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Canadian English

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Languages

   Canadian English (CaE) is a variety of English used in Canada. More
   than 25 million Canadians (85 percent of the population) have some
   knowledge of English ( 2001 census ). Canadian English spelling can be
   described as a mixture of American English, British English, Quebec
   French, and unique Canadianisms. Canadian vocabulary is similar to
   American English, yet with key differences and local variations.

History

   The term “Canadian English” is first attested in a speech by Rev. A.
   Constable Geikie in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857.
   Geikie, a Scottish-born Canadian, reflected the Anglo-centric anti
   French attitude prevalent in Canada for the next hundred years when he
   referred to the language as “a corrupt dialect,” in comparison to the
   "proper" English spoken by immigrants from Britain.

   Canadian English is the product of waves of settlers from Britain and
   France, and British and Irish immigration over a period of almost two
   centuries. It also is influenced in part by languages of the First
   Nations people, with some extra words from their languages being added
   into the vocabulary. The first large wave of permanent English-speaking
   settlement in Canada, and linguistically the most important, is from
   the original settlers from Britain, who claimed Canada as British
   territory. Another influence to the language was the influx of British
   Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, chiefly from the middle
   Atlantic states. The last wave that greatly influenced the language,
   was from Britain and Ireland when people were 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. Also, to a
   lesser extent, the language was somewhat moreso influenced in
   pronounciation in the Maritimes to that of Hiberno English, due to the
   Irish Potato famine, which had massive emigration from Ireland to the
   Atlantic coast areas of Canada and The United States. Quite recently,
   people in Canada are preffering Americanized versions of some words,
   such as "Colour" being spelt as "Colour".

   The aboriginal languages have added words to the Canadian English
   vocabulary, not found in other English dialects, (I.E. "Inuit") , and
   the French of Lower Canada provided vocabulary to the English of Upper
   Canada, which is why Canadian English contains words borrowed directly
   from French, not found in American or British English.

   Pronounciation in the Maritime Provinces is nearly identical to that of
   Scottish and Irish English.

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 colour or centre, 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. (The spelling
   defensive is universal, as is true for offence and offensive.) 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 (the Cambridge model) and -ize spellings
   (the Oxford model) (e.g. realize, recognize). However, some of the
   technical parts of the Air section of Transport Canada, e.g., Air
   Policy , use a compromised Cambridge model; e.g., tires instead of
   tyres, but organisational rather than organizational.

   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 Hansard transcripts of the Parliament of Canada. Many Canadian
   editors, though, use the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed. (Toronto:
   Oxford University Press, 2004), often along with the chapter on
   spelling in Editing Canadian English, and, where necessary (depending
   on context) one or more other references. (See the section “Further
   reading.”)

Pronunciation

   Although there is no single linguistic definition that includes Canada
   as a whole, a fairly homogenous 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. The Canadian Shift is found throughout
   Canada except for the Atlantic Provinces. Canadian raising has a wider
   range, and includes some parts of Atlantic, but many Canadians do not
   possess this feature, and defining the dialect by this would exclude
   parts of Atlantic Canada and include some adjacent portions of the US.
   Except for the Canadian Shift of the short front vowels, the phonology
   of the English spoken in Western and Central Canada is identical to
   that of the English spoken adjacent regions in the US. The Canadian
   Shift is not found in the US, except for a few speakers in the far
   West. The island of Newfoundland has its own distinctive dialect of
   English known as Newfoundland English (often referred to as ‘Newfie’)
   while many in the other 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. Labov considers Northern Canada to be a dialect
   region in formation.

   The following features distinguish Canadian English from a
   phonologically conservative Northern US accent:
     * Canadian Raising is found throughout Canada, including much of the
       Atlantic Provinces. The Canadian Shift is found throughout Canada
       except for the Atlantic Provinces. It is the strongest in the
       Inland region, and is receding in younger speakers in Lower
       Mainland BC, as well as certain parts of Ontario. Diphthongs are
       raised before voicless consonants.
     * Speakers do not distinguish between the open-mid back rounded vowel
       [ɔ] and open back unrounded vowel [ɑ].
     * In the Inland region, traditionally diphthongal vowels such as [oʊ]
       as in boat and [eɪ], as in bait, have acquired qualities much
       closer to monophthongs in some speakers. /o/ and /aU/ are
       pronounced back. /u/ is fronted after coronals.
     * /æ/ is tense before velar stops.
     * Words such as sorry, or tomorrow are realized as [-ɔr-], rather
       than [-ɑr-].
     * The /ɑ/ of foreign loan words is pronounced as /æ/
     * Been is usually pronounced /bin/ rather than /bɪn/.
     * Words such as borrow, sorry, and sorrow are generally pronounced
       with [-ɔr-], instead of with [-ɑr-].
     * The Canadian Shift is the defining feature of all of Canada except
       for the Atlantic Provinces. It is found in the Inland region, as
       well as the periphery areas as far West as Vancouver, and as far
       East as Montreal. It is a chain shift triggered by the cot-caught
       merger. The vowels in the words "cot" [kɒt] and "caught" [kɔt]
       merge to [kɒt]. The Canadian Shift then shifts both "cot" and
       "caught" towards [kɔt]. The /æ/ of bat is retracted to [a], the /ɛ/
       of bet shifts to [æ], the /ɪ/ in bit then shifts to the [ɛ] in bet.

