North American English
North American English
North American English is the form of English spoken in the United States and Canada. Because the U.S. and Canada share history and culture and have similar speech, vocabulary, and grammar, linguists often group them together.
Spelling and words
- Canadian English mixes British and American spellings. Some words always use British spellings (for example, cheque), while others use American spellings (for example, tire).
- There are some words that are common mainly in the United States and Canada, such as diaper vs. nappy or gasoline vs. petrol. Cross-border trade and media help spread these terms between the two countries.
Dialects and accents
- There are many different accents in both the United States and Canada. These developed from early settlers from the British Isles and later waves of immigrants, blending over time into a wide range of local speech patterns.
Key pronunciation features
- Rhoticity: most North American varieties fully pronounce the /r/ sound in all positions.
- T- and D-flapping: t or d between vowels often sounds like a quick, soft d (for example, water may be pronounced with a soft d sound).
- T-glottalization: in some words, the t is replaced by a brief glottal stop in casual speech (a feature that varies by region).
- L-velarization: the L sound at the end of a syllable can affect the preceding vowel, giving sounds like the “dark L.”
- Vowels before r: in many speakers, words like Mary, marry, and merry sound similar or the same.
- Price vs. prize: the vowel in words like price and bright can be slightly higher or different from the vowel in prize and bride.
- LOT–PALM and LOT–THOUGHT mergers: many Americans merge LOT with PALM, so these sounds are less distinct for them; most Canadians keep them separate.
- Yod-dropping: some speakers pronounce Tuesday as “toosday,” dropping the small “y” sound after certain consonants; this is more common in American English than in Canadian English.
Overall, North American English includes a large variety of regional accents, all sharing common roots in English brought by settlers from the British Isles and later influences from many immigrant groups. The United States and Canada influence each other’s spelling, vocabulary, and pronunciation through ongoing contact and exchange.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:45 (CET).