Canadian Pronunciation

Languages characteristically have regional varieties. The English language, being a world language, has several major national varieties. Thus the English spoken in Canada has its own distinct features as well as similarities to the varieties of English used in the United Kingdom and the United States. In this paper I try to clarify Canadian preference in pronunciation, based on a survey conducted with 74 Canadians. The results show that Canadian speech sometimes follows a dominant American pattern, sometimes the British usage, sometimes a mixed pattern, and sometimes its own. Canadians tend to pronounce such words as ate, tomato, leisure, and missile in the same way as most Americans do. Some of these words reflect features of 17th and 18th century English speech which have been retained in most of North America, including Canada, but changed over time in standard English. On the other hand, Canadians prefer British pronunciation in such words as ration, lever, soot and route. This can be partly ascribed to the fact that many Canadians have identified themselves more with Britons than with Americans since the American Revolution. However, the cultural and linguistic influence of the United States upon Canada has always been so strong that it is not surprising that Canadian speech shows a mixed pattern in such words as student, progress, schedule, etc. At the same time, Canadians have their unique pronunciation in such words as out, write, father, calm, vase, guarantee, almond, etc., most of which have been carried over from the days of the early 19th century immigrants from various parts of the British Isles, where phonological changes have long since taken place. It is interesting to observe how Canadian speech will change in the years to come under the constant strong influence of the giant to the south.3KJ00004272187論文Articledepartmental bulletin pape