I was wondering if Canadians can hear a Southwestern American accent (excluding California and Texas). Are there any differences that are noticible to most people, or would a Southwestern accent generally not be detected? And, what are the major differences between the two accents?
Can Canadians detect a SW accent?
It depends. Roseanne Barr is from Salt Lake City. She uses [Q] as the cot/caught merged vowel (so, many times she pronounces mom as [mQm]...But her A is last, fast, add are not enough open to be Canadian...Young generations in Canada have [a] in ''last, fast, add'', the same pronunciation used in England...
It seems Canadians are aware of their local features. They try to hide them when they want to be accepted in the US (try listening to Canadian artists...Deborah Cox could be easily mistaken for a Californian)...
Try listening to this song (Michael Bublé - Home)...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TQM1Qs857xc
[in this song]
He doesn't have Canadian accent at all, and his [V] is very closed, almost a shwa..''another'', .''baby I'm done'' [d@n] (this vowel is very open in Canada, like in England or Australia [6], and unlike NY/California).
And his vowel in (coming) ''back'' (home) is less open than the Canadian one.
It seems Canadians are aware of their local features. They try to hide them when they want to be accepted in the US (try listening to Canadian artists...Deborah Cox could be easily mistaken for a Californian)...
Try listening to this song (Michael Bublé - Home)...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TQM1Qs857xc
[in this song]
He doesn't have Canadian accent at all, and his [V] is very closed, almost a shwa..''another'', .''baby I'm done'' [d@n] (this vowel is very open in Canada, like in England or Australia [6], and unlike NY/California).
And his vowel in (coming) ''back'' (home) is less open than the Canadian one.
I disagree with some of these statements. I'm Canadian (from Ottawa) and my /V/ is certainly not [6], nowhere near it. /V/ is very close to/@/ for me; maybe a farther back, but not more open. I've never noticed this vowel being different in my accent than in a Californian one.
The Canadian Shift is not universal across the country. The Atlantic Provinces don't have it at all, and I think the Prairies and BC have it only slightly. I also don't think that my /{/ is the same as in England; I think it's a little more open.
As for distinguishing a Southwestern accent, I don't really know for sure what it sounds like, so it would be hard. Some differences I expect from Canadians English: different vowels corresponding to RP /Qr/ (sorry, tomorrow, borrow, etc.). Americans tend to have /Ar/ for some of these words, while Canadians generally have /or/ for all of them. The Southwest also might not have Canadian Raising, and if it does, probably only on /aI/. If they have it on /aU/ as well, I would expect their raised allophone to be [@U] whereas most Canadians have [EU] (at least around here). That's all I can think of for now.
The Canadian Shift is not universal across the country. The Atlantic Provinces don't have it at all, and I think the Prairies and BC have it only slightly. I also don't think that my /{/ is the same as in England; I think it's a little more open.
As for distinguishing a Southwestern accent, I don't really know for sure what it sounds like, so it would be hard. Some differences I expect from Canadians English: different vowels corresponding to RP /Qr/ (sorry, tomorrow, borrow, etc.). Americans tend to have /Ar/ for some of these words, while Canadians generally have /or/ for all of them. The Southwest also might not have Canadian Raising, and if it does, probably only on /aI/. If they have it on /aU/ as well, I would expect their raised allophone to be [@U] whereas most Canadians have [EU] (at least around here). That's all I can think of for now.
>> Some differences I expect from Canadians English: different vowels corresponding to RP /Qr/ (sorry, tomorrow, borrow, etc.). Americans tend to have /Ar/ for some of these words, while Canadians generally have /or/ for all of them. <<
Yes, that's true. In the Southwestern accent, almost everyone has /Ar/ for sorry, tomorrow, borrow, and sorrow, in contrast to the Northwest and Canada, but we do have /Or/ for horrible, forest, etc. Some of us do have the same vowel shift as in Canada with /E/ -> [{] and /{/ -> [a], however I think it's not as widespread here. But as you said, it's hardly universal there either, and more conservative speakers wouldn't have it at all. We also pronounce "been" as "bin", and "again" as "aghen". We also have [{] for -ag words like "bag". Is it true that all over Canada, "bag" sounds more like [beg], or is it not completely universal? We also do not have Canadian raising here at all--although I've heard people occasionally raise /aI/, but very infrequently. I think we also have a more fronted /u/ and /o/ in general. We say words like "pasta" as [pAst@] (or w/[Q] or [O]).
So, would you tend to think that those features would sound obviously accented, or would most people not notice them at all if they weren't linguists?
Yes, that's true. In the Southwestern accent, almost everyone has /Ar/ for sorry, tomorrow, borrow, and sorrow, in contrast to the Northwest and Canada, but we do have /Or/ for horrible, forest, etc. Some of us do have the same vowel shift as in Canada with /E/ -> [{] and /{/ -> [a], however I think it's not as widespread here. But as you said, it's hardly universal there either, and more conservative speakers wouldn't have it at all. We also pronounce "been" as "bin", and "again" as "aghen". We also have [{] for -ag words like "bag". Is it true that all over Canada, "bag" sounds more like [beg], or is it not completely universal? We also do not have Canadian raising here at all--although I've heard people occasionally raise /aI/, but very infrequently. I think we also have a more fronted /u/ and /o/ in general. We say words like "pasta" as [pAst@] (or w/[Q] or [O]).
So, would you tend to think that those features would sound obviously accented, or would most people not notice them at all if they weren't linguists?
>> If they have it on /aU/ as well, I would expect their raised allophone to be [@U] whereas most Canadians have [EU] (at least around here). <<
Hmm. I understand X-SAMPA for the most part, and I know what [@U] sounds like, but what does [EU] sound like? I can't imagine how to pronounce that.
Hmm. I understand X-SAMPA for the most part, and I know what [@U] sounds like, but what does [EU] sound like? I can't imagine how to pronounce that.
I think the differences with sorry, borrow, etc. and foreign words with 'a' (pasta, etc.) would be noticeable by non-linguists, but maybe less so for the other, more systematic differences.
I pronounce 'been' and 'again' as you noted [bIn] [@gEn]. And yes, most Canadians do have a raised allophone of /{/ before /g/. This is part of the continuous system of ae-tensing. I think there are four allophones of /{/ in my speech, from highest to lowest:
/{N/ bang [be~N]
/{g/ bag [bE@g]
/{n/ ban [b{~n]
/{/ bad, bat [bad] [ba?]
I've been transcribing 'bat', etc. with [{], but I think I'll have to switch to [a]. I've been listening to the vowel charts here:
http://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics/VowelsandConsonants/course/chapter1/vowels.html
And I think I'm closer to [a] than [{].
I pronounce 'been' and 'again' as you noted [bIn] [@gEn]. And yes, most Canadians do have a raised allophone of /{/ before /g/. This is part of the continuous system of ae-tensing. I think there are four allophones of /{/ in my speech, from highest to lowest:
/{N/ bang [be~N]
/{g/ bag [bE@g]
/{n/ ban [b{~n]
/{/ bad, bat [bad] [ba?]
I've been transcribing 'bat', etc. with [{], but I think I'll have to switch to [a]. I've been listening to the vowel charts here:
http://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics/VowelsandConsonants/course/chapter1/vowels.html
And I think I'm closer to [a] than [{].