accentamerican-englishcanadian-englishdifferencesdiphthongs
English is not my first language; the little English I know is mostly from the USA.
I know some of the differences between British English (or just English?) and American English, and the same with Australian.
In general terms, could you explain to me, or list the most important differences (if any), between Canadian and American English?
I am no expert, but it sounds to me like his first language is a European one. His pronunciation of some words is similar to people from the Balkans or other Eastern European nations. Spain is a wild card. There's a hint of Irish in there too, but it's not full-on. The clues for me are:
"Strategies", (0:40), Spanish, Bosnian, Croatian?
"Skimming", he pronounces it skee-ming."Beginning",too (0:51); bee-gee-ning.
"look" - pronounced thickly, similar to Irish maybe?
"tell us" (2:40), slight Irish inflection?
"about luck" (2:43), an Eastern European inflection?
"ok" (2:47), Spanish inflection?
Most of his oks sound like how a Spanish person would say them.
"daily situation" (2:57), very close to a Bosnian inflection.
If you ever find out, do let us know.
Apologies to the Spanish, Irish, Bosnians, Croatians and anyone from Eastern Europe if I've got it wrong.:-)
There are way too many English dialects to list, but the general definition of a dialect is:
Dialects are linguistic varieties which differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar from each other and from Standard English (which is itself a dialect).
I actually did find a simplified tree of English dialects, and it shows the changes that occurred between one and the next.
There's also a dialect map for the US, which shows which regions share an overall dialect.
The website that the map is from gives a very detailed look at each individual dialect. There is too much to post here, but for example the site lists the New England dialect--and then breaks it down into sub-dialects:
New England
Many of the Northern dialects can trace their roots to this dialect which was spread westward by the New England settlers as they migrated west. It carries a high prestige due to Boston's early economic and cultural importance and the presence of Harvard University. A famous speaker is Katherine Hepburn. They sometimes call doughnuts cymbals, simballs, and boil cakes.
However, the dialects shown are only dialects of American English. Pittsburgh English, the dialect you originally asked about, is listed as a North American regional dialect of English.
Best Answer
Spelling
Canadian English tends to combine aspects of American and British spelling. Here are some highlights:
Vocabulary
Canadian English uses generally the same vocabulary as American. There are a few regionalisms and quirks.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation has American and British influence. There is some regional variation, and for some words, Canadians vary between British and American patterns. There are many little quirks, here's a few:
What sets Canadian pronunciation apart the most is the phenomonon known as Canadian Rising. Certain diphthongs are "raised" before voiceless consonants (eg. f,k,p,s,t). While most Americans discern no difference between writer and rider, in Canada, the vowel sounds are distinctly different.
Canadian Rising causes the illusion of about sounding like "aboot" to American ears.