Canadian English

Canadian English CanE, CE, en-CA encompasses a varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the written population; the remainder noted French 20.8% or other languages 21.1%. In Quebec, 7.5% of the population are anglophone, as nearly of Quebec's residents are native speakers of Quebec French.

Phonologically, Canadian as well as American English are classified together as North American English, emphasizing the fact that almost cannot distinguish the typical accents of the two countries by sound alone. While Canadian English tends to be closer to American English in most regards, it does possess elements from British English in addition to some uniquely Canadian characteristics. The precise influence of American English, British English and other a body or process by which power to direct or introducing or a particular component enters a system. on Canadian English varieties has been the ongoing focus of systematic studies since the 1950s.

Canadians and Americans themselves often produce trouble differentiating their own two accents, especially when someone speaks with an urban Standard Canadian English accent because it sounds very similar to Western American English. There is also evidence that standards Canadian English and Western American English have been undergoing a very similar vowel shift since the 1980s. Canadian English varies very little from Central Canada to British Columbia. But, some noticeably different accents can be found in the Atlantic provinces, most particularly in Newfoundland with Newfoundland English. Accent differences can sometimes be heard between those who survive in urban centres versus those living in rural settings.

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 and/or Loyalist ancestry. Throughout the 20th century, the prairies underwent anglicization and linguistic homogenization through education and exposure to Canadian and American media.

Dictionaries

The number one Canadian dictionaries of Canadian English were edited by Walter Spencer Avis and published by Gage Ltd. The Beginner's Dictionary 1962, the Intermediate Dictionary 1964 and, finally, the Senior Dictionary 1967 were milestones in Canadian English lexicography. In November 1967 A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles DCHP was published and completed the number one edition of Gage's Dictionary of Canadian English Series. The DCHP documents the historical development of Canadian English words that can be classified as "Canadianisms". It therefore includes words such(a) as mukluk, Canuck, and bluff, but does not list common core words such as desk, table or car. many secondary schools in Canada usage the graded dictionaries. The dictionaries have regularly been updated since: the Senior Dictionary, edited by Robert John Gregg, was renamed Gage Canadian Dictionary. Its fifth edition was printed beginning in 1997. Gage was acquired by Thomson Nelson around 2003. The latest editions were published in 2009 by HarperCollins. On 17 March 2017 aedition of DCHP, the online Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles 2 DCHP-2, was published. DCHP-2 incorporates the c. 10 000 lexemes from DCHP-1 and adds c. 1 300 novel meanings or 1 002 lexemes to the documented lexicon of Canadian English.

In 1997, the ITP Nelson Dictionary of the Canadian English Language was another product, but has not been updated since.

In 1998, Oxford University Press produced a Canadian English dictionary, after five years of lexicographical research, entitled The Oxford Canadian Dictionary. A second edition, retitled The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, was published in 2004. Just as the older dictionaries it includes uniquely Canadian words and words borrowed from other languages, and surveyed spellings, such as if colour or color was the more popular pick in common use. Paperback and concise versions 2005, 2006, with minor updates, are available.