Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here's a resource. Looks like Canadian uses a mixture of British and American. Looks also like many words can have the "other" spelling as an accepted alternative.
Is it possible there might be more French influence in British English?
Yes, I think because of the British preference to stick with Latin/Continental spellings... labour, colour, specialisation, etc.
I found one interesting article though, that says French and Latin spellings differed for many words, and the British used both spellings for quite awhile: Why Do Brits and Americans Spell Words Differently?
When American and British history diverged, spelling for some words developed a different standard in the U.S. vs. Britain (and by extension, throughout the British Empire).
I don't think most Canadians really sound all that American. I hear a nasal twang from those in neighboring great lake regions in the U.S that we just don't have in Canada. Many other Americans have a drawl.
Why are we thought to sound exactly the same as them?
Because there are more accents in the US besides those near the Great Lakes. In fact, those around the Great lakes are different than just about all other English accents due to the North Cities vowel shift which doesn't occur anywhere else. For example, "block" sounds like "black". Other parts of the Midwest lack this and as mentioned, western accents, especially in California are often quite difficult and at times almost impossible to distinguish outside of the "ow" sound in "about" which, is never aboot in Canada but some people cannot hear the subtleties.
Definitely but subtly distinct. I can tell more easily probably because my mother and her entire side of the family is Canadian (BC). And she talked non-stop. So my ears got a lot of practice lol.
Canadians spell words differently ie centre/center due to our French heritage and NOT our British. Same with provinces as opposed to states..............provence is a French word. Similarly Air Canada vs US Mail is also relevant in most federal government departments ie Environment Canada. This is so government agencies can be properly stated in both languages. This is also why our anthem is "O Canada" and not "Oh, Canada"..............it had to be a title that was the same in both official languages.
I know some Americans say eh and some other words but we are talking generalities here. I am sure there are Americans who say I'm sorry or John and I, or eh, or chocolate bar but in Canada you will NEVER hear a Canadians say :I apologize, candy bar, me and John, and we don't write checks we write cheques. You will never hear a Canadians say words that Americans would and vise-versa.
Even if they don't have a regional American or Canadian accent I can still tell the difference in just a few sentences. I also agree that Americans tend to talk faster and in a more forthright way. Not everyone will sir or mame but again you will never hear that in Canada unless it's the army.
When telling language accents apart it's not just the sound but also what you say and how you say it.
Most of the examples in your posts are totally wrong.
I'm sorry, but Americans DO say "I'm sorry." How can you think that we don't say it? We say,"I apologize" instead????
Americans say, "John and me"? We say "John and I" when it's the subject of the sentence--as "John and I went out." We say "John and me" when it's the object of the sentence--as "He laughed at John and me." So we say both and so do Canadians.
I rarely hear anyone say Sir or Mame (?)--do you hear these things on tv or something?
AND, no one says "Y'all" or whatever it is unless they live down south in the USA.
Also, we do NOT call our country America. We call it the US or the USA.
I just had to have my own little rant about your posts because they are so inaccurate.
Where I live we can barely distinguish between our accent and that of the Canadians several hundred miles to the north. The only way to tell is that they say "eh" and (sorry, but it's true of that area of Canada) they DO say "hooose" instead of house. And they talk about (abooot) hockey A LOT, lol.
Most of the examples in your posts are totally wrong.
I'm sorry, but Americans DO say "I'm sorry." How can you think that we don't say it? We say,"I apologize" instead????
Americans say, "John and me"? We say "John and I" when it's the subject of the sentence--as "John and I went out." We say "John and me" when it's the object of the sentence--as "He laughed at John and me." So we say both and so do Canadians.
I rarely hear anyone say Sir or Mame (?)--do you hear these things on tv or something?
AND, no one says "Y'all" or whatever it is unless they live down south in the USA.
Also, we do NOT call our country America. We call it the US or the USA.
I just had to have my own little rant about your posts because they are so inaccurate.
Where I live we can barely distinguish between our accent and that of the Canadians several hundred miles to the north. The only way to tell is that they say "eh" and (sorry, but it's true of that area of Canada) they DO say "hooose" instead of house. And they talk about (abooot) hockey A LOT, lol.
I agree. You are in New England, If you are close to the Maritime provinces you will definitely notice a difference in accents though. Maritimers sometimes have the strongest accents.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
