Canadians are often identified (or ridiculed) by the rest of the world for our dialect. And the second edition of the dictionary of Canadianisms is trying to define what makes up the Canadian language.
First published in 1967 to coincide with Canada’s centennial, the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles was compiled by a group of lexicographers, anthropologists and teachers.
A second edition was never planned after the sudden death of the first edition’s editor-in-chief Walter Avis. But in 2006, University of British Columbia professor Stefan Dollinger took on the task, and the result was the DCHP-2.
Over a decade, the team of professors and students at UBC defined 1,002 words that they believe have distinctly Canadian meanings and usage — just in time for Canada’s 150th birthday. The terms include the ubiquitous “eh” (which never made it into the original edition because it wasn’t considered a Canadianism then).
“It used to be that Canadian English was just seen as something that sat between British English and American English and didn’t have any real meaning, but we’ve become more enlightened,” said associate editor Margery Fee, noting that other varieties of English, such as from New Zealand or South Africa, are all viewed as equal.
But what distinguishes Canadian English is a combination of unique lexicographical features (words) and sound system (pronunciation).
“We call it Canadian ‘raising’. For example, we make a different ‘i’ sound in ‘knife’ and ‘knives.’ It’s a different sound from a general American who would not make that same sound,” Fee said.
Many Canadians may not even know that some terms are unique to Canucks. “Pencil crayons” are more commonly known as “coloured pencils” elsewhere, and “running shoes” are usually referred to as “sneakers” internationally, said Fee.
And then there are some distinct regional terms that might not resonate with the rest of Canada. “Sobey’s bag,” for example, is what Maritimers call a plastic grocery bag (referring to the Sobey’s chain of grocery stores). Folks from Saskatchewan call hooded sweaters (or “hoodies”) “bunny hugs.”
But “eh” is a national term, used by non-Canadians to signify the Canadian-ness of “hosers” and used generously by Canadians who likely aren’t even aware that they’re tacking it onto the end of their sentences. Fee calls the term “culturally significant.”
“It’s been a feature for lots of linguists who think, ‘Well, is this really a Canadianism?’ for quite a long time.”
“’Eh’ is of British origin and so it’s used in lots of different countries around the world — but at one point it was decided that somehow Canadians used it differently than Americans,” said Fee, noting the popular SCTV sketch “Great White North” likely solidified the term as a Canadianism.
The task of defining the particle was daunting for the UBC team.
“We kind of left [defining ‘eh’] to the end — which is not very smart, but we did all the low-hanging fruit first,” admitted Fee, adding it took a huge effort by many people to come to the 4,734-word definition for the two-letter term.
Other culturally significant terms in the new edition of the dictionary include the “Gretzky Effect” and “double-double”.
The DCHP-2 editorial team knows that there are plenty of terms they may have missed or which could use some tweaking and are inviting the public to contact them with input. That said, updating the dictionary will be dependent on whether the team receives future funding, Fee said.
For now, the team at UBC is pleased to offer the second edition of the dictionary as a sesquicentennial gift to Canada.
“I think it’s a pretty good present,” Fee said.