| Canadian English |
Article Index for Canadian |
Website Links For Canadian |
Information AboutCanadian English |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CANADIAN ENGLISH | |
| canadian englishcanadian english | |
| north american english | |
| languages of canada | |
|
Canadian English ('''CaE''') is a , British , and unique Canadianisms. Canadian vocabulary is similar to American English, yet with key differences and local variations. In 1998 , Oxford University Press produced a Canadian English dictionary, after five years of lexicographical research, called ''The Canadian Oxford Dictionary ''; a second edition was published in 2004 . It listed uniquely Canadian words and words borrowed from other languages, and surveyed spellings, such as whether ''colour'' or ''color'' was the most popular choice in common use. SPELLING Canadian spelling of the English language combines British and American rules. Most notably, French-derived words that in American English end with ''-or'' and ''-er'', such as ''color'' or ''center'', usually retain British spellings ("colour" and "centre"), although American spellings are not uncommon. In other cases, Canadians and Americans stand at odds with British spelling such as in the case of nouns like ''tire'' and ''curb'', which in British English are spelled ''tyre'' and ''kerb''. Like American English, Canadian English prefers "-ize" endings whenever British usage allows both "-ise" and "-ize" spellings (e.g. ''realize'', ''recognize''). A business-history explanation for some Canadian spelling rules is possible. For instance, the British spelling of the word ''cheque'' probably relates to Canada's once-important ties to British financial institutions. Canada's car industry, on the other hand, has been dominated by American firms from its inception, explaining why Canadians use the American spelling of ''tire'' and American terminology for the parts of a car. In fact, a major Canadian retail hardware and home goods chain is known as Canadian Tire . Many of the Commonwealth spellings are kept in order to form constructions such as ''CITY CENTRE-VILLE'' or ''"SERVICE CENTRE DE SERVICE"'' in which the former words can be interpreted as English , and the latter as French . This makes use of the relative position of adjectives to the noun in both languages. British spellings which include Digraph s (or their two-letter equivalents) are beginning to disappear from Canadian spellings. Words such as ''encyclopaedia'', ''foetus'', and ''paediatrician'' are spelled ''encyclopedia'', ''fetus'', and ''pediatrician'', although many Canadian dictionaries offer both spellings as an option and medical journals still include ligatures. ''Manoeuvre'' (instead of the U.S. ''maneuver'') is still the more common spelling in Canada, though. A plausible contemporary reference for formal Canadian spelling is the spelling used for ). PRONUNCIATION See Also: Phonemic differentiation Pronunciation of English in most of Canada is overall very similar to American pronunciation; this is especially true in Central and Western Canada. The island of Newfoundland has its own distinctive dialect of English known as Newfoundland English while many in the Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia , New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island speak Canadian English with an accent sounding more similar to Scottish and, in some places, Irish pronunciation than American. There is also some French influence in pronunciation for some English-speaking Canadians who live near, and especially work with, French-Canadians. The primary aspect of the Canadian English accent is a feature called " Canadian Raising ", where Diphthong s are raised before voiceless consonants. For example, ''about'' will be raised from , as it is in the American Atlantic dialect, to , a higher vowel, or nearly even in some dialects. The stereotypical ''aboot'' pronunciation, lampooned in the American Television Series '' South Park '' is unusual and completely incorrect in most cases (except for some in Southern Ontario); the stereotype may derive from an interpretation of the ''aboot'' pronunciation as heard by someone who is used to the much lower ''abawt'' pronunciation, or from a misinterpretation of the spelling of the "word" ''aboot''. Ironically, a monophthongized pronunciation of ''aboat'' is quite common in parts of the U.S. Upper Midwest, such as Minnesota . Anecdotally, the ''abuhwt'' vowels are heard in Ontario and farther west, and the ''aboot'' vowels are heard in the Eastern provinces. Diphthong raising is shared with many American dialects in the words ''writer'' and ''rider'', pronounced (approximately) as and ( Phonetic Transcription in IPA ). Note that Canadian English shares with American English the phenomenon where and become after a vowel and before an unstressed vowel. Canadian raising preserves the voicelessness of and the voicedness of where it is etymologically appropriate, even where the contrast is lost in the consonant itself. Also heard is the variation in the pronunciation of the word ''can't'', in Ontario, it is said almost as ''canned'', whereas in the west, it becomes more like ''kahnt''. The Northern Cities Vowel Shift that is happening in Michigan also is heard to an extent in Southwestern Ontario, for example, Andy is pronounced or . A recently identified feature (1995) found among many Canadians is a Chain Shift known as the Canadian Shift. This is not found in the Atlantic