North American English


North American English encompasses the English language as spoken in both the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures, plus the similarities between the pronunciations, vocabulary, and grammar of U.S. English and Canadian English, linguists often group the two together. Canadian English generally is tolerant of both British and American spellings; however, certain words always take British spellings and others American spellings.
Dialects of English spoken by United Empire Loyalists who fled the American Revolution have had a large influence on Canadian English from its early roots. Some terms in North American English are used almost exclusively in Canada and the United States. Although many English speakers from outside North America regard those terms as distinct Americanisms, they are just as common in Canada, mainly due to the effects of heavy cross-border trade and cultural penetration by the American mass media. The list of divergent words becomes longer if considering regional Canadian dialects, especially as spoken in the Atlantic provinces and parts of Vancouver Island where significant pockets of British culture still remain.
There are a considerable number of different accents within the regions of both the United States and Canada. In North America, different English dialects of immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, and other regions of the British Isles mixed together in the 17th and 18th centuries. These were developed, built upon, and blended together as new waves of immigration, and migration across the North American continent, developed new dialects in new areas, and as these ways of speaking merged with and assimilated to the greater American dialect mixture that solidified by the mid-18th century.

Dialects

American English

  • General American

    Ethnic American English

  • African-American English
  • *African-American Vernacular English
  • American Indian English
  • Cajun English
  • Chicano English
  • Miami Latino English
  • New York Latino English
  • Pennsylvania Dutch English
  • Yeshiva English

    Regional American English

  • Midland American English
  • New York City English
  • Northern American English
  • *Inland Northern American English
  • *New England English
  • **Eastern New England English
  • ***Boston English
  • ***Maine English
  • **Western New England English
  • *North-Central American English
  • Philadelphia English
  • *Baltimore English
  • Southern American English
  • *Appalachian English
  • *High Tider English
  • *New Orleans English
  • *Older Southern American English
  • *Texan English
  • Western American English
  • *California English
  • *Pacific Northwest English
  • Western Pennsylvania English

    Canadian English

  • Aboriginal Canadian English
  • Atlantic Canadian English
  • *Lunenburg English
  • *Newfoundland English
  • Ottawa Valley English
  • Pacific Northwest English
  • Quebec English
  • Standard Canadian English

    Table of accents

Below, several major North American English accents are defined by particular characteristics:
Accent nameMost populous cityStrong frontingStrong frontingStrong frontingStrong
fronting		Cot–caught mergerPin–pen merger/æ/ raising systemOther defining criteria
African-Americanpre-nasalAfrican-American Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / L-vocalization / Th-fronting
Atlantic CanadianHalifaxvariousCanadian raising
General Americanpre-nasal
Inland Northern U.S.ChicagogeneralNorthern Cities Vowel Shift
Midland U.S.Indianapolispre-nasal
New OrleansNew OrleanssplitMid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / Non-rhoticity / Th-stopping / Southern Vowel Shift / Variable horse-hoarse distinction / Canadian Raising / L-vocalization
New York CityNew York CitysplitMid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / L-vocalization / Th-stopping / Variable Father-bother distinction / Northeastern /-ɒr-/
North-Central U.S.Fargopre-nasal & pre-velar
Eastern New England English#Northeastern New England English|Bostonpre-nasal Variable non-rhoticity / Canadian raising / Father-bother distinction / Northeastern /-ɒr-/
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphiasplitMid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / L-vocalization / Northeastern /-ɒr-/ / Merry–Murray merger
Eastern New England English#Rhode Island English|Providencepre-nasalMid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / Canadian raising / Northeastern /-ɒr-/
Southern U.S.San Antoniopre-nasalSouthern drawl / Southern Vowel Shift / Variable wine-whine distinction
Standard CanadianTorontopre-nasal & pre-velarCanadian raising / Low Back Merger Shift
Western U.S.Los Angelespre-nasalLow Back Merger Shift
Western PennsylvaniaPittsburghpre-nasal
Accent nameMost populous cityStrong frontingStrong frontingStrong frontingStrong
fronting		Cot–caught mergerPin–pen merger/æ/ raising systemOther defining criteria

Phonology

A majority of North American English includes phonological features that concern consonants, such as rhoticity, conditioned T-glottalization, T- and D-flapping, L-velarization, as well as features that concern vowel sounds, such as various vowel mergers before , raising of pre-voiceless , the weak vowel merger, at least one of the vowel mergers, and yod-dropping. The last item is more advanced in American English than Canadian English.