Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2009 November 14

= November 14 =

How do English-speaking Canadians pronounce "Quebec"?
How do English-speaking Canadians pronounce "Quebec"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.49.12.245 (talk) 19:48, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * A lot of them seem to say something like kwa-bec. Pollinosisss (talk) 20:26, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * In Ontario people say either kuh-bek (more common) or kay-bek (less common), with the stress on the second syllable. Best, WikiJedits (talk) 20:28, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree, in Ontario it is something like "kuh-bek" or "kwa-bek". Something in between that, maybe. Adam Bishop (talk) 21:16, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree with "in between"; I think it's "kwuh-BEK" with the W sound in the unaccented syllable faint enough that it gets dropped in rapid speech. When people are writing "kwa-bek" here, I think their A means a schwa, i.e. the same as I'm writing as "kwuh-BEK".  (I live in Ontario and formerly in Alberta.)  I don't often hear "kay-bek", and if I do, I consider that the person is attempting to pronounce the word as French.  --Anonymous, 21:59 UTC, November 14, 2009.


 * Yes, "kwuh-BEK" is how we say it in British Columbia. The first vowel is schwa. I wouldn't say the 'w' gets dropped, though. The local city "Quesnel" is pronounced similarly. 220.29.16.77 (talk) 10:56, 15 November 2009 (UTC)


 * French é is a short pure vowel and may actually sound closer to English short i than to English ay. --JWB (talk) 23:50, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * See and hear Quebec pronunciation: How to pronounce Quebec in English. -- Wavelength (talk) 21:34, 14 November 2009 (UTC)