Provinces, east of Quebec ; it is only found in Ontario and farther west. For people with this shift, ''cot'' and ''caught'' merge in rounded position. The of ''bat'' then moves down to , while the of ''bet'' becomes , which is short-a in other accents. This shift is still a relatively new phenomenon, so not all Canadians have it. Of the ones that do, not all have the last stage. Canadians without the Shift typically pronounce ''cot'' and ''caught'' as an un-rounded , as in the western United States. There is a tendency to Monophthong ize the long ''a'' and ''o'' sounds, resulting in for ''bait'' and for ''boat'' (though this occurs usually in rapid speech). Finally, the broad of foreign loan words in words like ''drama'' or ''Iraq'' are usually pronounced like the short ''a'' of ''bat'': . Like American English, Canadian English is largely Rhotic . This means it maintains the pronunciation of ''r'' before consonants. Rhoticity has been largely influenced by Hiberno-English , Scottish English , and West Country English . Americans sometimes claim to be able to recognize some Canadians instantly by their use of the word Eh . However, only a certain usage of ''eh'' (detailed in the article) is peculiar to Canada. It is common in southern Ontario , the Maritimes and the Prairie Provinces . In some parts of the United States, American English exhibits features of Canadian English, including Canadian Raising and the use of eh. Canadian accents are sometimes detected among Michiganders , Minnesotans , Wisconsinites , Western New Yorkers and their northern fellows. Other variations Canada shares similarities with British English in pronouncing words like ''fragile'', ''fertile'', and ''mobile''. While American English pronounce them as , , and , Canadians pronounce them as the British do, sounding like , An exception is ''missile'', where the American and British versions are almost equal; the American pronunciation of ''fertile'' is also becoming very popular in Canada, even though the British pronunciation remains dominant. In American English, words like ''semi'', ''anti'', and ''multi'' are often pronounced as , , and , whereas the British pronounce them like , , and so on. Canadians tend to prefer the British pronunciation of these words, though American pronunciation has made headway. In Canada, the word ''premier'', as meant to be the leader of a provincial or territorial government, is pronounced , , or in most places. ''Premiere'', denoting a first performance, is pronounced the same in Canada as the rest of the world. Regional variation in pronunciation British Columbia There have been no formal studies of English pronunciation in British Columbia , although locals note variations between certain towns. Parts of the Interior have a strong cowboy twang or drawl - elongated vowels and diphthongs - rooted in the family legacies of American settlement during the province's frontier era. In parts of the Fraser Valley the intonation and cadence of Dutch and Mennonite German have impacted local English. British accents and a wide range of European and Asian second-language flavoured English have always been common, to the point of the British flavour being identifiably a hallmark of early 20th century BC, as has been English as spoken by First Nations peoples, which is distinct as an accent but also remains undocumented. The "British" character of the language is most evident on parts of Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland . In the famous Canadian example of "about," for instance, the diphthong "ou" is often pronounced "ow" (as in the interjection), resulting in "abowt." "O" (as in pronouncing the letter "o") is also common in such words as "holy," "goal," "load," "know," etc. This British flavour carries over into a certain precision to the vocalisation; and native-born residents are sometimes mistaken for being of English origin. Prairies A strong Canadian Raising exists in the Prairie Regions together with certain older usages such as ''chesterfield'' and ''front room'' also associated with the Maritimes. Aboriginal Canadians are a larger and more conspicuous population in prairie cities than elsewhere in the country and certain elements of aboriginal speech in English are widely to be heard. Similarly, the linguistic legacy, mostly intonation, of the Scandinavian, Slavic and German settlers who are far more numerous in the Prairies than in Ontario or the Maritimes can be heard in the general milieu. Again, the large Metis population in Saskatchewan also carries with it certain linguistic traits inherited from French, aboriginal and Celtic forebears. Ontario The Canadian Raising is often quite strong in Ontario . Many speakers in Ontario and the provinces farther west have a new Chain Shift called the Canadian Shift . In southwestern Ontario (especially rural areas), some speakers also have aspects of the Midwestern U.S. accent, e.g. ''not'' sounds like ''naht'' ( → /nat/), combined with Canadian raising (see U.S. below). The accent is slightly modified to signify sarcasm or emphasis: ''not'' becomes a heavily stressed ''nat'', for example, and ''hockey'' may sound like ''hackey'' (with an ''æ''). Use of the interrogative " Eh ?" is widespread. Intervocalic ''s'' is more frequently voiced in words such as ''resource''. A short ''a'' is used in words like ''drama''; in common with most Canadians, Québécois and Ontarians pronounce words of foreign origin (Datsun, Mazda, etc.) as if the vowels are French. Many Ontarians