The terrible thing about having worked for the BBC is that you keep referring to the Pronunciation Unit to prove to Canadians they say things incorrectly. Like the man who my father-in-law met on holiday. When asked if he spoke English, he replied, "I say, I AM English."
Yoh-gert instead of yoggit, marge-a-rinn not marge-a-reen, zee-bra not zebb - ra.
My all time favourite is sen - triff- igull instead of sen - tree- fugue- al. (centrifugal) and its twin, sen - trip - idull. Are they having a laugh?
Usually when someone compliments me on my "accent" I feel my husband's hand on my elbow steering me away from trouble. That's because he knows my usual response. I don't have an accent. I speak the Queen's English. YOU have the accent.
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A theory I have heard that goes for both Canadian French & English is that the way words are pronounced, and some French-Canadian phrasing, is pretty much how English & French were spoken when North America was first settled by Europeans. Hence the Francophones saying 'Barré la porte' rather than the more modern 'Fermé la porte avec le clé' etc. The former is what would have been used when bars were still used to close & lock the doors.
ReplyDeleteReceived pronunciation then became the norm in Britain, but never made it across the pond, so arguably, you have the accent and we've preserved the original. ;-)
The accent preservation theory could be proven by the Newfies. I met a Dubliner who'd met a Newfie and she said the Newfie's accent was more Dublin than hers. That's what a few hundred years of living on a giant isolated rock will do to ya.
Liking your blog by the way, MTL is where I was born & where my dad's family is from so it is making me a bit homesick!
Sarah
ReplyDeleteLovely to hear from you. I'm not falling for me being the one with the accent though. Love your story about Newfoundland and Dubliner. I know exactly what they mean. I just visited the Avalon Peninsula and I felt like I had gone home. Felt quite discombobulated though beers may have affected me. I'd love to know the English words and phrases which are supposed to be original English here. Sorry to make you homesick though as soon as cold weather starts I will be moaning and that will put you off, for sure. (Canadian expression there)