North American English
RegionNorthern America (United States, Canada)
Early forms
DialectsAmerican English, Canadian English and their subdivisions
Latin (English alphabet)
Unified English Braille[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottolognort3314
IETFen-021

North American English (NAmE, NAE) is the most generalized variety of the English language as spoken in the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures,[2] plus the similarities between the pronunciations (accents), vocabulary, and grammar of American English and Canadian English, the two spoken varieties are often grouped together under a single category.[3][4] Canadians are generally tolerant of both British and American spellings, with British spellings of certain words (e.g., colour) preferred in more formal settings and in Canadian print media; for some other words the American spelling prevails over the British (e.g., tire rather than tyre).[5]

Dialects of American English spoken by United Empire Loyalists who fled the American Revolution (1775–1783) have had a large influence on Canadian English from its early roots.[6] Some terms in North American English are used almost exclusively in Canada and the United States (for example, the terms diaper and gasoline are widely used instead of nappy and petrol). Although many English speakers from outside North America regard those terms as distinct Americanisms, they are just as common in Canada, mainly due to the effects of heavy cross-border trade and cultural penetration by the American mass media.[7] The list of divergent words becomes longer if considering regional Canadian dialects, especially as spoken in the Atlantic provinces and parts of Vancouver Island where significant pockets of British culture still remain.

There are a considerable number of different accents within the regions of both the United States and Canada. In North America, different English dialects of immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, and other regions of the British Isles mixed together in the 17th and 18th centuries. These were developed, built upon, and blended together as new waves of immigration, and migration across the North American continent, developed new dialects in new areas, and as these ways of speaking merged with and assimilated to the greater American dialect mixture that solidified by the mid-18th century.[8]

Dialects

The American English major regional dialects (in all caps), plus smaller and more local dialects, as demarcated primarily by William Labov et al.'s The Atlas of North American English,[9] as well as the related Telsur Project's regional maps. Many regions also contain speakers of a "General American" accent that resists the marked features of their region. This map does not account for speakers of ethnic or racial dialects.
The Canadian English's major regional dialects (in all caps), plus smaller and more local dialects, as demarcated primarily by William Labov et al.'s The Atlas of North American English,[10] as well as the related Telsur Project's regional maps. Many regions also contain speakers of a "General American" accent that resists the marked features of their region. This map does not account for speakers of ethnic or racial dialects.

American English

Ethnic American English

Regional American English

Canadian English

Table of accents

Below, several major North American English accents are defined by particular characteristics:

Accent nameMost populous cityStrong /aʊ/ frontingStrong /oʊ/ frontingStrong /u/ frontingStrong
/ɑr/ fronting		Cot–caught mergerPin–pen merger/æ/ raising systemOther defining criteria[11]
African-AmericanMixedNoNoNoMixedYes[12]pre-nasalAfrican-American Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / L-vocalization / Th-fronting
Atlantic CanadianHalifaxMixedNoYesYesYesNovariousCanadian raising
General AmericanNoNoNoNoMixedNopre-nasal
Inland Northern U.S.ChicagoNoNoNoYesNoNogeneralNorthern Cities Vowel Shift
Midland U.S.IndianapolisYesYesYesNoMixedMixedpre-nasal
New York CityNew York CityYesNoNo[13]NoNoNosplitMid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / L-vocalization / Th-stopping / Northeastern /-ɒr-/
North-Central (Upper Midwestern) U.S.MinneapolisNoNoNoYesYesNopre-nasal & pre-velar
Northeastern New EnglandBostonNoNoNoYesYesNopre-nasal Variable non-rhoticity / Canadian raising / Father-bother distinction / Northeastern /-ɒr-/
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphiaYesYesYesNoNoNosplitMid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / L-vocalization / Northeastern /-ɒr-/ / Merry–Murray merger
Rhode IslandProvidenceNoNoNoNoNoNopre-nasalMid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / Canadian raising / Northeastern /-ɒr-/
Southern U.S.San AntonioYesYesYesNoMixedYespre-nasalSouthern drawl / Southern Vowel Shift / Variable wine-whine distinction
Standard CanadianTorontoNoNoYesNoYesNopre-nasal & pre-velarCanadian raising / Low Back Merger Shift
Western U.S.Los AngelesNoMixedYesNoYesNopre-nasalLow Back Merger Shift
Western PennsylvaniaPittsburghYesYesYesNoYesMixedpre-nasal/aʊ/ glide weakening / L-vocalization
Accent nameMost populous cityStrong /aʊ/ frontingStrong /oʊ/ frontingStrong /u/ frontingStrong
/ɑr/ fronting		Cot–caught mergerPin–pen merger/æ/ raising systemOther defining criteria[14]

Phonology

A majority of North American English (for example, in contrast to British English) includes phonological features that concern consonants, such as rhoticity (full pronunciation of all /r/ sounds), conditioned T-glottalization (with satin pronounced [ˈsæʔn̩], not [ˈsætn̩]), T- and D-flapping (with metal and medal pronounced the same, as [ˈmɛɾɫ̩]), L-velarization (with filling pronounced [ˈfɪɫɪŋ], not [ˈfɪlɪŋ]), as well as features that concern vowel sounds, such as various vowel mergers before /r/ (so that, Mary, marry, and merry are all commonly pronounced the same), raising of pre-voiceless /aɪ/ (with price and bright using a higher vowel sound than prize and bride), the weak vowel merger (with affected and effected often pronounced the same), at least one of the LOT vowel mergers (the LOT–PALM merger is completed among virtually all Americans and the LOT–THOUGHT merger among nearly half, while both are completed among virtually all Canadians), and yod-dropping (with tuesday pronounced /ˈtuzdeɪ/, not /ˈtjuzdeɪ/). The last item is more advanced in American English than Canadian English.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Unified English Braille (UEB)". Braille Authority of North America (BANA). 2 November 2016. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Chambers, J.K. (1998). "Canadian English: 250 Years in the Making". The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2nd ed.). p. xi.
  3. ↑ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006)
  4. ↑ Trudgill, Peter & Jean Hannah. (2002). International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English, 4th. London: Arnold. ISBN 0-340-80834-9.
  5. ↑ Patti Tasko. (2004). The Canadian Press Stylebook: A Guide for Writers and Editors, 13th. Toronto: The Canadian Press. ISBN 0-920009-32-8, p. 308.
  6. ↑ M.H. Scargill. (1957). "Sources of Canadian English", The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 56.4, pp. 610–614.
  7. ↑ John Woitkowitz (2012). "Arctic Sovereignty and the Cold War: Asymmetry, Interdependence, and Ambiguity". Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  8. ↑ Longmore, Paul K. (2007). "'Good English without Idiom or Tone': The Colonial Origins of American Speech". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. MIT. 37 (4): 513–542.
  9. ↑ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:148)
  10. ↑ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:148)
  11. ↑ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:146)
  12. ↑ Labov (1972), p. 19.
  13. ↑ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:101, 103)
  14. ↑ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:146)

Bibliography

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