Of Canucks and kiwi's...

[Louis VI the Fat]

Most English accents are easily recognizable. North American, Southern Hemisphere or European is a no-brainer. I can distinguish a Scot from an Englishman, pick out an Irish accent easily. Within England, several regional accents like Liverpudlian, Northeastern and cockney. Across the Atlantic, the New york / New Jersey or Southern accents are instantly recognizable too. I can even hear the difference between a South African and Australian.

I don't however hear the difference between an Australian and a New Zealander.

Nor can I tell an American and a Canadian apart. I have to rely on spotting those Maple Leafs which Canadians, being the friendly loving neighbours they are, brandish on every piece of clothing they wear when abroad so nobody mistakes 'em for Americans.

So, I've got two simple questions for you all:

What should I listen for when trying to make out a Canadian or a New Zealand accent?

Secondly, apart from language, what are tell tale signs of Canucks and kiwi's in other respects?

[Byzantine Prince]

Well as a Canadian I can usually tell depending on where I go. Canada as a whole has a uniform accent except for french speaking or Maritime provinces(who sound weird as hell). But for the most part the metropolitan areas sound just like all the big north American Cities that aren't in southern states.

There is also some differences because Canada did not adopt the American pronounciation of certain words like "either". Also color is "colour" in Canada. It can be impossible to tell sometimes though. Canadians are quite vocal about being canadian though, so you can usually find out with a simple conversation.

[Fragony]

New zealanders carry sticks and yell and dance while making funny noises and looking even weirder, and australians go to the outback to collect beatles to enrich their diet and make what some hippies consider music out of wooden branches. Cannucks speak french where everybody speaks english, and live in trees. It's pretty straightforward really, who needs accents.

[Duke Malcolm]

I have met a few Canadians and noticed their accents are slightly less, well, American. They are softer, with less nasal voices I think.

[doc_bean]

I have met a few Canadians and noticed their accents are slightly less, well, American. They are softer, with less nasal voices I think.

Aren't the nasal sounds only typical for the North East US ?

[Strike For The South]

Whats this aboot? There is a Canadian in my school we affectiontly call him "Canada" he sounds different

[Papewaio]

Australians have a higher pitched voice and a lower pitched cricket bowling action then Kiwis.

Most noteable is how low a pitch Kiwi females sound compared to Aussie females, while how high Australian males sound in comparison to Kiwi males.

There are accent differences within the two countries as well. The really strong Aussie accents come from Queensland. While in NZ the South Islanders tend to roll thier R's more (Scottish influence methinks).

Australian sentences will also have a higher tendancy to sound like questions or surprise. The pitch rises towards the end of the sentence.

[Somebody Else]

Dunno about Australia - but when I went to New Zealand... I was amazed at how... twee the Kiwis were.

[drone]

Aren't the nasal sounds only typical for the North East US ?

Yes.

Does the old Canadian "eh" stereotype still apply these days?

[Duke Malcolm]

Aren't the nasal sounds only typical for the North East US ?

Probably, but everywhere else sounds a bit different, like the South...

[lars573]

So, I've got two simple questions for you all:

What should I listen for when trying to make out a Canadian or a New Zealand accent?

Most of the tells are tonal. Google a video or audio track of Steve Irwin (an Auzzie) and Peter Jackson (a Kiwi) speaking. You'll have to really listen to pick-up the differences. But they are there. For Canadian/Yank use the speech of George Strombolopolus and compare it to Carson Daily.

Secondly, apart from language, what are tell tale signs of Canucks and kiwi's in other respects?

If you want to tell a Yank from a Canuk get them to say Newfoundland. A Canuk will say New-fun-land, a Yank will say New-Fin-lind. You can pick out the difference between Auzzie and Kiwi with the way they say black and back.


So Louis could you pick out someone who speaks Canadian French? Myself and my siblings are fairly fluent in Acadian (yes there are multiple dialects of Canadian French too). But when my brother was in France he was picked out as French Canadian by a Parisian (Ironically were Anglos).

