I'm too lazy to find the reference right now, but one's brain essentially has "pigeon holes" (sorting boxes) for sounds. If one's language has few vowels, one h

I'm too lazy to find the reference right now, but one's brain essentially has "pigeon holes" (sorting boxes) for sounds. If one's language has few vowels, one has few boxes, if one's language has many vowels, one has many boxes. Each time one hears a sound, one's brain maps it to the box containing the closest sound. Canadians generally use a few more vowels (and French speakers even more) than Americans do (with the exceptions of Minnesotans and a few others, who hear Canadians say "about" when they say "about). The way many (most?) of us pronounce out, bout, and about uses a vowel combination unknown to most Americans. The nearest sound, the nearest box, maps to "oot", "boot", and "aboot". So it's not us sayin' the wrong thing, it's all'y'all not havin' the auditory wherewithal to pick up what we're puttin' down! Sorry 'bout that, eh? (EDIT: When I learn a new language, I spend quite a bit of time with my eyes closed, listening intently to the sounds for which I have no boxes, mouthing them as best as I can, consciously building a new box.)