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.