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Why Do Canadians Have a Funny Accent

How did the Canadian emphasis go, well, the Canadian accent? Reverse to what y'all might think, the Canadian emphasis is a lot more nuanced and complicated than but "eh" and "aboot." The Canadian dialect has an interesting and circuitous history that highlights our state's unique populations and their varied linguistic quirks.

So, information technology'due south no news to anyone that Canada used to be a part of the British Empire, which is why we speak English (and French, but we'll get to that). And given that nosotros never revolted like the Americans did, that means there are a lot more British-y words in what'due south called Standard Canadian English than in American English. Spelling words like "color," "labour," and "honor" with a "u" is a big instance of this.

Merely, there is a large American influence on how we speak. How can at that place not be with our proximity? After The War of 1812, there were roughly 100,000 American immigrants living in Ontario, which helped form the more American accent (rather than British) that Anglo-Canadians have. This is why, to people outside of North America, Americans and Canadians audio incredibly similar. We're sad to burst that bubble.

Not all of Canada speaks the aforementioned though. People in Newfoundland, due to immigration from Ireland and southwestern England, have one of the most distinctive accents in the country. They also had less time to be tainted by Standard Canadian English because they only joined the confederation in 1949.

There is besides a singled-out Northern Canadian accent which stems from its remoteness and the influence of Ethnic languages on English language.

And here's a whole other tin can of linguistic worms: Canadian French. While unfortunately, we didn't exercise well in Form 11 French, so we tin can't be likewise in-depth, there are some interesting differences between European French and Canadian French.

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For years, francophone populations in Canada were forced to use English in business, government, and law until bilingualism was introduced in Canada in the 1970s. This means in that location is a big English influence on Quebec French. Some interesting loan words include "party," "cute" and "fan," to name just a few.

In Vancouver and Western Canada, the dialect is unlike also. The more Americanized Canadians from Ontario who settled the west, along with the immigration and settlement from America and the globe, gave rising to Western Canada having a more American, neutral-sounding accent. Knowing this, information technology makes sense that Bob and Doug Mackenzie were from Ontario rather than BC.

Interestingly plenty, linguists say that people in the Lower Mainland specifically have more in common with the American Pacific Northwest accent than they exercise the Standard Canadian English language. Which shows how much geography plays a role in how nosotros talk!

All that being said, it's important to remember that if you're Canadian, you speak like a Canadian. Not having the standard, "aboot" accent is by no means a qualifier on how "Canadian" someone is. No thing how you lot speak you lot're just every bit Canadian as the Ontarian who ends every sentence with "eh" or the Newfoundlander who says "b'y" instead of "buddy."

If you lot plant this interesting, there'due south a whole book on English in Canada that you can get here.

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Source: https://curiocity.com/how-did-the-typical-canadian-accent-actually-come-to-exist/