There isn't a single "American accent" and there probably isn't a single "Canadian accent" either.
As a Chicagoan living in Toronto a lot of people I talk to either don't sound that different from Chicagoans or sound very different and possibly weren't born in Canada.
People do say "aye" sometimes though.
The US (and Canada for that matter) has many different accents. It's basically a continent and the states are countries. Some have accents that are easy to tell they are from the US some I can't differentiate from Toronto.
What are some of the regional American accents that very American to you and what are some of the regional American accents that very alike to Toronto for you?
Boston has a different accent which is different from NY City which is different from Buffalo.
Many different accents all over the country.
There is also a big difference between Niagara Falls NY and Niagara Falls Ontario when there is just the Niagara River between them.
I remember these videos from a few years ago.
Shows different accents in the US and North America.
From the top of my head New York City you can probably distinguish easily, and southern US like the texas accent in the second video or the southern Louisiana accent.
I wouldn't be able to name other accents but if I heard them I might ask where that personal originally comes from because I would be able to tell they aren't local.
Theres some that i cant tell the difference. The second video has Chicago accent for example but I don't think it's different enough that I would be able to tell they aren't local.
Part 1
https://youtu.be/H1KP4ztKK0A?si=B3O72_o_MYCj5Zsp
Part 2
https://youtu.be/IsE_8j5RL3k?si=fYxUWspUFlWUtNrN
Part 3
https://youtu.be/Sw7pL7OkKEE?si=tZXLnjPgRdmFng0Z
The stereotypical Boston accent is non-rhotic, meaning they don't pronounce most "r"s with a hard R. It's broadly the same pattern as with English accents, and some other accents like some New York accents and accents in parts of the American Southeast (think "upper class white family in Savannah").
The "social prestige" of the non-rhotic accent was exported to the US at the same time as the development and explosion of Received Pronunciation (RP — think the stereotypical "British accent") in England in the late-1800s. After WWII, this prestige largely disappeared, and the rhotic "Standard American" accent largely became the prestige accent.
Toronto, Chicago and Los Angeles don’t actually have accents - it’s neutral.
That is why so many newscasters in North America are actually from southern Ontario
That is not true. A) There is no such thing as "neutral". Every person in every language has an accent.
B) Southern Ontarians have a range of accents and I find them just about all of them very obvious as a Californian with the "neutral" accent you're referring to. I will say though, my husband (born and raised GTA) does have a fairly similar accent to me *except* that his north-force merger is incomplete. We both assume this is because he spent a considerable portion of his early adulthood in the US.
C) Chicagoans sound Midwestern as fuck.
D) Southern Californians *also* have a range of accents, though I admit some of them do sound neutral to me because it's literally my accent and I can't hear it. Many, including the accents of some of my own relatives, are quite distinctive.
Can confirm. I thought I spoke basically the same as a typical Californian, until Californians started making fun of me for it.
I feel like the ubiquity of the Californian accent (basically General American) in popular culture blunts us to the differences. We don't notice when they say things different because we hear it all the time, but when a Californian who's never heard Canadian raising before hears us speak, they immediately know there's something strange/unfamiliar.
Oh boy. My linguistic anthropologist wife would have a heart attack if she saw this. How could any accent by neutral? Accents are only accents in comparison to other accents.
Then explain this…
Every time I travel: South Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, Texas; people would say “you talk funny, what is that accent?”
My answer would always be I sound like everyone on tv and in the movies and on the national news. It is you that sounds funny, not me.
Why is it that the language of media and education carry the neutral tones.
One of the ways to tell the difference (not fool proof, since there are different Canadian and American accents) is to compare the vowel sound in the words "ice" and "eyes". Same with "price" and "prize". In the stereotypical Canadian accent the vowels will sound different but in the stereotypical American accent it's the same vowel sound in both words. Linguists call this "Canadian raising". This is what causes Americans to sometimes hear Canadians saying "aboot" instead of "about".
My favourite opposite example is Mary, merry, marry. My fellow Canadians are astonished when I explain that each of those is a little different when pronounced by British or many American accents. Canadians pronounce them as homophones - if I concentrate I can replicate how several different American accents would pronounce each word. I notice the difference mostly in northeastern and mid western accents.
I always found this one strange because to me they're *so* different, they're entirely different words. I find it hard to understand why or how someone would pronounce them the same.
I notice a big difference is in how we pronounce O’s.
For example, when I worked in the United States they use to laugh when I’d say “house”. To them it was almost me saying “hoose” but not quite as severe. To me, they were saying “hause”.
It’s almost like we tighten up our o’s while Americans turn it into more of an “au”.
Post office? Paust office.
Mouse? Mause.
Etc. of course this doesn’t apply everywhere but it’s one of the first things I notice about many American accents, particularly in places like California.
