Canadians sometimes speak a bit funny. Americans think we say 鈥渁boot鈥� instead of 鈥渁bout,鈥� for example, because of something called a .
It鈥檚 this type of subtle idiosyncrasy in our speech that leads one linguistics professor to believe an Islamic State militant -- one seen executing Syrian soldiers on video -- is from Canada.
At one point during an hour-long ISIS propaganda video released last month, a man is shown speaking in both Arabic and English as he brags about making Syrian soldiers dig their own graves.
Apart from his eyes, the man has his face completely covered. But as he threatens the camera, there鈥檚 one thing he can鈥檛 hide 鈥� his accent.
鈥淭here are certain clues in the words he uses that suggest he has at least some kind of Canadian exposure,鈥� says Jack Chambers, a linguistics professor from the University of Toronto.
When the jihadist points to a pock-marked building and talks about the 鈥渂ullet holes and artillery shells from the Islamic State,鈥� Chambers says the man pronounces 鈥淚slamic鈥� the way 75 per cent of Canadians do.
And when he says he鈥檚 鈥渙utside鈥� the city of Ar-Raqqah, he says it with that raised Canadian vowel.
Darren Flynn, another linguist from the University of Calgary, agrees the accent is North American. And though he isn鈥檛 certain the speech patterns are specifically Canadian, Flynn says the way the man speaks reveals a lot about him.
鈥淵ou can tell that he's definitely not working class,鈥� he says. 鈥淗e's from the north. He could be either on this side of the border or the American side.鈥�
The FBI has asking for information from anyone who might know the man鈥檚 identity.
It鈥檚 a search that Canadians should be taking seriously, says Lorne Dawson, a University of Waterloo professor whose areas of study include religion and radicalization.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the same attitudes as people in England, Denmark, the Netherlands and even the United States in terms of being prepared,鈥� Dawson told 麻豆影视.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had many incidents in Canada 鈥� terrorist incidents 鈥� but there鈥檚 a kind of rising tide of this activity, and I think it鈥檚 just a matter of time before something regrettable happens here.鈥�
With a report from 麻豆影视鈥� Laurie Graham