do not pronounce, or give very little emphasis to the second ''t'' in '' Toronto '' (hence, ''Toronno''). In Central Ontario (that is, the region around Toronto ) in particular, the voiced ''th'' and ''d'' are often not distinguished, the two pronunciations frequently appearing together ("Do you want this one or dis one?", for example). Sometimes (particularly in North York , an area of Toronto; see below), the ''th'' is dropped altogether, resulting in "Do you want this one er'iss one?" The word southern is often pronounced as 'sow-thern' as opposed to 'suth-ern'. Most accents, of course, are quite subtle, and most immaterial to detailed speech. In the regional area north of York and south of Parry Sound, notably among those who were born in these bedroom communities (Barrie, Vaughan, Orillia, Bradford, Newmarket) as opposed to those who moved there to commute, the cutting down of syllables is often heard, e.g. "prolly" instead of "probably" (as in a response). The Ottawa Valley has its own distinct accent, known as the Ottawa Valley Twang . Quebec English is a minority language in Quebec, but has many speakers in Montréal, the Eastern Townships and in the Gatineau - Ottawa region. Among Montréal-native anglophones, there is a distinction between /æ/ and /a/, unique in Canada, so that ''Mary'' and ''merry'' are not homophones. Among Eastern Townships-native anglophones, ''syrup'' is often pronounced as ''sir-rup''. A short ''a'' is used in words like ''drama''; in common with most Canadians, Québécois and Ontarians pronounce words of foreign origin (Datsun, Mazda, etc.) as if the vowels are French. Maritimes Maritimer English quirks include the removal of pre-consonantal {Link without Title} sounds, and a faster speech tempo. It is heavily influenced by both British and Irish English. An example of typical Maritime English might be the pronunciation of the word "battery." In American English (and also Western Canadian English) the word would be pronounced "bad-der-y", but (sometimes) "bat-try" in the Maritimes which follows the British pronunciation. The letter "T" is strongly pronounced in general, but always lightly. It is rare for the "T" at the end of a word to receive a "D" pronunciation. While the stereotypical Canadian interrogative "Eh?" is used more often in the Maritimes than it would be in the U.S., it is actually quite rare compared to Western Canada. Alternatively, one might hear the interrogative "Right?" which is in turn used as an adverb (e.g.: "It was right foggy today!") as well. "Some" can be used as an adverb as well, in certain circles (e.g.: "This cake is some good!"). The second syllable of "about" is pronounced rather than RP . The main distinction between Canadian (Prairie) pronunciation of this diphthong is in its resolution. Namely, an American pronunciation resolves the ''a''-sound (or, alternatively, the schwa sound ()) , whereas the Canadian pronunciation resolves with an ''oh''-sound (''a bah oh t''). One might hear the term "Out and about" being pronounced as "Oat in a boat" in the Maritimes. British terms are very much still a part of Maritime English, although slowly fading away in favour of American or Western terms. "Chesterfield" and "front room" are examples of this. Cape Breton Island has a Distinct Dialect due to settlement by speakers of Acadian French and Scottish Gaelic . Newfoundland The province of Newfoundland And Labrador , which was an autonomous dominion until March 31 , 1949 , has its own Dialect distinct from the rest of Canadian English. See Newfoundland English . VOCABULARY Where Canadian English shares vocabulary with other English dialects, it tends to share most with American English. For instance, automotive terminology in Canada is entirely American. Canadians may prefer the British term ''railway'' to the American ''railroad'', but most railway terminology in Canada follows American usage (e.g., ''ties'', as well as ''cars'' rather than ''sleepers'' and ''waggons''), although railway employees themselves say ''sleeper''. Spoken Canadian English and American English are mutually intelligible with each other and much more readily understood and less fraught with differences than British English is to either of them. However, some terms in standard Canadian English are shared with Commonwealth English, but ''not'' with American English. These include: Britishisms
Several lexical items come from British English, such as ''lieutenant'' (); ''light standard'' (an obsolete British word for lamp-post, rarely used today). Several political terms are uniquely Canadian, including '' Riding '' (a Parliament ary constituency or Electoral District ). Variations between Canadian and American lexicons There are a few meaning differences between Canadian and American English; for example, to table a document in Canada is to present it, whereas in the U.S. it means to withdraw it from consideration. Also, a 'rubber' in the U.S. and Canada is slang for a condom; however, in Canada it is sometimes also another term for 'eraser' (as it is in England ) and, in the plural, for overshoes. In the same vein is "pissed", which in the U.S. means "angry" but in Canada can also mean "drunk"; the Canadian equivalent to the American usage most often requires the context "pissed off", although the "off" is not mandatory. Similarly, "pissed up" means ''(got) drunk'' and the phrase "it was a real piss-up" means that everybody involved became really inebriated. Canadians mostly use the term 