Canadian English lexis and semantics
A historical-comparative resource in contrastive, real-time perspective, 1683–2016
This paper introduces the use of a historical dictionary as a linguistic resource. This dictionary, the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, Second Edition (Dollinger & Fee 2017) affords a new real-time perspective on the Canadian vocabulary. As it is based on an empirical, cross-variational perspective, it instills a comparative perspective into the data. The dictionary’s genesis, benchmarks and entry structure will be explained, before the vocabulary of Canadian English is sketched in four key components: typology, semantic donor domains, compounding as a key word-formation pattern and regionalisms within Canada. This study is intended as an introduction to this open access resource (www.dchp.ca/dchp2) and a first step towards a more sophisticated analysis of lexis over time.
Article outline
- 1.Background
- 2.Introduction to the Dictionary of Canadianisms
- 3.Theory and postcolonial lexicography: Canadianisms and other ‑isms
- 4.Principles, structure and benchmarks of DCHP-2
- 4.1The entry structure of DCHP-2
- 4.2Six-tiered typology plus a “Non-Canadian” class
- 5.The structure of the Canadian English lexis
- 5.1Typological status
- Falsification not verification
- 5.2Semantic domains
- 5.3Compound formations in real-time
- 5.4Regionalisms in Canadian English lexis
- 6.Conclusion
-
Notes
-
References
References
Algeo, J.
1998
Vocabulary
. In
The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volume IV: 1776–1997,
S. Romaine (ed.), 57–91. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Avis, W. S.
1954 Speech differences along the Ontario-United States border. I: Vocabulary.
Journal of the Canadian Linguistic Association 1 (1,
Oct.): 13–18.
Avis, W. S.
1967 Introduction. In
Avis
et al
. (eds), xii–xv.
[URL] (
23 January 2022)
Avis, W. S., Crate, C., Drysdale, P., Leechman, D., Scargill, M. H. & Lovell, C. J.
(eds) 1967 A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles. Toronto: Gage.
Barber, K. & Considine, J.
2010 Revising the Dictionary of Canadianisms: Views from 2005. In
Current Projects in Historical Lexicography,
J. Considine (ed.), 141–149. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars.
Barber, K.
2004 Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
Beal, J. C. & Grant, A. P.
2006 ‘Make do and mend’: An online investigation into processes of neologisation and the dearth of borrowing in newer English wartime vocabulary. In
Syntax, Style and Grammatical Norms: English from 1500–2000,
C. Dalton-Puffer (ed.), 55–72. Berne: Lang.
Boberg, C.
2005 The North American Regional Vocabulary Survey: New variables and methods in the study of North American English.
American Speech 80(1): 22–60.
Brinton, L. J.
2008 The Comment Clause in English: Syntactic Origins and Pragmatic Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cassidy, F. G. & Houston Hall, J.
(eds) 1985–2013 Dictionary of American Regional English. Volumes I-VI. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Cassidy, F. G. & Le Page, R.
(eds) 1967 Dictionary of Jamaican English. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chambers, J. K.
1998 Social embedding of changes in progress.
Journal of English Linguistics 26(1): 5–36.
Clarke, S.
2010 Newfoundland and Labrador English [
Dialects of English]. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Clarke, S. & Hiscock, P.
(eds) 2013 The Dialect Atlas of Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John’s, NL: Memorial University.
[URL](
23 January 2022)
Clyne, M.
(ed.) 1992 Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
COD-2 = See Barber
(
2004).
Craigie, W. & Hulbert, J. R.
(eds) 1938–1944 A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles. 4 volumes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dollinger, S.
2012 Canadian English in real-time perspective. In
English Historical Linguistics: An International Handbook. Vol. II. (HSK 34.2),
A. Bergs &
L. J. Brinton, 1858–1880. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Dollinger, S.
2015a How to write a historical dictionary: A sketch of The Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, Second Edition.
Ozwords 24(2): 1–3 and 6.
Dollinger, S.
2015c The Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, Second Edition and regional variation: The complex case of Newfoundland.
Regional Language Studies … Newfoundland 26: 9–20.
[URL] (
30 Jan 2017).
Dollinger, S.
2016 Googleology as smart lexicography: Big messy data for better regional labels.
Dictionaries 37: 60–98.
[URL] (
30 Jan 2017).
Dollinger, S.
2017 TAKE UP #9 as a semantic isogloss on the Canada-US border.
World Englishes 36(1): 80–103.
Dollinger, S.
2019 Creating Canadian English: The Professor, the Mountaineer, and a National Variety of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dollinger, S. & Brinton, L. J.
