PronunciationCanadian Raising (a term coined by J. K. Chambers in 1973) is a convenient term for what is in fact a non-lowering of certain diphthongs that are lowered in most other dialects. The tongue is raised higher to produce the diphthong in knife, house than in knives, houses. In general terms, these diphthongs have a raised onset before voiceless consonants: and. In the following pairs, only the first word has the raised onset: tripe/tribe, bite/bide, tyke/tiger, knife/knives, price/prizes, lout/loud, mouth (n)/mouth The cot/caught distinction Many phonological features shared with Northern AmE are distributed distinctively in standard CanE: for example, the low back vowels have merged, so that Canadians pronounce cot/caught, Don/Dawn, awful/offal, caller/collar with the same vowel sound, although the quality of this sound varies. T-flapping and T-deletion Especially in casual speech, many Canadians, like many Americans, pronounce /t/ as /d/ between vowels and after /r/, a feature known as t-flapping. Such pairs as waiting/wading, metal/medal, latter/ladder, hearty/hardy are therefore often homophones and the city of Ottawa is called 'Oddawa'. In addition, the /t/ is usually deleted after n, so that Toronto is pronounced 'Toronna' or 'Trawna' by most of the city's inhabitants. Use of WH Speakers of standard CanE tend more than speakers of standard Northern AmE to drop the distinction between initial /hw/ and /w/, making homophones out of which/witch. Grammar Where CanE differs grammatically from BrE it tends to agree with AmE. However, where such differences exist, Canadians are often more aware of both usages than Americans, either because they use both or have been exposed to both. Vocabulary English Canadians have developed the vocabulary they have needed in their special environment by borrowing from indigenous languages and from French, by extending and adapting traditional English words, and by coining new words, in addition to which, CanE vocabulary has been affected by institutional bilingualism: · Borrowing from indigenous languages: chipmunk, mackinaw (a bush jacket), moose, muskeg (boggy, mossy land), muskrat From Inuktitut come kayak, mukluk, anorak, parka, malemute, husky · Borrowing from French: caboteur (a ship engaged in coastal trade), cache (a place for storing supplies; a supply of goods kept for future use), coureur du bois (a French or Metis trader or woodsman), Metis (a person or people of'mixed' blood), portage (the carrying of canoes past rapids) · Extension and adaptation of traditional words. Many BrE words have had their meanings extended and adapted to conditions in North America. CanE shares with AmE many usages relating to landscape and social life, etc., but has a range of distinctive additional usages, such as: Native officially referring to the indigenous peoples of Canada (the Native Peoples); the distinction between prime minister (federal chief minister) and premier (provincial chief minister); province, provincial (referring to the major political divisions of the country, most of which were once distinct British colonies); riding (a political constituency); status Indian (someone officially registered as a Canadian Indian); CanE reserve as opposed to AmE reservation as a term describing land set aside for Native peoples. Case study 10: Australian English It has a short history, reflecting some 200 years of European settlement, and an even shorter period of recognition as a national variety, the term being first recorded in 1940. It is only since then that features of AusE have been regarded as distinctively and respectably Australian, instead of as evidence of colonial decline from the norms of the standard English of England. Pronunciation The most marked feature of the Australian accent is its homogeneity, with no regional differences as marked as those in BrE and AmE, though recent studies have associated particular phonological characteristics with state capitals. There is, however, a social continuum in which three varieties are generally recognized: Broad Australian, General Australian, and Cultivated Australian. Of these, Cultivated Australian most closely approaches British RP and Broad Australian most vigorously exhibits distinctive regional features. It is generally assumed that the Australian accent derives from the mixing of British and Irish accents in the early years of settlement. The major features of AusE pronunciation are: · It is non-rhotic (r is pronounced before a consonant (as in hard) and at the ends of words (as in far). · Its intonation is flatter than that of RP. · Speech rhythms are slow, stress being more evenly spaced than in RP. · Consonants do not differ significantly from those in RP. · Vowels are in general closer and more frontal than in RP, with /i/ and /u/ as in tea, two diphthongized respectively. · The schwa is busier than in RP, frequently replacing /i/ in unaccented positions, as in boxes, dances, darkest, velvet, acid. · Some diphthongs shift, RP as in Australia, day, mate, and, as in high, wide. · Speakers whose first language is not English or who have a bilingual background (Aboriginal, immigrant) often use sounds and a delivery influenced by the patterns of the first or other language. · The name of the letter h is often pronounced 'haitch' by speakers wholly or partly of Irish-Catholic background. Grammar and vocabulary There are no syntactic features that distinguish standard AusE from standard BrE, or indeed any major non-standard features not also found in Britain, but there are many distinctive words and phrases. However, although AusE has added some 10,000 items to the language, few have become internationally active. The largest demand for new words has concerned flora and fauna, and predominant occupations like stock-raising have also required new terms. Because of this, Australianisms are predominantly naming words: single nouns (mulga ‘an acacia’, mullock ‘mining refuse’, muster ‘a round-up of livestock’), compounds (black tracker ‘an Aboriginal employed by the police to track down missing persons’, black velvet ‘Aboriginal women as sexual objects’, red - back ‘a spider’), nouns used attributively (convict colony ‘a penal colony’, convict servant or convict slave ‘a convict assigned as a servant’).
Case Study 11: Pakistani English Pakistani English, short forms PakE, PE. The English language as used in Pakistan, a variety of South Asian English close to that of northern India. English has had co-official status with Urdu since independence in 1947, but the constitution of 1959 and the amendments of 1968, 1972, and 1985 recognize Urdu as preeminent and restrict the use of English, the aim being its eventual replacement. English is an important medium in a number of leading educational institutions. It is the main language of technology, international business, and communication among a national élite, and a major element in the media. The constitution and the laws of the land are codified in English, and the Pakistan Academy of Letters recognizes works in English for its literature award.
|
