American and canadian accents

[giraffe_02]

can anyone tell the difference between American and canadian accents? when i hear someone speak in either of these I can never tell which one it is??

[Pippa68]

I can tell ~ I have Canadian relatives & have also visited the US so it is quite easy for me..although don't ask me to tell you the difference in dialects thoughout the countries!

Canadians tend to speak with more of a Gaelic sound to their accent ~ I think that is the only way I can describe it (in the same way folks from Chicago sound to other Americans).

eg. whilst an American would say 'about' a Canadian would sound more like 'Aboot' mind you, I have heard some New Englanders sound the same..talk about confusing! I won't go into the fact that Canadians always finish their sentences with 'ay' ;o)

[giraffe_02]

thanks for your answer, suppose it is hard to explain, I need to hear someone speaking in both to tell the difference

[THECORBYLOON]

I can tell the difference too. As Pippa said, Canadians have a different twang. Scots who have lived in America for many years have an accent similar to Canadians and I'm sure that the Canadian accent is influenced by the Scots, Gaels and Irish who moved there over the centuries

[littleoldme]

Given the size of Canada compared to the size of the UK, and given the large number of regional accents we have, would it not be a bit misleading to talk of just one Canadian accent (or one American accent, for that matter - inhabitants of New York often sound very different to inhabitants of Dallas, for example)?

In Quebec, of course, they speak French as a first language, so I suspect that their accent would be rather different for starters. The rest of the country covers a huge area, so would there not be many regional variations? Just a thought.

[THECORBYLOON]

littleoldme there are different Scots accents and different English accents but they are completely different and can be identified as Scots or English.

[Pippa68]

Yes there would be regional variations, for sure ~ but it would probably only be obvious to US inhabitants..although you can definately tell the difference between a New Yorker & a Floridian (New Yorkers get their accent from the Dutch settlers, I believe).

As THECORBYLOON quite rightly says, an American probably won't be able to tell the difference between our regional accents so much..how many times have you heard an American talk about a 'British accent'?

However they would derfinately be able to tell the difference between a Scots, Irish, Welsh and English accent as they are different countries.

[Pippa68]

Sorry ~ I meant to say that an American would probably not be able to tell the difference between regional accents in England..although the same could probably be said about Welsh, Scots & Irish accents too.

I can tell the difference between the Mancunian & Oldham accents whilst a lot of people can't (in the South, anyway ;o) I can also tell the difference between Northern & Southern Irish accents but that is as far as it goes with regions.

I once made the mistake of asking someone from Sunderland if they were from Newcastle. It was expected that I could tell the difference between accents but I couldn't. There you go ;o)

[mightyWBA]

I have Canadian relatives,and they say a simple test is to say "about".Canadians generally say "aboot".

Pippa as for you mixing Sunderland and Newcastle accents its the same in the West Midlands.People think us with Black Country(Dudley,West Brom,and Wolverhampton)accents are Brummies,but Brummies say Larf,and barth etc,while we say laff(or loff) and bath.

[Pippa68]

Uhuh mightyWBA I am sure this is the case in a lot of regions, I just used the Newcastle/Sunderland one as an example ;o)

When I lived in Manchester most people thought I was a Londoner, when in fact I was from Surrey and had much more of a Surrey 'ooo-arrr' twang!

[Jennykins]

Hey giraffe, Iam Canadian and I dont say" aboot" and I have never herd a Canadian say it eighter lol....But what I have noticed is that each province sounds much different. Im from British Columbia and we dont seem to have a sertin accent that stands out. I noticed that Canadians from Alberta sound like cowboys lol... and people from NFL sound like there from new york.

And yes we have a big inflewence from other Countries since Canada is made up of all cultures and ethnicities.

I wouldnt even be able to tell you what race is the most of out here. lol

You should really come and check out BC one time.. its sooooooooo fun out here... Have a great day. Jenx

ps dont mind my spelling.. its aweful I know...

[maxximus]

let's clear up this "aboot" thing. the only canadian's i have ever heard say this are from a small region in ontario, not sure why they say it but trust me the overwhelming majority of canadians say "about" unless your from quebec which is french or the maritime provinces which all have their own distinct accents.eastern and western canada along with the west coast states of the u.s. all have the same or very similiar accents, unless english is their second language.the mid western states all have slightly different accents, as far as the eastern states go people i've met fom them also seem to have distinct accents but i have not visited these states personally, yet. being born and raised in british columbia near the u.s. border i have to ask canadians i meet where they are from as i cannot tell by their accents, unless they are from quebec or the maritimes which is usually immediately apparent. and on the rare occasion when you meet someone from that legendary place where they say (aboot)!! i have been to britain many times and it would seem most brits think most canadians live in toronto, i know it's the closest big canadian city to you, but canada is a very big country.

[giraffe_02]

Hiya Everyone. I am aware that there are different dialects in canada, just like in any other country. But I often hear a canadian speaking and mistake them for an american!!

When I listen to both accents, I cannot make out any differences in the way they pronounce words. I suppose I will have to watch Due South and Friends back to back, to work it out lol.

If you hear an English person, a Scottish Person and a French, I can identify which country they are from! but when I hear canadians I cannot as I think they are American!! Sorry to offend any Canadians if I have!!

[maxximus]

absolutely none taken, take care eh!

[Jennykins]

Hey Maxximus, Where abouts in BC are ya from ? Im from Vancouver Island..