How to Talk American

Canadian voice-over talent like myself have an interesting and unusual challenge which presents itself, especially when — as mine is — your focus is on building and catering to an American clientele.

There are certain tell-tale words and cadences which give us away when we attempt to “fit in” and make our “Canadian accents” neutral (and ultimately a non-issue) — most of us know about modifying words like “project” and “process” to sound less “Canadian” (saying “PRAW-ject” and “PRAW-cess” — as opposed to saying more of a “pro” sound fits in better with American clients) — but it led me wonder if there were other hard-and-fast rules which would allow for voice talent to make the adjustment and “acclimatize” better while voicing American projects.

A word which comes up often in scripts (especially on projects dealing with IT/computer content) is “data” (DAY-tuh is more American than “DATT-ta.”) Words such as drama, Mazda, pasta, and plaza tend to be pronounced “the Canadian way” with an “a” as in “hat”, and in the “American way” as “a” as in “hot”. (I have a close friend from the US who is driven crazy when the suggestion of “PASTa” comes up, as opposed to “PAHS-ta”.)

“The prefix ending in ‘i’ such as in anti, and semi ,” “Is typically pronounced as “ee” by Canadians and “eye” by Americans.” Similarly, “The ‘ile’ suffix is most often pronounced as “aisle” by Canadians, and “ul” by Americans in words such as ‘fragile’ ‘versatile‘, mobile’, ‘hostile‘” The characteristic American pronunciation of “roof” with the vowel in “put”, where Canadians tend to say “ew” as in “pool”. Talk to anyone from Huntsville; it’s “VULL” and not “ville”.

Canadians produce two vowel sounds in a more “clipped” manner than our American neighbors: the two vowel sounds are ‘i‘ as in ‘wide’ and ‘ow’ and in ‘cow’. In Canadian English, pronunciation varies depending on whether a voiceless or voiced sound follows the vowel sound. This phenomenon is known as “Canadian Raising.” Say the words ‘right’ and ‘ride’, and ‘house’ and ‘houses’ out loud. The vowels in these words are slightly different for Canadians but not for Americans. For Canadians, the tongue is raised to a more central position in the mouth for the two vowel sounds mentioned when they are followed by a voiceless sound such as /t/ or /s/.” (Try it! It really works!)

I have a frequent predicament when I’m asked to voice in a British accent (usually American clients request it; usually wishing to create an upscale, erudite image by using an English accented-announcer); sometimes the copy is at odds with the accent. Words like “controversy” (said in “American”: “CON-tro-VER-sy”, should be said in the British way: “con-TROV-ersy.” I should be saying “IN-quiry” (British) as opposed to “in-QUIRE-ry” (American). 

I voiced years ago for a Realtor from Georgia -- I used to voice “talking house” real estate listings. She called me one morning with a note about a redo that needing doing: “Hon”, she drawled, “It’s pronounced ‘foy-YUR’. Not ‘foy-YAY.” My skin crawled; the word “foyer” has French roots, and while I’m not a Francophone-type-Canadian, I do my best to defer to the rightful roots of a word. Grudgingly, I gave her the pronunciation she was after — but I wasn’t happy about it. (Another one I’m frequently “pulled over” for is the pronunciation of the word “Sorry” — it should almost sound more like the East-Indian Garment (“Sari”) in American scripts than the Canadian “SORE-ry” (and we known as an overly apologetic people. You would think we need little coaching on *that* word.)

After 20+ years of voicing for the American market, most of these adjustments are now automatic for me; in fact, I encounter more Canadians who think I’m American because of my habit of accommodating the US pronunciations. Flying under the radar is a good thing, in this instance; like all the Canadian newscasters who have migrated to the US (and there are many) – it should be considered a feat and an accomplishment if listeners don’t immediately “peg” where you’re from.

 Allison Smith is a professional telephone and AI voice heard on platforms globally. www.theivrvoice.com, @voicegal