Canadian English is the form of English used in Canada.
In many respects, the spelling of Canadian English is intermediate between British English and American English. However, the spoken language is much closer to American English than British English. It is also influenced by Canadian French, as Canada has both English and French as official languages.
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2 Accent 3 Vocabulary 4 External Links 5 Further Reading |
There is no universally accepted standard of Canadian spelling. In general, Canadians agree with British usage as to -our (honour, colour, endeavour) as well as the usage of -re (centre, theatre) along with many other classes of British/American spelling distinctions. In most cases, -ize (plagiarize, dramatize, realize) is preferred to -ise in words where either ending is possible, but the British -yse (analyse) is usual. American spellings prevalent in Canada include aluminum, artifact, jail, curb, program, specialty, tire, and carburetor. (See American and British English differences.) (There are occasional exceptions: One of the main jails in Toronto, Ontario is officially called the 'Don Gaol.')
Also, several lexical items come from British English or even archaic British English, such as lieutenant (/lEf/-) and light standard (lamp-post). Several political terms are uniquely Canadian, including riding (electoral district) and win by acclamation (to win uncontested).
A plausible contemporary reference for formal Canadian spelling is the spelling used for Hansard transcripts of the Canadian Parliament.
The primary aspect is a feature called "Canadian raising", in which diphthongs are raised before voiceless consonants. For example, whereas many American dialects pronounce the first diphthongs in the words writer and rider the same, a Canadian will pronounce them (approximately) as /rVjd@r/ and /rajd@r/ (in SAMPA transcription). That is, the first part of the diphthong in both words in American English is ahh as in father; the first part of the diphthong in writer in Canadian English is uhh as in cut, a higher vowel than the American usage. However, some American English accents, particularly those near Ontario, speak like this. Note also that Canadian English shares with American English the phenomenon where /t/ becomes /d/ between two vowels. Canadian raising preserves the voicelessness of /t/ and the voicedness of /d/ where it is etymologically appropriate, even where the contrast is lost in the consonant itself.
Similarly, about will be raised from /abawt/, as it is in American "Atlantic" dialect, to /abVwt/ ("abuhwt"), or nearly even /abowt/ ("aboat") in some dialects.
Anecdotally, the "abuhwt" or even "a-beh-oot" vowels are heard in Ontario and further east, and the "aboat" vowels are heard in the Western provinces. Also heard are: "can't", in Ontario, almost "kayant", whereas in the west, it becomes more "kahnt."
Canadian English also pronounces the short "a" of "bat" slightly further back than American English. There is a tendency to monophthongize the long "a" and "o" sounds, resulting in /be:t/ for "bait" and /bo:t/ for "boat" (though this occurs usually in rapid speech). "Cot" and "caught" merge into /kAt/ as in Californian English. Finally, the broad /A/ of foreign loan words in words like "drama" or "Iraq" are usually pronounced like the short "a" of "bat": /dræm@/, /Iræk/.
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, and it is more common in southern Ontario and the Maritimes than elsewhere in the country.
(It should be noted that, 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 and their northern fellows.)
Canadian English also has its own words not found in other variants of English. Like other dialects of English that exist in proximity to francophones, French loanwords have entered Canadian English, such as:
Uniquely Canadian English words include:
The island of Newfoundland has its own dialect distinct from Canadian English. (See Newfoundland English)
Spelling
Accent
Vocabulary
In 1998 Oxford University Press produced a Canadian English Dictionary after 5 years of lexicographical research. It listed uniquely Canadian words, words borrowed from other languages and was able to survey whether colour or color was the most popular choice in common use.
Also, when pronouncing letters of the alphabet, Canadians will often use the Anglo-European "zed" rather than the American "zee" for the letter Z.External Links
Further Reading