     * In Maritimer English pre-consonantal [ɹ] sounds are sometimes
       removed.
     * The flapping of intervocalic /t/ and /d/ to alveolar tap [ɾ]
       between vowels, as well as pronouncing it as a glottal stop [ʔ], is
       less common in the Maritimes. So, battery is pronounced as [bætɹi]
       instead of with a glottal stop.
     * Words such as fragile, fertile, and mobile are pronounced as
       [fɹædʒajl̩], [fɝtajl̩], and [moʊbajl̩]. The pronunciation of
       fertile by some Americans as [fɝɾl̩] is also becoming very popular
       in Canada, even though the British pronunciation remains dominant.
     * In some varieties of American English, words like semi, anti, and
       multi are often pronounced as [sɛmaj], [æntaj], and [mʌltaj],
       whereas the British and speakers of General American English
       pronounce them as /sɛmi/, /ænti/, and so on. Canadians tend to
       prefer the British pronunciation of these words, though the other
       pronunciation of some Americans has made headway. Often, a Canadian
       will use the latter in general use, but the former in order to add
       emphasis.
     * lieutenant is pronounced [lɛf’tɛnənt] as in British English, though
       that pronunciation is not used in the British Royal Navy.
     * In Canada, the word premier, as meant to be the leader of a
       provincial or territorial government, has the common and accepted
       pronunciation [ˈpɹi.mjiɹ], with [ˈpɹɛ.mjɛɹ] and [ˈpɹi.mjɛɹ] as rare
       variants. Premiere, denoting a first performance, is pronounced the
       same in Canadian English as it is in comparable U.S. English
       dialects.
     * The herb and given masculine name basil is usually pronounced
       [’bæzəl].
     * Many Canadians pronounce asphalt as ash-falt [ˈæʃ.falt]. This
       pronunciation is also common in Australian English. It is not the
       pronunciation generally used in either General American English or
       British English, however can be heard among certain classes of
       speakers in Britain, and is recognised by Merriam-Webster's online
       dictionary ( http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/asphalt).

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

   Canadian students add grade before their grade level, instead of after
   it as is the usual American practice. For example, a student in “10th
   grade” in the U.S. would be in “Grade 10” in Canada. (In the UK the
   order is as in Canada, but it would be for example “Year 10” rather
   than “Grade 10.” Quebec anglophones may instead say “sec 5” [secondary
   5] for Grade 11.)

   Most Canadian students receive marks rather than grades in school.
   (“What mark did you get on that exam?”) Students write exams, they do
   not take or 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.

   Canadian universities publish calendars, not catalogs as in the U.S.
   The specific high-school grade (e.g. Grade 9 or Grade 12) or university
   year (e.g., first year, fourth year) is stated; these may be
   individualized (e.g., “The Grade 12s failed to graduate”; “John is a
   first year at Carleton”). The American terms sophomore, junior and
   senior are not widely used, although first year university students are
   sometimes known as freshmen or frosh. Some jurisdictions in the
   province of Manitoba currently use Senior 1-4 instead of Gr 9-12.

   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 schools 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 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.

Units of measurement

   Adoption of metric units is more advanced in Canada than in the U.S.
   due to governmental efforts during the Trudeau era. Official
   measurements are generally given in metric, including highway speeds
   and distances, fuel volume and consumption, and weather measurements.
   However, many Canadians often use Imperial units such as pounds, feet,
   and inches to measure their bodies; cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons in
   the kitchen; and miles for distances (less common). The term “klicks”
   is sometimes used interchangeably with kilometres.

   The price of gasoline – the American English term is preferred over
   petrol – requires some awkward translation between Canadian and
   American figures. Even before the metrication efforts of the 1970s, the
   translation of “dollars per gallon” required not only replacing
   Canadian vs. American currencies but also a conversion between Imperial
   (4.546 L) vs. U.S. (3.785 L) gallons. It is common to express the rate
   of gas consumption as mileage, despite the typical notation of gas
   volumes in litres. Older residents may also use the unit “miles per
   Imperial gallon” (vs. miles per U.S. gallon) instead of the
   international “litres per 100 km.” A rare “kilometres per litre” is
   sometimes used as a substitute that can be viewed as “ metrified” but
   not strictly SI.

Transportation

     * Although Canadian lexicon features both railway and railroad,
       railway is the usual term (witness Canadian National Railway and
       Canadian Pacific Railway); most rail terminology in Canada,
       however, follows American usage (e.g., ties and cars rather than
       sleepers and wagons, although railway employees themselves say
       sleeper.)
     * A two-way ticket can be either a round-trip (American term) or a
       return (British term).

