Canadian English

: This paper attempts to briefly describe the salient features of Canadian English with respect to lexical, phonological and spelling variations. In addition, a historical description of contributing factors to the development of Canadian English identity is provided. As the aggregation of various languages and cultures that played a part in establishing Canada as a country throughout its history, it can be said that Canadian English is a mixture of congruous and incongruous variations mainly consisting of British English, American English, French, and a collection of aboriginal languages.

territories, but permitted the people living there the retention and continuance of French cultural traditions and language. Through the Proclamation Act of 1763 the British also ensured good standings with the aboriginals, also known as the First Nations (Maton, 1996). These developments solidified already continuous cultural exchange and promoted a constant flow of contact between different cultural and language groups. This resulted in independent evolution of variations in isolation from the mother languages, which, in the case of English, was far from the ideal. According to Scargill (1977), in the year 1880 education became compulsory in Britain, and the people who emigrated prior to that year were in most cases not educated and spoke a dialect which had little in common with the British dialect of the upper, educated class, the ideal standard at that time. Scragill (1977) continues by noting that when language is removed from constant exposure to its native cultural environment two occurrences take place: one, language is deprived of new grammar and pronunciation changes; and second is that it modifies its lexical corpus according to the environmental needs. Thus without the exposure to linguistic changes taking place in Britain a new hybrid culture and new linguistic patterns were taking shape.
Another major influence on Canadian English took place following the War of Independence (1775)(1776)(1777)(1778)(1779)(1780)(1781)(1782). In this period American soldiers (Loyalists) fleeing the realities of war immigrated to Canada in search of a stable life under British rule. They brought with them a distinctive version of English (Chambers, 2010). This further impacted on local languages, especially their phonology. The historical unfolding described above is only a fragment of the main cultural and political changes that contributed to the development of Canadian English.

Contributions to Canadian lexis
Centuries later, how has Canadian English evolved? The introduction of new vocabulary from the coexisting cultures had the greatest effect on idiosyncrasies of Canadian English. Lexemes that did not exist in the Old World had to be borrowed. Names for flora and fauna, geographical locations as well as cultural inventions not known or named in Europe were acquired from the First Nations and solidified through everyday use. The following are some of the common aboriginal lexemes in everyday use: Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut, Assiniboine river; moose, caribou, chipmunk, woodchuck, raccoon, skunk; igloo, kayak, moccasin, tepee, and toboggan. An interesting point to note here is the fact that the name of the country itself came from Native language; Canada (Kanata) means The French influence on Canadian English is different in nature. Since the Normans invaded England in 1066, English culture and language went through irreversible transformation of becoming influenced by the French. In its current state, it is said that about thirty percent of English language is made up of borrowed French (William, 1975). In addition to prior French influence, the further contact between the two cultures in the New World provided yet another wave of influence. Drawing on lexemes like, voyageur, portage, and lacrosse used by Francophones, the British settlers further expanded their lexis (Scargill, 1977).
Canadian English possesses a number of shibboleths. As a product of its peculiar history, Canadian English contains a number of culturally specific and unique expressions, foreign, yet most likely distinguishable by people from other English speaking countries. These include expressions such as: 'Eh?' -tag question, 'Canuck' -Canadian person, 'loonie' -a one dollar coin, 'twoonie' -a two dollar coin, and 'mountie' -Royal Canadian Mounted Police are some of the words unique to Canadian English.
Although closer economic and cultural ties with the US are levelling some of the variations in language, Canadians have their own expressions and phrases (Table 1).