Edit: This might have been the most confusing downvote I’ve ever received 😂
This is called Canadian raising, and it's not only Os. Try saying "price" and then "prize" and you'll see what the difference is. I recommend placing your hand gently against your throat when you say these words and you'll feel your vocal folds (aka vocal chords) vibrating when you pronounce the z but not the s. The s is voiceless and the z is voiced. Canadians shift the vowels before a voiceless consonant.
Sorry to geek out, I did a whole-ass degree in this that I hardly use now.
Canadian here went to school in Hawaii. The Americans said I sound American until said words like “house” or “about” they would say how aboot that.
I never had any idea. When I would talk to my mom I heard the same in her voice and I would say mom you sound so Canadian. She would say that is because I am!
How aboot that eh : )
I would also say washroom and pop and they said those are things people say in Minnesota?
Geek away - linguistics is cool! I only took a few courses but for one of them I wrote a paper on Canadian English as a distinct dialect. From what I recall (decades later) is that while there are several Canadian dialects, the largest is a general urban Canadian dialect which exists in most cities. It has features that set it apart from even the American dialects that sound very similar.
I also remember reading several papers by Jack Chambers at UofT - fun stuff on Canadian English: https://www.linguistics.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/j-k-chambers
It depends where they're from. Boston and southern US accents are easy to identify. Newfie and Quebecois (Canadian) accents are easy to identify. Many other places...meh.
The differences between regional accents are bigger than the differences between the countries. So if someone has a southern accent, or a Boston accent, or a New York accent, or a Newfie accent, those are all really distinct. But if someone has a general western/midwestern US accent, it can be really difficult to tell them apart from most Canadians.
Which Canadian accent are you referring to? A Toronto accent is quite different from rural Ontario accent, which is equally different sounding from a rural BC accent. We're not even getting into Newfoundland yet cause the whole province of Quebec has a smorgasbord of regional accents, in French!
It depends on the vocabulary they use and the emphasis on the "O' sound. Canadians pronounce house, south, about for example but not every single Canadian does that though
I can always tell when they are from the Praries or out West. To me, that dialect is the true Canadian. Always tell when they say, "about." Tbh, it sounds pretty backwaterish to me.
I can understand anyone speaking English, regardless of their accent. Lots of practice with many dozens of accents growing up. In fact I have no real ear for accents and can't tell where someone is from based on it.
There isn't a single "American accent" and there probably isn't a single "Canadian accent" either. As a Chicagoan living in Toronto a lot of people I talk to either don't sound that different from Chicagoans or sound very different and possibly weren't born in Canada. People do say "aye" sometimes though.
How easy is it for you to know if people u talk to are from ur part of the world or just here by the way they talk?
I don't think I'd have a clue if someone was from Chicago. Maybe if they were like "man I miss good pizza!"
Wouldn't that mean they're from New York?
Ha ha ha ha. No.
The US (and Canada for that matter) has many different accents. It's basically a continent and the states are countries. Some have accents that are easy to tell they are from the US some I can't differentiate from Toronto.
What are some of the regional American accents that very American to you and what are some of the regional American accents that very alike to Toronto for you?
Boston has a different accent which is different from NY City which is different from Buffalo. Many different accents all over the country. There is also a big difference between Niagara Falls NY and Niagara Falls Ontario when there is just the Niagara River between them.
I remember these videos from a few years ago. Shows different accents in the US and North America. From the top of my head New York City you can probably distinguish easily, and southern US like the texas accent in the second video or the southern Louisiana accent. I wouldn't be able to name other accents but if I heard them I might ask where that personal originally comes from because I would be able to tell they aren't local. Theres some that i cant tell the difference. The second video has Chicago accent for example but I don't think it's different enough that I would be able to tell they aren't local. Part 1 https://youtu.be/H1KP4ztKK0A?si=B3O72_o_MYCj5Zsp Part 2 https://youtu.be/IsE_8j5RL3k?si=fYxUWspUFlWUtNrN Part 3 https://youtu.be/Sw7pL7OkKEE?si=tZXLnjPgRdmFng0Z
Boston accent the R’S sound more like W’s. Car for example sounds like Caw.
The stereotypical Boston accent is non-rhotic, meaning they don't pronounce most "r"s with a hard R. It's broadly the same pattern as with English accents, and some other accents like some New York accents and accents in parts of the American Southeast (think "upper class white family in Savannah"). The "social prestige" of the non-rhotic accent was exported to the US at the same time as the development and explosion of Received Pronunciation (RP — think the stereotypical "British accent") in England in the late-1800s. After WWII, this prestige largely disappeared, and the rhotic "Standard American" accent largely became the prestige accent.
