Oak Bay resident Stefan Dollinger always loved languages. He spent hours and hours in the depths of the Vienna University Library, studying the origins of modern language, and more specifically, English.
In early 2000s though, the Austrian-born Canadian lexicographer and University of British Columbia English department professor stumbled on what seemed to be a bible B次元官网网址� or more so a linguistic map B次元官网网址� of the Canadian language: the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (DCHP) circa 1967.
B次元官网网址淟ots of people who are in languages and literature, they donB次元官网网址檛 really know about it yet,B次元官网网址� said Dollinger, adding that as it happened, he was also writing his PhD dissertation on early Ontario English, (ironically not on lexicons). It wasnB次元官网网址檛 until a 2005 conference in Toronto when the idea of someone revising DCHP surfaced.
Dollinger eagerly stepped in, and Nelson, DCHPB次元官网网址檚 original publisher, approached him for what would take nearly a decade, $300,000 and 43 talented students to create what is now . And, unlike online sources telling the origins of Canadianisms, Dollinger and his teamB次元官网网址檚 approach is meticulously processed.
B次元官网网址淭here are lots of lists online that talks about Canadianisms, Canadian words and meanings, but theyB次元官网网址檙e not very goodB次元官网网址� this has been a scientific approach towards geographical variation in English,B次元官网网址� he said.
They didnB次元官网网址檛 just look at Canadian sources, either, but at American and British, New Zealand and Australian language pools for reference. Dollinger added 1,002 new head words and roughly 1,300 new meanings, with a total of around 11,000 head words and 14,500 meanings.
The first B次元官网网址�67 edition of DCHP was also digitized for easier access.
DCHP is not necessarily for immigrants and newcomers either, but a lingual source rich with history.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 mostly for Canadians who really need authoritative information about what it is that makes their English special,B次元官网网址� Dollinger said.
B次元官网网址淲e did a tenth of what the original team did, but when you look at the new entries, they are 10 times as long as the old ones.B次元官网网址�
There are some revealing, if not startling, entries. For example, the term originates from the Hawaiian kanaka B次元官网网址榤anB次元官网网址� and was used in discriminatory and racist contexts, as well as describing a French-Canadian individual. Canuck took a lighter meaning in 1945, when a Vancouver hockey team, the , was formed, and remains today as the most frequent use of the word.
Still, the reality is that language, and indeed Canadian English, is constantly evolving.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 just a logical development of linguistics and the way people speak,B次元官网网址� Dollinger said, adding each community develops its own linguistic features and cultures.
B次元官网网址淚n the old European context, the longer a particular area has been there, the more diverse it is in terms of dialect. In the last two or three centuries, that has been counterbalanced by the influence of standard languages.B次元官网网址�
The project doesnB次元官网网址檛 stop here, either. Dollinger is planning on a possible DCHP-3, and mulling to maybe fundraise a print edition of DCHP-2 as in its current form, itB次元官网网址檚 only available (albeit free) on the web.
This year, he will work with University of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 archives of the first-edition of the English dictionary to compile a book on the making of Canadian English.