Pronunciation
It is in phonetics that a distinctive feature of Canadian English can be found. This feature is known as Canadian Raising and it refers to a movement of the tongue when producing vowel sounds. At the centre of Canadian Raising are two diphthongs /ay/ and /aw/ which are raised only when preceding the voiceless consonants /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, /f/. What that means is that in the production of diphthongs two vowel sounds are produced with the vocal apparatus, the tongue, which moves quickly and smoothly from one target sound to the next making a single complex vowel (Yallop, 1995). Depending on the diphthong the target sound moves from the nucleus, which is longer sustained sound of the diphthong, to the glide which is transitional sound into or out of the nucleus (Pennington, 1996). With this move the /ay/ sound as in ride when raised becomes /ʌy/ as in write, and the /aw/ sound as in houses when raised becomes /ʌw/ as in mouth. Ride contains a voiced alveolar plosive /d/ and houses contain a voiced alveolar fricative /z/, in both cases diphthongs are not raised, both don't contain the voiceless consonants described above. What does raised exactly mean? The Cardinal vowel /a/ is low and is produced at the back of a rounded open mouth; however, when /ʌ/ is produced it is higher and more in the mid part of the mouth, which is why a raised vowel is also known as being centralized. It is produced with a slightly closed, neutral mouth when compared to the /a/ sound (Pennington, 1996). Table 2 contains some examples of words with raised vowels. This raising of diphthongs /ʌy/ and /ʌw/ is also evident in regions around the Great Lakes cities in the United States, however, this phenomenon is not considered a distinguishing mark of American English (Mendoza-Denton, Hendricks, and Kennedy, 2001).
Canadian English also possesses what Clarke (1995) calls 'Canadian Shift' (also found in mid-western and western US). It is a change affecting the lax vowels and it is described as the lowering of the lax front vowels /ɪ > ɛ > ae > a or e/. Words like mitt sounds like met, and met sounds like mat. In the US the low back vowels /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ merge with the result that in words like sorry and tomorrow the /o/ sound is substituted for /a/ sound. This is not a feature of Canadian English where the /o/ sound is maintained. In addition, another version of the shift is the retraction of /ae/ which is the movement from a low front to higher-central articulation. With this shift, words like many and man, instead of being sounded with /ae/, are pronounced with the sound /e/ (Lavrentyeva, 2008).
Missing from the salient characteristics of Canadian English, but worth mentioning are the features which are also shared by US varieties of English. These concern the sounds of /t/ and /d/ which on occasion are replaced with a quick voiced tap of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, or are dropped when in terminal /t/ or /d/ position. In addition, the sound of /z/ is changed into /s/ in some areas (Lavrentyeva, 2008).  The studies of segmentals across Canadian provinces done by Lavrentyeva (2008) demonstrate the existence of regional variations in Canadian English. All Canadian regions share a number of phonetical characteristics; however, the absence or presence as well as the variations and the depth of the variations sets them slightly apart from neighbouring varieties. Appendix 1 provides some examples of regional variations. An interesting fact to point out is the variation in Canadian Raising between the eastern and western regions. This difference lies in the depth of articulation and it is differentiated by a number scale.
The study does not fully cover all the provinces as it omits Manitoba, British Columbia, as well as Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories.

Spelling
Canadian preferences for spelling are often a cause of confusion for the non-native readers. Again the problem's root is found in the early days of Canada's establishment as a sovereign state. Early lexicographers' preference initiated the difference in spelling. In 1755, Samuel Johnson published the Norman influenced spelling dictionary in Britain, and on the other side of the Atlantic, Noah Webster was responsible for publishing what is called the first American spelling guide. Canadian English follows Johnson's rules, and as a result colour is spelt with u before r.

Conclusion
Looking back over the history of Canadian English it can be said that it is a product of a number of contextual factors that influenced its early formation. It is a product of the cooperation and coexistence of various groups of people from different nations working to establish a new home. It is a product of ingenuity and innovation shared among cultures. And finally, it is a product of time and geographical proximity. Canadian English is still a subject of constant change. Although French and aboriginal languages no longer possess the power they once had to influence Canadian lexis, similar forces continue to shape the language. Canada's geographical proximity to American English will likely play a significant ongoing role in providing a new linguistic standard which will serve to erode the uniqueness of Canadian English.