Prince Edward Island One - Text
Subject is a white female, born in 1980. Born and raised in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. High School education. Married and the mother of a young child. Presently employed as a housekeeper/cleaner of cottages. Has lived in Alberta, Canada, but for less than one year. Recorded on June 25, 2000 by Susan Stackhouse.
This is a great example of Canadian Maritime speech. Nasality is strong and teeth do not part very much when speaking so vowels are closed and some are skipped over altogether. Listen for the pronunciation of lCharlottetown] and [development] and notice that [but] becomes [bt]. Rising intonation is very evident and used throughout. Most final [t]'s and [k]'s are aspirated- as in but, smart, not, bite, start, weight, it, gymnastics, energetic. The [r] is very strong in almost all cases. As in most Canadian dialects we hear a strong example of Canadian Raising (mid central starting point when the following consonant is voiceless) in the words down, out, around, downtown, round, now, found, around. In fact, these vowels are sometimes extended into tripthongs. The Canadian Raising is also evident in the words high and white light. Of interest is the pronunciation of the vowel in the words say, away, small, good, grey, man, the use of the word 'anyhow' in the place of anyway and phrase 'where it's at' instead of where it is. As in other eastern Canada samples, the word miracle is pronounced mericle and final [g]'s are often dropped as in 'gonna go' and 'somethin'. Recorded and edited 6.25.00 by Susan Stackhouse. Further editing by Paul Meier 9.21.00. Running time: 00:03:07.
TRANSCRIPTION
Well, I was born at the hospital. I forget where it’s at. Pssh, it’s an old hospital. It’s burned down now, or somethin’, the old Charlestown Hospital. And (uh) raised in Hillsborough Development, in Charlestown. And moved to Rocky Point, three years ago. --went to school, started at St. Jude’s Elementary. That’s in on Queen Street in Charlestown, almost downtown. Went to Birchwood for my junior high, Birchwood Junior High; and then on to Colonel Grey, to high school, for my high school years; graduated, moved to Alberta, moved back home, had a daughter. And now I’m cleaning cottages for a living.
My daughter is 16 months old, on the second of July, and she is absolutely beautiful, of course. Everybody says she is, and I know she is, and (um) she’s very smart. She started to say bum, hot, light, in the matter of two days that we were… They start really quickly, and they copy everything you say. And so, she flushes the toilet, and she puts her diaper in the garbage by herself, and she (um)-- she’s very good. When I say no, she shakes her head no, and she’ll walk away, from whatever it is that she’s not supposed to be around.
And (um) she is going to be going into gymnastics. They can start when they’re a year. And she’s double-jointed. (laughs) She’s double-jointed. We found out when she was very small. She would turn her arms around, and we took her to the doctor, thinking there was something wrong with her arms, and there was nothing. Her-- she’s double-jointed in every joint, so he just twisted her hips and everything to show us, and we were like, “Oh my God, don’t break the hips. They’re like-- just leave them alone.” But anyway, so she’s going to go into gymnastics. She’s very energetic. And (um) I’m sure she’s got that A D D already. Almost, I’m almost positive. I have it, and her father has it, so… Anyhow, she (um)-- she’s helped me lose a lot of weight. And (uh) that’s not a problem any more. Fitting into a bikini, and (uh) comes with-- with chasing after her, and-- and (um) yeah, that’s about it, about her…