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

The colonization of many parts of rural Manitoba got well under way in 1870. The arrival in the south of the province of numerous settlers, most of them from France, is an event of considerable importance in the history of the development of the Canadian west. Indeed, the colonization of Manitoba by French Catholics appeared to preoccupy greatly the St. Boniface diocese. Mgr. Taché remained convinced that St. Boniface ar.d St. Norbert would.cease to thrive unless linked to other cities and towns under the patronage of the church and extending to the very limits of the Saskatchewan boundary. Colonization seemed in many ways to be synonymous with Catholic evangelism, and the booklets distributed free of charge to the new settlers upon their arrival in the province did not fail to point out to them the advantages which they could obtain by settling near an established church, the symbol of Christian fraternity on the barren expanse of the uncultivated prairie.

Not long ago a Torontonian shopping in a large department store just across the border asked where he could find chesterfields. On following directions, he was somewhat dismayed to find himself at the cigar counter!

Such experiences often occur in life along the border, as any Ontarioan who has tried to buy blinds or serviettes in New York or Michigan will know. When he has been across the line for some time, however, he discovers that most of his neighbours pull down their shades before retiring and tuck in their table napkins before eating spaghetti Italian style. The visitor from Ontario who stays with American friends just south of the line learns that they turn on faucets at the kitchen sink rather than taps and hold up their pants with suspenders, not braces (trousers is “elegant diction” for most men in both countries.)

Up to the end of World War II, very little had been done to provide a systematic bibliographical documentation of Canadian linguistics in this country or abroad. Only recently has work been begun by some official and private institutions and individuals to better the situation. Canadian books and pamphlets on linguistic problems are now being listed in Canadiana by Dr. J. Lunn of the Bibliographic Service of the National Library in Ottawa, and some articles are named in the Canadian Index, by Dr. D. B. Chatwin of the Canadian Library Association in Ottawa. So far as the French Canadian linguistic publications are concerned, the quarterly, Culture, provides an excellent documentation. In 1951 a Slavic Canadian bibliography, Slavica Canadiana, was initiated by J. B. Rudnyckyj in Winnipeg. To date, however, there is still no synthesis in this field.

The findings presented here are part of a pilot study of the vocabulary of English-speaking residents of Alberta. The study was carried out in 1953 and 1954 with the aid of a number of my students who took the responsibility of getting written answers to several hundred copies of a brief questionnaire. The items in the questionnaire were of a general nature; although, since Alberta is greatly concerned with agriculture, some emphasis was placed on terms connected with the farm and with life on the farm. All informants were notified of the purpose for which the answers would be used, and they were asked to give as their answers the names of buildings and so on which they would normally use in their everyday work and talk. Sample questions follow: What command do you give to make a horse turn to the left? What do you call the buildings where pigs are kept?

L'Atlas linguistique de la Gaspésie est en chantier depuis l'été 1953. Au cours de ce premier été d'enquêtes, j'ai fait la côte nord de la péninsule, de Matane à Riviére-au-Renard, à raison d'une enquête à tous les vingt ou vingt-cinq milles. L'été dernier, j'ai enquête sur la Baie-des-Chaleurs accompagné d'un deuxième enquêteur, Monsieur Jean-Denis Gendron, professeur à l'université Laval.

Nous avons choisi la Gaspésie comme terrain d'enquête parce qu’ il s'agit d'une région formant une unité géographique relativement peu étendue bien que particulièrement intéressante pour des enquêteurs. Cet intérèt vient du fait que la population de la Gaspésie est loin d'être homogène et que la bigarrure, quant à l'origine, du stock ethnique se reflète dans la langue parlée.