Do you hear your Canadian accent?

In Newfoundland our accent used to vary exquisitely. Although American is relentlessly eroding the finer points, even a foreigner like me can still distinguish Baymanese (classic rhotic West Country), Carbonear Variant (non-rhotic) where Bay Roberts becomes Bay Wobets, Townie (Irish), Stephenville (with French) and the Aspiring Canadian of some younger people. I used to hear ‘aboot’ only on US and Canadian comedies but I do detect a vowel sound vaguely like that in people from Outback Ontario. They may not be saying exactly that but that’s what I am hearing. Of course, Americans are not be trusted on vowel sounds either - in places like Michigan, the differences are, well, subtle.

Imagine in Québec now!!! :lol:

I'm from Toronto. I don't have an accent

-J.

You mean you people don't say "aboot" like JJ McCullough in his YouTubes? As often as possible in three minutes, more than all the people I've ever spoken to (who wasn't a Scot immigrant) said "aboot" in my whole life?

I was married to a Scot for 20 years. As soon as she was with her relatives, it was "aboot" all the time. Unless she was talking to our kids in front of those relatives or three steps outside their door...

Newfoundland is in its own class altogether. They sound strange to everyone. All of the Maritimes have a distinct accent, the most prominent being from Cape Breton. To people not from that area, it can sound a lot like people from New England. Accent is not always HOW someone says something. Sometimes its WHAT they say. Certain words are a dead giveaway about where someone is from. Its not ABOOT, its ABOAT. And yes that is how Canadians from eastern Canada pronounce about. If you are from that area, you might not even be aware of how you are saying it. Its a dead give away to an American that you are Canadian. I remember being a kid from the south and my cousins from Chicago making fun of my southern accent. I was angry. I did not think that I talked like a hick. I did. I did not realize it until I left the area and came back years later. Everywhere that I traveled, people knew that I was from the south.

I can alway tell someone from southern Ontario. They speak way to slow and careful to be that close to the the northeast U.S. People from the northeast U.S.speak very loud and very fast. People from Ontario do not fit into the U.S. northeast or the southeast lingo. Everyone on the eastern seaboard knows that they are not from the U.S. They do not speak fast enough to be from the north, and they do not have the twang to fit into the south. That and the constant use of the word: eh. People from Ontario are easily the second most recognizable Canadians in the U.S. after Quebec. My kid had a best friend growing up that was a snow bird from Manitoba. They could easily pass as someone from North Dakota. I can't quite put my finger on it. If you seen the movie: FARGO, you get it. Little things like yah for yes. "Don't cha know" Nothing to extreme.

People from B.C.and Alberta have to tell me that they are from Canada. I cannot detect any regional accents or slang. They sound like the perfect announcer for the evening news. Not to fast, not to slow, not to loud, not to soft. Kind of like the goldilocks of the English language, just right.

Something I noticed near Cornwall, Ont - people saying ‘that there’ as in Ulster English.

Met a couple buddies and have a B-I-L from Tronna.
They pronounced "were" as WARE instead of WHIR

Where y'at? is a handy expression I picked up in Newfoundland. Both the wife and the dog show up from nowhere if I say it.