2008 Canadian English lexis: Historical and variationist perspectives.
Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 19 (2).
Special Issue “Focus on Canadian English”,
M. Meyer (ed.), 43–64.
[URL].
Dollinger, S. (editor-in-chief), Brinton, L. J. & Fee, M.
(eds) 2006–2016 The Bank of Canadian English.
Online quotations database of Canadian texts, 1505–2016. 2.7 million words. Vancouver: University of British Columbia.
Dollinger, S., Brinton, L. J. & Fee, M.
(eds) 2013 DCHP-1 Online: A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles Online. Based on W. S. Avis
et al
(1967) (Online dictionary) (23 January 2022)
Dollinger, S. (chief editor) & Fee, M.
(associate editor) 2017 DCHP-2: The Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles,
Second Edition
. With the assistance of
B. Ford,
A. Gaylie &
G. Lim. Online dictionary. Vancouver: University of British Columbia.
[URL]
Dollinger, S. & Gaylie, A.
2015 Canadianisms in Canadian desk dictionaries: Scope, accuracy, desiderata.
Paper presented at the 20th Meeting of the Dictionary Society of North America, Vancouver
5 June 2015.
Dollinger, S. & von Schneidemesser, L.
2011 Canadianism, Americanism, North Americanism? A Comparison of DARE and DCHP.
American Speech 86(2): 115–151.
[URL] (
30 Jan 2017).
Fischer, A.
1997 The Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM as a historical corpus: To wed and to marry revisited. In
From Ælfric to The New York Times: Studies in English Corpus Linguistics,
U. Fries,
V. Müller &
P. Schneider (eds), 161–172. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Gage-5 = de Wolf, G. D., Gregg, R. J., Harris, B. P. & Scargill, M. H.
(eds) 1997 Gage Canadian Dictionary. 5th edition. Toronto: Gage.
Görlach, M.
1990 The dictionaries of transplanted varieties of languages: English. In
Wörterbücher. Dictionaries. Dictionnaires. An International Encyclopedia of Lexicography,
F. J. Hausmann,
O. Reichmann,
H. E. Wiegand &
L. Zgusta (eds), Vol. II: 1475–1499. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Harris, B. P.
1975 Selected Political, Cultural, and Socio-Economic Areas of Canadian History as Contributors to the Vocabulary of Canadian English. PhD thesis. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria.
ITP Nelson = Friend, D., Keeler, J., Liebman, D. & Sutherland, F.
et al
(eds) 1997 ITP Nelson Canadian Dictionary of the English Language: An Encyclopedic Reference. Toronto: ITP Nelson.
Lovell, C. J.
1955 Whys and hows of collecting for the Dictionary of Canadian English
.
Part I: Scope and source material. Journal of the Canadian Linguistic Association 1(2,
Oct.): 3–8.
Mathews, M. M.
(ed.) 1951 A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Moore, B., Laugesen, A., Gwynn, M. & Robinson, J.
(eds) 2016 The Australian National Dictionary: Australian Words and Their Origins. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Morris, E. E.
1898 Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages. London: MacMillan.
Orsman, H. W.
(ed.) 1997 Dictionary of New Zealand English: A Dictionary of New Zealandisms on Historical Principles. Aukland: Oxford University Press.
Popper, K. R.
1966 Logik der Forschung. Zweite, erw. Auflage. Tübingen: Mohr (Siebeck).
Ramson, W. S.
(ed.) 1988 Australian National Dictionary: A Dictionary of Australianisms on Historical Principles. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Scargill, M. H.
1977 A Short History of Canadian English. Victoria, B.C.: Sono Nis.
Scargill, M. H. & Warkentyne, H. J.
1972 The survey of Canadian English: A report.
The English Quarterly. A Publication of the Canadian Council of Teachers of English 5(3, Fall): 47–104.
Siemund, P.
2014 The emergence of English reflexive verbs: An analysis based on the Oxford English Dictionary.
English Language and Linguistics 18: 49–73.
Silva, P.
(ed.) 1996 A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Story, G. M. & Kirwin, W.
1971 National dictionaries and regional homework.
Regional Language Studies… Newfoundland 3: 19–22.
Trudgill, P. & Watts, R.
2002 Introduction. In
Alternative Histories of English,
R. Watts &
P. Trudgill (eds), 1–3. London: Routledge.
Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
Knooihuizen, Remco
2023.
So What Had Happened Was. In
The Linguistics of the History of English,
► pp. 3 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.