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English was taken to Canada shortly after French and together with the latter has formed the two major European languages which have dominated the Canadian linguistic landscape since. The first settlement by British was by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1585 on the island of Newfoundland on the eastern coast. Only in the 18th century was the Canadian mainland settled by English speakers who moved up the St Lawrence River estuary to what came to be called Upper Canada (after 1791). Various elements were involved here, such as Loyalists fleeing the United States after it declared independence and settlers from Scotland and Ireland who sought a better life in the large new country of Canada. The nineteenth century saw a movement westwards (as in the United States) and the settlement of large tracts of the Canadian interior. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have seen a steady increase in other European groups in Canada (Germans, Italians, Portuguese) but also of other ethnic groups not least those from the Pacific rim countries, Japan, China, Korea and The Philippines, for instance.
This seminar will be concerned with looking at how all these groups influenced the types of English spoken in present-day Canadian English society.
Literature
- Boberg, Charles 2010. The English Language in Canada. Status, History and Comparative Analysis. Cambridge: University Press.
- Chambers, Jack (ed.) 1973. Canadian English. Origins and Structures. Toronto: Methuen.
- Clarke, Sandra 2010. Newfoundland and Labrador English. Edinburgh: University Press.
- Clarke, Sandra (ed.) 1993. Focus on Canada. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Edwards, John (ed.) 1998. Language in Canada. Cambridge: University Press.
Students interested in the subject matter of this lecture series should consult the following website in advance:
http://www.uni-due.de/SVE/ |
