Canadian English
LING 202, Fall 2007
Dr. Tony Pi
Week 1 - Introduction and History
In This Course...
We will explore
• The history of Canadian English
– immigration
– language contact
• Differences and similarities between Canadian English and
other dialects of English in the world
– British English
– American English
– pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, semantics, usage
• Features of regional dialects of Canada
– from Newfoundland English to Chinook Jargon
• Sociolinguistic research techniques
– collection
– analysis
– linguistic theories
Contact Info
• Kingston Hall 312B
– Office hrs: Thursdays 2:30-3:30
– Phone: 533-2095 (call only during office hrs)
• Until I am able to set up a Queen’s account:
– email: dr.tony.pi@gmail.com
– website:
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pi/ling202.htm
– Handing in assignments
•
•
•
•
Thursdays at the beginning of class
never slip under door or give to another professor
or mailbox in French office (before 11:45 a.m. on due date)
remember that the French office closes between 12-1
Canada, Eh?
Language and Canadian Identity
CBC’s Test the Nation
• did you watch the show last night?
• how did you score?
• what Canadian sayings do you know?
I AM CANADIAN
I have a Prime Minister,
not a President.
I speak English and French,
NOT American.
and I pronouce it ABOUT,
NOT A BOOT.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzn0UiiOYLs
The Rant
Hey.
I'm not a lumberjack,
or a fur trader...
and I don't live in an igloo
or eat blubber, or own a dogsled...
and I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from
Canada,
although I'm certain they're really, really nice.
I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, NOT policing.
DIVERSITY, NOT assimilation,
AND THAT THE BEAVER IS A TRULY PROUD AND
NOBLE ANIMAL.
A TOQUE IS A HAT,
A CHESTERFIELD IS A COUCH,
AND IT IS PRONOUCED 'ZED' NOT 'ZEE', 'ZED'!
CANADA IS THE SECOND LARGEST LANDMASS!
THE FIRST NATION OF HOCKEY!
AND THE BEST PART OF NORTH AMERICA!
MY NAME IS JOE!
AND I AM CANADIAN!
Shibboleths
And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so,
that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men
of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not
frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of
Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
– Judges 12:5-6, KJV
• What are some Canadian shibboleths?
Zee and Zed
• An American shibboleth
– ‘zed’ in every part of the world except US
• However, children in Southern Ontario
sometimes say ‘zee’. Why?
• Change in progress or age-grading?
StrathyLingua Puzzle I
•
http://post.queensu.ca/~strathy/content/strathylingua_q_1.html
• On the next page are 20 probable "Canadianisms." In fact, only ten
of these are true Canadian originals. Ten others occur in both
Canadian and British English – though not American – a reflection of
Canada’s closer ties to the UK. Can you distinguish the Canadian
coinages from the British imports?
• Mark C beside expressions you think originated in Canada; mark B
beside expressions you would also expect to hear in Britain.
StrathyLingua Puzzle II
1. ___ around [regarding, e.g.,
"concerns around this proposal"]
2. ___ budgie [parakeet]
3. ___ bum [buttocks]
4. ___ by-election [special election]
5. ___ caught out [discovered in the
wrong]
6. ___ cheesed off [irritated]
7. ___ commissionaire [security guard,
esp. ex-military]
8. ___ dab hand (at) [person proficient
(at)]
9. ___ done like dinner [defeated,
exhausted]
10. ___ endorsation [endorsement]
11. ___ fire hall [fire station]
12. ___ go missing [be missing]
13. ___ gas bar [gas station, esp. without
a garage]
14. ___ give the gears to [treat harshly,
hassle]
15. ___ mainstreeting [campaigning on
the streets]
16. ___ ratepayers [taxpayers]
17. ___ scrum [throng of reporters]
18. ___ serviette [paper napkin]
19. ___ strike [set up, e.g., a committee
or task force]
20. ___ tuque [knitted cap]
StrathyLingua Puzzle III
1. _B_ around [regarding, e.g.,
"concerns around this proposal"]
2. _B_ budgie [parakeet]
3. _B_ bum [buttocks]
4. _B_ by-election [special election]
5. _B_ caught out [discovered in the
wrong]
6. _B_ cheesed off [irritated]
7. _B_ commissionaire [security guard,
esp. ex-military]
8. _B_ dab hand (at) [person proficient
(at)]
9. _C_ done like dinner [defeated,
exhausted]
10. _C_ endorsation [endorsement]
11. _C_ fire hall [fire station]
12. _B_ go missing [be missing]
13. _C_ gas bar [gas station, esp.
