Ontario 34

Listen to Ontario 34, a 62-year-old man from Toronto, Ontario, and also Calgary, Canada. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 62

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 13/03/1951

PLACE OF BIRTH: Germany (but moved to Toronto as an infant)

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Caucasian

OCCUPATION: President and CEO of Devon Energy

EDUCATION: law degree from University of Windsor

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

The subject is Canadian, having been raised in Toronto. He lived there until his early 20s, when he moved to Windsor, in southwestern Ontario. He then moved to Calgary at age 27, where he stayed for 25 years before coming to the United States and settling in Oklahoma, where he was residing at the time of this interview.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

Both parents are native Germans.

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

RECORDED BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 12/07/2013

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

… and a few years ago, I injured my ankle; I actually think I sprained it a couple of times. I got a little arthritis in my ankle; I couldn’t run long distances anymore. So, I decided to take up cycling. And, for the last six or seven years, I cycle whenever I get the chance. It doesn’t, uh, when I look at what I do with my cycling, I’m not sure it’s particularly good for a 62-year-old. I do nothing from a physical point of view from Monday to Friday, and then on Saturday and Sunday, I go out and ride a hundred miles. N… So, I get I get my exercise in spurts. But, I really enjoy that. Actually, tomorrow I’m riding in, uh, uh, an organized ride. It’s not a race; it’s one that we call a T-shirt ride because that’s what you get. It’s the T-shirt as a, as a prize. But it’s an organized ride out of, out of Norman, um, called the Norman Con, Conquest, and it’s a really challenging ride. Uh it, it it’s sixty-four miles, and it’s through the area to the east and southeast of, uh, of Norman, and it’s very hilly. And if you ever … if anybody … if you, if you talk to people, people think that Oklahoma’s a flat state. If you ever hear that, stick ‘em on a bicycle and take them down to Norman and let ‘em ride down to Slaughterville or, or Noble, because it’s anything but flat. So, tomorrow I’m looking forward to that. It’s, uh, it’s a fun ride, and it’s really hilly. It’s going to be 100 degrees by the time we’re finished, and I don’t know, that probably doesn’t sound like fun to people who are, who are not cyclists: Go out and ride sixty miles in 100-degree temperature. But I’m looking forward to it. I, I’ve really enjoyed the … really enjoyed the cycling. It’s been a great; it’s a great, uh, physical outlet. It’s a great emotional outlet to get out there and, and, and ride hard like that. My wife and I actually have, uh, have a tandem as well, and we uh … I have to say that we’ve had it about three years, and it has 300 miles on it. So, it’s not exactly like we get out all that often, but we’d like to get out more. And it, it’s kind of a fun pastime for, uh, something to do with your spouse. Um, and, uh, and we, we get out on it once in a while. Charlotte was just telling me the story the other day; it was kind of a funny story; uh, uh, uh, a couple of years ago, we were out on it on a Sunday, and I had to go out of town that afternoon. So, I had to be back in time to … suh, you know, shower and change, get my stuff and get out to the airport. We were quite a ways out to the east of the city, towards Jones. And I said, “Charlotte, we’d better turn around and go back. It’s going to be late.” And we came back, and we rode fairly hard, and there are a couple of really steep hills, and we, uh, we got home and I said to her, “Gosh my legs are killing me. Those last couple of hills were were tough.”’ And she said, “My legs feel just fine!” Which to me, which to me pointed out part of the problem of why my legs hurt. But, it’s a great, it’s a great pastime. I really enjoy it, and, uh, it’s something I try to do whenever I can.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 30/07/2013

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

Final [r] is stronger than median or initial [r].  The [aɪ] (price) diphthong experiences Canadian Raising before a voiceless consonant, becoming [ʌɪ] (liking, wife).  However, this Canadian Raising occasionally happens before a voiced consonant (tried, ride).  The cot [ɒ]-caught [ɔ] merger transforms the vowels in “off” and “cloth” to [ɑ] (palm).  The stressed vowel in “sorry” and “tomorrow” changes from [ɑr] (start) to [ɔr] (north).  The stressed diphthong [oʊ] (goat) drops the second monophthong and lengthens the first monophthong, becoming [o:] (so, no, goat, lower, emotion, ago). The words “finally,” “cycling,” and “cyclist” have three syllables.  The word “futile” has the [aɪ] (price) diphthong in the second syllable.  The word “been” includes the vowel [i] (fleece).  Ending [t] and [k] consonants are clear and crisp.

COMMENTARY BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 31/07/2013

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