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As for nobody noticing their own accent, true, however I did once. I posted this in another thread awhile ago, so forgive me if you've heard this.
Years ago I had been travelling overseas for two months and did not bump into one english speaking Canadian or American.
When I was changing planes at Heathrow on my way home, I heard two guys speaking. I knew it was our accent, I actually heard it. It sounded like two pigeons cooing. I listened for a minute before my ear got accustomed to it and it was gone.
It was a very weird experience.
The thing is there is no such thing as an all-encompassing "Canadian" accent. As in the States, there are definite regional differences across Canada for both English and French speaking Canadians. As someone who grew up in the Ottawa area, people from Southern Ontario sound different to my ears (more "American" *gasp!). I can also discern a sound difference in Prairie and BCers' speech. Maritimers have (for me) the most obvious "accent". It's all pretty subjective, eh?
BTW, An interesting article in the National Post claims that the use of classic "canadianisms" and speech patterns is changing among younger people. So who knows in a few years we might all, like, sound the same - you know? :P
Canadian accent being distinctive to an American one; gee, what a revelation that is. Now which Canadian accent are you typifying as characteristic of Canadians in general? You've been to the east coast I guess and compared one of those MANY accents to one of Kentucky or downtown New Orleans.
Your reference to "so many Canadians thinking they have a Californian accent" is utter nonsense. Canadians, if bothering to consider their accent at all would probably look to our British ancestry as a comparator. They certainly would not bother to consider it's dialect relevant to a particular region or state within the U.S.. Your suggestion they do so is just another attempt to assign us some hypothetical 'American satellite' role.
Considering English is a derivative of a West Germanic language and emigrated to both our countries from overseas would it be appropriate to suggest you, we, have completely bastardized the language beyond all origins? How far back in it's origins would you like to go before realizing ALL English as spoken by ALL countries is accented from it's original format?
Can we relegate this to the "stupid thread" bin now?
LOL.
Seriously, BruSan. You need to chill. It's a fun thread about Canadian accents (not a serious subject, by any means, but so what?). If you go into some of the US or general CD boards, you will often see threads discussing different US dialects and accents. No one takes offense there. Leave it to my fellow Canadians to get their knickers in a twist over something completely innocuous.
However, I digress. As a child of Scottish immigrant parents, I agree when you say that Canadian accents are probably more derivative of the country's British origins. I remember watching a TV program years ago that touched on the differences between Canadian and American accents vis à vis each country's immigration patterns. The Scots settled more heavily in Canada than in the US; the English and Irish more in the US. So, considering the Canadian accent is, imho, similar in certain respects to a Scottish accent (i.e. "a-boot"), this idea has some weight.
And, yes, you're right. We have bastardized the English language beyond its origins. Now go take your blood pressure meds.
Seriously, BruSan. You need to chill. It's a fun thread about Canadian accents (not a serious subject, by any means, but so what?). If you go into some of the US or general CD boards, you will often see threads discussing different US dialects and accents. No one takes offense there. Leave it to my fellow Canadians to get their knickers in a twist over something completely innocuous.
However, I digress. As a child of Scottish immigrant parents, I agree when you say that Canadian accents are probably more derivative of the country's British origins. I remember watching a TV program years ago that touched on the differences between Canadian and American accents vis à vis each country's immigration patterns. The Scots settled more heavily in Canada than in the US; the English and Irish more in the US. So, considering the Canadian accent is, imho, similar in certain respects to a Scottish accent (i.e. "a-boot"), this idea has some weight.
And, yes, you're right. We have bastardized the English language beyond its origins. Now go take your blood pressure meds.
Yeah, but, ndg, you may not visit this forum enough to know just how many times this one troll shows up in different forms to bring up the same effing topic.....over, and over, and over. If we say "no, I don't say 'oot and aboot'", then he labels us as liars, and in denial.
It's usually just the ice breaker he uses to start bashing Canadians.
It gets annoying.
Quick.
I don't think any of us would have an issue discussing it, if it were genuine.
Last edited by Magnatomicflux; 01-23-2014 at 09:52 PM..
I'm from idaho, and when I go up north, I don't hear much difference in accent in the Canadian Rockies from what I hear in our part of the mountain range, except for the occasional Scots accent or Quebec English. Maybe all our lips freeze the same way.
I have a Canadian friend who's 21 and he says eh quite a bit though he denies it and says he only says it ironically. I personally think "eh" is a much better question tag than huh which is typical of the States.
Do you think it's disappearing in general among post-1990 borns or is not going anywhere? Are most young Canadians ashamed of being Canadian?
I use the term all the time and never once thought the colloquialism was something to be ashamed of,Most people i know including my kids use the term on occasion so i dont think its a term in decline..
like you say it sounds better than Huh eh!
In Canada "eh" does not have a universal frequency, and not all Canadians talk or sound the same. Like in the US and Britain, there can be stark differences between urban and rural accents. Rural accents tend to be more conservative, and urban one's are more progressive. In Vancouver I can usually tell hearing someone talk if they use a lot of "eh's" with heavy Canadian raising and shift that they are probably not from the city. The same would be said of Toronto and the urban areas of southern Ontario. Remote smaller towns and rural areas, especially in the Prairies, interior BC, and northern Ontario is where you'll hear a stereotypical Canadian accent. Often times, level of education and whether someone is blue collar or white collar can also affect how coarse the accent can be. A Lawyer or grad student from Calgary or Winnipeg will not sound much different from someone from Vancouver or Toronto, but an auto mechanic or cattle farmer will probably have much greater raising (what sounds like oot and aboot), and more frequent eh's.
The central/western Canadian accent from Vancouver and Toronto, and the larger cities in between, are very similar to the western American accent. Sometimes I won't think someone is Canadian on TV until I hear subtle Canadian raising in a word like about, and only be suspicious because of this. And it's never "aboot". At most it sounds like aboat, but usually more like abowt (like in crossbow). But in many urban area youths this is receding, and sounding more similar to "loud".
Last edited by Mmega; 01-29-2014 at 02:37 AM..
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Do Canadian teenagers/children still say eh?