'gasoline', rather than the British term 'petrol'. Gasoline prices require some awkward Translation between Canadian and American figures. Even before the Metrication efforts of the 1970 s, the translation of "dollars per gallon" required not only replacing Canadian vs. American Currencies but also a conversion between Imperial (4.5 L ) vs. U.S. (3.8 L ) Gallon s. When pronouncing letters of the alphabet, Canadians usually use the Anglo-European (and French) "zed" rather than the American "zee" for the letter Z . Canadian students add "grade" before their grade level, instead of after it as is the usual, but not sole, American practice. For example, a student in the "10th grade" in the U.S. would be in "Grade 10" in Canada. (Quebec anglophones may instead say "sec 5" (secondary 5) for Grade 11.) Canadian students also do not receive grades in school, but "marks." It should also be noted that in Canada, the specific high school grade (eg. Grade 9 or Grade 12) or university year is stated and not the American terms "freshman" or "sophomore". Also, while in the United States the term "college" refers to post-secondary education in general, the term "college" has a different meaning in Canada. It refers to either a post-secondary technical or vocational institution, or to one of the colleges that exist as individual institutions within some Canadian universities. Most often, a "college" is a community college, not a university. It may also refer to a CÉGEP in Quebec. In Canada a "college student" might denote someone obtaining a diploma in plumbing while "university student" is the term for someone earning a Bachelor's Degree . For that reason, saying you are "going to college" does not have the same meaning as "going to university", unless someone is being specific about which level of post-secondary education they are referring to. In public places, Canadians needing to relieve themselves look for a 'washroom', while Americans find the 'restroom' and Brits search for the sign saying 'toilet'. There is also greater resistance to turning nouns into verbs in Canada. Until recently, many Canadian teachers rejected the verb ''to contact''. Adoption of Metric units is more advanced in Canada than in the U.S. due to governmental efforts during the Trudeau era; Canadians still often use pounds, feet and inches to measure themselves; cups, teaspoons and tablespoons in the kitchen; but outdoor temperatures, groceries, fuel, and highway speeds/distances are almost always given in metric figures. Words mainly used in Canadian English See Also: List of words mainly used in Canadian English Chinook Jargon words in British Columbia British Columbia English has several words still in current use which are loanwords from the could mean anything from a building to a room. "He's a skookum guy" means that the person is solid and reliable while "we need somebody who's skookum" means that a strong and large person is needed. A carpenter, after banging a stud into place, might check it or refer to it as "yeah, that's skookum". Asking for affirmation, someone might say "is that skookum" or "is that skookum with you?" ''Skookum'' can also be translated simply as "O.K." but it means something a bit more emphatic. Other Jargon words in BC English include ''chuck'', originally meaning water or any fluid but adapted into English to refer to bodies of water, particularly "the saltchuck" in reference to salt water. In combination with ''skookum'' the compound word ''skookumchuck'', meaning a rapids (lit. "strong water"), is found in three placenames although not used with its true meaning in ordinary speech. ''Chuck'' and ''saltchuck'', however, remain common, even in local broadcast English. There's also "high muckamuck" and even its proper form "hyas muckamuck" (high-ass), and the variant "high mucketymuck"; "high mucketymuck/muckamuck" has spread far beyond the Pacific Northwest, and meaning a big boss, a high poohbah, and while literally meaning "big feed" or "important banquet", potentially meaning even a fullblown Potlatch - another very BC word, by the way - in English it has a sense of "the guys at the head table" since "muckamuck" or "a feed" is in the same vein in non-city BC English as "grub" or "a meal/dinner". "Quiggly hole" or "quiggly" referst to the remains of an old Indian pit-house, or underground house, from "kickwillie" or "kekuli", which in the Jargon means "down" or "underneath" or "beneath". In northern BC and the Yukon , and used in broadcast English in those areas, the Chinook Jargon adaption of the French ''merci'' remains common, i.e. ''mahsi'' or ''masi'', with the accent on the first syllable (unlike in French). Toronto The English spoken in Toronto is closely related to the midwestern American accent, but without the Northern Cities Vowel Shift . Slang terms used in Toronto are synonymous with those used in other major North American cities. There is also a heavy influx of slang terminology originating from Toronto's many immigrant communities, of which the vast majority speak English only as a second or minor language. These terms originate mainly from various European, Asian and African words. Many Torontonians use ''buddy'' (without a capital) as it is often used in Newfoundland English – as equivalent to ''that man'' (''I like buddy's car.''). In Toronto's ethnic communities there are many words that are distinct, or come straight from Jamaica .
SEE ALSO REFERENCES
FURTHER READING
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|