the California accent (Los Angeles, Williams: cabin, work, pronounce)

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by hipcat

That about and out sound is distinctive to my ears, I heard plenty of those pronounciations when I was in Vancouver. Canadians tend to round their O sounds in Tomorrow, Dollar, Borrow etc or that's just a Vancouver thing.

I'd say sa-ri and pra-gres. Is shifting the vowel to an 'a' pre valleygirl california?

[kemvp6]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

That's not a universal Canadian thing either. It's also common in some parts of the upper Midwest.

kinda late but wanted to bring up some stuff regarding the canadian accent.
eh is universally canadian as it is used in all parts/regions here. maybe not used by everyone, but many of us use it.

'sorry' maybe more obvious to the ear but it's not so so common among the younger generations (particularly city people). I'd say 'sawry' is used by like 90% of those 25 and under (well atleast for toronto anyway).

From my observations, there are around 4 ways of saying about here:
1)aboot... is actually used to my surprise. Used by a veeeerrry small minority in Nova Scotia and maybe other Atlantic provinces. I thought it was a joke till I heard it from this guy


Canadian Boxer Custio Clayton No Bums In Boxing - invade london - YouTube.

A Black Scotian. They're descendants of African Americans, can't remember if they were loyalists or were part of the Blacks that went up the underground railroad.

2)abahwt...the really flat American one not very common but definitely more common than aboot lol. Used mainly by the younger generation in the cities.

3) aboat... very common throughout all parts of the country and can be heard by anyone.

4) about... this is the one used in cali I think, which is considered rounded by American standards. Here it is also the most common along with 'aboat'.

I've noticed some sorta mix between aboat and about. "you wanna know what it's 'about'? it's 'aboat' the...." about is used in the end of a sentence while aboat is used in the middle. Again my observatios.

Ironically accents here are few and vary slightly compard to the US (South, Midwest, Ny... etc) yet we use 4 different abouts and from what I've heard, yall use 3: about, abahwt, and abaht (south)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by kemvp6

kinda late but wanted to bring up some stuff regarding the canadian accent.
eh is universally canadian as it is used in all parts/regions here. maybe not used by everyone, but many of us use it.

'sorry' maybe more obvious to the ear but it's not so so common among the younger generations (particularly city people). I'd say 'sawry' is used by like 90% of those 25 and under (well atleast for toronto anyway).

From my observations, there are around 4 ways of saying about here:
1)aboot... is actually used to my surprise. Used by a veeeerrry small minority in Nova Scotia and maybe other Atlantic provinces. I thought it was a joke till I heard it from this guy


Canadian Boxer Custio Clayton No Bums In Boxing - invade london - YouTube.

A Black Scotian. They're descendants of African Americans, can't remember if they were loyalists or were part of the Blacks that went up the underground railroad.

2)abahwt...the really flat American one not very common but definitely more common than aboot lol. Used mainly by the younger generation in the cities.

3) aboat... very common throughout all parts of the country and can be heard by anyone.

4) about... this is the one used in cali I think, which is considered rounded by American standards. Here it is also the most common along with 'aboat'.

I've noticed some sorta mix between aboat and about. "you wanna know what it's 'about'? it's 'aboat' the...." about is used in the end of a sentence while aboat is used in the middle. Again my observatios.

Ironically accents here are few and vary slightly compard to the US (South, Midwest, Ny... etc) yet we use 4 different abouts and from what I've heard, yall use 3: about, abahwt, and abaht (south)

He sounds more like "aboat" to me. That's also the only real obvious thing about, sorry, aboot his accent I can really hear.

[belmont22]

Originally Posted by kemvp6

'sorry' maybe more obvious to the ear but it's not so so common among the younger generations (particularly city people). I'd say 'sawry' is used by like 90% of those 25 and under (well atleast for toronto anyway).

It seems like in the Lower Mainland the younger generation is resisting Americanization of their speech more than the young people in southern Ontario. Carly Rae Jepsen was born in 1985 so she's under 30 and her accent is quite strong. I doubt teenage British Columbians 10 years younger than her would have noticeably more Americanized speech but I could be wrong.

On the other hand I have a friend who grew up on a farm in Southern Ontario and he's in his late 30s and his accent sounds very Americanized aside from an occasional "eh". And I notice that young people in southern Ontario, while not sounding exactly like Americans per se definitely don't have the stereotypical Canadian accent that sounds part Scottish or whatever.


