New-Dialect Formation in Canada: Evidence from the English modal auxiliaries (Studies in Language Companion Series)

Title page
......Page 2
Editorial page......Page 3
Title page......Page 4
Copyright page......Page 5
Table of contents......Page 8
List of Figures......Page 15
List of Tables......Page 16
About this book......Page 18
Acknowledgements......Page 20
Abbreviations......Page 22
1 INTRODUCTION......Page 24
1.1 Colonial Englishes and Canadian English......Page 27
1.2 Ontario English......Page 28
1.3 Aims of the present study......Page 29
2 CANADIAN ENGLISH: A RESEARCH HISTORY OF THE 'OTHER' VARIETY OF NORTH AMERICAN ENGLISH......Page 32
2.1 Identity, standard and variation in Canadian English......Page 34
2.1.1 Homogeneity and evolving notions of Standard CanE......Page 35
2.1.2 The 'standard' in reference works......Page 38
2.1.3 Regional Canadian Englishes......Page 40
2.2 Research on Canadian English prior to 1954......Page 44
2.3 A survey of linguistic studies on CanE......Page 46
2.3.1 Lexis......Page 47
2.3.2.1 Canadian Raising......Page 52
2.3.2.2 Canadian Shift......Page 55
2.3.2.3 Regional surveys......Page 56
2.3.2.3.1 Early linguistic atlas data......Page 57
2.3.2.3.2 British Columbia......Page 59
2.3.2.3.3 The Canadian Prairie: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba......Page 61
2.3.2.3.4 Ontario......Page 62
2.3.2.3.6 Maritimes - New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia......Page 64
2.3.2.3.7 Newfoundland (and Labrador)......Page 66
2.3.2.4 The Dialect Topography of Canada Project......Page 67
2.3.3.1 Disparate morphosyntactic variables......Page 69
2.3.3.2 Syntax and ethnic minorities of CanE......Page 72
2.3.4.1 Language attitudes......Page 73
2.3.4.2 Pragmatics 'proper'......Page 75
2.4 Summary of synchronic research on CanE......Page 76
2.5 The shortage of diachronic studies on Canadian English......Page 78
2.5.1 Apparent-time and real-time studies......Page 79
2.5.2 Diachronic studies on Ontario English......Page 81
2.5.3 Summary......Page 83
3.1 Preliminaries: settlement in waves......Page 86
3.2 The first wave: American immigration......Page 87
3.2.1 Demographic input until 1812......Page 90
3.2.1.1 American input......Page 91
3.2.1.2 German speakers......Page 92
3.2.1.4 The Irish before 1815......Page 96
3.2.1.6 Dutch settlers......Page 97
3.2.1.8 Other immigrant groups......Page 98
3.2.2 The size of the population in 1812......Page 99
3.3 The second wave......Page 101
3.3.1 Disentangling dialects: Scottish, Irish and regional English English......Page 103
3.3.1.2 Scottish immigrants: Gaelic, Scots and Scottish English......Page 106
3.3.1.3 Irish immigration......Page 111
3.3.1.5 German immigration......Page 114
3.3.2 Social stratification of second wave immigrants......Page 115
3.3.3.1 Schools and education......Page 116
3.3.3.2 Demographic developments and mobility before the railway......Page 119
3.4 Summary......Page 120
4 THE CORPUS OF EARLY ONTARIO ENGLISH, PRE-CONFEDERATION SECTION (CONTE-pC)......Page 122
4.1 External periodization......Page 123
4.2 Internal period division......Page 125
4.3.1 Geographical considerations......Page 126
4.3.2.1 Anne Powell......Page 127
4.3.2.2 Eleanora Hallen......Page 128
4.3.3 Summary......Page 129
4.4.1 Source materials: genres selected......Page 130
4.4.2 Social stratification......Page 131
4.4.4 Corpus size and sampling......Page 132
4.5.1 Local Ontario newspapers......Page 134
4.5.2 Diaries......Page 135
4.5.3 Letters: the 'letters received' at the Archives of Ontario......Page 137
4.6 Coding and text headers......Page 140
5.1 Two scenarios for the origin of CanE......Page 144
5.1.1 Bloomfield (1948)......Page 145
5.1.2 Scargill (1957) and (1985)......Page 146
5.2 Polygenetic theories of colonial Englishes......Page 150
5.2.1 Notions of swamping......Page 151
5.2.2 Dialect mixing proper......Page 153
5.2.2.1 Founder principle......Page 154
5.2.2.2 Colonial lag......Page 155
5.2.3 Dialect mixing in early Ontario......Page 157
5.3.1 Tabula rasa situations......Page 158
5.3.2 Some other models......Page 159
5.3.3 Six key processes......Page 161
5.3.4 Three stages in new-dialect formation......Page 162
5.3.4.1 Stage I: when adults accommodate......Page 163
5.3.4.2 Stage II: Children select......Page 165
5.3.4.3 Stage III: The majority principle......Page 167
5.3.4.4 Focussing......Page 168
5.3.5 Homogeneity and drift in CanE......Page 169