Politics

     * The term Tory, used in Britain with a similar meaning, denotes a
       supporter of the federal Conservative Party of Canada, the historic
       Progressive Conservative Party of Canada or a provincial
       Progressive Conservative party; the U.S. use of Tory to mean the
       Loyalists in the time of the American Revolution is unknown in
       Canada, where they are called United Empire Loyalists.
     * A Red Tory is someone who emphasizes the communitarian aspects of
       the conservative tradition, supports the welfare state and is
       skeptical of continentalism. Cf. the British term Wet Tory.
     * A Blue Tory is a conservative emphasizing free enterprise, free
       trade, low taxes and devolution of power to the provinces. Cf. the
       British term Dry Tory.
     * Grits refers to politicians representing the Liberal Party of
       Canada.
     * Dipper refers to members of the New Democratic Party and is more
       disparaging than colloquialisms like Grit.
     * To table a document in Canada is to present it (as in Britain),
       whereas in the U.S. it means to withdraw it from consideration.
     * Several political terms are uniquely Canadian, including riding (as
       a general term for a parliamentary constituency or electoral
       district).
     * A distinction is made between “ liberal,” which refers to a
       tradition of political thought advocating individual liberty and
       economic and social equality, and “Liberal,” which refers to the
       Liberal Party of Canada or a provincial Liberal party. This is the
       same as the distinction in American English between "democratic,"
       describing representative government, and "Democratic," pertaining
       to the party that opposes the Republicans.

Law

   Lawyers in all parts of Canada, except Quebec with 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,
   Ireland, some Australian states, and Hong Kong. Yet the words lawyer or
   counsel (not counsellor) predominates in everyday contexts, though the
   American term attorney is sometimes encountered.

   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.

   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:
     * a person who has been granted power of attorney;
     * a lawyer who prosecutes criminal cases on behalf of the government,
       i.e. crown attorney;
     * an American lawyer with whom a Canadian lawyer is interacting
       regarding a cross-border transaction or legal case; or
     * an American lawyer who works in Canada and advises Canadian clients
       on issues of American law.

   As in England, a serious crime is called an indictable offence, while a
   less-serious crime is called a summary offence. The older words
   felonies and misdemeanors, which are still used in the United States,
   are not used in Canada’s current Criminal Code (R.S., 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 not in the U.S. are:
     * Tin (as in “tin of tuna”) for can, especially among older speakers.
       Among younger speakers, “can” is more common, with “tin” referring
       to a can which is wider than it is tall.
     * Cutlery for silverware or flatware.
     * Serviette for a table napkin.
     * Tap, conspicuously more common than faucet in everyday usage.

Food and beverage

     * Most Canadians as well as Americans in the Northwest, North
       Central, and Inland North prefer pop over soda to refer to a
       carbonated beverage. (But neither term is dominant in British
       English; see further at Soft drink.)
     * What Americans call Canadian bacon is named back bacon or,
       commonly, peameal bacon in Canada.
     * What most Americans call a candy bar is usually known as a
       chocolate bar (as in the UK).

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 Australasian use, as it is commonly used as a polite or
   childish euphemism for ruder words such as butt, arse (commonly used in
   Atlantic Canada and among older people in Ontario and to the west), or
   ass (more idiomatic among younger people west of the Ottawa River).

Grammar

     * The name of the letter Z is normally the Anglo-European (and
       French) zed; the American zee is not unknown in Canada, but it is
       often stigmatized.
     * When writing, Canadians will start a sentence with As well, in the
       sense of “in addition.”
     * The word hospital can be used either with (American usage) or
       without (British usage) an article after a preposition (e.g. to/in
       the hospital vs. to/in hospital). In writing, the article tends to
       be omitted (example ).

Words mainly used in Canadian English

   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

   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

     * A person with English mother tongue and still speaking English as
       the first language is called an Anglophone. The corresponding term
       for a French speaker is Francophone and the corresponding term for
       a person who is neither Anglophone nor Francophone is Allophone.
       Anglophone and Francophone are used in New Brunswick, an officially
       bilingual province.
     * Quebec Anglophones generally pronounce French street names in
       Montreal as French words. Pie IX Boulevard is pronounced as in
       French («pi-neuf»), not as “pie nine.” On the other hand,
       Anglophones do pronounce final Ds, as in Bernard and Bouchard.

Chinook Jargon words in British Columbia and Yukon

   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.

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.

   Some Torontonians use buddy (without a capital) as it is often used in
   Newfoundland English – as equivalent to that man (I like buddy’s car).
   Some Torontonians pronounce the name of their city as the elided
   “Trana” or "Tronno" (often with nasal alveolar flap instead of N).

Dictionaries

   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. It listed uniquely Canadian
   words and words borrowed from other languages, and surveyed spellings,
   such as whether colour or colour was the most popular choice in common
   use.

   Gage Learning Corp. published The Gage Canadian Dictionary in 1993,
   with “a major revision” in 1998.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_English"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
