Alberta 7

Listen to Alberta 7, a 64-year-old woman from Kelsey, Alberta, Canada. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

Both as a courtesy and to comply with copyright law, please remember to credit IDEA for direct or indirect use of samples. IDEA is a free resource; please consider supporting us.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 64

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/04/1955

PLACE OF BIRTH: Camrose, Alberta (but raised in Kelsey)

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: White/Canadian with partial Scottish ancestry

OCCUPATION: homemaker

EDUCATION: high school

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject has lived in Alberta her whole life.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Marie Warkentin

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/12/2019

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I was born in Camrose, Alberta. I grew up at Kelsey, worked in Edmonton for a short time, moved back to Camrose, moved to Bawlf, where I’ve been ever since. Lived in a rural community. I was living very close to my cousins, so I grew up with them. We had lots of fun times together as family and considered them good friends.

My oldest brother Larry: I, um, what I remember mostly about him was, we — well, I mentioned growing up close to my cousins, loading up as many as we could get in a station wagon, and he would take us to the theatre in Daysland to see movies. Um, but there, you know, he’s eight years older, so wasn’t all that close to him; you hear and — my brother Roger: I remember being a little more obstinate, and he, y’know, he would stand up to my parents a little more, but m-my dad especially. Um, but became good friends with him after I had children because our children were very similar ages as theirs.

My brother Bill: I quite enjoyed an- when I was a little bit older an —  but still not able to drive — he would take me to dances, and, and quite often I got a ride home with somebody else [laughs], but it was fun that he would take me. So I was pretty lucky that they looked out for me.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Adam Lane Bergquist

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 11/07/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

Sample displays the following typically Canadian traits:

Release of final T is quite prominent on “kit,” “vet,” and “foot,”

Medial T is heard in “sentimental” and “unsanitary” but not in “beautiful” or “letter,” which become [bjuɾɪfɫ̩] and [lɛɾɚ].

Rounded [o] vowels are heard in “official,” “old,” “sorry,” “territory,” and “goat.”

Pure [u] used in “goose,” “duke,” and “tune.”

No liquid U exists in “duke” or “tune.”

Note the more British pronunciations of “veterinary” and “futile.”

The [aʊ] to [ʌʊ] shift in MOUTH words is less prominent than expected but may be heard as a shortening of diphthongs in general coupled with an bit of tension in the jaw.

A unique feature in this sample is a Turned W [ʍ] in “which,” “what,” and “quite.” While not necessarily a typical Canadian trait, this may be an echo of the subjects’ partially Scottish ancestry.

The melody of speech feels very musical. Canadian raising intonation is heard in many phrases. This seems to often be a way of indicating that the subject is building toward a final point.

The style is quite precise and light, and the speaker seems to put some value on elocution.

The overall rhythm of speech seems characteristic of the region in the way phrases are broken and pauses are taken for thought.

COMMENTARY BY: Adam Lane Bergquist

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 11/07/2020

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.

• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.

• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.

• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.