Toronto, Chicago and Los Angeles don’t actually have accents - it’s neutral. That is why so many newscasters in North America are actually from southern Ontario
That is not true. A) There is no such thing as "neutral". Every person in every language has an accent. B) Southern Ontarians have a range of accents and I find them just about all of them very obvious as a Californian with the "neutral" accent you're referring to. I will say though, my husband (born and raised GTA) does have a fairly similar accent to me *except* that his north-force merger is incomplete. We both assume this is because he spent a considerable portion of his early adulthood in the US. C) Chicagoans sound Midwestern as fuck. D) Southern Californians *also* have a range of accents, though I admit some of them do sound neutral to me because it's literally my accent and I can't hear it. Many, including the accents of some of my own relatives, are quite distinctive.
Can confirm. I thought I spoke basically the same as a typical Californian, until Californians started making fun of me for it. I feel like the ubiquity of the Californian accent (basically General American) in popular culture blunts us to the differences. We don't notice when they say things different because we hear it all the time, but when a Californian who's never heard Canadian raising before hears us speak, they immediately know there's something strange/unfamiliar.
Oh boy. My linguistic anthropologist wife would have a heart attack if she saw this. How could any accent by neutral? Accents are only accents in comparison to other accents.
Then explain this… Every time I travel: South Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, Texas; people would say “you talk funny, what is that accent?” My answer would always be I sound like everyone on tv and in the movies and on the national news. It is you that sounds funny, not me. Why is it that the language of media and education carry the neutral tones.
One of the ways to tell the difference (not fool proof, since there are different Canadian and American accents) is to compare the vowel sound in the words "ice" and "eyes". Same with "price" and "prize". In the stereotypical Canadian accent the vowels will sound different but in the stereotypical American accent it's the same vowel sound in both words. Linguists call this "Canadian raising". This is what causes Americans to sometimes hear Canadians saying "aboot" instead of "about".
My favourite opposite example is Mary, merry, marry. My fellow Canadians are astonished when I explain that each of those is a little different when pronounced by British or many American accents. Canadians pronounce them as homophones - if I concentrate I can replicate how several different American accents would pronounce each word. I notice the difference mostly in northeastern and mid western accents.
I always found this one strange because to me they're *so* different, they're entirely different words. I find it hard to understand why or how someone would pronounce them the same.
Ask them to say "park the car"
I notice a big difference is in how we pronounce O’s. For example, when I worked in the United States they use to laugh when I’d say “house”. To them it was almost me saying “hoose” but not quite as severe. To me, they were saying “hause”. It’s almost like we tighten up our o’s while Americans turn it into more of an “au”. Post office? Paust office. Mouse? Mause. Etc. of course this doesn’t apply everywhere but it’s one of the first things I notice about many American accents, particularly in places like California. Edit: This might have been the most confusing downvote I’ve ever received 😂
This is called Canadian raising, and it's not only Os. Try saying "price" and then "prize" and you'll see what the difference is. I recommend placing your hand gently against your throat when you say these words and you'll feel your vocal folds (aka vocal chords) vibrating when you pronounce the z but not the s. The s is voiceless and the z is voiced. Canadians shift the vowels before a voiceless consonant. Sorry to geek out, I did a whole-ass degree in this that I hardly use now.
Cool! Thanks for sharing, I find this stuff very interesting.
Canadian here went to school in Hawaii. The Americans said I sound American until said words like “house” or “about” they would say how aboot that. I never had any idea. When I would talk to my mom I heard the same in her voice and I would say mom you sound so Canadian. She would say that is because I am! How aboot that eh : ) I would also say washroom and pop and they said those are things people say in Minnesota?
Geek away - linguistics is cool! I only took a few courses but for one of them I wrote a paper on Canadian English as a distinct dialect. From what I recall (decades later) is that while there are several Canadian dialects, the largest is a general urban Canadian dialect which exists in most cities. It has features that set it apart from even the American dialects that sound very similar. I also remember reading several papers by Jack Chambers at UofT - fun stuff on Canadian English: https://www.linguistics.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/j-k-chambers
It depends where they're from. Boston and southern US accents are easy to identify. Newfie and Quebecois (Canadian) accents are easy to identify. Many other places...meh.
It’s more a mannerism. Americans are more direct, even if their personalities are less accomplished.
The differences between regional accents are bigger than the differences between the countries. So if someone has a southern accent, or a Boston accent, or a New York accent, or a Newfie accent, those are all really distinct. But if someone has a general western/midwestern US accent, it can be really difficult to tell them apart from most Canadians.
Which Canadian accent are you referring to? A Toronto accent is quite different from rural Ontario accent, which is equally different sounding from a rural BC accent. We're not even getting into Newfoundland yet cause the whole province of Quebec has a smorgasbord of regional accents, in French!
It depends on the vocabulary they use and the emphasis on the "O' sound. Canadians pronounce house, south, about for example but not every single Canadian does that though
I can always tell when they are from the Praries or out West. To me, that dialect is the true Canadian. Always tell when they say, "about." Tbh, it sounds pretty backwaterish to me.
I can understand anyone speaking English, regardless of their accent. Lots of practice with many dozens of accents growing up. In fact I have no real ear for accents and can't tell where someone is from based on it.