English (Canadian)
Germanic
Canadian English (~28M native speakers) is a rhotic North American variety close to General American but distinguished by Canadian Raising — /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ raise to [ʌɪ ʌʊ] before voiceless consonants, so writer and rider differ in vowel quality — and a near-universal cot–caught merger. It keeps some British spellings and lexis (colour, zed).
Where it is spoken
31 core words in English (Canadian)
Water
water
/ˈwɑɾɚ/
Fire
fire
/ˈfaɪɚ/
Sun
sun
/sʌn/
Moon
moon
/muːn/
Star
star
/stɑɹ/
Mother
mother
/ˈmʌðɚ/
Father
father
/ˈfɑðɚ/
I
I
/aɪ/
You
you
/ju/
Name
name
/neɪm/
Eye
eye
/aɪ/
Hand
hand
/hænd/
Heart
heart
/hɑɹt/
Love
love
/lʌv/
Tree
tree
/tɹiː/
House
house
/haʊs/
Dog
dog
/dɔɡ/
Cat
cat
/kæt/
Eat
eat
/iːt/
Drink
drink
/dɹɪŋk/
One
one
/wʌn/
Two
two
/tu/
Hello
hello
/həˈloʊ/
Thank you
thank you
/θæŋk juː/
Good
good
/ɡʊd/
Cuckoo
cuckoo
/ˈkʊkuː/
Computer
computer
/kəmˈpjuːtɚ/
Sushi
sushi
/ˈsuʃi/
At sign (@)
at
/æt/
Words compared
Compared with related Germanic languages
| Meaning | English (Canadian) | English (American) | English (Kenyan) | English | English (Philippine) | English (Nigerian) | English (West Country) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | water /ˈwɑɾɚ/ | water /ˈwɔɾɚ/ | water /ˈwɑːtə/ | water /ˈwɔːtə/ | water /ˈwɔːtə/ | water /ˈwɔːtə/ | water /ˈwɔːtɚ/ |
| Fire | fire /ˈfaɪɚ/ | fire /ˈfaɪɚ/ | fire /faɪə/ | fire /faɪə/ | fire /ˈfaɪə/ | fire /ˈfaɪə/ | fire /faɪɚ/ |
| Sun | sun /sʌn/ | sun /sʌn/ | sun /sʌn/ | sun /sʌn/ | sun /sʌn/ | sun /sʌn/ | sun /sʌn/ |
| Moon | moon /muːn/ | moon /mun/ | moon /muːn/ | moon /muːn/ | moon /muːn/ | moon /muːn/ | moon /muːn/ |
| Star | star /stɑɹ/ | star /stɑɹ/ | star /staː/ | star /stɑːɹ/ | star /stɑr/ | star /sta/ | star /stɑːɹ/ |
| Mother | mother /ˈmʌðɚ/ | mother /ˈmʌðɚ/ | mother /ˈmɔðə/ | mother /ˈmʌðə/ | mother /ˈmʌðə/ | mother /ˈmɔðə/ | mother /ˈmʌðɚ/ |
| Father | father /ˈfɑðɚ/ | father /ˈfɑðɚ/ | father /ˈfɑːðə/ | father /ˈfɑːðə/ | father /ˈfɑðə/ | father /ˈfɑːðə/ | father /ˈvɑːðɚ/ |
| I | I /aɪ/ | I /aɪ/ | I /aɪ/ | I /aɪ/ | I /aɪ/ | I /aɪ/ | I /aɪ/ |
| You | you /ju/ | you /ju/ | you /ju/ | you /juː/ | you /ju/ | you /ju/ | you /juː/ |
| Name | name /neɪm/ | name /neɪm/ | name /neːm/ | name /neɪm/ | name /neɪm/ | name /nem/ | name /neɪm/ |
| Eye | eye /aɪ/ | eye /aɪ/ | eye /aɪ/ | eye /aɪ/ | eye /aɪ/ | eye /aɪ/ | eye /aɪ/ |
| Hand | hand /hænd/ | hand /hænd/ | hand /hænd/ | hand /hænd/ | hand /hænd/ | hand /hænd/ | hand /hand/ |
| Heart | heart /hɑɹt/ | heart /ˈhɑɹt/ | heart /hɑːt/ | heart /hɑːt/ | heart /hɑːt/ | heart /hɑːt/ | heart /hɑːɹt/ |
| Love | love /lʌv/ | love /lʌv/ | love /lʌv/ | love /lʌv/ | love /lʌv/ | love /lɔv/ | love /lʌv/ |
| Tree | tree /tɹiː/ | tree /tɹi/ | tree /tɹiː/ | tree /tɹiː/ | tree /tɹiː/ | tree /tɹiː/ | tree /tɹiː/ |
| House | house /haʊs/ | house /haʊs/ | house /haʊs/ | house /haʊs/ | house /haʊs/ | house /haʊs/ | house /haʊs/ |
| Dog | dog /dɔɡ/ | dog /dɔɡ/ | dog /dɔɡ/ | dog /dɒɡ/ | dog /dɔg/ | dog /dɔɡ/ | dog /dɒɡ/ |
| Cat | cat /kæt/ | cat /kæt/ | cat /kæt/ | cat /kæt/ | cat /kæt/ | cat /kæt/ | cat /kat/ |
| Eat | eat /iːt/ | eat /it/ | eat /iːt/ | eat /iːt/ | eat /iːt/ | eat /iːt/ | eat /iːt/ |
| Drink | drink /dɹɪŋk/ | drink /dɹɪŋk/ | drink /dɹɪŋk/ | drink /dɹɪŋk/ | drink /dɹɪŋk/ | drink /dɹɪŋk/ | drink /dɹɪŋk/ |
| One | one /wʌn/ | one /wʌn/ | one /wʌn/ | one /wʌn/ | one /wʌn/ | one /wʌn/ | one /wʌn/ |
| Two | two /tu/ | two /tu/ | two /tu/ | two /tuː/ | two /tu/ | two /tu/ | two /tuː/ |
| Hello | hello /həˈloʊ/ | hello /həˈloʊ/ | hello /həˈlo/ | hello /həˈləʊ/ | hello /həˈloː/ | hello /həˈlɔ/ | hello /hɛˈloʊ/ |
| Thank you | thank you /θæŋk juː/ | thank you /θæŋk ju/ | thank you /tæŋk juː/ | thank you /θæŋk juː/ | thanks /θæŋks/ | thanks /θæŋks/ | thanks /θaŋks/ |
| Good | good /ɡʊd/ | good /ɡʊd/ | good /ɡʊd/ | good /ɡʊd/ | good /ɡʊd/ | good /ɡʊd/ | good /ɡʊd/ |
| Cuckoo | cuckoo /ˈkʊkuː/ | cuckoo /ˈkʊkuː/ | cuckoo /ˈkʊkuː/ | cuckoo /ˈkʊkuː/ | cuckoo /ˈkʊkuː/ | cuckoo /ˈkʊkuː/ | — |
| Computer | computer /kəmˈpjuːtɚ/ | computer /kəmˈpjutɚ/ | computer /kɔmˈpjuːta/ | computer /kəmˈpjuːtə/ | computer /komˈpjuter/ | computer /kɔmˈpjuːta/ | — |
| Sushi | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | sushi /ˈsuːʃi/ | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | — |
| At sign (@) | at /æt/ | at /æt/ | — | at /æt/ | at /at/ | — | — |
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