Canadian, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh English: A Comparative Analysis

Posted on Aug 1, 2024 in Geography

TEMA 7: CANADIAN ENGLISH

World’s 2nd Largest Country

Population: 28 million approx. (300,000 Indigenous peoples in reservations, Canada à Iroquois kanata = village). Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II (England), represented by the Governor General. Federal constitutional monarchy. Half of its population lives in Ontario and Quebec (80% urban population!).

Languages

  • English (70%, Protestants)
  • French (20%, Catholic)
  • Bilingual (10%)
  • Others (Inuktitut by Inuit)

Canadian English: 3 Main Accents

  1. General Canadian
  2. Maritime
  3. Newfie (Newfoundland)

1. General Canadian

Similar to GA (western US English). Most typical feature: Canadian raising, ex.: Are you Spanish, eh? Unlike GA, CanEng has /ou/ in words such as borrow, sorrow.

2. Maritime

Spoken in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia & New Brunswick. No Canadian raising (‘eh?’)

3. Newfie (Newfoundland)

No Canadian raising. Sounds sometimes like Irish English or South-west English accent à ‘Hiberno-English‘.

Canadian English: Spelling

Controversy: BrEng. vs. AmEng (‘serious’ press and academic books tend to follow British spelling: centre, programme, etc).

Vocabulary (Typical Canadian Words)

Borrowed from 2 sources:

  1. From Indigenous languages (Cree, Inuktitut): chipmunk, mackinaw, moose, muskeg, muskrat, kayak, anorak, husky, toboggan, etc.
  2. From French: métis (person of mixed race), tuque (cap), caboteur (ship), etc.

TEMA 8: IRELAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND

SCOTTISH ENGLISH

History

  • 1,000 BC: Picts reached Scotland from Europe
  • 843: Unification of Picts, Scots, Britons and Angles under Kenneth I MacAlpine
  • 1296: Edward I of England invaded Scotland and declared himself king
  • 1297: William Wallace (Braveheart) defeated the English
  • 1328: Independence of Scotland recognized by England
  • 1707: Act of Union: united England and Scotland parliaments

Population

5 million approx.

Languages

  • Scots Gaelic
  • English

English

  • Southeast: English spoken as far back in time as in England
  • Southwest: English spoken since the Middle Ages
  • Highlands and Islands: English spoken only for 2 centuries

Pronunciation

Fewer vowels than RP for 2 reasons:

  1. Rhotic variety, so diphthongs ending in schwa not all present: beer, bear, etc.
  2. Scottish vowel length rule: vowels are long before /v/, /r/, /z/, /dconpalo/, before another vowel and are long elsewhere (especially affects vowels i and u) ex.: /i:/ long: here, leave, sees … /i/ short: beat, feel, leaf …; velar fricative /x/ in some Scottish words: loch, nicht. Different stress & pronunciation: realise, with (voiceless).

Grammar

  • Will instead of shall: Will I put out the light? (Shall/should?)
  • Prepositions in verbs placed before direct object: he turned out the light (the light out), they took off their coats (their coats off)

Vocabulary

  • General: aye = yes, brae = hill, dram = drink, loch = lake, wee = small
  • ScotEng words present in Standard Eng.: collie, golf, weird, cosy, glamour, pony, wraith, croon, whisky
  • ScotEng words widely known as typically Scottish: clan, kilt, cairn, haggis, bairn
  • ScotEng words used only in Scotland (& Ulster): brae, burn, kirk, canny, kirl

IRISH ENGLISH

  • 1845-49: Famine (Ireland’s population 8.5 à 6.5 million)
  • 1937 Constitution of “Eire”
  • 1951-62 IRA campaign in the North
  • 1972 Ireland joins the European Economic Community
  • 1993 Downing Street Declaration; British Government accepts the right of the people of Ireland to self-determination
  • 1997 IRA cease-fire

Northern and Southern Irish English

Southern Irish English: Pronunciation
  • Rhotic, words like hoarse, mourning à /]/ rather than /ou/
  • Nurse is /nurs/ rather than /nžrs/
  • Uneducated speech: tea, please, sea à /ei/, old, cold, bold à /au/, th sometimes /t/, ex. Thousand
Grammar
  • Progressive verbs more frequent: This is belonging to me
  • Different use of ‘do‘ à habitual / non-habitual: I am drunk (now) I do be drunk (usually)
  • Irish calques: I’m after seeing him (I’ve just seen him)
  • Avoidance of perfect tense: How long are you here? (have you been)
  • Let sometimes command 2nd person: let you stay here (stay here!)
Vocabulary
  • Afters: dessert
  • Banjaxed: broken, no good
NORTHERN IRISH ENGLISH: Pronunciation
  • Rhotic, /ou/ sometimes /oi/ à know, house …,
  • Words like bird, card = US English
Vocabulary

Most Scottish words: aye = yes, loch = lake, boke = vomit.

WELSH ENGLISH

: Pronunciation: unstressed a tends to be /æ/ rather than shcwa, ex: sofa, no contrast betwen schwa and /ž/, ex.: rubber, contrast bewteen /ou/ (nose) and /]u/ (knows), non-rhotic except East and South-west, tendency to make intervocalic consonants longer: money /mcnni/. Grammar: Universal tag question ‘isnt’ it’, Predicated object inversion for emphasis: Coming home tomorrow he is, Use of negative too: I can’t do it, too. Vocabulary: language of WalesàCymraeg, used by ½ million people, aye: yes …