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Canadian English ('''CaE''') is a ; Canadian vocabulary, although similar to American vocabulary, also features many British terms, several distinctive Canadianisms, French influence in many areas, and notable local variations. HISTORY The term "Canadian English" is first attested in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable Geikie in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857. Geikie, a Scottish-born Canadian, reflected the Anglocentric attitude prevalent in Canada for the next hundred years when he referred to the language as "a corrupt dialect," in comparison to what he considered the proper English spoken by immigrants from Britain.Chambers, p. xi. Canadian English is the product of four waves of immigration and settlement over a period of almost two centuries. The first large wave of permanent English-speaking settlement in Canada, and linguistically the most important, was the influx of British Loyalist s fleeing the American Revolution , chiefly from the Mid-Atlantic States . The second wave from Britain and Ireland was encouraged to settle in Canada after the War Of 1812 by the Governors Of Canada , who were worried about anti-English sentiment among its citizens. Waves of immigration from around the globe peaking in 1910 and 1960 had a lesser influence, but they did make Canada a Multicultural country, ready to accept linguistic change from around the world during the current period of Globalization .Chambers, p. xi–xii. The languages of of Lower Canada provided vocabulary to the English of Upper Canada .Chambers, p. xi. 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. Also, while the U.S. uses the Anglo-French spelling ''defense'' (noun), Canada uses the British spelling ''defence''. (Note that ''defensive'' is universal.) 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''; words such as ''realize'' and ''recognize'' are usually spelled with ''-ize'' rather than ''-ise''. Canadian spelling rules can be partly explained by Canada's trade history. For instance, the British spelling of the word ''cheque'' probably relates to Canada's once-important ties to British financial institutions. Canada's Automobile 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 automobiles. A contemporary reference for formal Canadian spelling is the spelling used for , 2004 ), often along with the chapter on spelling in ''Editing Canadian English'', and, where necessary (depending on context) one or more other references. (See Further Reading below.) PHONOLOGY AND PRONUNCIATION Although there is no single linguistic definition that includes Canada as a whole, a fairly homogeneous dialect exists in Western And Central Canada . William Labov identifies an inland region that concentrates all of the defining features of the dialect centred on the Prairies , with periphery areas with more variable patterns including the metropolitan areas of Vancouver and Toronto.Labov, p. 222. The following features distinguish Canadian English from a phonologically conservative Northern U.S. accent:
The island of Newfoundland has a distinctive dialect of English known as Newfoundland English ; many in the Maritime provinces – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island – have an accent that sounds more like Scottish English and, in some places, Irish English than General American. There is also some French influence in pronunciation for some English-speaking Canadians who live near, and especially work with, French-Canadians. The phonology of Maritimer English has some unique features:
Northern Canada is, according to Labov, a dialect region in formation.Labov, p. 214. Phonemic incidence
VOCABULARY Comparison of Canadian, British, and American lexicons Where Canadian English shares vocabulary with other English dialects, it tends to share most with American English; many terms in standard Canadian English are, however, shared with Britain, but not with the majority of American speakers. In some cases the British and the American term coexist, to various extents; a classic example is ''holiday'', often used interchangeably with ''vacation''. In addition, the vocabulary of Canadian English also features words that are seldom (if ever) found elsewhere. As a member of the Commonwealth Of Nations , Canada shares many items of institutional terminology with the countries of the former British Empire – e.g., ''constable'', for a police officer of the lowest rank, and ''chartered accountant''. Education The term ''college'', which refers to post-secondary education in general in the U.S., refers in Canada to either a post-secondary technical or vocational institution, or to one of the colleges that exist as Federated School s within some Canadian universities. Most often, a ''college'' is a community college, not a university. It may also refer to a CEGEP in Quebec. In Canada, ''college student'' might denote someone obtaining a diploma in business management while ''university student'' is the term for someone earning a Bachelor's Degree . For that reason, ''going to college'' does not have the same meaning as ''going to university'', unless the speaker clarifies the specific level of post-secondary education that is meant. Canadian universities publish ''calendars'' or ''schedules'', not ''catalogs'' as in the U.S. Students ''write'' or sometimes ''take'' exams, they do not ''sit'' them. Those who supervise students during an exam are generally called ''invigilators'' as in Britain , or sometimes ''proctors'' as in the U.S.; usage may depend on the region or even the individual institution. Successive years of school are often, if not usually, referred to as ''grade one'', ''grade two'', and so on. In Quebec English , however, the speaker will often say ''primary one'', ''primary two'', (a direct translation from the French ), and so on. (Compare American ''first grade, second grade'', sporadically found in Canada, and British ''Year 1, Year 2''.)''American