5.3.6 Some problems of applying new-dialect formation theory......Page 171
5.4 Summary......Page 174
6 LATE MODERN ENGLISH MODAL AUXILIARIES: METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS......Page 176
6.1.1 Formal characteristics......Page 177
6.1.2 Modality: root, deontic, dynamic, epistemic and other concepts......Page 179
6.1.3 Epistemic uses since LModE: increase, stagnation or decline?......Page 182
6.2.1 Permission, ability and possibility: CAN/COULD and MAY/MIGHT......Page 185
6.2.2 Obligation and necessity: MUST and HAVE TO......Page 186
6.2.4 SHOULD, WOULD and OUGHT TO......Page 187
6.3.1 Comparing distributions: the parallel corpora......Page 188
6.3.2 Methodological caveat I: the letter sections......Page 190
6.3.3 Methodological caveat II: how to trace historical connections......Page 191
7.1 A diachronic sketch of CAN and MAY......Page 194
7.2 Sentence types......Page 195
7.2.1 Overall development in EModE and LModE......Page 197
7.3 Semantic notions of CAN and MAY......Page 199
7.3.1 Overall figures: distribution of functions......Page 200
7.3.2 CAN in Root possibility and Permission uses......Page 202
7.3.3 CAN in 25-year periods......Page 204
7.3.4 CAN vs. MAY and the three stages of new-dialect formation......Page 206
7.3.4.1 Middle vs. Lower Class speakers......Page 207
7.3.4.2 Different levels of development and a new stage I......Page 208
7.3.4.3 CONTE-pC and Trudgill (2004)......Page 209
7.3.5 Long-term developments of epistemic and root uses......Page 210
7.3.6 Summary......Page 213
7.4 Functions of COULD and MIGHT......Page 214
7.4.1 Negative contexts......Page 218
7.4.2 Affirmative contexts......Page 219
7.4.3 COULD and MIGHT and the three stages of new-dialect formation......Page 222
7.5 COULD and MIGHT: epistemic developments......Page 223
7.6 Conclusion......Page 225
8 MUST vs. HAVE TO......Page 228
8.1.1 HAVE TO......Page 229
8.1.2 Controlling the variable contexts......Page 232
8.2 The rise of HAVE TO......Page 233
8.3.1 Development of LModE epistemic MUST......Page 240
8.3.2 Coding for epistemic necessity: LModE competition......Page 241
8.3.3 Epistemic and root uses: longterm perspective......Page 244
8.4 Three stages of new-dialect formation and the rise of HAVE TO......Page 247
8.5 Summary......Page 248
9.1 The prescriptive rule and previous research......Page 250
9.2.1 Semantic notions and the variable context......Page 253
9.2.2 Data selection......Page 255
9.2.3.1 Genre (text type)......Page 256
9.2.4 SHALL and WILL in the first person......Page 258
9.2.4.1 Diachronic development......Page 260
9.2.4.2 SIN-speakers......Page 262
9.2.4.3 Social class......Page 264
9.2.4.4 SHALL and WILL and the three stages......Page 265
9.2.5.1 Type of subject......Page 266
9.2.5.2 Voice......Page 268
9.2.5.3 The three stages......Page 269
9.2.6 Summary......Page 270
10 SHOULD, WOULD and OUGHT TO......Page 272
10.1.2 Semantic notions......Page 273
10.2 Hypothetical SHOULD and WOULD......Page 274
10.3.1 LModE diachronic development in non-hypotheticals......Page 276
10.3.2 Hypotheticals and non-hypotheticals in the three stages......Page 278
10.4.1 OUGHT TO......Page 280
10.4.2 WOULD......Page 284
10.4.3 SHOULD......Page 287
10.5 Summary......Page 289
11 CONCLUSION......Page 290
11.1 The modals in early Canadian English......Page 291
11.2 Epistemicity and late-modern CanE......Page 294
11.3 Colonial lag and the founder principle......Page 298
11.4 M. Bloomfield (1948) or Scargill (1957,1985)......Page 301
11.5 The modal auxiliaries and the three stages of new-dialect formation......Page 303
11.6 Dating Canadian English: focussing......Page 305
11.7 Further research avenues......Page 306
Appendix 1: Corpus of Early Ontario English......Page 310
Appendix 2: Ontario names......Page 311
Appendix 3.1: British Isles immigration......Page 312
Appendix 3.2: Arrivals at Quebec......Page 313
Appendix 3.4: Ontario districts......Page 314
Appendix 4: Demographic studies around 1812......Page 315
Appendix 5: Social networks in early Ontario......Page 316
Appendix 6: Semi-Modals in early CanE......Page 317
Appendix 7.1......Page 318
Appendix 7.4......Page 319
Appendix 7.6......Page 320
Appendix 7.9......Page 321
Appendix 8.1......Page 322
Appendix 8.4......Page 323
Appendix 9.2......Page 324
Appendix 10.2......Page 325
Appendix 10.4......Page 326
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 328
General Index......Page 374
The series Studies in Language Companion Series......Page 379