Vocabulary. · A distinctive vocabulary developed from the Colonial Period until the present, including:
· A distinctive vocabulary developed from the Colonial Period until the present, including: · Borrowing from Amerindian languages: chipmunk, hickory, moccasin, pecan, skunk, squash, totem, wigwam. Sometimes such words came through French: caribou, toboggan. · Borrowing from other colonial languages: French chowder, prairie; Dutch boss, coleslaw, cookie, Santa Clous, sleigh. · Borrowing from later immigrant: African goober, gumbo, juke, German (especially through Pennsylvania Dutch) noodle, sauerkraut, snorkel and the - fest and - burger endings in bookfest, cheeseburger, etc. · Some typically AmE words with complex histories: lagniappe, a term for a small present given by merchants to their customers, extended to any little extra benefit. Associated with the South, it is from Louisiana French, borrowed from Spanish la napa the gift, from Quechua yapa. A selection of words of American origin indicates the variety and significance of the AmE contribution to English at large: airline, boondoggle, checklist, disco, expense account, flowchart, inner city, junk food, kangaroo court, laser, mass meeting, ouch, pants, radio, soap opera, teddy bear, UFO, xerox, yuppie, zipper. Case study 9: Canadian English This national variety has coexisted for some 230 years with Canadian French, which is almost a century older, as well as with a range of indigenous languages such as Cree, Iroquois, and Inuktitut and a number of immigrant languages such as Italian and Ukrainian. It has been marked by the now less significant influence of BrE and the enormous ongoing impact of AmE. Because of the similarity of American and Canadian accents, English Canadians travelling abroad are virtually resigned to being taken for Americans. Because CanE and AmE are so alike, some scholars have argued that in linguistic terms Canadian English is no more or less than a variety of (Northern) American English. In addition, the environment of CanE differs significantly from that of other varieties in two ways: (1) The presence of French as co-official language. (2) A preoccupation with the wilderness. An awareness of the great empty northern spaces exists even among urban Canadians.
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