Speech'' 80.1 (2005), p. 47. In the U.S., the four years of high school are termed the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years (terms also used for college years); in Canada, these are simply grade 9 through 12.''American Speech'' 80.1 (2005), p. 48. As for higher education, only the term ''freshman'' (usually reduced to ''frosh'') has some currency in Canada.''American Speech'' 80.1 (2005), p. 48. The specific high-school grades and university years are therefore stated and individualized; for example, ''the grade 12s failed to graduate''; ''John is in his second year at McMaster''. Canadian students use the term ''marks'' (more common in England) or ''grades'' to refer to their results; usage is very mixed.''American Speech'' 80.1 (2005), p. 48. Units of measurement Use of Metric units is more widespread in Canada than in the U.S. as a result of the national adoption of the Metric System during the late 1970s by the government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau . Official measurements are given in metric, including highway speeds and distances, fuel volume and consumption, and weather measurements (with temperatures in degrees Celsius). However, it is not uncommon for Canadians to use British imperial units such as pounds, feet, and inches to measure their bodies. Usage of feet and inches is still prevalent in the construction industry. The predominant retail food measurement system is imperial except for small-weight products such as tea, coffee and deli products sold by the 100 g unit perhaps to make prices appear less expensive. Older generations are more likely to use miles for distances. The term ''klicks'' is sometimes used interchangeably with kilometres because both the demotic and metric (with the first syllable stressed) pronunciations are widespread. Both metric and Imperial measures for cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons are used in cooking. Transportation
Politics
Law Lawyers in all parts of Canada, except Quebec , which has its own Civil Law system, are called "'' Barristers and Solicitors ''" because any lawyer licensed in any of the common law provinces and territories is permitted to engage in two specific types of legal practice which are separated in other common-law jurisdictions such as England, Wales, and Ireland (i.e. Canada has a Fused Legal Profession ). Yet the words ''lawyer'' or ''counsel'' (not ''counsellor'') predominates in everyday contexts. As in England, the equivalent of an American '' District Attorney '' is called a '' Crown Attorney '' (in Ontario ), ''crown counsel'' (in British Columbia), ''crown prosecutor'' or ''the crown'', on account of Canada's status as a Constitutional Monarchy in which the Monarch (or rather, The Crown ) is the locus of state power, as opposed to the American Republic an system in which the people is the seat of sovereignty. The words ''advocate'' and ''notary'' – two distinct professions in civil law Quebec – are used to refer to that province's equivalent of barrister and solicitor, respectively. In Canada's Common Law provinces and territories, the word ''notary'' means strictly a Notary Public . Within the Canadian legal community itself, the word ''solicitor'' is often used to refer to any Canadian lawyer in general (much like the way the word ''attorney'' is used in the United States to refer to any American lawyer in general). Despite the conceptual distinction between ''barrister'' and ''solicitor'', Canadian court documents would contain a phrase such as "''John Smith, ''solicitor'' for the Plaintiff''" even though "John Smith" may well himself be the barrister who argues the case in court. In a letter introducing him/herself to an opposing lawyer, a Canadian lawyer normally writes something like "''I am the ''solicitor'' for Mr. Tom Jones." The word ''litigator'' is also used by lawyers to refer to a fellow lawyer who specializes in lawsuits even though the more traditional word ''barrister'' is still employed to denote the same specialization. The word ''attorney'' is ordinarily used in Canada to mean:
As in England, a serious crime is called an Indictable Offence , while a less-serious crime is called a Summary Offence . The older words Felony and Misdemeanour , which are still used in the United States, are not used in Canada's current '' Criminal Code '' (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46) or by today's Canadian legal system. As noted throughout the ''Criminal Code'', a person accused of a crime is called ''the accused'' and not ''the defendant'', a term used instead in civil lawsuits. Household items Terms common in Canada, Britain, and Ireland but less frequent or nonexistent in the U.S. are:
Food and beverage
Colloquialisms A ''rubber'' in the U.S. and Canada is slang for a condom; however, in Canada it is sometimes another term for ''eraser'' (as it is in the United Kingdom) and, in the plural, for overshoes or galoshes. The terms ''booter'' and ''soaker'' refer to getting water in one's shoe. The former is generally more common in the prairies, the latter in the rest of Canada. The word ''bum'' can refer either to the buttocks (as in Britain), or, derogatorily, to a Homeless person (as in the U.S.). However, the "buttocks" sense does not have the indecent character it retains in British and Australian use, as it is commonly used as a polite or childish euphemism for ruder words such as '' Arse '' (commonly used in Atlantic Canada and among older people in Ontario and to the west) or '' Ass ''. Similarly the word ''pissed'' can refer either to being drunk (as in Britain), or being mad or angry (as in the U.S.), though anger is often said as ''pissed off''. Grammar
Miscellaneous
Words used mainly in Canadian English - (Canadian slang) Canadian English has words or expressions not found, or not widely used, in other variants of English. Additionally, like other dialects of English that exist in proximity to francophones, French loanwords have entered Canadian English.
