Voice post!

[beboots]

 So, I, uh, was trying to avoid doing homework checking my e-mail account, and I noticed that I had an update from floranna 's journal: she'd made a voice post! So, acting unlike the good student I know myself to be, I thought that I'd make one as well. :) This meme is thus ganked from floranna . :)

In a voice post/vlog/whatever: Say These Words: Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting Image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

Now answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

My voice sounds very different out loud than it does in my head. Very strange! It sounds higher than my twin sister's does, for some reason... Also, apologies for the poor sound quality: I was just using the built-in microphone from my laptop. I should sit closer to it next time or something. :P 

So as you may be able to hear from my voice post, I do have a Canadian accent, which according to everyone except Canadians sounds a lot like an American midwest accent. And I can sort of see that. Apparently we use different terminology, though, and there's apparently something called "Canadian raising" that linguists like to talk about a lot... it's very subtle, but I think it's what we do at the end of the sentences: we end on a slightly high note, I think, and Americans don't. 

Also, where Americans would go "huh" when speaking, we tend not to, using it much less often or using "eh" instead. Oh, what the heck, here's a brief comparison: 

You also don't generally use "eh" by itself, like in the sense of "Huh." as a confused sound. Or not often, anyway. ;)

Comments

[kuiskata]

Wow, you sound so different on this!

Canadian Raising has nothing to do with the end of sentences. It's why Americans think we say things like "oot and aboot." Canadian Raising occurs only with the diphthongs /aʊ/ and /aɪ/, where we pronounce them as [əʊ] and [əɪ], "raising" the first part of the diphthong. Canadian raising only occurs when these two diphthongs appear before voiceless consonants (such as p, t, k, s, f).

For example, compare the words lout and loud. Or ice and eyes. The vowel sounds is slightly different in Canadian speech. Canadian raising is also the reason why Canadians can tell the difference between "writing" and "riding" (when a Canadian is saying it, anyway) - the vowel sound is exactly the same in both in American speech.

Or, you know, I could just link you to Wikipedia.

/Ask-A-Linguist. XD

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I stand corrected! I still don't really understand, so you'll have to say the sounds at me in person. ;) LINGUISTICS IS HARD. :P

[kuiskata]

Will do. It's very subtle and sometimes hard to hear, but it's there. (Apparently, Canadian raising is especially strong in the prairies.)

[pyrasaur.livejournal.com]

there's apparently something called "Canadian raising" that linguists like to talk about a lot... it's very subtle, but I think it's what we do at the end of the sentences: we end on a slightly high note, I think, and Americans don't.

I used to work at a call center that serviced Hawaii. We usually just let the customers believe we were American, but certain areas of the islands get tons of Canadian tourists and those customers would catch on right away that they were speaking to a Canadian. A few customers confirmed that was that Canadian raising thing that gave us away. We were focusing on being polite, so we unconsciously pronounced every sentence like a chirpy question instead of a command.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Trufax. I still consider general friendliness to be an essential part of our culture. >_>