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In:Earlier North American Englishes
Edited by Merja Kytö and Lucia Siebers
[Varieties of English Around the World G66] 2022
► pp. 231–258

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Dialects as a mirror of historical trajectories

Canadian English across Ontario (North America)

 | University of Toronto
Published online: 15 July 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g66.10tag
Abstract
A multi-year project on dialects in Ontario, Canada demonstrates how synchronic variation mirrors historical trajectories of change. Three linguistic features are examined, come vs. came, adjectives of smallness and 3rd person male referents. Using quantitative methods and a comparative sociolinguistic approach, I demonstrate how these features vary by geographical location, date of birth and social and linguistic factors. Some features are stable, providing a foundation of constancy. Other features are changing but are distinguished by locale. Changes are advancing most vigorously in the urban centre, while conservative variants persist in peripheral locations. The results highlight how synchronic dialect data can expose diachronic trends in contemporary English and provide a window on earlier varieties.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Three case studies
    • 2.1Preterit come
      • 2.1.1Introduction
      • 2.1.2Methodology
      • 2.1.3Results
    • 2.2Adjectives of smallness
      • 2.2.1Introduction
      • 2.2.2Methodology
      • 2.2.3Results
    • 2.3Third person male
      • 2.3.1Introduction
      • 2.3.2Methodology
      • 2.3.3Results
  • 3.Discussion and concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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