This question came up for me yesterday when I watched a video interview with Randy Bachman of Bachman Turner Overdrive and the Guess Who. He said his last name is actually pronounced like Back-man, at least in Canada (his part of it apparently), but he understands that Americans say it to rhyme with Stock-man, so he frequently says "I'm Randy Back-man, of Bachman Turner Overdrive." And that made me curious about how he or other Candians pronounce Bach. I've already spoken to @Louanne Learning and she said in her part of Canada it's pronounded Bawk-man, and that Bach is pronounced Bawk. She also sent a video explaining how it's pronounced in German (his native language)—which is something like Bahh, with just faint hint of a throat-clearing in there. Maybe Scrooge was of German descent, who knows? Anyway, when thinking about how Candians talk, I sometimes think my way through the movie Fargo. It isn't identical of course, but there's a lot of similarity in the way people talk in those northern states and Canada, as if the dialect is shifting gradually across the landmass as you move north. And I could absolutely hear Marge Gunderson saying it like Back (as in back bacon). Something like "Oh yeah, I hear it's real good for your baby to let 'im listen to some Back, eh?" Louanne informed me it changes from region to region, and it might be pronounced that way in some areas, but that she hasn't heard it said that way. Can anybody confirm or deny?
Interesting question. I pronounce it like Bah[gh] (where [gh] is a sort of guttural sound in the throat). Similar ending sound to Van Gogh, btw.
My husband is from North Dakota and in his younger days taught music a handful of miles from the Manitoba border. He says Bahk, ja, you betcha. Which brings me to the question: any PDQ Bach fans here?
Like the German pronunciation. Dutch seems to use a similar sound, as in Van Gogh (like you said). Some Americans do use the pronunciation of the country of origin, like trying to imitate a French accent when saying a French word like Naivety (nie-eve-a-Tay) as opposed to the standard American pronunciation (nie-EVE-a-tee). Being in Cali, you probably hear people using the Valley Dude dialect at times, like Bill and Ted would say it. (No idea how they would pronounce Bach.)
Stock. Stack would be Baaay-k. But then you'd want to know if that was Stack or Bake. If I said like sheep talk, you'd bring up whether they say baaaa with a soft aaa or baaa with a broad a. You are difficult, sir.
Lol sorry (that's pronounced like Lorry ). I just want to fully understand, and in writing that can require some gymnastics. I did think that's what you meant though. Lol, I literally thought exactly that! Interestingly (to me and probably only me) I even used the word Bake, before seeing you had written it. Rather than something like Stake or Steak.
That's because despite being difficult, you are brilliant, and your brilliant mind works like mine. Sometimes.
This might make some Canadians cringe, but I'd probably do the same thing but instead of Fargo I'd consider Sarah Palin from Alaska, but I don't know how similar her speech is to most Canadians.
I think most Canadians you speak to aren't going to have much of an accent, unless you're on the East Coast, or Quebec for that matter. I vaguely recall reading some piece about this being the reason businesses like to set up call centers here. Bawk is close to how I'd say it's pronounced. Maybe I'd say it's more like Bahhk. More of an ah than an aw. Unless you're trying to be fancy-shmancy, then you do that throat thing at the end.
I just want to say that I don't know anyone who says aboot. We all say about. But I do say root for route.
Of course. Fargo and Bob and Doug McKenzie are satirical, and making fun of the accents. And I've heard many Canadians speaking, like James Cameron, Jordan Peterson, Mike Meyers, and countless more. Most of them have a subtle accent, but it is there. I can usually tell when they say sorry or sometimes about (some definitely say aboot). I'm just curious about whether anyone, in some remote province maybe, pronounces Bachman the way Randy does, and how they would pronounce Bach. Something tells me it's a question that will go forever unanswered. I could listen to countless hours of Cameron interviews until he says something with bach in it, but I don't know if he has that particular dialect or accent.
It occurred to me to search and see if Peterson ever talked about Bach. He uses it as his theme music. I found this where he discusses his musical taste, but he never mentions Bach. He does however say "I like a lawt, I like rowk," and right at the end "I don't like pawp." He's undoubtedly a Bawk man.
The article linked below says that this is a bit of Canadian mythology. That, instead, most Canadians pronounce it a-boat Canadian Raising: Nobody says “Aboot”
So I'm sitting here saying about to myself over and over again and trying to figure out how it sounds!
Dat might be more of a Norwegian Nort' Dahcodah ting, ja, you betcha. My brother in law says aboot, though not clearly eniunciated as ah-BOOT. My high school history teacher said it, too. Though my southern accent faded years ago, a few things hang on. Someone pointed out recently that I say lah-yer instead of law-yer and CE-ment instead of c'MENT. Of course, once that was pointed out to me, I had no idea what I say naturally and now have to avoid those words all together. Alas, no writing about lah-yers sent to the fish in CE-ment boots in case I have to read my work aloud.
Is that where it comes from? They talk that way in Minnesota too. The whole area must have a largely Norwegian population.
My husband says lots of Norwegians and Germans. He's aboot half Norwegian himself. My daughter is blond, blond, blond. When she was a LEO, she called me up one day laughing her head off. Said she'd just been called the "best bad name yet." Some girl she arrested called her a Viking whore. (The girl later wrote a letter of apology.) This replaced the former favorite bad name which was Garden Gnome.
HUGE fan here! Ever since my college days, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. There's a music program on NPR called "From the Top" which features child prodigies playing classical music and and having lots of fun. They occasionally had guest stars like Yo Yo Ma or Judy Collins on, interacting with the audience. I've always wanted Peter Schickele to appear... I can think of nothing more dangerous to classical music than putting Mr. Schickele in charge of an auditorium full of music-savvy teenagers. For those who don't know about PDQ Bach or Peter Schickele, here's the Wikipedia article. But if you love classical music, especially baroque music, you must check him out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._D._Q._Bach
My husband had the pleasure of seeing Schickele in the school auditorium in (if I am not completely mistaken) Zap, North Dakota. Said the gentleman swung onto stage via a rope attached to to the ceiling. Well, he didn't quite reach the stage, but I'm sure you get the picture. One of the highlights (for me) of my vocal education was singing the soprano aria ("Now is the Season") from The Stoned Guest for convocation at the end of a semester. Yep, among the other weird-ass things I've done, I took a year of vocal music at a local community college. It was worth it just for that one presentation. I'll tell my husband about "From the Top." He's the real musician in the family- gets paid and stuff.
Just discovered Randy Bachman grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I looked up on a map where that is, but it means nothing to me, because I don't know enough about Canada. It might be the equivalent of rural Tennessee or North Carolina, where people have strong accents compared to the rest of the country. One factoid I do know about Canada, just learned recently, is that the majority of the population lives concentrated at the southernmost tip of it, which nestles way down inside America, around the upper Great Lakes. Apparently north of that is what's known as—I forget what it's called, but it's solid rock under the surface that prevents agriculture. And I assume it's a bit warmer down south as well.
My husband and I really enjoyed vacationing in Winnipeg. A pretty big city, with a population of about 750,000. Don't recall an accent. We were charmed by the friendly people and the sights on the Prairies. Saw bison! I think you are referring to the Canadian Shield, which stretches down into the US in places. Spoiler: Canadian Shield
