Canadian english pronunciation

Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 24 million Canadians (77%), and more than 28 million (86%) are fluent in the language. 82% of Canadians outside Quebec speak English natively, but within Quebec the figure drops to just 11%. Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English in its vocabulary, as well as many distinctive "Canadianisms". In many areas, speech is influenced by French, and there are notable local variations. Canada has very little dialect diversity compared to the United States. The phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon for most of Canada are similar to that of the Western and Midland regions of the United States. The Canadian Great Lakes region has similarities to that of the Upper Midwest & Great Lakes region and/or Yooper dialect (in particular Michigan which has extensive business ties with Ontario), while the phonological system of western Canadian English is virtually identical to that of the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and the phonetics are similar. As such, Canadian English and American English are sometimes classified together as North American English. Canadian English spelling is largely a blend of British and American conventions. The term "Canadian English" is first attested in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable Geikie in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857. Geikie, a Scottish-born Canadian, reflected the Anglocentric attitude that would be prevalent in Canada for the next hundred years when he referred to the language as "a corrupt dialect," in comparison to what he considered the proper English spoken by immigrants from Britain. Canadian English is the product of four waves of immigration and settlement over a period of almost two centuries. The first large wave of permanent English-speaking settlement in Canada, and linguistically the most important, was the influx of Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, chiefly from the Mid-Atlantic States – as such, Canadian English is believed by some scholars to have derived from northern American English. The historical development of CanE is underexplored, but recent studies suggest that CanE has been developing features of its own since the early 19th century, while recent studies have shown the emergence of CanE features. The second wave from Britain and Ireland was encouraged to settle in Canada after the War of 1812 by the governors of Canada, who were worried about anti-English sentiment among its citizens. Waves of immigration from around the globe peaking in 1910 and 1960 had a lesser influence, but they did make Canada a multicultural country, ready to accept linguistic change from around the world during the current period of globalization. The languages of Aboriginal peoples in Canada started to influence European languages used in Canada even before widespread settlement took place, and the French of Lower Canada provided vocabulary to the English of Upper Canada.The primary aspect of the Canadian English accent is a feature called "Canadian raising", where diphthongs are raised before voiceless consonants. The stereotypical aboat pronunciation, lampooned in the American television series South Park is unusual; the stereotype may derive from an interpretation of the aboot pronunciation as heard by someone who is used to the much lower abawt pronunciation, or from a misinterpretation of the spelling of the "word" aboot. Ironically, a monophthongized pronunciation of aboat is quite common in parts of the U.S. Upper Midwest, such as Minnesota. Anecdotally, the abuhwt vowels are heard in Ontario and further west, and the aboot vowels are heard in the Eastern provinces. etymologically appropriate, even where the contrast is lost in the consonant itself. Also heard is the variation in the pronunciation of the word can't, in Ontario, it is said almost as canned, whereas in the west, it becomes more like kahnt. The Northern cities vowel shift that is happening in Michigan also is heard to an extent in Southwestern Ontario.A recently identified feature (1995) found among many Canadians is a chain shift known as the Canadian Shift. This is not found in the Atlantic Provinces, east of Quebec; it is only found in Ontario and further west. For people with this shift, cot and caught merge in rounded [ɑ] position. The /ʌ/ of bat then moves down to [a], while the /ɛ/ of bet becomes [ʌ], which is short-a in other accents. This shift is still a relatively new phenomenon, so not all Canadians have it. Of the ones that do, not all have the last stage. Canadians without the Shift typically pronounce cot and caught as an un-rounded [ɒ], as in the western United States. Like American English, Canadian English is largely rhotic. This means it maintains the pronunciation of r before consonants. Rhoticity has been largely influenced by Hiberno-English, Scottish English, and West Country English. Americans sometimes claim to be able to recognize some Canadians instantly by their use of the word eh. However, only a certain usage of eh (detailed in the article) is peculiar to Canada. It is common in southern Ontario, the Maritimes and the Prairie provinces. In some parts of the United States, American English exhibits features of Canadian English, including Canadian Raising and the use of eh. Canadian accents are sometimes detected among Michiganders, Minnesotans, Western New Yorkers and their northern fellows.

The West/Central dialect is one of the largest and the most homogenous dialect area in North America. It forms a dialect continuum with the accent in the Western United States, and borders the dialect regions of North, Inland North, and North Central. While it is the most homogenous in that the regional differences inside the dialect area are very small, it has very few features that are unique. It is also fairly similar to General American English. While the West Central dialect is mutually intelligible with many dialects of English spoken in England, especially Received Pronunciation, in general it preserves more archaic features that existed before the dialects diverged.

