''pie'' and ''pa''.

Are ''pie'' and ''pa'' homonyms in the American South? Someone wants told me that they were.

Pa, I want my pie.

Pa, Ah want ma pa?

Dear Musician,
Re: Are ''pie'' and ''pa'' homonyms in the American South? I doubt it.
I don't know what the view of professional linguists is on this, but Southerners are probably not even aware of the fact that they pronounce pie ( /pai/ or /paj/) something like /pA/. Afterall, studies have shown that British speakers are not aware that they don't pronounce final r's in words like "paper" and "rather". Likewise, the so-called "Canadian rounding" which causes Canadians to pronounce words like "house" (howss) and "mouth" (mowth) like hohss and mohth seems to be unnoticed by Canadians. Even Americans are less sensitive to it than you would think.

Less sensitive to what? I for one can still clearly hear the Canadians have an accent different from my own. I think the only Americans it goes unoticed on are those from the upper states like Minnesota - because they have the same accent!

To me it's extremely obvious how Southerners speak, and yes, an American Southerner saying "pie" does sound suspiciously as if they are saying "pa". The difference is, the vowel part is more drawn out and there are certain nuances to it I can't really explain here.

Tiffany,

The accent you are referring to is a stereotype. The only people in Canada who really say things like 'aboot the hoose' are from mainly one area, Manitoba. If you are from almost anywhere in the US, I can almost guarantee you that you would not know that I was Canadian from talking to me unless I told you that I was. I used to work at a job where I talked to a lot of Americans on the phone and the vast majority of them thought that they where speaking to someone in the states.

It's not a stereotype. Adam, maybe you as a Canadian don't notice it, but people like myself and Tiffany definitely can tell when someone is Canadian (for the most part) by the distinctive way they pronounce certain words like "house", "about", "sorry", et. al.

I used to work at a job where I would frequently speak with people from Vancouver and Toronto and the way they would pronounce these words (more like 'aboat the hoase' or 'aboht the hohs, not 'aboot the hoose') were quite distinctive from how I would pronounce them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing because I want to sound like an American. I'm just saying that most Americans I talk to cannot tell that I am from Canada. You are right, I don't know exactly how I pronounce certain words, but I'm saying that other people, Americans, can't tell where I am from.

By the way, maybe I'm thinking of the wrong accent, but are you saying that Canadians sound like the people in the movie 'Fargo'. I know Fargo is in North Dakota, but isn't it the same accent as Minnesota?

Adam, it is not a sterotype as I do know people from Toronto who speak with that accent, but I do agree that is is less prevalent than some people would lead you to believe. I have many cousins also from Toronto that do not speak with that accent. It seems to be a question of where you are from in the GTA with my cousins.

As for the accent - we are talking about the "o" sound being pronounced much more ... well, strongly.. than it is in most of the United States. The word "sorry" pronouned "sahree" by most Americans is pronounced "soe - ree" (soe rhymes with doe and dough). It's also noticed in the word "about" which sound suspiciously like "a boat" in the accent. "House" is "howz" in my accent, but "hoows" in that accent.

what about "eh"? All my cousins say it a lot where I would either say huh? or right? Ex. "Eh?" as in "I didn't hear you" and "It's nice, eh" as in "It's nice, right?" Do you use it?

Tiffany,

I don't actually know anyone who says "soe-ree", but then again I'm not from Ontario. That said, I do know people from all over Canada and I don't remember running into the accent you are referring too very often. I would say 'sorry' as more of a "sore-ee" myself, and that is how I most often hear it said. I do agree that Americans say 'about' in a different way then I do as well, when I here it spoken from an American it is usually like a drawn out "a bow(of a boat)t". I don't say it like that, I can't describe how I say it, maybe to you it would sound, to you, as you have described it, I don't know.

However, I still stick to my story, most Americans can't tell I'm from Canada, unless I tell them I am. These slight differences in pronunciation are not enough to make a Canadian accent that distinctive from American to most people, from my experience, anyway.

As for 'eh', some people use it more often then others, but I would say that it is used ways that I have never heard an American use it, like the ways you described.

"soe-ree" and "sore-ee" are pronounced the same way in my head. So, yes, I cold probably tell that you were Canadian.

Tiffany, Are ''sore'' and ''soe'' pronounced the same in your head. They're not,

soe-[sOu]
sore-[so:r]

And,

soe-ree = [sOuri:]
sore-ee = [so:ri:]

Smith, no, "soe" and sore" are not pronounced the same in my head, but do you see the r in both phonetic translations? "soer" and "sore" are both pronounced in the same way to me. The "ee" in both transaltions is all that is left.

However, "soe-ree" was my approximation of the sound. "sore-ee" would have been accurate to me as well.

Since when did Americans say 'sah-ree'? I pronounce it 'soh-ree' or 'sore-ee' or whatever, but I guess I'm from Minnesota. Also, what Adam said about the Minnesota/North Dakota accent isn't exactly right. I'm originally from Fargo, and although the accent is exactly the same there as in Minnesota (they are only separated by a thirty-foot wide river), the 'Fargo' movie accent was totally stereotypical and way off. It was very exaggerated and a lot of words used weren't used correctly. Anyway, I think the Canadian accent in at least around in Ontario since many people from there have it. I'm from southern Minnesota and I sound almost exactly like someone from Manitoba, or California. There's no difference.

Tiffany,

I hate to keep arguing but, 'soe', to me means that the 'o' is long. In 'sore' the 'o' is short, so the two pronunciations are actually quite different.