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,, OccasionalPapers Number4 STRATHY LANGUAGEUNIT Queen's University Kingston,Ontario fflte @Uawa flJwl/lfll!//Io/ ~~ ~~ Howard B. Woods Occasional Papers Number 4 STRATHY LANGUAGE UNIT Queen's University Kingston, Ontario fflte @Uawa !JJ~ of r;~ 8~ l II Howard B. Woods ! ® Howard B. Woods, 1999 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Woods, Howard (Howard B.) The Ottawa Survey of Canadian English (Strathy Language Unit occasional papers, number 4) ISBN 0-88911·880-9 1. English language - Ottawa I. Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.). Strathy Language Unit. II. Title. m.Series: Occasional papers (Queen's University} (Kingston, Ont.). Strathy Language Unit); 4 Printed in Canada Strathy Language Unit OccasionalPapers Number 1 In Search of lfle Standard in CanadianEnglish, ed. W.C. Lougheed Number2 Writingson Canadian English 1976-1987,A SelectiveAnnotated Bibliography,ed. W.C. Lougheed Number 3 The English Language as Used in Quebec, A Su/Vey,Tom McArthur Number 4 The Ottawa Su/Vey of CanadianEnglish, Howard B. Woods Preface This study is a response to the long-standing need within the field of applied linguistics for a better understanding of General Canadian English and for a quantitative documentation of its usage. This manuscript will present an analysis of a sample of this national language as spoken by persons whose mother tongue is English and who were born and raised within the urban boundaries of the city of Ottawa. The analysis will demonstrate that the informants vary their speech patterns according to the tasks which they are asked to perform. Further, the analysis will demonstrate that variations in usage are correlated to age, sex, socio-economic status, ethnic background, rural background and sometimes to the number of generations the informant's family has been in Canada. An hour-long interview was conducted with one hundred informants by means of a questionnaire which was designed to elicit phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and lexical responses while the informants were performing a number of language related tasks. There was, of course, no way of eliminating completely the influences of the interview situation, which generally causes speech to be more forma l than the relaxed, unguarded style of casual conversation. However, a number of techniques were employed in order to enable the informant to relax and thereby speak more freely. Unlike several urban socio-dialectology surveys conducted previously, this survey will analyse the speech characte ristics of a broad range of the socio-economic structure, including the lower working, lower middle, midd le middle, upper middle, and lower upper, classes. It is therefore the first such survey dealing with North American English which analyses the speech characteristics of the mainstream of society as well as those of the minority ethnic groups. Chapter 5 will present an analysis of the co-variation of 27 phonological segments and sociological and stylistic parameters. Our data will forcefully prove the hypothesis of phonological and stylistic co-variation, with 20 of the 27 items demonstrating variation directly related to the degree of formality of the task performed by the informant. Similarly, the data will prove the hypothesis of phonological and socio-economic co-variation. In this case, 1o of the 27 items will demonstrate ordered stratification. The data also reveal that the upper classes use a much broader range of styles than do the lower classes. Our analysis will also reveal interesting findings of sex and age differentiation in addition to a number of important phonological discoveries. i Chapter 6 will analyse the co-variation of grammatical, pronunciation, and vocabulary forms and sociological factors. The data will demonstrate that 12 of 15 grammatical items, 25 of 48 pronunciation items, and 2 of 8 vocabulary items have clear and ordered socioeconomic stratification. We will designate particular forms to be prestige and stigmatized forms according to observed usage patterns. Our data will also demonstrate interesting sex and age differentiation; for example, our female informants maintained the strongest class hierarchy, had the lowest frequency of stigmatized forms, and the highest frequency of prestige forms. Chapters 5 and 6 both have an evaluation and summary section which contains the important findings of their respective analyses, a comparison of data and conclusions from previous studies. Prior to presenting the extensive data and evaluative comments on the co-variation of stylistic and sociological variation of Canadian English usage, which is to be found in Chapters 5 and 6, a number of background subjects will be dealt with. First, a review and evaluation of the previous dialectology studies from which the present study is adapted will be presented. Second, the