Talk:West–Central Canadian English

message: No one, anyone, at all, in Toronto refers to the east end or west end as the "east side" or "west side" of Toronto.  The article claims that the inhabitants of the downtown core refer to it thus, but that is either a delusion or a fabrication.  That's where i live, and where i'm from.  I have never, in my entire life, EVER heard East/West Side in reference to the East/West Ends.  Honestly, this is... totally made up.  "natives of the city core describe the east and west as east side / west side".  Natives of Toronto from anywhere refer to the ends as ends.  not sides.  East Side / West Side only refers strictly to areas directly contiguous with Yonge Street, the central axis of the city.  Only directly adjacent would you EVER hear anyone say "its on the east side"  or "on the west side", and almost entirely always followed by "of yonge". Even that is rare, as the street names contain "West" or "East" in the name, or people say "past yonge" (from the west, where the bulk of city activity is, meaning "on the east side of yonge). I'm probably just going to change this now to reflect reality.  Above is simply my explanation as to why i changed it, and if anyone can somehow demonstrate to me that my entire life was a simulation and the thousands of native torontonians i know are somehow speaking contrarily to what we have been reported doing, then by all means change it back.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.172.118.226 (talk) 05:00, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  East side/west side in Toronto?

message: Many Canadians (including myself) pronounce buoy not as /bɔɪ/ ("boy") but rather as /bu:i/ (literally "boo-ee" but with the 'oo' and 'ee' sounds run together as one). I grew up in Ottawa but I'm not sure if this is from the Ottawa area or from the Kingston area where my mother is from. Does anyone have any idea how extensive this pronunciation is in Canada (I have heard it on CBC) and whether or not this is particular to Canada? The Canadian Oxford Dictionary is in agreement on this one.
:Hmm.  That's the standard pronunciation in Alabama and North Dakota as well.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Greetingz (talk • contribs) 
::That's the way I say it too. I'm originally from Chicago (though I lived in Toronto for a number of years). QuartierLatin1968  21:43, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pronunciation of buoy 

message: Why is this article constantly comparing Canadian English with RP? Surely General American is at least as useful as a point of reference, since Canadian English differs from GA so much less than from RP. QuartierLatin1968  21:43, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: RP?

message: I believe it is quite common to say "sorry" emphasizing the "o" in Ontario whereas in the states the "o" sounds like an "a". Therefore it would sound more like "sarry". Canking 20:10, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sorry 

message: Does anyone else feel like the Toronto slang portion of this article seems very un-academic?  To me it seems like it was written by some high school kid that just typed in some words he was familiar with.  All the slang refers to is parties, drugs, oral sex, and ethnic groups?  I think it should be removed.
Karin62 22:47, 12 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Toronto Slang Portion 

message: This article needs better organization in general.  There is nothing written in this article about the words "process" and "against" either.  I have heard Canadians pronounce "process" as /'pɹoʊ,sɛs/ and "against" as /ə'ɡeɪnst/.  These words may seem trivial, but, then again, the differences between General American and this dialect are not very great, so I think we should emphasize the few distinctions that exist.  Also I think Canadian raising should be listed under the "In contrast to General American:" section, since that is what most people think of when they think about the way Canadians speak.  Although a phenomenon similar to Canadian Raising occurs in places like the South and Philadelphia, among others, it does not happen in General American speech.  There is a Canadian Shift as well and though it is not as divergent from 
General American as, say, the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and may not be present in the language of as many people, it is worthy of being in the "In contrast to General American:" section.  Thanks.
208.104.45.20 22:42, 27 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Suggested Improvements

message: I have assessed this as B Class, although it needs a significant cleanup, and of low importance, as it is a highly specific topic within Canada. Cheers, CP 03:49, 31 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Assessment

message: The article currently says:  "The /æ/ of bat is retracted to [a] (except before nasals)".  I think the "except before nasals" is an overgeneralization.  At least in Ontario, I believe this retraction/lowering of /æ/ is widespread in all positions, including before nasals (e.g., "Canada" pronounced /'ka.nə.də/).  Richwales (talk) 08:03, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I am an American (not that that matters) and I agree with you on that one sir.  I have heard Canadians pronounce "chance" as [tʃans]. 208.104.45.20 (talk) 00:57, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lowering of /æ/ (or not) before nasals 

message: English-speaking Canadians consistently pronounce "Montreal" as /ˌmʌn.tɹi.'ɒl/ — in contrast to Americans, who generally pronounce the first vowel as /ɔ/ or /ɑ/.  Richwales (talk) 08:07, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Indeed, I have heard that as well. Thegryseone (talk) 19:08, 22 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pronunciation of "Montreal" 

message: I've observed that the /aɪ/ diphthong, when not subject to "Canadian raising", is retracted/lowered to something more like /ɒɪ/ in much of Ontario.  This shift also triggers nasalization of the diphthong in the vicinity of nasal consonants; consider the Ontario pronunciation of "nine times" (with nasalized /ɒɪ/ in both words — sorry, I can't see any way to write a tilde over these IPA symbols).  This appears to be common amongst Anglophone Quebecers as well.  It does not appear to be a feature of "CBC English", however.  Richwales (talk) 08:22, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think I know what you mean there.  I believe I have heard that as well.  Good ears! 208.104.45.20 (talk) 23:02, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pronunciation of /aɪ/ in Ontario 

message: This is completely incorrect. We do not have the NCVS in south western Ontario like they do in Michigan. I have talked to a linguist friend of mine and has said that no traits of NCVS have EVER been found in a Canadian English. 
Also the pronunciation of "Toronto" is not exclusive to Toronto. All southern Ontarion's produce a similar sound when pronouncing the word. I believe this to be a developing linguistic phenomena (I'm not sure of its name, flapping?)→And it isn't just the word "Toronto" it's other words like "limited" for instance which a lot of people pronounce as "limid" without noticing and a few others.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.224.205.57 (talk) 04:49, 12 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Suggestion of inland northern dialect in southwestern Ontario