Geographic Distribution
Despite its name, the phenomenon is not restricted to Canada. "Classic" Canadian raising, affecting both the /aʊ/ and /aɪ/ diphthongs, is quite common in New England (including in the traditional accent of Martha's Vineyard), and also occurs in parts of the upper Midwest. Southern Atlantic varieties of English and the accents of the Fens in England feature it as well. The second, "American" variety, affecting only /aɪ/, can be found in the northern United States, the Mid-Atlantic Dialect region, California, and probably in many other parts of the country, as it appears to be spreading. There are also Canadians who raise /aɪ/ and not /aʊ/ or vice versa.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Raising
Famous quotes containing the word distribution:
“The man who pretends that the distribution of income in this country reflects the distribution of ability or character is an ignoramus. The man who says that it could by any possible political device be made to do so is an unpractical visionary. But the man who says that it ought to do so is something worse than an ignoramous and more disastrous than a visionary: he is, in the profoundest Scriptural sense of the word, a fool.”
—George Bernard Shaw (18561950)