Canadian English

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 811.

The roots of Canadian English can be found in the events which followed the American Revolution Of 1776. Those who had supported Britain found themselves unable to stay in the new United States, and most went into exile in the Ontario region of Canada. From there they spread to all parts of the country. They were soon followed by many thousands who were attracted by the cheapness of land. Within fifty years, the population of Upper Canada (above Montreal) had reached 100,000 - mainly people from the United States.

In the east, the Atlantic Provinces had been settled with English speakers much earlier (the first contacts were as early as 1497), but even today these areas contain less than 10 per cent of the population. In Quebec ([k(w)ɪ'bek]), the use of French language and culture remains from the first period of exploration, with the majority of people using French as a mother-tongue: here, English and French coexist uneasily.

Because of its origins, Canadian English has a great deal in common with the rest of the English spoken in North America - and is often difficult to distinguish for people who live outside the region. To British people, Canadians may sound American; to Americans, they may sound British. Canadians themselves insist on not being identified with either, and certainly there is a great deal of evidence in support of this view.

Exercise 15.Read the following words, phrases and sentences properly and quickly. Pronounce correctly and distinctly sound [ 3: ].

1. Burt is the last person to want to hurt her. 2. Is Earny going to learn thirty-three new words. 3. Which urgent work do you want her to finish first? 4. I'll return the journals when I arrive on Thursday. 5. The first and the third verses were the most difficult to learn. 6. Certainly, Sir! 7. Percy'll certainly prefer to start. 8. What a hurly-burly girl Urse is! 9. My girl has a bird and a dirty furcoat. 10. The girl will be thirteen next birthday. 11. Worms will certainly turn. 12. Repeat the verse – word by word. 13. The work will serve no purpose.

Type 4 – a vowel + re

According to this type of reading we read the English vowels like this:

a [ eə ]hare u [ juə ]pure

e [ iə ]here

o [ ɔ: ]more i (y) [ aiə ]fire , myre

Note:Letter ‘r' is pronounced if it is followed by a different vowel, for example ‘i' or ‘y', as in purity ['pjuərətɪ].

Exercise 16.Read the words.

a [ eə ]hare, mare, clare, rare, rarely, bare, care, scared;

e [ iə ]here, mere, sere, pere;

o [ ɔ: ]more, core, store, lore, core, score;

u [ juə ]cure, pure, endure, during, fury;

i (y) [ aiə ]fire, mire, wire, tired, empire, pyre, lyre.

Exercise 17.Read and transcribe the words.

Mere, wire, declare, bore, pure, scare, here, tire, glare, bure, myre, lore, stare, shire, cared, empire, score, Blare, desire, prepare, ignore.

Exercise 18.Read the words and divide them into 4 columns depending on the type of reading.

He, grim, happy, pony, sack, darn, got, lard, pond, mule, rudder, sink, mill, fuss, cure, party, close, made, bud, pep, plate, send, skirt, far, pure, fume, term, store, pane, hobby, tyre, more, fun, care, sand, lere, lack, arm, hate, six, rest, game, corn, turn, myth, star, bank, mire, pert, mare, here.

Exercise 19.Read the words and underline those with the indicated sounds.

[ aiə ] hare, green, wire, hope, pure, bare, strawberry, fired, attempt, tired.

[ juə ] during, wife, tyre, race, lust, fair, mire, jog, cure, plugs, purity.

[ eə ] hare, lost, bare, watch, umbrella, rare, here, depend, fox, nightmare.

[ ɔ: ] pure, core, flower, scare, blood, store, heat, more, crop.

[ iə ] mare, blues, alarm, pere, pure, garbage, merely, fire, best.