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Despite its name, the phenomenon is not restricted to Canada. The example above deals with the /aʊ/ (/aU/) diphthong, but, as noted, the /aɪ/ (/aI/) diphthong can be affected as well. So, whereas the General American pronunciations of "rider" and "writer" are identical /ɹaɪɾɚ/ (/raI4@r/), those whose dialects include Canadian raising will pronounce them as /ɹaɪɾɚ/ (/raI4@r/) and /ɹʌɪɾɚ/ (/rVI4@r/), respectively. It is this raising of /aɪ/ (/aI/) which can be found in the United States, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Note also that Canadian raising preserves the etymological /t/ in "writer," even though in Canadian English, as in most other versions of North American English, the /t/ and /d/ are merged to /ɾ/ (/4/) before unstressed vowels.
The phenomenon of Canadian raising may be related historically to a similar phenomenon that exists in Scots and Scottish English. The Scots Vowel Length Rule lengthens a wide variety of vowel sounds in several environments, and shortens them in others; "long" environments include when the vowel precedes a number of voiced consonant sounds. This rule also conditions /aɪ/ — /aI/ in the long environments and /ʌɪ/ — /VI/ in the short environments.