do sometimes hear myself say it like [EU] or possibly
> [@U].
>
> On the other hand, I find it quite hilarious when Canadian characters in
> South Park say 'aboot'.
>
> "Could you tell us again what this is all... abOUt?"
> "It's aboot freedom of speech! It's aboot censorship! It's aboot... what
> are
> you all laughing aboot?"
>
> Isaac M. Davis

Well actually I used to live in British Columbia, Canada and we pronounced
it about like abowt.  Was I really in for a shock when we moved to the
Prairies.  Everyone, it seemed, talked through their noses.  Maybe the aboot
sound is because quite a number of people in Eastern Canada were of Scottish
origins.
Annette

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