[Louis VI the Fat]

So Louis could you pick out someone who speaks Canadian French?

Are you kidding? T'es un beau twit! It only takes a second to know they are foreign. Then it takes about an hour more to realize they're speaking a language formally known as French. Tabernak, that joual of theirs gets subtitled on French tv.

The difference between the three main branches of North American French - Québécois, Acadian and Cajun - is easy to hear. (Cajun is Louisiana French, from French Cadien, 'Acadian'. The Acadians settled Louisiana)

[Louis VI the Fat]

Australian sentences will also have a higher tendancy to sound like questions or surprise. The pitch rises towards the end of the sentence.

Ah, the dreaded question mark pronounciation. It never ceases to confuse me.

'I'm from Canberra? I'm backpacking Europe? I work as a bartender?'




What? Are you trying to tell me or ask me something? Are you confused, don't remember who you are? Been enjoying that European beer too much?

[lars573]

Are you kidding? T'es un beau twit! It only takes a second to know they are foreign. Then it takes about an hour more to realize they're speaking a language formally known as French. Tabernak, that joual of theirs gets subtitled on French tv.

I figured but I wanted to hear it from a French (from France) speaker. Quebequois is just unintelligible. Acadian however is easy to understand. Grammer differences aside I can understand the conversations on TV5 (the French-channel-from-France we get on cable here) for the most part.

The difference between the three main branches of North American French - Québécois, Acadian and Cajun - is easy to hear. (Cajun is Louisiana French, from French Cadien, 'Acadian'. The Acadians settled Louisiana)

They were forcibly resettled in Louisiana you mean. Cajun after is a bastardization of Acadien.

[Byzantine Prince]

Yes.

Does the old Canadian "eh" stereotype still apply these days?

Yeah, that is very prominant, but only in casual conversation, eh?
I don't know if it's a stereotype or not. It depends on the circle of people. Different groups of friends speak differently with one another.

I used use eh a lot. Now it's died down a little bit. the old timers tend to bring it out of me.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Well here (Vermont, USA) we say New-fun-lind. Or at least that is what my friend and I agreed to...

[KukriKhan]

Comparative accent clips here: http://www.gazzaro.it/accents/files/accents2.html

US v Canada: Canucks actually try to pronouce all the vowels in their words. If there are several in a row (about, beautiful, etc), Yanks tend to pick one vowel and pronounce it, ignoring the rest. IMO.

To my ear, Aussies add vowel-sounds to their vowels, so "a" becomes: "aiy". Kiwi's clip their word-ends, like californians do. Again, IMO.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Canucks actually try to pronouce all the vowels in their words. If there are several in a row (about, beautiful, etc), Yanks tend to pick one vowel and pronounce it, ignoring the rest. IMO.

Is that the famous 'Canadian Raising'?
This phenomenon affects two diphthongs: the one in price and the one in house. The Raising obtains only when the diphthongs in question are immediately followed by a voiceless consonant. A sentence or utterance pause inserted between the diphthong and the consonant obliterates its effect.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Okay, so I looked that up.

Those sound bites are excellent. Especially the ones where they all read the same story, which allows for comparisons.
One day last year, when I was driving back to work after I'd had lunch, I had an amazing and unforgettable experience.
God, I'm never going to forget that one after having just heard that 400 times.

[KukriKhan]

Okay, so I looked that up.

LoL.

Linguists argue whether Canadian Raising is an innovation, or a preservation of an older Scots pronunciation regime.

[Hurin_Rules]

I grew up in Niagara Falls (Canadian side, as there is a Niagara Falls New York as well), and the thing I always found weird was that on the Canadian side, everyone spoke the basic, News-Anchor dialect common in most North American cities, but if you took a stroll across the bridge to the American side, everyone spoke with the highly nasal, droning Northeastern US accent (think Denis Franz in NYPD Blue). What was odd about this is that if I went to Seattle or Washington DC, the Americans there would be pronouncing things like the Canadian Niagara Falls-ers, rather than the American Niagara Falls-ers. I'm not sure why.

