The Canadian pattern for foreign (a) words

The phonological adaptation or nativization of loan words can be a source of variation in any language. In English, one of the most remarkable examples of this variation concerns the nativization of foreign words containing the letter <a>, usually representing a low-central vowel quality in the source language, e.g. falafel, karate, llama, macho, nirvana, pasta, plaza, souvlaki, taco, etc. Such words are usually nativized with either /æ/ (TRAP) or /a:/ (PALM) as their stressed vowel, but each major national variety of English has developed its own pattern of assignment. British English tends to use /æ/, except where spelling and other factors conspire to suggest that the syllable should be treated as open, in which case /a:/ must occur, given the restriction on /æ/ in stressed open syllables. Thus pasta has /æ/, while llama has /a:/. American English, by contrast, prefers to use /a:/: both pasta and llama have /a:/ (which is not distinct from /ɒ/  [LOT] in most American dialects). The traditional Canadian pattern, however, is to use /æ/ in almost all foreign (a) words, even when both British and American English agree on /a:/. The only regular exception to this is in final stressed open syllables (bra, eclat, faux pas, foie gras, spa, etc.), where /æ/ cannot appear. While many younger Canadians are beginning to follow the American pattern in some instances (relatively few young people still use /æ/ in macho or taco), most Canadians retain /æ/ in both pasta and llama, and even in older loan words like drama, garage, and Slavic, where it may sound odd to speakers of other varieties (Boberg 2000).