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Location: Originally Fayetteville, Arkansas/ now Seattle, Washington!
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Most people here have a very neutral accent. I know some people from Vancouver and they really don't have much of an accent either, you can sometimes notice it, but very rarely. I'm from Arkansas and i sound about like everyone else, very neutral(unless i'm talkin to some of my southern friends like on the phone, sometimes get a little southern draw goin on ;D)
How would you say those 4 words differently? I read them to myself and they all sounded the same.... I must be one of the people who doesn't differentiate..
It is the difference between the 'o' sound and the 'au' or 'aw' sound, either you make it, and hear it, or you don't and don't understand how anyone could.
Yes, I live west of Chicago, smack dab in the heart of non-accent country. Are you sure youre the one who doesnt have the accent? lol I know for sure we dont talk like they do in MN or northern WI or MI's U.P. I know a northern accent when I hear one, thank you very much.
There are definitely a difference between those words.
Everyone has an accent. Although there is a general American accent growing.
... I'm not sure about that either. I did however, have the experience this weekend of visiting northern Wisconsin on the Minnesota border, and if anyone thinks the northern Midwest accent is dying, well, go up there, you'll think otherwise when you leave ... you betcha!
I've always wondered if *Native Seattleites* <- that right? ... had any particular accent??? Do they get some influence from Canada? Guess you never hear anyone talking about a Pac NW accent......
-- Enlighten me someone.....
Everyone has an accent. It is impossible to speak without an accent, since this is basically just the sound system of your speech.
I've lived in both Seattle and Vancouver and have relatives in both the US and Canada, so I'm familiar with both American and Canadian English (which really just aren't very different from one another).
In my experience, Seattle and Vancouver English are remarkably similar to one another. Not once have I been asked by a Canadian whether I am American. Differences between the speech of the two countries are more distinct back east than out west: a person from Windsor sounds more different from a person from Detroit than a Seattleite does from a Vancouverite.
Differences are few. Canadians tend to rhyme the first "o" in words like "borrow, sorrow", and "tomorrow" with words like "soar, tore", and "door". Seattleites tend to rhyme this sound with words such as "jock, c o ck", and "not".
Similarities are much more widespread and obvious. For both Canadians and Seattleites, words like "cot" are homophonous with words like "caught". In the US Rustbelt (the megalopolis extending from about Rochester to Chicago), this merger is uncommon. Also, in the Rustbelt, "cot" is sometimes produced with a fronter vowel than in either Canada or Seattle, so that it sounds more like "cat" to both Canadians and Seattleites (and, indeed, to most Americans), who produce it with a more back, sometimes lip-rounded, vowel. ("Front" and "back" refer to tongue position.) So both Canadians and Seattleites have what's called "low-back merger" ("cot-caught merger"). A Wisconsinite might perceive the Seattle or Vancouver pronunciation of "Wisconsin" as "Wiscawnsin", while Seattleites and Vancouverites might perceive the Wisconsinite pronunciation of this word as "Wiscansin". It's perceived as a different phoneme (an abstract representation, or the way it's "supposed" to sound). I remember hearing a Minnesotan man on TV say "flock of sheep" and thinking momentarily that he said "flack of sheep".
Both Seattleites and Vancouverites tend to pronounce such words as "bag" like "beyg". (I used to do this, but forced myself to stop when I realised a lot of other people didn't.) This is also common in the central and upper Midwestern US. They also tend to say "b i tch" almost like "betch". (I'm sure you've all watched the "Kelly / Shoes" video on YouTube.) This is common in California. Moreover, "marry, merry" and "Mary" all rhyme, and words like "father" rhyme with words like "bother", as in most of North America. ("Father" and "bother" do not rhyme in Boston.)
Another similarity is in intonation. Both Seattleites and Vancouverites often produce declarative sentences (statements) with upward intonation, which makes it sound like a question to other people. (I suspect that this is a sign of politeness, uncertainty, or diffidence.)
Some similarities are partial or split. The Canadian pronunciation of "about" as "aboat" is called "Canadian Raising". Seattleites don't show this much in "oa" words, but frequently in "igh" words, whereas most Canadians show it in both sets of words.
I would say that Pacific Northwest speech is an amalgam of Californian, Canadian, and central and upper Midwestern US speech.
I think that what's so interesting is that the international boundary seems to be a greater linguistic boundary in eastern North America than in western North America, which seems to constitute a phonological "continuum". (I don't say "dialectal", because I'm not talking about diction.)
Last edited by Rogue Linguist; 04-12-2008 at 06:58 AM..
It is the difference between the 'o' sound and the 'au' or 'aw' sound, either you make it, and hear it, or you don't and don't understand how anyone could.
This is true. Some people from the Rustbelt make this distinction by leaving "caught" as is but fronting the vowel in "cot", but when this happens, "cot" sounds more like "cat" to people in Seattle and Vancouver, so making the distinction in this way wouldn't make sense to Seattleites or Vancouverites.
There are many transplants in the Seattle area, but most people will speak the "General American" accent common in the midwest but mixed in with some flat California-style pronunciations. Nothing out of the ordinary here, in terms of accents.
We may be close to the Canadian border but we do not speak like them at all, we sound pretty much like people in Colorado, for instance. The instant you step across the borders you can tell the difference. Now those in Minnesota, however...
This is not true! Seattleites sound very much like western Canadians. The differences are almost non-existent.
Another very important point to make is that there are multiple, different accents in Canada, too, namely Maritimer, Newfie, Central (think Toronto), and West (think Vancouver).
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