Canadian English

As you know, the most  spoken language in Canada is English. But unless ( a no ser que ) you have had a Canadian teacher, you will not understand certain expressions that are common in Canadian English, and will also find the accent strange. Today we focus on this important variety of English and look at whether Canadian English is a dialect that is totally unique or there are similarities to British English or American English. 

 History of Canadian English

Canadian English has constantly been evolving ( evolucionando) over the last two hundred years thanks to various waves (olas) of immigration during that period. The birth ( nacimiento)  of the Canadian English language started when British Loyalists escaped from the states on the eastern ( del este) coast of the United States during the seven-year American War of Independence that culminated in 1783. The next phase of mass immigrant occurred thirty years later, when Canada encouraged  (animaron ) people from Britain and Ireland to settle.( establecerse ) This policy was initiated because the government was increasingly  worried about anti-English feelings amongst (entre) its population. In the twentieth century, the two main waves of immigration, from mainland  Europe ( continente europeo) after 1910 and Asia after 1960, turned Canada into a multicultural society. Today Canadian English is either spoken as a first or  second language by 85 percent of the 32 million Canadians that make up ( conforma ) the country’s population.

Canadian English Spelling

The spelling of Canadian English generally combines both  British and American English rules. For instance, French-derived words that end in -re (e.g. theatre) and -our (e.g. colour) use the British English spellings, although American spellings sometimes occur. This is also the situation for words that have double consonants in British English (e.g. travelling) but single consonants in American English (e.g. traveling). However, Canadian English uses only the American English -ize (e.g. organization) endings,( terminación) whilst (mientras que) British English uses both -ise and -ize (e.g. organization, organisation). From the following chart(X) you can see how Canadian English combines both British and American spelling varieties.

	British English	American English	Canadian English
-re versus -er	centre, kilometre theatre	center, kilometer theater	centre, kilometre theatre / theater
-our versus -or	colour, harbour, honour	color, harbor, honor	colour / color harbour / harbor honour / honor
Single or double consonant	counsellor, jewellery marvellous, travelling	counselor, jewelery marvelous, traveling	counsellor / counselor jewellery / jewelery marvellous travelling / traveling
-ity or  -ty	speciality	specialty	speciality
-ise or -ize	emphasise, generalise	emphasize, generalize	emphasize, generalize
-ue or  ue	catalogue, dialogue,	catalog, dialog	catalog, dialog
Miscellaneous	cheque, grey, pyjamas, tyre	check, gray, pajamas, tire	cheque1, gray, pajamas, tire2

¹ British English cheque, not the American check, is used in Canadian English because of the historical importance of British banking.

² The importance of the American car industry in the 1920s has led to Canadians using tire and not the British English tyre.

On our next post about Canadian English we will examine its  pronunciation, vocabulary and slang,( argot) before finishing with a Canadian English conversation. Don't miss it  !