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A lot of the vocabulary differences are administrative too. One could assume that if the border were erased that most would dissipate over time.
But at the moment, because Canada is in a different framework adminstratively, Canadians say "constable" because our police acts refer to constables. For the same reasons Canadians refer to employment insurance as "pogey", and have Members of Parliament and not Congresspeople.
Magically erase some borders anywhere pretty much and you have the same thing, so not really sure of your point. Accents like geography naturally blend across borders...to a point.
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Not that much. There are no international borders between Alabama and Seattle. Nor are there borders between England and Scotland.
What's actually interesting is how the accent similarities between, say Southern Ontario and places where Americans speak with a more neutral, skip over the areas immediately adjacent to the border like SE Michigan and Upstate New York.
So people in Toronto actually sound way more like Americans who live thousands of km away, than those who are just across the border from them.
You don't have this going on so starkly along the border in Western Canada, or along the border between Maine and New Brunswick.
What's actually interesting is how the accent similarities between, say Southern Ontario and places where Americans speak with a more neutral, skip over the areas immediately adjacent to the border like SE Michigan and Upstate New York.
So people in Toronto actually sound way more like Americans who live thousands of km away, than those who are just across the border from them.
You don't have this going on so starkly along the border in Western Canada, or along the border between Maine and New Brunswick.
it sounds like a very east coast US mindset. My family and friend in California etc, certainly do not think that.
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Originally Posted by Zoisite
I agree that's likely more of an American east coast mindset. There is nobody of my acquaintance from the American mid-west to the Pacific coast that only associates Canadian Anglo speech with a Quebecois accent. Although some have been around the block enough times they can easily identify the maritimes accents as well as Quebecois accents and easily tell them apart from the usual central and western Canada accents which all sounds like "Hollywood Standard English" to everyone.
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Count me in as another one who doesn't know any American who thinks that a standard Canadian accent is a Quebecois accent. I know a lot of people on the East Coast (who know I'm originally from Canada), and I've never heard them imply this.
I'm not sure what Nat and Acajack's positions are.
Nat is saying there ARE distinctive Canadian and American accents, but Acajack is countering that, apart from small differences in vocabulary, there is little difference between the accents of the two countries and that someone from Toronto sounds more like someone from Seattle than someone from Alabama does -- is that right?
Not that much. There are no international borders between Alabama and Seattle. Nor are there borders between England and Scotland.
Very true. But there are also no borders within England or within Scotland. And there are definitely different Scottish accents and English accents. Don't EVER tell someone from Edinburgh that they sound like someone from Glasgow. Not if you value your life, anyway.
I wouldn't say it's an insensitive ear, but more an ear that doesn't have experience with those accents. I understand why many, especially those who do not have English as their first language.
EDIT: Although I do agree some people may be just better at detecting accents. Reminds me of when I worked on the trains. There was this woman passenger and I thought she was Australian, she huffed LOL and corrected me and told me she was from New Zealand. I explained that it was difficult for me to hear the difference and apologized. I then stated that she too probably had trouble distinguishing Canadian and American accents. She told me there was no difference. A ha! I said, there we have it.
She got the point.
I’m lucky in that I hear accents and can usually distinguish differences, even if I don’t know its origination.
Australia vs NZ is simple due to clear vowel differences. A bit trickier for the average person is broad vs cultivated vs general accents in Australia. Or a Jo’burg vs say Durban or Cape Town accent for South Africa.
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