The Settlement of Canada

English in the United States and Canada

Prof. R. HickeySummer Term 2006

Universität Duisburg-Essen

by Tim Göbel, Hannah Müller, Christin Woelk

Overview

● Settlement of Canada and its influence on Canadian English

● Canada Today

● Newfoundland

Canadian settlement● 1534 - 1535: The

French explorer Jaques Cartier captures areas of the St. Lawrence River

Canadian settlement● 1604 - 1763: The early

colonial period („New France“)

● First settlements in eastern Canada

● 1608: Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec

● 1713: Treaty of Utrecht

● 1762: Treaty of Paris

Canadian settlement

● 1775-1783: American War of Independence● The Rebellions of 1837 – 1838● 1840 – 1867: the Confederation Movement and the

Dominion of Canada● After 1867: settlement of Western Canada● 1880: Canada includes all of its present area● 1931: Statute of Westminster

Canadian English

● Hybrid of British and American English

● The Loyalists‘ influence on Canadian English in Upper Canada (Ontario)

● By 1860: English of Upper Canada has become a homogeneous variety

Canadian English: Dialects

Major dialects:

• English of the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island)

• Quebec• Ottawa Valley

Minor dialects:

• British Columbia• The Prairies (Alberta

Saskatchewan, Manitoba)

• Arctic North• Newfoundland

Canadian English: Some Features

Phonology:

● Canadian Raising (diphthongs /ai, au/ pronounced /әi, әu/ before voiceless consonants and /ai, au/ before voiced ones)

● From AE: pronunciation of /r/ after vowels, e.g. far, north

● From BE: /zed/ instead of /zi:/

Vocabulary:

● Contains elements from indigenous people (First Nations Indians), e.g. kayak, canoe, parka

Canada Today

● “I am Canadian”

Canada Today

Canada Facts

● 2nd largest country in the world (9,9 million km²), world's longest coastline (200.000 km), six time zones

● Ottawa is the Capital of Canada - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are the largest cities

● Canada became a country on July 1st, 1867 (Canada Day - Union of British North American colonies, 1931 Independence recognized)

● The first provinces were Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec

More Facts● Motto of Canada: "From Sea to Sea"

(A Mari Usque Ad Mare), National Anthem: "O Canada"

● Leader of Canada is the Prime Minister (Stephen Harper), Governor General of Canada is Michaelle Jean

● 1st Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald wanted to create a mounted police force to maintain law and order in the west and to encourage settlement. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are the federal and national police force of Canada and one of the world's most famous police forces

● Hockey is the national sport of Canada. The native people of Canada invented the game of Lacrosse

● Some Canadian Celebrities: William Shatner, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey, Nelly Furtado, David Cronenberg, Michael Ondaatje, etc.

Canada - Nature ● The Beaver officially became an

emblem of Canada in 1975. It is a symbol of the fur trade of the early days, when Canada was explored and fur trading posts were built. The beaver was featured on the coat of arms for the Hudson's Bay Company, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Quebec City and the city of Montreal. It was also featured on the first postage stamp in 1851.

● Forests cover half of Canada (Canada has one-tenth of the world's forests), there are 42 national parks

● Niagara Falls: from First Nations word “Onghiar” (pronounced on-ge-ara), meaning "thunder of waters". The Horseshoe Falls (Canada, Ontario); The American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls (USA, NY)

Provinces and Territories

● Today 10 provinces and 3 territories:

Alberta (Edmonton), British Columbia (Victoria), Manitoba (Winnipeg), New Brunswick (Fredericton), Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John's), Northwest Territories (Yellowknife), Nova Scotia (Halifax), Nunavut (Iqaluit), Ontario (Toronto), Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown), Quebec (Quebec City), Saskatchewan (Regina), Yukon (Whitehorse)

*most populous: Ontario and Quebec

Provincesand Territories Flags

Canada - Name and Flag● "Canada" derives from the Huron/Iroquois word "kanata" = village/settlement (referring to the

site of present day Quebec City)

● "Canada" later referred to a large area north of the St. Lawrence River. The first time "Canada" was used as an official name was in 1791 for the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. In 1867, at the time of Confederation, the new country became known as Canada

● The “Maple Leaf” Flag first flew on February 15th , 1965. In 1996 the maple tree was officially recognized the national emblem. Red and white are Canada's official colours. In 1867 Canada's confederation song “The Maple Leaf Forever” was written (by Alexander Muir). The coat of arms created for Ontario and Quebec both included the maple leaf.

* The Aboriginal people of Canada made syrup and sugar from the sap of the sugar maple tree.

Canadian Population

● Population: ~32 million, Most of the people live in the southern part of Canada and are the descendants of European immigrants

● Ethnic groups: British origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other (mostly Asian, African, Arab) 6%, mixed background 26%

● Canada is the home of over a million Aboriginal people (North American Indian, Metis, Inuit, Algonquin, Iroquois, Micmac, Huron and Ojibwa, Blackfoot, etc.

● Canada is officially bilingual under the Official Languages Act (1969) and the Constitution of Canada that require the federal government to deliver services in both official languages. As well, minority language rights are guaranteed where numbers warrant

● The two official languages are English (60%) and French (25%)

● The population of the country itself is by a large majority monolingual as only 18% of Canadians can speak both English and French.

● Although there is a relatively sizeable English-speaking population in Quebec of 10%, French is the only official language

● New Brunswick with 35% French-speaking, is the only province in Canada with two official languages

● There are also significant French language minorities in the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. Though those provinces are not officially bilingual they do provide a number of services in French.

● In the Nunavut territory the population is 85% Inuit. The official languages are the Inuit dialects of Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun as well as English and French.

Bilingualism in Canada

Newfoundland - The 10th province of Canada

● An overview about history and development of language in Newfoundland

History● 1000: A Viking called Leif Errikson

discovered Newfoundland

● 1497: Giovanni Caboto (English: John Cabot) discovered Newfoundland as the first European man

● 1583: Queen Elisabeth I proclaimed dominion over Newfoundland

● 1662: France constituted a governor there

● 1713: Peace of Utrecht

● 1763: Peace of Paris

● 1824: Newfoundland became a British colony

● 1855: It also became a British dominion with a parliament

● 1927: Newfoundland was heightened

● 1939/45: The USA built military bases in Newfoundland

● 31.3.1949: Newfoundland became the tenth province of Canada

Newfoundland Flag● This flag became the official flag of Newfoundland and

Labrador in 1980. The provincial flag represents the past, present and future:

● White represents the ice and snow, Blue is for the sea, Red is for human effort, the yellow line (arrow) represents confidence for a bright future,the two red triangles represent the island and mainland of the province, Blue triangles stand for the Commonwealth heritage.

Settlement and Language

● Newfoundland with its capital St. John's is also known as 'The Rock'

● Seasonal migration of Irish and British people● Immigrants came over in summer for work and

returned in winter● Huge input of dialects from Ireland and West

Britain

Examples● Influence of western country English:

v for f & z for s

● Example: ''a vine zummer''

● Influence of Irish English:

t & d for th

● Example: ''Dere was tree of dem altogedder''

St. John´s

References

● Clarke, Sandra (1993) Focus on Canada. Varieties of English around the World, General Series, Vol.11, Amsterdam

● Crystal, David (2003) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press

● Hickey, Raymond (2006) Linguistics Surveyor, CD-Rom Essen● McArthur, Tom (2002) The Oxford Guide to World English, Oxford

University Press

● Government of Canada (2006, May) http://canada.gc.ca● Statistics Canada (2006, May) http://www.statcan.ca/● World Factbook (2006, May)

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Thanks for your Attention !

* ”I remember”