Canadian English
Canadian English encompasses the varieties of English spoken in Canada, the most widespread variety of Canadian English being Standard Canadian English. English is the most widely spoken language in Canada. It is spoken in all the western and central provinces of Canada and also in many other provinces among urban middle- or upper-class speakers from natively English-speaking families. Standard Canadian English is distinct from Atlantic Canadian English, and from Quebec English.
While Canadian English tends to be close to American English in most regards, classifiable together as North American English, Canadian English also possesses elements from British English as well as some uniquely Canadian characteristics. The precise influence of American English, British English, and other sources on Canadian English varieties has been the ongoing focus of systematic studies since the 1950s. Standard Canadian and General American English share identical or near-identical phonemic inventories, though their exact phonetic realizations may sometimes differ. Accent differences can also be heard between those who live in urban centres versus those living in rural settings.
Canadians and Americans themselves often have trouble differentiating their own two accents, particularly since Standard Canadian and Western United States English have both been undergoing the Low-Back-Merger Shift since the 1980s.
History
Canadian English as an academic field of inquiry solidified around the time of the Second World War. While early linguistic approaches date back to the second half of the 19th century, the first textbook to consider Canadian English in one form or another was not published until 1940. Walter S. Avis was its most forceful spokesperson after the Second World War until the 1970s. His team of lexicographers managed to date the term "Canadian English" to a speech by a Scottish Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Archibald Constable Geikie, in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857. Geikie, a Scottish-born Canadian, reflected the Anglocentric attitude that would be prevalent in Canada for the next hundred years when he referred to the language as "a corrupt dialect", in comparison with what he considered the proper English spoken by immigrants from Britain.One of the earliest influences on Canadian English was the French language, which was brought to Canada by the French colonists in the 17th century. French words and expressions were adopted into Canadian English, especially in the areas of cuisine, politics, and social life. For example, words like poutine and toque are uniquely Canadian French terms that have become part of the Canadian English lexicon.
An important influence on Canadian English was British English, which was brought to Canada by British settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Canadian English borrowed many words and expressions from British English, including words like lorry, flat, and lift. However, Canadian English also developed its own unique vocabulary, including words like toque, chesterfield, and double-double. In the early 20th century, western Canada was largely populated by farmers from Central and Eastern Europe who were not anglophones. At the time, most anglophones there were re-settlers from Ontario or Quebec who had British, Irish, or Loyalist ancestry, or some mixture of these. Throughout the 20th century, the prairies underwent anglicization and linguistic homogenization through education and exposure to Canadian and American media.
American English also had a significant impact on Canadian English's origins as well as again in the 20th century and since then as a result of increased cultural and economic ties between the two countries. American English terms like gasoline, truck, and apartment are commonly used in Canadian English.
The growth of Canadian media, including television, film, and literature, has also played a role in shaping Canadian English. Chambers notes that Canadian media has helped to create new words and expressions that reflect Canadian culture and values. Canadian institutions, such as the CBC and the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, have also played a role in promoting and defining Canadian English.
In addition to these influences, Canadian English has also been minorly shaped by Indigenous languages. Indigenous words such as moose, toboggan, kayak, skookum, and moccasin have become part of the Canadian English lexicon.
Canadian English is the product of five waves of immigration and settlement over a period of more than two centuries. The first large wave of permanent English-speaking settlement in Canada, and linguistically the most important, was the influx of Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, chiefly from the Mid-Atlantic States—as such, Canadian English is believed by some scholars to have derived from northern American English. Canadian English has been developing features of its own since the early 19th century. 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 American dominance and influence among its citizens. Further waves of immigration from around the globe peaking in 1910, 1960, and at the present time 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.
The languages of Aboriginal peoples in Canada started to influence European languages used in Canada even before widespread settlement took place, and the French of Lower Canada provided vocabulary, with words such as tuque and portage, to the English of Upper Canada.
Overall, the history of Canadian English is a reflection of the country's diverse linguistic and cultural heritage. While Canadian English has borrowed many words and expressions from other languages, it has also developed its own unique vocabulary and pronunciation that reflects the country's distinct identity.
