Does Canada have accents?

unclepercy

unclepercy

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I'm from the US, Texas to be precise. So, as you might expect I have a bit of a Texas accent. Its not as pronounced as you might expect because I was born and raised in a big city. The country accent is more southern - my husband has it.

Across America, we have quite a few quite distinctive accents. Do you know, for example, if someone is from Labrador if you live in Manitoba?

Uncle
 
karrie

karrie

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Oh heck yeah. It's pretty clear. There's even a big difference if someone's speaking French to you, you can tell if they're from the East Coast, Quebec, or the prairies.

I just don't know if it would be as clear to someone from the states as it is to us or not.
 
karrie

karrie

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Check out shows.ctv.ca and see if you can watch Corner Gas on-line. It's a good example of Western Canadian accents.
 
EagleSmack

EagleSmack

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My mother's side of the family is from Newfoundland and I can't even understand the older uncles. My grandmother from Newfie had a very strong accent, almost like an Irish brogue. I think the rank and file Canadians sound a lot like people from Minnesota and have very pronounced "O"s.
 
lone wolf

lone wolf

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EagleSmack said:
My mother's side of the family is from Newfoundland and I can't even understand the older uncles. My grandmother from Newfie had a very strong accent, almost like an Irish brogue. I think the rank and file Canadians sound a lot like people from Minnesota and have very pronounced "O"s.
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That's 'cuz the biggest word in a Canadian's vocabulary is COLD - as heavy on the "O" as chattering teeth allow....

Off topic! Hey Herm.... Ow's da b'y! Luvvin dere on dat dere rock orya?

Woof! (BTW, that's pronounced like an American says 'roof')
 
dirtylinder

dirtylinder

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I moved to Ottawa for 3 winters, and when I got there, everyone was asking what part of America I was from, to which I always replied, "the Canadaian part". I think it was because I has worked in the hospitality industry in Campbell River for years, and I think I picked up the southern drawl of the clients. Then again who knows, us BC'ers may have an accent that I wasn't aware of.
 
no color

no color

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dirtylinder said:
I moved to Ottawa for 3 winters, and when I got there, everyone was asking what part of America I was from, to which I always replied, "the Canadaian part". I think it was because I has worked in the hospitality industry in Campbell River for years, and I think I picked up the southern drawl of the clients. Then again who knows, us BC'ers may have an accent that I wasn't aware of.
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Same here. I've lived in the southern US for quite a spell and picked up the accent. I'm constantly asked what part of the south I'm from and have seen many an eyebrow raised when I tell them that I'm from Montreal. :-?
 
talloola

talloola

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What I have noticed over the years, is that the news announcers (anchors)on national tv seem to
sound exactly like 'us',(even coming out of new york, and some other areas of the u.s.) so that leaves me to believe that we don't actually have what is referred to as an 'accent',here on the west coast, but a way of talking that seems to be 'neutral' ?

I chatted with an american in yuma some years ago, and she told me she can always tell
when talking to a canadian by their 'scottish' accent. I guess she only talked to maritimers, and i'm not sure if any of them have scottish sounding accents, as they differ
from each other too.
I tried to explain to her, that just like the u.s., canadians have different accents depending where they were born and educated, she didn't seem to believe me, but
there I was talking to her, with 'no' scottish accent. Maybe she didn't even believe that
I am a canadian, not sure, as I gave up that attempt, wished her a nice day, and moved on.
 
Praxius

Praxius

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Dec 18, 2007
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I have noticed that in Ontario/Toronto area, people have more of a merged accent with those in the Northern States.... basically if you watch CNN, or CTV or ABC, or CBC's main news sections, their all the same it seems. Although I am told the "Eh's" and "O's / U's" are more apparent in middle Canada.

Atlantic Canada has a slew of different accents. Since New Brunswick is bilingual, the english speaking have a bit of a french accent and vice versa. Nova Scotia depends all on where you go. Up in Cape Breton you will have accents with some Gaelic roots and a dash of Newfoundlandez'. Southern NS is still for the most part majority Fishing community, so their accents are run together, they speak faster then normal and has a bit of a hybred between Irish/Scottish/British and average Canadian accent.... I couldn't make out what my grandfather was saying until the last few years of his life as sad as that sounds, lol.

However central Nova Scotia is a bit more balanced in between all the other various accents. Although I grew up in the Highlands/Pictou County area and I figured my accent would have been similar to that here in Halifax, people still can easily guess I'm from the New Glasgow area. *shrugs*

As it goes for PEI.... I never been (Yeah, I grew up for many years so close that one could see PEI off in the distance over the waters, yet I never stepped foot there.)

But there are plenty of accents, which I believe has more to do with the society surrounding you and their decendants.... which is in every country I imagine.

Take that movie Snatch where Brad Pitt had that horribly difficult accent to figure out.
 
mt_pockets1000

mt_pockets1000

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If you were to visit the Baie Verte peninsula in Newfoundland where I grew up as a boy you'd swear Brad Pitt took that accent straight from there. I understood every word he said and found the movie hilarious. I used to talk like that but living on the mainland for so long I've lost the accent, except when I have a few shots of rum and slip back into it with ease. I'm sure if I were to move back there it wouldn't take long to fall into the dialect again. You adapt to the area you live. The old saying back home is "we talks fast because we understands fast".
 
unclepercy

unclepercy

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Toro said:
YES!

Absolutely. I can definitely hear it when I'm talking to Canadians.
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So, when you make a customer service call and the person is speaking good English, you can tell immediately that they are from Labrador? I ask that because it happened to me,
and I wondered where the heck he was from. He told me, and asked me if I knew where that was. Yes. But, I can't tell any large difference from BC and the west coast.

My friend from Sask. has almost eliminated her Canadian accent, but her husband needs to slow it down for the south. He talks way too fast for this area, and it gives him away.

Uncle
 
talloola

talloola

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Toro said:
Any Canadians.

Maritimers are easy to differentiate.
Yes, but they also differentiate from each other.

People from Ontario have a clear, crisp accent.
Ontarions talk just like I do, and the rest of my west coast citizens, if they were
born and raised here, but on the west coast there is a very large immigrant population
from other parts of canada, they move here all the time for the mild climate.

Westerners generally sound like native Canadians with a far less pronounced accent.
Now I know you have dead ears, I've listened to native canadians talk since I was a
little girl, they sound nothing like i do, or any other 'non first nations person', they
have a definite sound all of there own, and it doesn't compare, and that is not a
criticism to first nations people, just fact, although if a first nation person went to
regular 'off reservation' schools, they talk the same as I.
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