Canadian raising

noun

The phenomenon in some dialects of English, especially Canadian English, in which /aɪ/ is realized as [ʌɪ] and/or /aʊ/ is realized as [ʌʊ] or [ɛʊ] before underlying unvoiced consonants.

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Meanings

nounCanadian raising (countable and uncountable, plural Canadian raisings)

plural Canadian raisings

  1. countableuncountabledialectologyThe phenomenon in some dialects of English, especially Canadian English, in which /aɪ/ is realized as [ʌɪ] and/or /aʊ/ is realized as [ʌʊ] or [ɛʊ] before underlying unvoiced consonants.
  2. countableuncountabledialectologyA similar but more restricted phenomenon, found in most dialects of American English, that applies only to /aɪ/, which is realized as [ʌɪ] in certain contexts, especially before underlying unvoiced consonants but with significant speaker-to-speaker variation.
Cite this entry
APA

Canadian raising. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Canadian%20raising

MLA

“Canadian raising.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Canadian%20raising. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Canadian raising,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Canadian%20raising.

Source: Canadian raising on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.