without a garage]
14. _C_ give the gears to [treat harshly,
hassle]
15. _C_ mainstreeting [campaigning on
the streets]
16. _B_ ratepayers [taxpayers]
17. _C_ scrum [throng of reporters]
18. _C_ serviette [paper napkin]
19. _C_ strike [set up, e.g., a committee
or task force]
20. _C_ tuque [knitted cap]
The Name ‘Canada’
• Theories: Truth or myth?
– ‘Aca nada’! (Spanish)
– ‘Here nothing!’
– Kanata ‘village’
– Cartier’s list of Indian
words correctly defines
the word
http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10123
• Canada first referenced by Cartier in 1534,
referencing community of Stadacona
• 1638: Robert’s map - St. Lawrence River
• Colony of New France (distinct from Acadia)
• After succession: Province of Quebec, but name
Canada stuck
– Cañada
• A. Marshall Elliott
– Spanish word for glade,
used to refer to reedgrown banks of a river
Tupona Strong and Free
Tupona or Tuponia (The United Provinces of North America)
Transatlantia, Transylvania, Canadensia, Vesperia, Mesopelagia, Aquilonia,
Albertoria, Victoralia, Alexandrina, Victorialand, Albertsland, British North
America, Western Britannia, Britannica, Britannia West, Albona, Albionora,
New Albion, Acadia, Cabotia, Hochelaga, Laurentia, Niagarentia, Colonia,
Ursulia, Borealia, Superior, Norland
CANUCK
Jack Canuck or Johnny Canuck
Canack, Cunnuck, Kanuk, K’nucks,
Canuck - 1855
Cannacker - 1846
Conock - 1840
Kanuck (Dutch or French Canadian) - 1835
Canadian Geography
How English in Canada Spread
political boundaries and major cities
Population Density
Canada: Demographics
33,390,141 (July 2007 est.)
English and French
top other languages as mother tongues: Chinese, Italian, German
1/27/05
Canada
Newfoundland & Lab.
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Northwest Territories
British Columbia
Nova Scotia
Manitoba
Yukon Territory
Prince Edward Island
Ontario
Nunavut
New Brunswick
Quebec
Total
English only
%
French only
%
Both
%
number
29,639,030 20,014,645 67.5%
3,946,525 13.3% 5,231,575 17.7%
508,080
486,390 95.7%
145
0.0%
20,890
4.1%
963,150
910,645 94.5%
360
0.0%
49,000
5.1%
2,941,150
2,704,895 92.0%
1,895
0.1%
202,905
6.9%
37,105
33,550 90.4%
40
0.1%
3,130
8.4%
3,868,870
3,493,680 90.3%
1,815
0.0%
269,365
7.0%
897,570
805,545 89.7%
790
0.1%
90,265 10.1%
1,103,700
990,280 89.7%
1,250
0.1%
102,840
9.3%
28,520
25,505 89.4%
45
0.2%
2,895 10.2%
133,385
117,240 87.9%
95
0.1%
15,990 12.0%
11,285,545
9,690,745 85.9%
42,305
0.4% 1,315,715 11.7%
26,670
22,125 83.0%
25
0.1%
1,010
3.8%
715,715
406,995 56.9%
66,415
9.3%
245,870 34.4%
7,125,575
327,045
4.6%
3,831,350 53.8% 2,907,700 40.8%
Source: Statistics Canada, Census of population (2005).
