Canadian raising

Canadian raising is a phonetic phenomenon that occurs in varities of the English language, especially Canadian English, in which diphthongs are "raised" before voiceless consonants (e.g., /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, /f/). For example, /aI/ (the vowel of "eye") and /aU/ (the vowel of "loud") become /^I/ and /^U/, respectively, the /a/ (as in "father") component of the diphthong going from a low vowel to the mid vowel /^/ (as in "up"). As /^U/ sounds similar to /oU/ (as in "road), the Canadian pronunciation of "about the house" may sound like *"a boat the hoas" to non-Canadians. Some stand-up and situation comedians exaggerate this to *"aboot the hoos" for comic effect.

Despite its name, the phenomenon is not restricted to Canada. The example above deals with the /aU/ diphthong, but, as noted, the /aI/ diphthong can be affected as well. So, whereas the General American pronunciations of "rider" and "writer" are identical (/raId@r/), those whose dialects include Canadian raising will pronounce them as /raId@r/ and /r^Id@r/, respectively. It is this raising of /aI/ which can be found in the United States, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Note also that Canadian raising preserves the etymological /t/ in "writer," even though in Canadian English, as in most other versions of North American English, the /t/ has become /d/ or (SAMPA) /4/ between vowels.

External links

• Canadian Raising and Other Oddities with audio files