Speech pattern and typographical variations across Canada

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

That was awesome. What it sounds like is an Irish lad who has lived in Canada for 20 years. It would definitely stick out here. Are you able to switch it off when you go to another province?

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[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Not sure we are talking about the same thing.

It's certainly not like the way the month of May in pronounced. It's more like if you combined the word "mare" (female horse) and "yo".

Exactly right, although "Mare-ee-oh is pretty common as well.

[middeljohn]

I kept it family friendly. I wouldn't say I'm a prime example of all Torontonians, but I'm a pretty good example kods who learned to speak english in Toronto. Punjabs, Urdus, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Ghanians, whatever. If they moved here between ages 5 and 12 it seems they manage to sound mostly Canadian but not quite. I'm lazy with Ts and Gs. I just realized I didn't get to use "trying to" anywhere in the video, which I actually say as "tryna". If I move out west it'll be interesting to see where people think I'm from, or if they even notice anything.

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[Acajack]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

Sorry, I meant you definitely have an accent. I just liked it because it's such a famous accent, but I'd never actually ever heard someone with it.

You've never hear a Newfoundland accent in person, or never heard a Newfoundland accent AT ALL (not even on TV, radio, etc.)?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

I kept it family friendly. I wouldn't say I'm a prime example of all Torontonians, but I'm a pretty good example kods who learned to speak english in Toronto. Punjabs, Urdus, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Ghanians, whatever. If they moved here between ages 5 and 12 it seems they manage to sound mostly Canadian but not quite. I'm lazy with Ts and Gs. I just realized I didn't get to use "trying to" anywhere in the video, which I actually say as "tryna". If I move out west it'll be interesting to see where people think I'm from, or if they even notice anything.

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Sounds like pretty standard south central Ontario to me.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Interesting, your attempt at a mainland accent sounded a lot like the fake Newfoundland accent we like to play around with

Originally Posted by middeljohn

I kept it family friendly. I wouldn't say I'm a prime example of all Torontonians, but I'm a pretty good example kods who learned to speak english in Toronto. Punjabs, Urdus, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Ghanians, whatever. If they moved here between ages 5 and 12 it seems they manage to sound mostly Canadian but not quite. I'm lazy with Ts and Gs. I just realized I didn't get to use "trying to" anywhere in the video, which I actually say as "tryna". If I move out west it'll be interesting to see where people think I'm from, or if they even notice anything.

You talk the same way I talk, with all the bro, man stuff. Probably an age thing. How old are you? I'm 18

[Architype]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

So, here is how I say "Pembina", "Mario", and a quick story to try to give a relaxed, authentic version of my accent.

Set to separatist bikinis... lol

FSexHZ7JYTM[/YOUTUBE]

Your accent is very middle of the road, middle class St. John's with strong Irish overtones; typical of 30s age group, someone who has spent most of his life there, and usually educated there. It's also a modern accent version, evolved and subtly diluted with strong mainland influences. You wont find it much outside the city.

Because I didn't grow up in the city I've never had that accent, but some of my younger relatives do.

[middeljohn]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Sounds like pretty standard south central Ontario to me.

Put it this way, if I go to Europe they'd immediately think I'm Canadian or American. Another important thing to note is that eberyone also has their own individual way of talking. To someone from another part of the country I probably sound like the rest of Southern Ontarians, but Southern Ontarians pick up that I say some things ever-so-slightly differently. Not all of them do. In London I actually hear more about it than Toronto though.

Originally Posted by GlassCity

You talk the same way I talk, with all the bro, man stuff. Probably an age thing. How old are you? I'm 18

I'm 25. I look young for my age (and a poor quality video doesn't help) until I stand up and you see I'm 6'6 lol. The "man" and "bro" thing is definitely more prevalent with younger generations, but it also has to do with personalities. Laid back people who don't care too much about sounding "proper" also call each other "man" at the very least. I know.middle-aged people who do this.

[middeljohn]

Oh and SHH even while attempting to sound more "Canadian" you still sounded like a Newfie

Probably the beer haha. Maybe I'll make a video after I've had a few, but I can't guarantee it'll be family friendly haha.