background of Ottawa's settlement patterns and present situation will be discussed. Third, the development of Canadian English will be traced through time so that this national dialect can be placed in relation to other dialects of the English language family. This historical sketch will be followed by a detailed account of those characteristics which distinguish Canadian English from Northern American, its closest relative. Linguistic comparisons in this study will be made most often with reference to Northern American and General American rather than with Standard Southern British. The fourth subject to be dealt with will be the methodology of the study itself. The conclusion will contain a summary of the important findings, a comparison of data from previous studies, and suggestions for future studies. Appendix A will contain the questionnaire. Appendix B will contain paralinguistic data and Appendix C will contain attitudinal observations. ii r TABLE OF CONTENTS THE TITLE PAGE .......... ................................. PREFACE ............... ................................. i TABLE OF CONTENTS . iii DEDICATION . V FOREWORD ............. ...... ... ............... ...... vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 1. Purpose . 1 2. The Value of Sociolinguistic Urban Surveys .. ............. 3 3. Previous Studies . 6 Notes ........................... ........... ... 10 CHAPTER 2: OTTAWA . 15 1. Ottawa, Its Settlement and Setting . 15 2. Ottawa Valley Urban Centres . 19 Notes .................... ... .. ....... ....... 21 CHAPTER 3: CANADIAN ENGLISH . 22 1. Canadian English in Relation to Other Dialects . 22 2. Linguistic Features ....... ....... .. .' . 26 Notes ................ .. ....... .... .... .. .... 50 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY . 52 1. The Sociological Parameters . 52 2. The Contextual Styles . 57 3. The Sample . 60 4. The Questionnaire . 70 5. Interviews ............. ........... ......... .. 70 6. Transcription and Analysis . .. .. ..... ............. 70 7. Limitations . 71 Notes ................ .......................... 74 iii CHAPTER 5: THE CO-VARIATION OF THE PHONOLOGICAL VARIABLES WITH SOCIOLOGICAL AND STYLISTIC PARAMETERS . 77 1. Measurementof Co-variation . 77 2. Evaluationand Summary .. ............... .......... 161 Notes ................. ......................... 176 CHAPTER 6: THE CO-VARIATION OF GRAMMATICAL, PRONUNCIATION, ANDVOCABULARY VARIABLES WITH SOCIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS ..................................... 184 1. Grammarand Syntax . ............ 185 2. Pronunciation......... ............................ 199 3. Vocabulary . ....... 244 4. Evaluationand Summary .. ......................... 252 5. Comparisonwith SCE .. ....... .................... 264 Notes .............. ............................ 266 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION .. ..... ................... ...... 269 1. Methodology . 269 2. The Co--variationof PhonologicalVariables with Sociologicaland Stylistic Parameters . ....... 270 3. The Co·variation of Grammatical, Pronunciation, and Vocabulary Variables with Sociological Parameters . ......... 275 Notes .............................. .... ....... 279 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... .... ................... ........ .... .. 281 APPENDIX A: OTTAWA ENGUSH QUESTIONNAIRE ... ... ....... 288 APPENDIX B: PARALINGUISTIC PHENOMENA ... ... ... ........ 318 APPENDIX C: LANGUAGE ATilTUDES ......... .. ........... 320 iv Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to Ors. Robert J. Gregg and Ruth E. McConnell both of whom devoted much of their academic careers to the study of Canadian English. Appreciation The author wishes to thank the one hundred interviewees who made this I survey possible. Honouring the initial agreement that all interviews be kept i anonymous, we will not be able to thank these volunteers more personnally . 1 ) 'I I Acknowledgement I l This survey was supported by the Public Service Commission of Canada and the Public Service Alliance of Canada in 1977-79. This book has been l published with the help of the Strathy Language Unit of Queen's University. I l V I Foreword In producing this pleasing new book, Howard Woods is following in a tradition that begins with William labov's Social Stratification of English in New York City, first published in 1966. Since that time, work in the field of secular linguistics--studies designed to answer problems of concern to linguists through investigations of well-recorded spontaneous speech--has developed into one of the most important aspects of modem linguistics. There is, nevertheless, still a relative dearth of works of this type as compared to work that is based on laboratory research or, more particularly, work at the linguist's own desk. We are also especially short of large-scale surveys of the sort