# Do us Canadians really have an accent to you Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 13, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837 "2016-07-13T19:26:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/41 "2016-07-13T22:54:24Z")
FWIW, here is my experience. I was born and lived my first 31 years in the US (Philly, NY, Urbana IL) and the subsequent 48 in Canada (Montreal). I still cannot tell if someone is Canadian unless they are Newfies (who sound vaguely Irish) unless there is some dead giveaway (e.g zed for zee or maybe abowt for about), but most Canadians seem to detect instantly that I am American. Obviously, I am all too familiar with a French Canadian accent, but I’m talking about native English speakers. It is just that among all the varieties of American English I’ve heard, the Canadian fades into the background. Nowhere near as distinctive as Boston or NY. One minor point: I’ve known two people who spent years in Philadelphia swear I could not possible have grown up there. I think they are just expecting the South Philly accent that my father had and my mother didn’t. And I mostly lived just a two blocks from where she grew up (and went to same elementary school she did and even had some of the same teachers). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/42 "2016-07-13T23:12:35Z")
People from North Carolina and southern Virginia have vowel sounds a lot like the stereotypical Canadian pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/43 "2016-07-13T23:20:59Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > . . . “Q’Appelle” would be equivalent to “What a Name”. To begin with, I blew it. It’s Qu’Appelle. My apologies. [The ship was named after the River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Qu%27Appelle_(DDE_264)). [The River was named for an Indian legend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu%27Appelle_River). In the legend, an Indian was out hunting, and heard someone call out. He answered, “Who calls?” Qu’Appelle. There was no answer, and the river was named for the mystery. I like this legend, as it is soft and gentle in tone. Very Canadian. It doesn’t have the bombast that any American legend would have had. “…And he was jumped by forty ferocious warriors, and fought them all off with his hatchet!” ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/44 "2016-07-13T23:36:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Allegedly in “The Black Shield of Falworth”, though the line itself is apocryphal: > > [The Black Shield of Falworth - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Shield_of_Falworth#False_quotation) Ha ha- TY or the information. The Wiki article gives us an even more elaborate possible example of US Northeast Cockney from the mouth of Tony Curtis, this time in an Ali Baba flick: “Dis is da palace of my fadah, and yondah lies da Valley of da Sun.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/45 "2016-07-13T23:57:44Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Do you hear a different accent from Californians than from Ohioans? Gosh, I know I do. And Ohioans don’t all sound the same. Cleveland and parts east are more like western New York; as you move south, they start sounding like Southerners. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/46 "2016-07-14T00:36:50Z")
> [@Periwinkle](#): > > Cris Collinsworth, who is from Dayton Only for his first 4 years, then the family moved to Titusville, FL. They would still have talked in Ohioan at home, of course. 😉 I’m from Columbus and never thought he was from there, but it’s hard to tell except for the Appalachian population there. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/47 "2016-07-14T00:45:58Z")
People from BC are generally indistinguishable from people in the Pacific Northwest, accent-wise. Alberta and Ontario, likewise, are pretty indistinguishable from the less embellished Northeastern accents (meaning: the more newscastery versions, nobody is going to sound like they’re from the Bronx when I say “northeastern”). All this is aside from minor shibboleths like “zed”, of course. Quebec is obviously its own thing. I haven’t met many people from Saskatchewan or the northern provinces, so I can’t say, but some Manitobans can sound like extreme American Midwestern accents. Newfoundlanders\* are the ones that generally have the really recognizable accents. I’ve also heard mixed accents from Nova Scotians and New Brunswick…ians, but generally they don’t sound much different from northeastern US people. - Originally this was “Newfies”, but then I googled and it’s considered a slur/mocking term? I’ve only ever encountered it as playful slang. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/48 "2016-07-14T00:54:20Z")
> [@Hoserted](#): > > What do you guys think? Some of us think we hear an accent. What do YOU guys think? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/49 "2016-07-14T01:53:05Z")
I went to a city on the Canadian border and was able to spot various Canadians because of how they talked. Their accents and rate of speech being slower were giveaways. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/50 "2016-07-14T05:35:27Z")
I’ve noticed a lot of Canadian actors who became popular on American TV have had no noticeable accent, such as Lorne Greene, Raymond Burr, William Shatner, and Michael J. Fox. However, I’ve watched the 1971 James Garner series _Nichols_ and noticed Margot Kidder saying “aboat.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/51 "2016-07-14T08:24:26Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > To be fair, that “Canadian” accent doesn’t necessarily start at the Canadian border. I had the hardest time telling a Minnesota accent from a Standard Canadian one (the “Tronno accent”, I call it). I think I have it down now. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/52 "2016-07-14T09:59:17Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > Y’all say sorry like sore-y too. No, Canadians pronounce “sorry” the way it’s spelled. A “sari” is a South Asian female garment. 🙂 > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It’s subtle, but there. It’s not “aboot” it’s a dipthong, distinctly different than the US pronunciation. There are other minor differences as well. In the US, the words “pasta” and “Mazda” have an “ah” sound; in Canada, it’s a short “a”, like in “hat”. > > A year or so ago, my daughter, who has lived in Canada for ten years (and just married a Canadian last month!), used the Canadian pronunciation of “pasta”, and I called her on it. Her reply was, “Oh, just go ahead and give me my Canadian citizenship, already!” I never really realized that there was a national difference in how “pasta” is pronounced. I’ve often heard the “ah” version of “pasta” but never thought of it as particularly American, but perhaps it is. Since I pronounce it correctly with the short “a”, like your daughter is now doing, to her credit, it tends to confirm your statement. But you’re certainly correct about “aboot” – **no one** says that, except possibly Newfies. But there is as you say a subtle but distinct difference in the Canadian vs. typically American pronunciation that’s called [Canadian raising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_raising). In the sound files at the link, the second to last (“bowed, bout”) contrasts how an American and a Canadian would say the “bout” syllable as in “about”, and the last one (“about, a boot, a boat”) shows exactly how a Canadian would pronounce “about”. It’s been said that many prominent American newscasters tend to sound “Canadian”, especially the national ones where networks don’t want strong regional accents. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/53 "2016-07-14T10:16:50Z")