[GlassCity]

I'll do a video when I get home in a few days too. I'll probably do the youtube accent tag thing and maybe tell a quick story so you can hear me talk more naturally

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Architype

Your accent is very middle of the road, middle class St. John's with strong Irish overtones; typical of 30s age group, someone who has spent most of his life there, and usually educated there. It's also a modern accent version, evolved and subtly diluted with strong mainland influences. You wont find it much outside the city.

Because I didn't grow up in the city I've never had that accent, but some of my younger relatives do.

God love ya for trying to say my accent is middle class. I am very well aware that my accent is lower class St. John's. You won't find worse this side of Buckmaster's Circle.

And the mainland influences are probably because I was up there for years.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

I kept it family friendly. I wouldn't say I'm a prime example of all Torontonians, but I'm a pretty good example kods who learned to speak english in Toronto. Punjabs, Urdus, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Ghanians, whatever. If they moved here between ages 5 and 12 it seems they manage to sound mostly Canadian but not quite. I'm lazy with Ts and Gs. I just realized I didn't get to use "trying to" anywhere in the video, which I actually say as "tryna". If I move out west it'll be interesting to see where people think I'm from, or if they even notice anything.

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You mainlanders all look so tall. lol

That's not a bad accent.

The bro thing is just... SO foreign here. You could not sound more ridiculous if you went around speaking in Madonna's British accent.

[Architype]

There is a Newfoundland equivalent of the English Estuary accent, many prominent Nflders have it, however I dont know what to call it, a Gulf accent?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hDy3RZJNxM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2X9L5llhTQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary_English

[Doug]

Originally Posted by P. Alouishous

Personally, I love having a lot of variability in accents. Even accents I don't like the sound of (eg, Boston or Long Island) add a ton of character to those regions and the people who live there. I wish there was more accent variety in Western Canada, but to me everyone sounds the same whether they're from cities, rural areas, Alberta or BC.

The Prairies used to have an accent similar to that parodied in the movie "Fargo". This makes sense since many of the original English speaking homesteaders came from places like Minnesota and North Dakota. You can hear remnants in smaller towns, particularly in Saskatchewan and less transient parts of Alberta. I notice far more of it in Edmonton than Calgary.

When I moved to Ontario, people always accused me of talking California. Besides "aboot", a pronunciation that stood out there was "house" kind of like "hoos".

[kool maudit]

for an opener, i always had some affection for the (i think oakland-bred) "what it do?"

[SpongeG]

when the newfies get together at work we just sit there in amazement as we cannot understand a word they say to each othere lol

anyway one of them says the last name lamonde as loh-man - very weird

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

when the newfies get together at work we just sit there in amazement as we cannot understand a word they say to each othere lol

anyway one of them says the last name lamonde as loh-man - very weird

There are times I sit in amazement when I hear people from other areas of the island speak, the dialect can change on a dime from one cove to the next.

Lomond (the D sound is eliminated) is a fairly common name in certain places, never heard of any Lamonde's though, they probably just apply the pronunciation of the nearest familiar name to it. Benoit is a common name in Bay St. George, where I'm from, it's pronounced Ben-wah but a lot of people from the east coast will say Bennett since they aren't familiar with the french name.

[SignalHillHiker]

This is great. Two or three audibly different accents from one village on the West Coast:

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[middeljohn]

Northwest Territories accent. It's embarassing how often I forget that that part of Canada exists.

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[Aylmer]

I like the Québec English accent's quirks like the differentiation between 'Merry' and 'Marry' (I don't know of any other accent that does that) and the use of some words in a French way (Close the lights; The commerces on Princiaple; Me I like that when you cook).


Another funny thing is that I find that, as I learn more languages, little grammatical and lexical ticks get added to my English and French:

- From German, I get the sentence-ending interrogative 'oder?' which roughly translates to '...or is it something else?'; So I'll often catch myself saying things like 'Do you want coffee, or?'

- From Swedish, I get the overuse of the greeting 'Hej' [Heïï] and the word 'Jo' [yoo], which is a way of saying yes to a negative affirmation like 'You didn't cut the lawn. Yoo, I did'.

- From Japanese, I get そう [Sôôh], which roughly translate to 'aha' or 'is that so?'


I try to keep these little artefacts to a minimum, since they aren't always understood by the people with whom I'm speaking, but sometimes it can be surprisingly hard, especially when there isn't a good translation (like in the case of 'oder?' and 'jo').