A History of English Language

A history of the english language 312
mi granma chier
“my grandmother’s chair”
Him did go down Hope Ruod
“He/she went down Hope Road”
7. Canada.
Canadian English, as would be expected, has much in common with that of the United
States while retaining a few features of British pronunciation and spelling. Where
alternative forms exist the likelihood for a particular choice to be British or American
varies with region, education, and age. British items such as chips, serviette, and copse
tend to occur more frequently in the West, while the more common American choices
French fries, napkin, and grove tend to occur in the East. British spellings such as colour
and pronunciations such as schedule with an initial [š] occur most frequently throughout
Canada among more highly educated and older speakers. 37 In addition there are a number
of words with meanings that are neither British nor American but peculiarly Canadian.
Thus one finds aboiteau (dam), Blue nose (Nova Scotian), Creditiste (member of the
Social Credit party), Digby chicken (smoke-cured herring), mukluk (Inuit boot), reeve
(chairman of a municipal council), salt-chuck (ocean), and skookum (powerful, brave).
The Dictionary of Canadianisms, published in Canada’s Centennial Year, allows
historical linguists to establish in detail the sources of Canadian English. 38 Many of the
earlier settlers in Canada came from the United States, and the influence of the United
States has always been very strong. A writer in the Canadian Journal in 1857
complained of the new words “imported by travellers, daily circulated by American
newspapers, and eagerly incorporated into the language of our Provincial press.”
Needless to say, he considered the influence wholly bad, and his words are still echoed
by Canadians who deplore the wide circulation of American books and magazines in
Canada and in recent years the further influence of movies and television. Nevertheless a
linguistically informed opinion would have to concede that in language as in other
activities “it is difftcult to differentiate what belongs to Canada from what belongs to the
United States, let alone either from what might be called General North American.” 39
230. Pidgins and Creoles.
Of the varieties of English discussed in the preceding section, those of West and East
Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Rim coexist and interact with well-established
English-based pidgins
37
See H.J.Warkentyne, “Contemporary Canadian English: A Report of the Survey of Canadian
English,” American Speech, 46 (1971; pub. 1975), 193–99.
38
Walter S.Avis et al., Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (Toronto, 1967).
39
Raven I.McDavid, Jr., “Canadian English,” American Speech, 46 (1971), 287.