Historical linguistics
Studies on earlier forms of English in Canada are rare. An overview of diachronic work on Canadian English, or diachronically relevant work, is Dollinger. Until the 2000s, basically all commentators on the history of CanE have argued from the "language-external" history, i.e. social and political history. An exception has been in the area of lexis, where Avis et al. 1967 Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles offered real-time historical data through its quotations. Starting in the 2000s, historical linguists have started to study earlier Canadian English with historical linguistic data. DCHP-1 is now available in open access. Most notably, Dollinger pioneered the historical corpus linguistic approach for English in Canada with CONTE and offers a developmental scenario for 18th- and 19th-century Ontario.Canadian dainty
Historically, Canadian English included a class-based sociolect known as Canadian dainty. Treated as a marker of upper-class prestige in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Canadian dainty was marked by the use of some features of British English pronunciation, resulting in an accent similar, but not identical, to the Mid-Atlantic accent known in the United States. This accent faded in prominence following World War II, when it became stigmatized as pretentious, and is now rare. The Governor General Vincent Massey, the writer and broadcaster Peter Stursberg, the actor Lorne Greene, and the actor Christopher Plummer are examples of men who were raised in Canada but spoke with a British-influenced accent.Spelling
Canadian spelling of the English language combines British and American conventions, the two dominant varieties, and adds some domestic idiosyncrasies. For many words, American and British spelling are both acceptable. Spelling in Canadian English co-varies with regional and social variables, somewhat more so, perhaps, than in the two dominant varieties of English, yet general trends have emerged since the 1970s.- Words such as realise and organisation are usually consistent with the other Commonwealth countries, but the American spellings with a z are also acceptable due to Canada's proximity to the United States of America. Both spellings are listed as acceptable in The Canadian Oxford Dictionary.
- Words such as anesthesia and gynecology are usually or more commonly spelled as in American English rather than anaesthesia and gynaecology as in British English.
- French-derived words that in American English end with -or, such as color or honor, retain British spellings.
- French-derived words that in American English end with -er, such as fiber or center, retain British spellings. This rule is much more relaxed than the -our rule, with kilometer being quite acceptable while meager and somber may not even be noticed.
- While the United States uses the Anglo-French spelling defense and offense, most Canadians use the British spellings defence and offence.
- Some nouns, as in British English, take -ce while corresponding verbs take -se – for example, practice and licence are nouns while practise and license are the respective corresponding verbs.
- Canadian spelling sometimes retains the British practice of doubling the consonant -l- when adding suffixes to words even when the final syllable is not stressed. Compare Canadian cancelled, counsellor, and travelling to American canceled, counselor, and traveling. In American English, this consonant is only doubled when stressed; thus, for instance, controllable and enthralling are universal.
- In other cases, Canadian and American usage differs from British spelling, such as in the case of nouns like curb and tire, which in British English are spelled kerb and tyre. Some other differences like Canadian and American aluminum versus aluminium elsewhere correspond to different pronunciations.
Canada's political history has also had an influence on Canadian spelling. Canada's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, once advised the Governor General of Canada to issue an order-in-council directing that government papers be written in the British style.
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, often along with the chapter on spelling in Editing Canadian English, and, where necessary, one or more other references.
Throughout part of the 20th century, some Canadian newspapers adopted American spellings, for example, color as opposed to the British-based colour. Some of the most substantial historical spelling data can be found in Dollinger and Grue. The use of such spellings was the long-standing practice of the Canadian Press perhaps since that news agency's inception, but visibly the norm prior to World War II. The practice of dropping the letter u in such words was also considered a labour-saving technique during the early days of printing in which movable type was set manually. Canadian newspapers also received much of their international content from American press agencies, so it was much easier for editorial staff to leave the spellings from the wire services as provided.
In the 1990s, Canadian newspapers began to adopt the British spelling variants such as -our endings, notably with The Globe and Mail changing its spelling policy in October 1990. Other Canadian newspapers adopted similar changes later that decade, such as the Southam newspaper chain's conversion in September 1998. The Toronto Star adopted this new spelling policy in September 1997 after that publication's ombudsman discounted the issue earlier in 1997. The Star had always avoided using recognized Canadian spelling, citing the Gage Canadian Dictionary in their defence. Controversy around this issue was frequent. When the Gage Dictionary finally adopted standard Canadian spelling, the Star followed suit. Some publishers, e.g. Maclean's, continue to prefer American spellings.