I find it difficult to spot a Canadian by their speech. They are almost indistinguishable from normal people until they get dressed to go oot. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/54 "2016-07-14T10:22:43Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I find it difficult to spot a Canadian by their speech. They are almost indistinguishable from normal people until they get dressed to go oot. You still wouldn’t be able to recognize us if it wasn’t for the hoser tuques and hockey jerseys that are worn on formal occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/55 "2016-07-14T10:24:55Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > My French is a bit rusty, but I believe that “apelle” is French for appellation (i.e., “name”). Je m’apelle Sage Rat. My appellation is Sage Rat. > > “Q’Appelle” would be equivalent to “What a Name”. _Appelle_ is a conjugated verb, not a noun. The noun would be _[appellation](http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/appellation/4677?q=appellation#4658)_; same as in this other language that got the word from French, yanow? And it’s equally formal in French, it’s something one would be more likely to encounter in grammar lessons or in a police report than in everyday speech. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/56 "2016-07-14T11:13:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s been said that many prominent American newscasters tend to sound “Canadian”, especially the national ones where networks don’t want strong regional accents. Peter Jennings and Morley Safer were prominent examples. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/57 "2016-07-14T11:44:13Z")
I have a few Canadian friends and, really, it seems to me that saying there’s Canadian accent is about as broad as saying there’s an American accent. But just how America has a New England Accent, Southern Accent, Texan, Mid-West, etc. It’s the same for Canadians. One friend just over the border sounds almost indistinguishible from an American, but I do catch him saying “aboot” or “eh” types of things every so often. Obviously, those I know who are French Canadian have their own accent, and those from Western Canada sound different too. In all of that, it’s always interesting to me that people with accents often underestimate how thick their accents are. My ex was European, and she insisted she had a very light accent; it was about medium. A friend of mine from India asked me not too long ago how her accent was; again, she too was surprised when I told her it was actually pretty thick. Hell, I forget myself that I have a few regional things that sometimes people point out, otherwise I’m generally unaware that some things I say sound any different from people around me. So, I wouldn’t be shocked if many Canadians like the OP may have light to moderate accents, not really feel like they sound any different, but those few small differences that are so often exaggerated might stick out to an American. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/58 "2016-07-14T12:23:50Z")
When my son was 3-4 years old (a year or two ago), he watched a lot of TV programs that I could tell were produced in Canada – Super Why (Ontario), Paw Patrol (BC), and more obviously Caillou (Québec). The voice actors apparently had learned to tone down the Canadian “ou,” but they gave themselves away with the “o” sound in words like **got** , which they pronounced with the lips tense and almost rounded, quite unlike the typical American **“gaht,”** a looser, smiling-mouth sound that is especially pronounced in California but is really the standard in the US nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/59 "2016-07-14T12:40:37Z")
I’m always surprised when I find out someone I know is Canadian. The Canadians I know don’t have a different accent (that I can detect) from people native to the area I live and grew up in. I’m from deep South Texas, and I hear more of an accent in people from East Texas than in people from Canada. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837/60 "2016-07-14T12:41:33Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It’s subtle, but there. It’s not “aboot” it’s a dipthong, distinctly different than the US pronunciation. There are other minor differences as well. In the US, the words “pasta” and “Mazda” have an “ah” sound; in Canada, it’s a short “a”, like in “hat”. > > A year or so ago, my daughter, who has lived in Canada for ten years (and just married a Canadian last month!), used the Canadian pronunciation of “pasta”, and I called her on it. Her reply was, “Oh, just go ahead and give me my Canadian citizenship, already!” A few years ago, I had about my only SDMB argument, with hibernicus, about this (actually, about British pronunciation of “pasta,” which can resemble the Canadian one) – and I came away realizing I’d analyzed the situation incorrectly. This is what’s going on: Neither Brit/Can nor US English includes the mid-vowel “a” sound on native Italian (and Spanish). So, English speakers must approximate. There is one English phoneme – the sound written by linguists a an “ae” ligature, and found in “can,” “Sam,” and “fat.” We’ll call it “ae.” There’s a second English phoneme, the sound in “father,” “stomp” (by Californians, anyway), and, by many Brits, “can’t.” We’ll call it “ah” (though “aw” might work as well). The Italian “a” is pronounced with the mouth positioned about halfway between these two sounds. So, there’s nothing better or worse about which sound one chooses to approximate it. But the average normal “ae” sound among Brits and Canadians is a little closer to it than their “ah” is, so they usually pick “ae” – while the opposite applies to most Americans. Therefore, it sounds funny to Americans when their hear a Brit say “pasta” to rhyme with “fat.” Little do they know that their use of “pawsta/pahsta” is equally “incorrect,” in that it’s an approximation of the Romance mid-vowel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-canadians-really-have-an-accent-to-you-americans/759837.md?page=4)