Speech pattern and typographical variations across Canada

[esquire]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Up until about a year ago, I thought "Hyundai" was pronounce Hyoon-die. No idea where I came up with that.

Sounds like you were closer to the correct Korean pronunciation than the average Canadian!

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by begratto

According to this video posted by Huawei, it should be pronounced "Wah-Way".

It's a how to video for Western Audiences. Chinese speakers (Or Korean for that matter, which is why I used the imprecise term "Asian Languages") wouldn't have any need for such a video

[Doug]

Why ‘bag’ and ‘beg’ are starting to sound the same — and Calgary is an epicentre for linguistic shifts
BY JEN GERSON
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: JUN 3, 2016

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/why...ry-is-an-epicentre-for-linguistic-shifts

[esquire]

On Huawei, I got a kick out of this billboard:

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by Capsicum

What about Chinese-origin words like bok choy (the Chinese cabbage) or chow mein (the noodles), dim sum, feng shui, kung fu etc. I think they're pretty much pronounced in the Anglicized way now after being in the English vocabulary for generations, and few expect people to say it the way a Mandarin or Cantonese speaker does.

Those examples were all anglicized from the Cantonese prononciation. Most of them are pretty close to the intended pronounciation except maybe feng shui (sounds more like fong soi in cantonese) and Kung Fu (closer to gong-fu)

[Capsicum]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

Those examples were all anglicized from the Cantonese prononciation. Most of them are pretty close to the intended pronounciation except maybe feng shui (sounds more like fong soi in cantonese) and Kung Fu (closer to gong-fu)

Apparently, I've read that ketchup was also thought to be a Chinese word but that interpretation is disputed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup#Etymology

[Oyster Ditch]

The French Canadian word for “truck” is “camion” but it’s pronounced “truck” (C'é pretty right on man, mon truck handle dans les trails)

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by Capsicum

But lots of English speakers (though it often sounds old-fashioned to some, or sometimes folksy like Hank from King of the Hill) make a H-w sound when they say things like "What" or "Why" so it sounds like "Hwwwhat" and Hwwhy".



People still use Peking instead of Beijing for phrases like Peking duck or Pekingnese (the breed of dog).

What about Chinese-origin words like bok choy (the Chinese cabbage) or chow mein (the noodles), dim sum, feng shui, kung fu etc. I think they're pretty much pronounced in the Anglicized way now after being in the English vocabulary for generations, and few expect people to say it the way a Mandarin or Cantonese speaker does.

Most anglicized Chinese words come from Cantonese, not Mandarin. The Mandarin versions of several of those words are considerably different.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Capsicum

People still use Peking instead of Beijing for phrases like Peking duck or Pekingnese (the breed of dog).

.

In French it's still very common to refer to Beijing as Pékin. I believe reporters on Radio-Canada sign off by saying Pékin and not Bay-zhing.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

I don't think it's POCkistOn they're saying. It's more like "PAHKistAHn" the pronunciation of the letter A in most other languages besides English sounds more like "Ah" than "Aaa".

]

I've known a number of Canadians with roots in the ''subcontinent" and while they speak with Canadian accents, they say "pockistawn". It does appear to be an attempt at a more authentic pronunciation.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by esquire

I can live with Eye-raq and Eye-ran, but Eye-talian is going too far for me... it evokes the days when my parents were young and "pizza pies" were considered exotic ethnic cuisine. You still hear it from time to time, though.

I've only heard Eye-ran, Eye-raq and Eye-talian when in the U.S. or on U.S. media.

It sounds so unsophisticated.

[Acajack]

One thing I have noticed:

Francophones the world over (including us) will say "ein-schtein" for Einstein, and "franken-schtein" for Frankenstein.

Whereas Americans and Anglo-Canadians say "ein-stein" and "franken-stein".

This is not necessarily because francophones are overall more respectful of original pronunciations.

Leonardo da Vinci in French is Léonard de Vinci, all phonetized the French way.

Michaelangelo in French is Michel-Ange (with a hard C though, but still a very French sounding name).

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Oyster Ditch

The French Canadian word for “truck” is “camion” but it’s pronounced “truck” (C'é pretty right on man, mon truck handle dans les trails)

That sounds like someone in Timmins!!

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Acajack

One thing I have noticed:

Francophones the world over (including us) will say "ein-schtein" for Einstein, and "franken-schtein" for Frankenstein.

Whereas Americans and Anglo-Canadians say "ein-stein" and "franken-stein".

This is not necessarily because francophones are overall more respectful of original pronunciations.

Leonardo da Vinci in French is Léonard de Vinci, all phonetized the French way.

Michaelangelo in French is Michel-Ange (with a hard C though, but still a very French sounding name).

But they didn't change the names for Les Tortues Ninja lol.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Hyundai is similar, as the 'y' disappears from the English pronunciation. "hun-day" (or "hun-dye") instead of "hyeon-day"

And to Andy6's point, that change with the Kant example must have happened fast, because I took a couple of undergrad philosophy courses in the late 90s and it was cont all the way, I don't recall hearing can't at all.

Yep, it went very quickly. Pronouncing "Kant" as "Kawnt" in 1983 in Winnipeg would have sounded comically pretentious but an influx of U.S.-trained younger profs in the subsequent years brought this abomination to Canada. I hear "pahsta" and "nahzi" all the time now too, when you would have heard it literally never back then (other than on cable TV from the U.S.). In the other direction, there was the outlier "Falcon", which Americans pronounce with the short A but Canadians pronounce "Fahlcon" -- if Canadians go to the U.S. pronunciation with that one it will be evidence that we're just picking up U.S. habits willy-nilly.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Yep, it went very quickly. Pronouncing "Kant" as "Kawnt" in 1983 in Winnipeg would have sounded comically pretentious but an influx of U.S.-trained younger profs in the subsequent years brought this abomination to Canada.

Pronouncing it properly sounds a lot like a fairly vulgar word, maybe the fake pronunciation is better.

[SignalHillHiker]

One of the last superettes in the city that still uses our old term for a deppaneur is closing (there are still lots of them just with different names - they sell booze, deli food, and then regular convenience store stuff). I expect in one generation no one here will even know what a superette is and "minimart" will continue its rise to dominance.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Yep, it went very quickly. Pronouncing "Kant" as "Kawnt" in 1983 in Winnipeg would have sounded comically pretentious but an influx of U.S.-trained younger profs in the subsequent years brought this abomination to Canada.

Ha, you are absolutely correct. I looked up my old profs, a couple of whom are amazingly still chugging away, and two of the three received their Ph.D.s in the US.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

One of the last superettes in the city that still uses our old term for a deppaneur is closing (there are still lots of them just with different names - they sell booze, deli food, and then regular convenience store stuff). I expect in one generation no one here will even know what a superette is and "minimart" will continue its rise to dominance.

How do you pronounce "Maher"?

Is it "Mair"?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Loco101

But they didn't change the names for Les Tortues Ninja lol.

True, though the artist Raffaello in French is referred to as Raphaël.

Tintoretto in French is Le Tintoret.

But El Greco is still El Greco.