Untalkative Bunny

Canadian English Vowel Pronunciation Guide

This page is a guide for non-Canadian UB fans for the purpose of episode re-enactments.

There are about 12 vowel sounds in Canadian English. These sounds are listed under the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol below along with some common words that include them.

beat, see, piece the "schwa" is similar to the sound, but it is spoken quickly Canadian, dictionary, about boot, who, rude, through
bit, this, in, women book, would, put
bait, say, ate, weight boat, go, though
bet, said, head, when but, what, rough, some
bat, have, has, that cinema, pasta bought, father, call

Vowel combination sounds (diphthongs):

* lie, sigh, why bite, height
* how, bough bout, house
boy, join

* In a phonological rule known as 'Canadian Raising,' these diphthongs sound more like and when followed by voiceless consonants (/f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /t/). Word pairs like 'clout' and 'cloud,' 'knife' and 'knives,' 'advice' and 'advise,' and 'writer' and 'rider' illustrate this raising.