English in Quebec, Canada: A Minority Language in Contact with French

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
English in Quebec, Canada: A Minority Language in Contact with French
Abstract
The variety of English spoken by about half a million people in Quebec is a minority language in intensive contact with French, the local majority language. The author points out that this unusual contact situation has produced a unique variety of English which displays many instances of French influence that distinguish it from other types of Canadian or world English. The most obvious instances involve the adoption of French words or senses of words, though influence at other levels of linguistic structure can also be observed. The author discusses the historical background of the contact situation and how this motivates hypotheses about its linguistic effects. He then presents both anecdotal and quantitative survey data that demonstrate empirically the distinctive character of Quebec English. The author concludes by categorizing the individual examples considered into a typology of five distinct patterns of influence arising from language contact.
Publication
World Englishes
Volume
Vol. 31
Issue
no. 4
Pages
493-502
Date
2012
Language
en
URL
Citation
Boberg, Charles. “English in Quebec, Canada: A Minority Language in Contact with French.” World Englishes Vol. 31, no. 4 (2012): 493–502. http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/34215313/Boberg_2012_WE_paper_on_QE.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA&Expires=1480106908&Signature=NnfDmOmAYtSrlMrWvzLhVCXJ%2FOE%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DBoberg_2012_WE_pap.
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