（外国语言学及应用语言学专业论文）加拿大英语形成和变化的动因研究.pdf

中文摘要中文摘要 20 世纪 60年代以来， 描述语言学的发展大大推动了对英语语言变体的研究。 美国英语、澳大利亚英语、新加坡英语、香港英语等英语的语言地方变体都受到 了语言学家的普遍关注。加拿大英语，通常称之为“马赛克英语”或“鸡尾酒英 语” ，其作为一种独立的语言地方变体的地位却一直备受争议。因此，对加拿大 英语的研究大多局限于其语言特色方面。然而，加拿大英语作为一种后殖民主义 的产物，并受到了加拿大独特的历史、文化的影响，其形成及演变过程是非常值 得研究和关注的。 本研究将从社会语言学的角度，结合加拿大特定的历史、文化及社会背景， 以描述语言学和历史语言学的研究方法， 揭示加拿大英语的语言特色及其形成和 变化和动因。由于加拿大英语经常被认为是英国英语和美国英语的杂交，研究将 着重于比较加拿大英语和后两者之间的异同，并寻找导致其变化的因素。加拿大 英语中的其他语言成分及其变化发展的原因也将在研究中一一涉及。 经过对大量 的二手资料的比较和分析，研究表明，引起加拿大英语发展的主要因素包括：殖 民历史、政治背景、经济发展、文化传播、地理位置、自然环境、移民、教育和 民族主义。同时必须指出，以上各因素，均在不同程度上，在加拿大英语发展过 程中互相交织、互相影响。 作为基于二手资料的定性研究，本研究的结果难免具有局限性，有待于以后 的相关研究来检验、证实。但是，通过本研究，希望能够进一步丰富对英语语言 变体的研究，并为今后的定量研究提供依据。 关键字：关键字： 加拿大英语加拿大英语 因素因素 形成形成 变化变化 ， abstract since 1960s, the development of descriptive linguistics has dramatically pushed forward the research in english varieties. american english, australian english, singaporean english, hongkong english and other regional varieties of the english language have drawn continuous attention from linguists. canadian english, commonly called “mosaic english” or “cocktail english”, is however an under-described variety for the debate on its status as an independent english variety. therefore, the study on canadian english has been focused mainly on its linguistic features. however, as an outcome of post-colonialism, canadian english has received its particular historical and cultural influences in its development as a new english variety. it should deserve greater attention and study. this study intends to discover the driving forces in the shaping of canadian english in the historical, cultural and social context. the research is conducted in the descriptive and historical approach from the perspective of sociolinguistics. as canadian english is often regarded as a hybrid of british english and american english, the study will focus on the comparison between canadian english and the latter two english varieties, and try to find out the contributing factors in the development of canadian english. the elements of other languages in canadian english and their adoption will also be dealt with in the study. through comparison and analysis of the mass second hand materials, the study finds out that the factors which lead to the development of canadian english include: colonization, political kinship, economic motive, migration, education, mass media, geographic location, natural environment and nationalism, all of which are interwoven and interactive to some degree. as the present study is a qualitative study based mainly on second-hand sources, more studies based on first-hand sources would be necessary to validate the findings and conclusions drawn from this paper. i hope this study helps to contribute to the enrichment of study on language change and language development, and could be taken as a basis for further studies on this topic in the future. key words: canadian english factor shaping change 上海交通大学上海交通大学 学位论文原创性声明学位论文原创性声明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师的指导下， 独立进行研究工作所取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本 论文不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的作品成果。 对本 文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。 本人完全意识到本声明的法律结果由本人承担。 学位论文作者签名：姚英华 日期： 2005 年 12 月 10 日 上海交通大学上海交通大学 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定， 同意学校保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版， 允许论文被查阅和借阅。 本人授权上海交通大学可以将本学位论文的 全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫 描等复制手段保存和汇编本学位论文。 保密保密，在 年解密后适用本授权书。 本学位论文属于 不保密 不保密。 （请在以上方框内打“” ） 学位论文作者签名： 指导教师签名： 姚英华 俞理明 日期：2005 年 12 月 10 日 日期：2005 年 12 月 10 日 acknowledgements first and foremost i owe a special debt of gratitude to my supervisor prof. yu liming for his great patience and illuminating suggestions. moreover, prof. yus painstaking efforts in proofreading and revising the manuscript have contributed immensely to the completion of the present thesis. i should say without his immeasurable patience as well as ever-encouraging remarks, i would not be so confident as to rise to the challenges encountered during the course of writing the paper. i would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to dr. elizabeth yoeman from memorial university and mr. cao yongheng, who have given me great support and help in collecting the materials relevant to this paper. special appreciation should also be given to the teachers and students who shared their ideas with me during the course of my writing. lastly, i would like to express my profound love and appreciation for my father and mother for supporting, encouraging, and caring for me through the years. 1 chapter i introduction 1.1 background information the english language today is spoken by several hundred million people in five continents. it functions in different kinds of societies as a mother tongue, a second language, a vehicle of officialdom, a medium of education, and as a language for science, business, and commerce. it is also used widely as a lingua franca - a language used among people who have no other tongue in common - and in some areas it has provided a base for pidgins and creoles. it is spoken by people who also use two or three or even more languages in their daily lives, and it has come to symbolize many different and often sensitive issues and institutions in different areas: education, literacy, social mobility, economic advancement, christianity, and colonial dominance. most of us tend to associate english with british nationality, but when we look at english (or rather “englishes”) across the world today we find that it varies enormously in accordance with its wide range of functions, and with the languages it has made contact. so great is the variation in english that it is often difficult to say whether a certain variety in one place