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As an Australian, I'm pretty sure I can't. They both sound American to me, but I'm sure if I lived in Canada for a while I would be able to tell them apart.
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I can't really distinguish them.
The so called "Canadian Raising" is also to be heard amongst Americans.
I also find it hard to tell Kiwi apart from Aussie English.
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Canadian accents sound a lot like Western American English. If you come across a Canadian with no Canadian Raising and CVS it's impossible to tell they're from Canada (unless they use Canadian lingo)
I live in California and have this friend that's Canadian. I always took him for a Californian and I was incredibly surprised when I found out he was Canadian. He purposely keeps his Canadian lingo down, but he has no raising or sings of CVS at all, which I always found funny given I have raising of /aI/ and I'm not Canadian.
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<<but he has no raising>>
Really? I've never heard a Canadian who didn't (other than actors working in the US). Maybe he just has less raising than you do? Ask him if 'writer' and 'rider' or 'router' and 'louder' rhyme. Make sure you write them down for him though, cause if you say them first it could affect how he says them.
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But Josh, those might not be the distinctions we're listening for to distinguish Canadian-ness. (I know I wouldn't pay much attention ot how someone said "writer".) There may be tons of minor details that would be dead giveaways for the linguistically-minded that sail right over the heads of ordinary people, who are only listening for "ewt" instead of "aowt".
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<<Ask him if 'writer' and 'rider' or 'router' and 'louder' rhyme. >>
If these rhyme, does that mean someone is Canadian, or non-Canadian? (They rhyme for me, BTW).
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>>If these rhyme, does that mean someone is Canadian, or non-Canadian? (They rhyme for me, BTW).<<
Someone probably is not Canadian if both of these pairs rhyme, but there is no assurance that someone *is* Canadian if both rhyme (as there are dialects in the northern US with Canadian Raising of both /aI/ and /aU/).
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<<but there is no assurance that someone *is* Canadian if both rhyme >>
Glad to hear that, since they both rhyme for me, and I'm not Canadian.
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Whoops - meant to say "if both do not rhyme" above.
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<<If these rhyme, does that mean someone is Canadian, or non-Canadian? (They rhyme for me, BTW).>>
I've never heard a Canadian for whom either of these pairs rhyme. I have heard many Americans for whom they don't. So if they rhyme, their probably not Canadian, but if they don't, they could be either. (Note that Newfoundland is not included under Canadian English here.)
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You should listen to Canadian singer, Tamia, for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diNyoOyTI5g
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