Language Attitudes Towards Canadian French and English, 1691-1902: the Emergence of the Canadian Voices
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Language Attitudes towards Canadian French and English, 1691-1902: The Emergence of the Canadian Voices by Beau Brock A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in French Linguistics Department of French Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Beau Brock 2014 Language Attitudes towards Canadian French and English, 1691- 1902: The Emergence of the Canadian Voices Beau Brock Doctor of Philosophy in French Linguistics Department of French Studies University of Toronto 2014 Abstract This dissertation examines the origins and development of attitudes (in the guise of beliefs and stereotypes) towards Canadian French and Canadian English during the 18th and 19th centuries, as expressed primarily by foreign travellers to North America. By conducting a comparative study of these two languages, I aim to build a bridge between French Canadian studies on Canadian French, and Anglophone Canadian studies on Canadian English, two fields which have historically been distinct and separate. The time period studies (1691-1902) is marked by major political and social change, including the English Conquest, the creation of Upper and Lower Canada (and later the United Province of Canada), and the Dominion, all of which had major, lasting effects on the development and status of both languages. In order to study the evolution of language attitudes during this period, I employed content analysis on the metalinguistic and cultural commentary in a wide variety of texts, including travel journals, scholarly and newspaper articles, monographs, and prescriptive texts, written in French and English. My analysis has shown that British commentators were the most critical of both languages (and peoples), and relied almost entirely on beliefs and stereotypes rather than empirical evidence to ii support their claims. As colonial peoples in the process of renegotiating their linguistic and cultural identities, French and British Canadians were strongly affected by these beliefs, particularly following Confederation. From this point forward, we see evidence for what I have termed the “Emergence of the Canadian Voices;” that is, Canadians’ rejection of foreign opinion about their language and culture, and a move towards an endogenous linguistic norm, which was supported by the increasing use of linguistic studies on both languages. Understanding why and how these “Canadian Voices” developed in the late 19th century is crucial to understanding the language question in Canada today. iii Acknowledgments I would first like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisors, Dr. Brousseau and Dr. Portebois, for their excellent direction, assistance, and encouragement throughout the past five years. I would also like to thank Dr. Labrie for the unique insights he provided, particularly in the last stages of writing. I am also grateful to the Department of French Studies for its support in numerous ways over the past six years, and for giving me the opportunity to teach and do research, the two things that I love to do best. I owe special thanks to Dr. Michelucci, who graciously accepted me into the programme after the deadline, and also to André Tremblay for his great assistance on just about everything. I must also thank all of my parents and siblings for always believing in me, and encouraging me to keep moving forward. Finally, I would to thank my wife, Emily, whose endless support, patience, and love have made this dream of mine a reality. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. xiii List of Appendices ....................................................................................................................... xiv Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Old Beliefs ................................................................................................................................. 1 Previous Studies on CanFr and CanEn ...................................................................................... 4 Bouchard ............................................................................................................................. 5 Caron-Leclerc ................................................................................................................... 10 Chambers .......................................................................................................................... 11 Building a bridge ...................................................................................................................... 13 Research questions and hypotheses ......................................................................................... 15 Periodization: 1691-1902 ......................................................................................................... 18 A note on terminology: patois, jargon, barbarism, solecism, and dialect ................................ 20 Overview of the thesis .............................................................................................................. 26 1 Chapter One Corpus and Methodology.................................................................................... 29 1.1 Corpus ............................................................................................................................... 29 1.1.1 Building the corpus ............................................................................................... 29 1.1.1.1 Writings on Canadian English (1792-1975) .......................................... 30 1.1.1.2 The Travellers – Canada to 1900 ........................................................... 32 1.1.1.3 Bibliographie linguistique du Canada français ..................................... 33 1.1.1.4 Mythe et reflet de la France ................................................................... 34 1.1.1.5 Other texts .............................................................................................. 35 v 1.1.2 Refining the corpus ............................................................................................... 37 1.1.2.1 Text selection criteria: what is a Canadian? ........................................... 37 1.1.2.2 Information-based criteria ...................................................................... 39 1.1.2.3 Analysis-based criteria ........................................................................... 40 1.1.2.4 The texts represented in this corpus ....................................................... 41 1.2 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 45 1.2.1 Theoretical background ........................................................................................ 46 1.2.1.1 Language attitudes .................................................................................. 46 1.2.1.2 Perceptual dialectology and folk linguistics ........................................... 47 1.2.2 Categorizing the observations ............................................................................... 49 1.2.2.1 Stereotypes, beliefs, and attitudes .......................................................... 49 1.2.2.2 Language stereotypes about English in Africa ....................................... 50 1.2.2.3 Schmied’s five categories of arguments based on language beliefs ....... 50 1.2.2.4 Language stereotypes of Canadians ....................................................... 52 1.2.2.5 Language beliefs about CanFr and CanEn ............................................. 54 1.2.3 Other considerations ............................................................................................. 56 2 Chapter Two 1691-1838: Origins of language beliefs and stereotypes ................................... 58 2.1 Canadian French: 1691-1838 ............................................................................................ 60 2.1.1 Aesthetics and grammar ........................................................................................ 63 2.1.1.1 Quality and purity ................................................................................... 63 2.1.1.2 Patois, jargon, etc. .................................................................................. 73 2.1.1.3 Anglicisms .............................................................................................. 79 2.1.1.4 Canadianisms, Normanisms, and archaisms........................................... 79 2.1.1.5 Pronunciation .......................................................................................... 81 2.1.2 Utility and legitimacy ........................................................................................... 83 2.1.2.1 French Canadians don’t speak English ................................................... 83 vi 2.1.2.2 The bilingual problem ...........................................................................