Regional vocabularies Newfoundland See Also: Newfoundland English The Dialect spoken in the province of Newfoundland And Labrador , an autonomous dominion until March 31 , 1949 , is often considered the most distinctive Canadian dialect. Some Newfoundland English differs in Vowel Pronunciation , Morphology , Syntax , and preservation of Archaic adverbal-intensifiers. The dialect can vary markedly from community to community, as well as from region to region, reflecting ethnic origin as well as a past in which there were few roads and many communities, and fishing villages in particular remained very isolated. French influence on English spoken in Quebec See Also: Quebec English
Chinook Jargon words in British Columbia, Alberta and The Yukon See Also: Chinook Jargon use by English Language speakers British Columbia English has several words still in current use borrowed from the Chinook Jargon . Most famous and widely used of these terms are '' Skookum '' and ''saltchuck''. Ottawa Valley See Also: Ottawa Valley Twang The area to the north and west of Ottawa is heavily influenced by original Scottish, Irish, and German settlers, with many French loanwords. This is frequently referred to as the ''Valley Accent''. This dialect is heavy with slang phrases and terminology. Toronto See Also: West/Central Canadian English#Toronto The English spoken in Toronto has some similarities with the English in the Northern U.S. 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 tertiary language. These terms originate mainly from various European, Asian, and African words. Among youths in ethnically diverse areas, a large number of words borrowed from Jamaican patois can be heard, owing to the large number of Jamaican immigrants in Toronto's urban neighbourhoods. Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) In (elsewhere ball hockey or street hockey), Slough , gotch (male underwear), bluff (small group of trees isolated by Prairie ), Bunny Hug (elsewhere Hoodie ). In farming communities with substantial Ukrainian, German, and Mennonite populations, accents and sentence structure influenced by these languages is common. DICTIONARIES The first truly Canadian dictionaries of Canadian English were edited by Walter Spencer Avis and published by Gage Ltd. Toronto. The Beginner's Dictionary (1962), the Intermediate Dictionary (1964) and, finally, the Senior Dictionary (1967) were milestones in CanE lexicography. Many secondary schools in Canada use these dictionaries. The dictionaries have regularly been updated since, the Senior Dictionary was renamed Gage Canadian Dictionary and exists in what may be called its 5th edition from 1997. Gage was acquired by Thomson Nelson around 2003. Concise versions and paperback version are available. In 1997, the ITP Nelson Dictionary of the Canadian English Language was another product, but has not been updated since. In 1998, Oxford University Press produced a Canadian English dictionary, after five years of lexicographical research, entitled ''The Oxford Canadian Dictionary''. A second edition, retitled ''The Canadian Oxford Dictionary'', was published in 2004. Just as the older dictionaries it includes 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. Paperback and concise versions (2005, 2006), with minor updates, are available. The scholarly Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (DCHP) was first published in 1967 by Gage Ltd. It was a partner project of the Senior Dictionary (and appeared only a few weeks apart from each other). The DCHP can be considered the "Canadian OED", as it documents the historical development of Canadian English words that can be classified as "Canadianisms". It therefore includes words such as mukluk, Canuck, bluff and grow op, but does not list common core words such as desk, table or car. It is a specialist, scholarly dictionary, but is not without interest to the general public. On the contrary: if one wishes to find out how a word came into being in Canada, the DCHP is one of your best sources. After more than 40 years, a second edition has been commenced at UBC in Vancouver in 2006 (see www.dchp.ca for details). NOTES REFERENCES
FURTHER READING
SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS
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