Carly Rae Jepsen Interview T4 2012 - YouTube

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by belmont22

It seems like in the Lower Mainland the younger generation is resisting Americanization of their speech more than the young people in southern Ontario. Carly Rae Jepsen was born in 1985 so she's under 30 and her accent is quite strong. I doubt teenage British Columbians 10 years younger than her would have noticeably more Americanized speech but I could be wrong.

On the other hand I have a friend who grew up on a farm in Southern Ontario and he's in his late 30s and his accent sounds very Americanized aside from an occasional "eh". And I notice that young people in southern Ontario, while not sounding exactly like Americans per se definitely don't have the stereotypical Canadian accent that sounds part Scottish or whatever.


Carly Rae Jepsen Interview T4 2012 - YouTube

I can certainly hear her accent a little more. It's not obvious to my ears but certainly there. One thing I also noticed about her is that she has that voice crack thing so many young women today have. You know the one that makes Fontucky foam at the mouth?

I think the fact that we are comparing Canadian dialects to California ones shows how similar they are.

Speaking of Canadians, nullgeo must be beside himself with all this Canadian talk

[belmont22]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

I can certainly hear her accent a little more. It's not obvious to my ears but certainly there. One thing I also noticed about her is that she has that voice crack thing so many young women today have. You know the one that makes Fontucky foam at the mouth?

I think the fact that we are comparing Canadian dialects to California ones shows how similar they are.

Speaking of Canadians, nullgeo must be beside himself with all this Canadian talk

Oh yeah I notice that too, I think creaky voice is somehow a product of the apathy and passivity of the current generation and our semi-solitary modern way of living.

[kemvp6]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

I can certainly hear her accent a little more. It's not obvious to my ears but certainly there. One thing I also noticed about her is that she has that voice crack thing so many young women today have. You know the one that makes Fontucky foam at the mouth?

I think the fact that we are comparing Canadian dialects to California ones shows how similar they are.

Speaking of Canadians, nullgeo must be beside himself with all this Canadian talk

I think the reason why we're much closer to the cali accent has to do with Hollywood.

First off we're bombarded with American media, and majority of that media is Hollywood based. If u think about the typical American show, all characters have a west coast/standard US accent, with the exception of that one southerner or mid-westerner. Same is said for the news as I believe newscasters are encouraged to adopt the standard American accent?

I had a friend who visited friends in San Diego. When I asked him if they noticed an accent from him, he said not really, except that apparently he says 'yo' a lot. yo as in 'yo do this for me?'. Led me to believe maybe people in the east say it more than the west. I know 'yo' started in the east coast (Philly)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by kemvp6

I think the reason why we're much closer to the cali accent has to do with Hollywood.

First off we're bombarded with American media, and majority of that media is Hollywood based. If u think about the typical American show, all characters have a west coast/standard US accent, with the exception of that one southerner or mid-westerner. Same is said for the news as I believe newscasters are encouraged to adopt the standard American accent?

I had a friend who visited friends in San Diego. When I asked him if they noticed an accent from him, he said not really, except that apparently he says 'yo' a lot. yo as in 'yo do this for me?'. Led me to believe maybe people in the east say it more than the west. I know 'yo' started in the east coast (Philly)

In San Diego, any slang term is noticed as people there generally use far less slang words than most other places.

It's interesting that American accents influence Canada through the media but not other parts of the US as much. In the US, accents are diluting due more to a rather mobile population but they're still there.

As far as newcasters, we've had our share of Canadian newscasters too. Peter Jennings comes to mind. This makes sense I guess; most media outlets are centered in CA and to our ears, the Canadian accent is rather neutral sounding as is one of the preferred ones. That and North Midland.

[Count David]

VTS 01 2 - YouTube

The guy that sounds closer grew up in Ridgecrest (East Kern County, Mojave Desert). His family is from Pittsburgh and other parts of CA. (color analyst)

The guy that sounds further away grew up in the Inland Empire. His parents, and most of the rest of his family are from Orange County. (play-by-play)

[blacknotebooks]

I guess I can chime in. I'm from Toronto and nobody really knows I'm Canadian here until I pronounce certain words like progress or project (I say pro- instead of pra). I also say washroom instead of restroom which throws people off - they say it's polite sounding?

I can also go weeks without saying "eh" so when I drop one everybody at work just goes, "Oh yeah.."