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so?...whats have to do with anything?..where are THEY from?...you base your entire opinion on your cousins?
Frankly there is no Canadian accent as 'harsh' as the Appalachian one or some of the southern ones...even the NCVS accent spoken in the Great Lakes area is FAR harsher than almost any Canadian accent I can think of.
This is completely accurate. I've lived in Chicago, Toronto and now New York and you can hear people with the "neutral" newscaster accent in all 3 cities. Some people speak with accents where you can completely tell they are natives from a specific area, but I think we can all relate to meeting people born and raised in your city, yet they have no accent and could be from anywhere - that happens in Canada as well and I think it depends on how much of your accent you pick up from Hollywood, TV, music etc vs the local nuances that you adapt.
In general Canadians have a more clipped speech, rising intonation, long vowels and the typical oate and aboate - but those are extreme cases. It's like comparing an actor from the Sopranos to an actor from the Girls on HBO - both are from the New York area, yet the actors from the Girls sound completely neutral. Same thing happens in Canada. So you have people with the glorified Canadian accent that sound like hockey playing lumberjacks and you have people that sound like Justin Bieber, Keanu Reeves, Pam Anderson etc where you couldn't tell them apart from your average neutral sounding American.
As far as regional comparisons go, I find the neutral Canadian accent to be much closer to California than any other state, even any of the midwestern states. Then again, neutral is neutral anywhere you go in North America. But I think the extreme midwestern or upper midwestern accents sound nothing like neutral Canadian accents. Neutral Canadian accents sound more similar to how the average person on the west coast would speak outside of the valley girl outliers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LRUA
Agreed.
Canadians sound similar to some american accents (except for a few words).
Similar to "western" american accent (rockies to west coast).
Also upper midwest american accent.
However, there are a few american accents that canadians do not sound like at all.
(ie. southern, NYC, Boston, Texan).
Interestingly, canadian actors and entertainers can easily "blend in".
Justin Bieber
Ryan Gosling
Alex Trebek
William Shatner
Howie Mandel
Seth Rogen
Jim Carrey
Pamela Anderson
and many others....IMO all kinda blend in.
Just aboot, eh. That's the only way I can tell a Canadian accent apart from the way we speak in New England. BTW, do Canadians call a down comforter a puff? Just wondering because my mother's family lived--and some still do--on the Canadian border and that's what they called it.
I've never heard anyone say "aboot".
We call a comforter a comforter or duvet. Never heard of a puff.
I've never heard anyone say "aboot".
We call a comforter a comforter or duvet. Never heard of a puff.
Aboot is said by some people in Atlantic Canada. Ricky from Trailer Park Boys says aboot. The more common accent from Ontario and points West pronounces it more like aboat.
I would think that to someone from the UK, Australia or S. Africa, Americans and Canadians sound fairly simlilar. Just like those from the UK, Australian and S. Africa sound similar to me. Although I can tell the three apart.
I've always wanted to take a class on the evolution of English in North America to figure out how we arrived at the accents we have.
One of the biggest changes recently in Canada has been the vocabulary people use becoming Americanized. For example, people now call sandals flip flops, whereas in the past they were always referred to as thongs. A derogatory term for an English-Canadian used by French-Canadians is "bloke", although English Canadians no longer actually this word in our language. Schedule is increasingly being pronounced the American way, rather than as shed-jul.
As far as regional comparisons go, I find the neutral Canadian accent to be much closer to California than any other state, even any of the midwestern states. Then again, neutral is neutral anywhere you go in North America. But I think the extreme midwestern or upper midwestern accents sound nothing like neutral Canadian accents. Neutral Canadian accents sound more similar to how the average person on the west coast would speak outside of the valley girl outliers.
Which is strange to me because I was born and raised in Cali--went to HS, going to college, partied, eat at every restaurant and to this day I believe I have meet a total of 1 Canadian in my life time. Where and how could someone pick something like that up. And don't say TV because I have a problem believing anything could have that kind of influence on anyone.
I'm from the midwest and I have trouble telling a Canadian accent, unless they say out or about. I'm often asked in the UK if I'm Canadian. However, many here have learned to ask that because when Canadians are asked if they are American they get insulted and angry. Not so the other way around.
Oh brother! You couldn't be more wrong there. While touring our historical roots and staying at a hotel in Lybster, north eastern Scotland; I witnessed an American who was attending a family reunion go absolutely bat-chit crazy in the dining room whn the waitress innocently asked what part of Canada he was from.
The words he used cannot be repeated here but the idiot forgot he was visiting a country with close familial ties to BOTH Canada and the U.S. and currently dining in a room full of either. One of his own "clan" gave him the azz-chewing of his life right there in the middle of the dining room.
Desert was enjoyed by members of both countries toasting their respective health before the fire while that idiot had retired to his room without even finishing his meal.
We sound the same for the most part unless regional accents come into play.
Newfoundlanders have the most notable accent difference within Canada and in no way could ever be confused for any American regardless of the latter's east coast affiliation or not.
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