Maritimes

Maritimer English quirks include the removal of pre-consonantal [ɹ] sounds, and a faster speech tempo. It is heavily influenced by both British and Irish English. An example of typical Maritime English might be the pronunciation of the letter t. The flapping of intervocalic /t/ and /d/ to alveolar tap [ɾ] before reduced vowels, as well as pronouncing it as a glottal stop [ɔ], is less common in the Maritimes. So, battery is pronounced as "bat-try" instead of with a flapped t.

While the stereotypical Canadian interrogative "Eh?" is used more often in the Maritimes than in most dialects in the U.S., it is actually relatively uncommon compared to the Prairies and Ontario. Alternatively, one might hear the interrogative "Right?" which is in turn used as an adverb (e.g.: "It was right foggy today!") as well. "Some" is used as an adverb as well, by some people (e.g.: "This cake is some good!"). And the two may even be combined to add emphasis. (e.g.: "That cake was right some good!") Such expressions tend to be widely used in the rural maritimes, but are less common in urban areas. British terms are very much still a part of Maritime English, although slowly fading away in favour of American or Western terms. "Chesterfield" and "front room" are examples of this. Cape Breton Island has a distinct dialect due to settlement by speakers of Acadian French and Scottish Gaelic.

Phonemic incidence

The pronunciation of certain words has both American and British influence; some pronunciations are more distinctively Canadian.

· The name of the letter Z is normally the Anglo-European (and French) zed; the American zee is less common in Canada, and it is often stigmatized.

· In the words adult and composite - the emphasis is usually on the first syllable, as in Britain.

· Canadians side with the British on the pronunciation of shone /ʃɒn/, lever /ˈlivə/, and several other words; been is pronounced by many speakers as /bin/ rather than /bɪn/; as in Southern England, either and neither are more commonly /ˈaɪðər/ and /ˈnaɪðər/, respectively.

· Schedule can sometimes be /ˈʃɛdʒul/; process, progress, and project are sometimes pronounced /ˈproʊsɛs/, /ˈproʊɡrɛs/, and /ˈproʊdʒɛkt/; leisure is often /ˈlɛʒər/, harassment is often /ˈhɛrəsmənt/.

· Again and against are often pronounced /əˈɡeɪn(st)/ rather than /əˈɡɛn(st)/.

· The stressed vowel of words such as borrow, sorry or tomorrow is /ɔɹ/ rather than /ɑɹ/.

· Words such as fragile, fertile, and mobile are pronounced /ˈfrædʒaɪl/, /ˈfɜrtaɪl/, and /ˈmoʊbaɪl/. The pronunciation of fertile as /fɜrtl̩/ is also becoming somewhat common in Canada, even though /ˈfɜrtaɪl/ remains dominant. Words like semi, anti, and multi tend to be pronounced /ˈsɛmi/, /ˈænti/, and /ˈmʌlti/ rather than /ˈsɛmaɪ/, /ˈæntaɪ/, and /ˈmʌltaɪ/.

Conclusion

In considering the history and development of the English language we may maintain that owing to interactions of linguistic and extralinguistic factors the present-day pronunciation of the English language comprises such national varieties as British English,American English, Australian English,Canadian English.

American English pronunciation is characterized by a greater variety of standard forms than British English.

General American is the least regional in character and the most widespread type of American standard pronunciation .

In Australia the situation is incomparable ,perhaps, to any other national varieties of English pronunciation.There are no regional standards or local dialects in Australia.

In the national context, Canadian English pronunciation is,so to speak, on the way to standartization .

The comparative analysis of the national varieties of English pronunciation shows that they have identical as well as divergent features at all levels of the phonetic system of English :the system of vowel and consonant phonemes ,the accentual structure of words and intonation.

In conclusion we may say that the problems of convergence and divergence in the phonetic system of national varieties of English pronunciation open up wide vistas for further investigations.

I study this subject because I think the importance is great .Speaking really the majority of people in the modern world study contemporary American English. At our university students mainly pay great attention to the ways of studing of British English .The American English still remains a new language .The world changes .The change takes place in the sphere of usage of American and British languages .Today we witness the domain of the American English in the world and that’s why I think my work will an important role in the system of language learningin our University.

Bibliography

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