Brief History of Canada
– English -> Newfoundland (Cabot 1497)
– French -> Maritimes/Acadia (Champlain 1605)
– English sent more settlers than France (mid 18th
century)
– colonies ceded to English when they defeated France
• 1716, Treaty of Utrecht (Queen Anne’s War)
– Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI
• 1763, Treaty of Paris (French and Indian War)
– 1791: refugees from American Revolution
– 1867: Confederation
Canada through the Ages I
Canada through the Ages II
Canada through the Ages III
Canada through the Ages IV
Canada through the Ages V
Newfoundland
– Joined Canada in 1949
– First discovered by Norse around 1000
– Codfish
– Portuguese and English
– Settlers from southwestern England
– Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire
– 18th century: Irish
– dominated many areas, including St. John’s
Four Waves of Immigration
1. Loyalists (1776-1793)
–
refugees from the Thirteen Colonies loyal to England
2. British, Scottish and Irish Immigrants (1815-1850)
–
systematic recruitment by British governors to counteract proAmerican sentiments after border invasions in War of 1812
3. European Immigrants (1890-1910)
–
more immigrants from Scotland and Ireland, but also Germany, Italy,
Scandinavia and Ukraine to farm in the Prairies and industrialize
Ontario and Québec
4. Post-War Diaspora (1946-1960)
–
Europeans (Italians, Portuguese, Dutch, Belgians, Greeks, etc.), then
diverse immigrations due to political unrest in home countries
(Hungary, Korea, China, Vietnam, etc.)
Loyalists
• Refugees from the American Revolution
– Coastal New England States
• Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island
• into Nova Scotia
– New England speech: r-less, distinctive vowels
– Inland States
• Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Vermont
• lower Great Lakes, Montreal westward
– sounds and syntax of middle states on the Atlantic Coast
– Noah Webster’s spelling book
• spelling and pronunciation (color, meter; lieutenant, zee)
British and Irish Immigrants
• after War of 1812
– Americans relied on sympathy for their cause
• British governors decided to dilute population with British and Irish
immigrants
– 1830-1860 - thousands of emigrants along the north shore of
Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and inland
• Doubled population of Upper Canada, which had mostly been 2nd
or 3rd generation Loyalists
– isolated regions - clear mark of Scots speech
• Cape Breton, Pictou, Antigonish counties in Nova Scotia; Ottawa
Valley; Peterborough; West Lorne district north of Erie
– Victorian propriety and correctness
• late intervention introduced variations in pronunciation and spelling
• Attitudes: British standards superior - speech and manners
• ‘Canadian Dainty’
Homogeneity
• Why does urban middle-class Canadian
English sound the same across the
country?
• first western settlers were Protestants from
southern Ontario
• resistance from Red River Valley (1870) - Métis
• to prevent rebellions, governors gave generous
land grants to first wave of settlers from Ontario
Phonology
• Why is North American English different from
British English?
– Australian, New Zealand, South African varieties
– North American
•
•
•
•
•
r: bark, bar, barber
vowels: laugh, bath, chant, dance
logger/lager; bother/father
flapped /t/: city, little
syllabic /n/: mitten, button, fountain
– Canadian
• low back merger: caught/cot, dawn/don
• Canadian raising (oot and aboot)
Vocabulary, Syntax, Semantics
• Vocabulary and Semantics
– note the examples and come up with others for discussion
• Syntax
• Irish completive after + present participle (‘recently finished’)
– Newfoundland, Port Hawkesbury, Ottawa, Peterborough
» Mary’s after telling us about it
• Ever
» Does John ever drive fast!
• Cep’fer
» We could sit on the floor cep’fer the teacher would probably tell us
not to
• Positive ‘anymore’
» John smokes a lot anymore