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Chapters from English Linguistics 2.2: Varieties of English

20.11.2019

America and Canada summary

The American part of the text explains the later population movements within the

country, other nations migrating to the land, how that shaped the dialects throughout the

continent and how English became the official language of the USA.

People who have already settled down in America began to move inside the mainland.

New England people moved west (Great Lake region); southerners chose the Golf Coast and

Texas; midlanders spread throughout the mid-western areas, across the Mississippi and

California.

In the 17th century Pennsylvania was settled by Quakers (Midlands, Northern England

origins). Distinctions between dialects were about to blend as New York (in the Atlantic area)

became the focus of settlement and people who spoke notably different types of English were

living side by side.

Irish immigration to the continent increased in the 18 th century (mainly during the

1720s) and around 50,000 Irish and Scots-Irish arrived. By 1776 (US Declaration of

Independence) one in seven of the population was Scots-Irish. They lived along the coast (e.g.

Philadelphia) but most of them wanted to own lands so they moved inland through the

mountains.

In 1790 the population was already around 4 million (the majority lived along the

Atlantic coast). After opening up the west in the 19th century over 50 million people were

counted in a census. The accent from this time is the one that is heard in the “Sunbelt” (the

area from Virginia to southern California).

The map on page 34 shows the major dialect areas in the USA. As it can be seen, the

Midland dialect is the most dominant one.

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Chapters from English Linguistics 2.2: Varieties of English
20.11.2019

Not only English-speaking nations, but the Spanish, the French, the Dutch and

Germans also emigrated to America and made a great impact on its English language. The

trading of slaves brought in Africans, which resulted in a massive increase of their population

(about 100,000 black slaves by 1775, outnumbering the whites of the south).

European events caused large-scale immigration into the United States in the 19th

century. The 1840’s potato famine in Ireland; failed revolutions of 1848 in Germany and

Italy; Jews fleeing from the pogroms of the 1880s were all reasons for the doubling of the

population.

It took only a few generations for the English language to transform among

immigrants; it became their mother-tongue through natural assimilation. The 1990 census

proved that English is spreading. At that time 86% of the population (198 million people)

used English as their first language, then 10 years later this number decreased to 82% (215

million speakers).

In the 20th century controversy was aroused in culture preservation questions by

minorities. This has led to a movement that demanded English to be the official language of

the United States.

The Canadian paragraphs point out the early relations between Canada and the English

language with the historical background; they tell about the settlers and the accents.

At the end of the 15th century John Cabot was thought to have found Newfoundland,

but migrations only began in the next century when various industries tempted people to

settle.

There had been a French claim over the lands dating from the 1520s (Jacques Cartier

explored the coast), but the wars (Queen Anne’s; French; Indian) they faced in the 18 th

century ended with a defeat.

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Chapters from English Linguistics 2.2: Varieties of English
20.11.2019

The map on page 37 introduces how English spread throughout the country in the 18 th

and 19th century.

French settlers were deported, and English-speaking settlers from the British Isles

were coming in. After the US Declaration of Independence most of the supporters of Britain

moved to Canada followed by those who were convinced by the cheap plots of land especially

in Upper Canada (the population reached 100,000 in 50 years). By 2001 two-thirds of the 31

million people professed themselves as native speakers of English.

It is still an issue for those outside of Canada to make a distinction between accents,

but Canadians do not like to be mistaken for either American or British. Additionally, what

makes Canada unique, is its sociolinguistic situation given that French is also an official

language there.

To sum up, it is an interesting thing to see how a continent and its populace can

develop, conserve and shape a language through changes in their history.