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Linguistic Geography in Canada: An Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2017

Raven I. McDavid Jr.
Raven I. McDavid Jr.*
Affiliation:
Western Reserve University
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Extract

In linguistics as in any other field of learning, a scholar may concentrate on the particular aspect of study that most appeals to his temperament. One may choose to analyse and classify the structural phenomena which are found in all varieties of human speech; another may seek to determine the relationships which exist between languages known to be or suspected of being related; a third may follow the history of one particular language, tracing its development from the earliest records to the present; a fourth may concern himself with the many differences which exist contemporaneously among the speakers of one language. The different varieties of speech to be found in any language are called dialects, and the person who studies them is called a linguistic geographer

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , October 1954 , pp. 3 - 8
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association. 1954

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References

Notes

1 For a summary of dialect investigations till 1950 see Sever Pop. La Dialectologie (Louvain 1950).

2 Without denying the merits of Wright's English Dialect Dictionary and English Dialect Grammar, it must be said that these studies do not follow a consistent method of assembling comparable data. It should be pointed out that a systematic survey of English dialects under the direction of Professor Harold Orton (Leeds) and Eugen Dieth (Zurich) is now under way. Moreover, the Scottish dialects are at present being investigated by Professor Angus MacIntosh of the University of Edinburgh. When these two atlases are published, many questions concerning British - North American relationships may be answered.

3 See, for example, Walter S. Avis. “The Past Principle Drank: Standard American English; “American Speech,” XXVIII (May, 1953), 106-11, Sumner Ives, “Pronunciation of Can't in the Eastern States.” Ibid. (Oct., 1953), 149-57; Raven I. McDavid, Jr., and Virginia Glenn McDavid: “h Before Semi-Vowels in the Eastern United States,” Language, 28 (1952), 41-62.

4 For a detailed, up-to-date account of Atlas progress see the Annual Report in The Publications of the American Dialect Society, 21 (April, 1954).

5 For statements made during the actual field work see Henry Alexander. “Linguistic Geography.” Queen's Quarterly. XLVII (1940).

6 See J. P. Vlnay, “Problemes et Méthodes de la Linguistique.” L'Action Universitaire (Univ. of Montreal, Oct, 1948), 4-25.

I have made these comments with the knowledge that the Universities of Montreal (Professor Vinay) and Laval (Professor Dulong) have begun a survey of Canadian French, but without detailed knowledge of plans and progress. I understand that Professor Sanders of Waterloo College is engaged in a study of French, and I know that for a number of years Professor Ernest Haden, now of the University of Texas, has been working on a speech atlas for French Canada.

7 There is a very active group of Slavic linguists in Canada headed by Dr. J. B. Rudnyckyj of the University of Manitoba. For their plans and activities in linguistic geography see J. B. Rudnyckyj, “Slavic Linguistic Atlas of Canada and U.S.A.,” Orbis, I (1952). 109-12.