To spot a Canadian, ask him to say 'about' or 'house'. Most Americans can't actually pronounce it like a Canadian, even when they try. If you watch South Park, listen to Terence and Philip: they pronounce the words like Americans trying to be Canadians. Specifically, they'll pronounce them as 'aboot' or 'hoose', but actual Canadians make a slight pause between the pronunciation of the vowels, and pronounce them both. They pronounce it more like 'abow-oot' or 'how-oos', said really fast so the pause is almost imperceptible.

Slight differences, I know, but most Americans and Canadians notice the difference.

[InsaneApache]

So, is it zed or zee?

[R'as al Ghul]

Ah, the dreaded question mark pronounciation. It never ceases to confuse me.

'I'm from Canberra? I'm backpacking Europe? I work as a bartender?'




What? Are you trying to tell me or ask me something? Are you confused, don't remember who you are? Been enjoying that European beer too much?

Exactly. It's driving me mad, too.
Don't the US Americans do it also to a certain degree?
Maybe according to their place of origin?

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Brits do that too. I remember a listening class from forgotten times...
.

[doc_bean]

Ah, the dreaded question mark pronounciation. It never ceases to confuse me.

'I'm from Canberra? I'm backpacking Europe? I work as a bartender?'




What? Are you trying to tell me or ask me something? Are you confused, don't remember who you are? Been enjoying that European beer too much?

What ? You don't do like all other frenchies and just pretend you don't understand anything of this 'english' 'language' ?

Can you pick out Belgian accents too ? Besides the numbers thing.

[Justiciar]

Brits do that too.

Ayup. Tends to be middle-class teenage lasses that use it though.. not many other people do.

[Louis VI the Fat]

What ? You don't do like all other frenchies and just pretend you don't understand anything of this 'english' 'language' ?

I get away with it by pretending my interest in the Anglosaxon races is strictly anthropological.

Can you pick out Belgian accents too ?

Yes and no.

The political and linguistic borders do not coincide. Several regional French dialects simply extend into Belgium. I can distuingish a Picardian accent, but I can not tell the difference between Picardian French from France or Belgium.

There are some peculiarities that all Belgian variants share though, like septante and nonante, and all those German or Dutch constructions and words.

Then there is Walloon itself, not to be confused with Belgian (variants of) French. It is radically different from standard French and unique to Belgium and Luxembourg. It is mainly spoken in the Ardennes and near the German border. The adjective is often placed before the noun, as in German. Most bizarre. It is totally unintelligable.

[Duke Malcolm]

.
Brits do that too. I remember a listening class from forgotten times...
.

Not many do it hear, though it is quite a habit over in Glasgow...

[GoreBag]

So, is it zed or zee?

ZED!

Well, I figured a Frenchman would hate hearing the real French, but I rather like it. I never got into Acadian, though, since my family aren't French Maritimers. We still do hear a lot of 'Jus'qu'au coin come back'-type stuff though.

In general, there are a few differences between Canadian and American speech (we sound..more articulate), but dialectics on the East coast change all that. I also noticed a slight difference during a trip to Alberta.

[Hurin_Rules]

In general, there are a few differences between Canadian and American speech (we sound..more articulate), but dialectics on the East coast change all that. I also noticed a slight difference during a trip to Alberta.

Interesting. I live most of the time out here in Alberta (having moved from Ontario), and although some slang is different out here, I've never really noticed much of a difference in the way of pronunciation. Can you explain it in any more detail?

Cheers

[Louis VI the Fat]

So, is it zed or zee?

I still don't understand what this is about. Even after GoreBag answered it.

Well, I figured a Frenchman would hate hearing the real French

Gah, just because Québécois is well preserved traditional standard French and French French a derivation of it, doesn't mean you upstarts should get any ideas. Real French is what the Paris Académie tells Québec is real French.