Do you think Canadians sound like Americans? (2015, deals)

[Average Fruit]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

Question; how do Canadians pronounce the word "our"? I know in California and maybe elsewhere I'm not sure, it's pronounce like the word "are".

Well I pronounce it like "ow-er". It's two syllables and sounds similar to hour.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by majoun

Most Canadians sound like Americans from the nearby regions of the US.

For example, Ontarians sound like Americans from the Midwest. British Columbians sound like Americans from the Pacific Northwest.

I could could confuse Scottish and Irish maybe but NEVER Scottish and Australian.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Average Fruit

Well I pronounce it like "ow-er". It's two syllables and sounds similar to hour.

Interesting. We pronounce "hour" more like you pronounce "our" but the syllables run together, being almost monosyllabic but not quite.

[BMI]

Accents....Canadians sound closest to americans in PNW and California.
Also North Dakota, northern Minnesota too.
Actually anywhere in western US is close to Canadian accent,
even in Arizona and most of New Mexico (except eastern NM).
Farthest from Canadian accent is anywhere in US south, from Texas to Virginia.

There are differences, not so much with accent but more with pronunciation.

Americans pronounce letter "a" in words like drama, taco, pecan
with "awe" sound. The "a" is pronounced like words saw or law.
Canadians tend to pronounce those same words with a different "a" sound,
like the "a" in words like back, sack, or crack.

Words like borrow, sorrow, all are pronounced by americans like
the first "o" is an "a". (barrow, sarrow).

Word sorry is pronounced like sarry by most americans,
Canadians over 30 pronounce it like sorey ...letter "o" not pronounce like an "a".
Interestingly younger Canadians are pronouncing sorry like USA, also the word tomorrow.(tomarrow).

Canadians pronounce words ending "ine" like turbine (same way the word sign is pronounced)
Americans pronounce words such as turbine like "turbin" (just like pin or sin).
Or words like fertile...USA it's pronounced "fertill" (like there is no "e").

No vowel shifts either, parts of US around the Great Lakes have vowel shift
where "o" is pronounced more like an "a", strongest in Chicago, noticeable as far east as Buffalo.

Gradually Canadians are pronouncing most words like americans, not exactly sure why
can't be TV as TV has been around for about 60 years.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, I do hear the difference when Canadians say "about",
sounds sort of like aboat to me. More noticeable in Ontario, much less in the west.

[Natnasci]

Originally Posted by majoun

Most Canadians sound like Americans from the nearby regions of the US.

For example, Ontarians sound like Americans from the Midwest. British Columbians sound like Americans from the Pacific Northwest.

Not to my ears. Some accents are close though, however it only takes a minute to pick up a US vowel sound and drawl on words like " out " etc.

[Gentoo]

Americans pronounce more letter "a" in words like drama, taco, pecan
with "awe" sound. The "a" is pronounced like words saw or law.
Canadians tend to pronounce those same words with a different "a" sound,
like the "a" in words like back, sack, or crack.

Your post was good but there are many Americans do pronounce words like 'pican' with the short A sound too. It just depends on where they're from. In fact, I think it's the accents furthest from Canadian ones that do this oddly enough.

Canadians pronounce words ending "ine" like turbine (same way the word sign is pronounced)
Americans pronounce words such as turbine like "turbin" (just like pin or sin).
Or words like fertile...USA it's pronounced "fertill" (like there is no "e").

I have never heard this. then again, I've only ever lived in CA and WA. In San Diego, we have a company called "Solar Turbines" (that's with the eye sound).

No vowel shifts either, parts of US around the Great Lakes have vowel shift
where "o" is pronounced more like an "a", strongest in Chicago, noticeable as far east as Buffalo.

Northern Cities vowel shift. Strange to all other English speakers.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, I do hear the difference when Canadians say "about",
sounds sort of like aboat to me. More noticeable in Ontario, much less in the west.

the 'about' thing is the most noticeable, especially if the speaker is from a more rural area. Then again, in CA, the vowel is rounded and less drawn out as well approaching Canadian but still distinct enough not to be confused.

[Gentoo]

Gradually Canadians are pronouncing most words like americans, not exactly sure why
can't be TV as TV has been around for about 60 years.

Interestingly, the accents of Southern Ontario and California, particularly the urban areas of both regions seem to be moving closer together. Both regions once had very distinctive speech. There is something called the "California Drawl" which isn't heard much anymore. As Canadians start sounding like Western Americans, California English has taken on a few effects of Canadian rising. This is the strangest thing and I haven't yet found anything about the comparison between these places so it must be very recent.

[waviking24]

All you have to do to spot a Canadian is watch them drive lol

[Natnasci]

Originally Posted by waviking24

All you have to do to spot a Canadian is watch them drive lol

Funny…we say the same about "mericans.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by waviking24

All you have to do to spot a Canadian is watch them drive lol

Their driving seemed fine when I was in Washington (maybe because Washingtonians can't drive LOL) and saw the British Columbia plates. Where I am now, if you see a Baja plate, watch that damn car like a hawk!