"A fascinating and enlightening look at language and other important matters" - Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune "...definitely an interesting voice!" - Languagehat.com "...a great site!" - Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement
I saw this letter in a media column:
Just when I thought it was safe to watch TV news again without having to cringe at Canadian accents and mispronunciations, Channel 7 hires Ravi Baichwal. I'm sure he is a nice guy, and I'm willing to give him three months. If he hasn't dropped the Canadian accent by then, I say we call it a day.
Labels: Accents
posted by mj @ 10:36 PM
I love language, which is why I started Metrolingua. I currently translate Japanese and French, but I've also translated Spanish, Portuguese, and German. I speak Japanese pretty well and am a native English speaker. I used to speak more languages, but I've been putting more of my energy into radio, which is drying up due to consolidation and syndication. I also teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults, which is really enjoyable.
11 Comments:
I love accents in general -- they add so much charme [and in some cases misunderstandings] to conversations -- I love how we may speak the same language but with such different cultural backgrounds, dialects and accents. Ahh :-)
I think Canadians' way of pronouncing certain wovel sounds in particular is ever so cute :-)
Agreed! I never broke it down like that--it's the way they say their vowels :)
Okay, I'm Canadian and I don't get it-what do our accents sound like?
is there any way you can describe it to me?
Well, there's the obvious "aBOAT" (instead of about) and other similar pronunciations of the "o" sound. And the accent in general has a softness and "roundness" to it. I remember meeting people from Saskatchewan and Alberta who had cool accents.
I guess the easiest way to find out is to listen to Canadians talk and Americans talk. Americans (including myself) tend to sound more nasal.
Okay, I think I know where you're coming from. I have friends from Australia who say that I say 'about' like that..'aBOAT.' I guess even I can hear it sometimes.
I don't get where people hear the 'aBOOT' thing though. I've never heard ANY Canadian say it like that.
The aBOOT thing is just an exaggeration of the aBOAT thing--cuz it sounds so different and is the most prominent feature of the Canadian accent.
Another thing Canadians tend to say is "eh", like "It's a good idea, eh?" I think that's cool :)
Haha, I saw 'eh' alot. Not after every sentence like the stereotype makes it out to be, but I guess it's just a habit.
Whenever I go down to America though, I tend to say it a heck of alot more...just to see what everyone'll say. :P
I'm surprised you say "America" instead of "The States."
Yeah, I guess that's sort of a habit too.
If I had to give the Canadian accent a name, I'd call it articulation. Perhaps over-articulation at times. I always thought everyone liked vowels and r's. It's the whole French-Canadian spelling.
And the odd choice of words. In America I've learnt that nobody uses the words: keener, Newfie,pogey,rubbers,washroom,
chesterfield,or toque.
They don't eat Nanaimo bars, poutine, Smarties aren't the same. I went three hours south and felt like I was on a different continent.
Americans don't say "learnt" either :D
Post a Comment
<< Home