or another should be called english or not. but the demarcation of languages is a perennial problem in linguistics because there is no sure way of determining, on purely linguistic grounds, where one language ends and another begins. in reality there are only linguistic continua: different varieties of english shade off into each other, as english shades off into other languages. it is up to us, human beings, to decide where to draw the lines; and the chances are that our choices might be governed by linguistic, social and political considerations. one way to do so is by distinguishing different english varieties according to the region where it is used, and the simplest way might be to distinguish english varieties according to the nation where it is used. 2 canadian english, though spoken in such vast territory, is an under-described variety of english. in popular dialectological literature it is often given little acknowledgement as a distinct and homogeneous variety. in fact, lilles (2000) goes so far as to claim that there is no such thing as distinct canadian english, and argues that the notion of canadian english is a myth, fabricated to reinforce a fragile canadian identity. as evidence, he cites the lack of phonological and orthographic standardization for canadian english, and the paucity of distinct canadian vocabulary. sutherland (2000) quickly rebuts this claim by pointing out that canadian english is more than a “network of regionalisms”, and that a variety can be distinct by more than its vocabulary. also, orthographic standards tell us little about what makes a spoken variety unique. other research suggests that the few unique traits of canadian english are disappearing in favour of american forms. clarke (1993) and chambers (1998) have pointed to the loss of certain lexical items, like chesterfield and serviette, and the loss of certain phonological traits, like voiceless h of wh, like in which and /yu/ in news and student. however, the status of canadian english is always under dispute. though systematic research has been conducted on canadian english as a new variety of english in the last several decades, it is commonly acknowledged that few conclusions have been reached in terms of how canadian english has taken shape except for the few studies on the linguistic features of canadian english. in this sense, canadian english still remains a largely unexplored area. 1.2 purpose of the study study on english varieties became prosperous in the 60s of the last century when linguists began to steer to the descriptive approach from the prescriptive one. in this thesis i would like to study canadian english in the social context with a combination of a descriptive and a diachronic approach. by presenting the linguistic features of canadian english and comparing them with other varieties of english, i intend to uncover the driving forces in the shaping of canadian english. because of the remarkable regionalism in canadian english, i would like to make it clear in the first 3 place that the subject of this thesis, canadian english, is used in a narrower sense, by which i refer to the english spoken in english canada, instead of in linguistically mixed areas such as newfoundland or quebec, or any other varieties of english spoken in the immigrant circles. then, after a detailed analysis of the distinctive features of canadian english and its formation and change, i hope i could arrive at some new understandings on this topic. in addition, i expect the results of this specific qualitative research on canadian english could enrich the study of english varieties and provide some data or basis for the study on language change in general. 1.3 methodology as the main purpose of this thesis is to find out historical, social, cultural or any other contributing factors, which lead to the progress and change in canadian english, a diachronic approach will be applied in this study. diachronic investigation seeks to describe and systematize observed linguistic changes. on one hand, we can investigate the development of diverse features of individual languages during a given period of time, either in the light of historical documents or through the comparison across languages, based on genetic or dialectical linguistics. yet, on the other hand, one can search for parallels in contemporary languages and make inferences about the genetic relations between languages or their contacts during different periods (trask, 2000). circumstances do not allow me to conduct a survey in canada to obtain first- hand information; therefore this qualitative study is mostly based on second-hand statistical data and information. in addition, my study is on the whole undertaken from a macro point of view with some micro linguistic features of canadian english examined. 1.4 organization of the thesis the whole paper can be divided into four chapters. the first chapter introduces the background information of the research, which is intended to acquaint the reader 4 with this largely unexplored area, say, canadian english, and also the purpose and method of this research. the second and third chapter constitute the literature review. the second chapter is aimed at providing the historical development of study in english varieties and the significance of this kind of research while the third chapter tries to review the factors, as suggested by previous linguists, that may bring about the changes in language. at the end of the third chapter, i will state more clearly the research questions of this thesis. in the following chapter, the linguistic features of canadian english and their possible causes will be discussed in detail. this chapter is the main body of the thesis. here i will first define canadian english by summarizing definitions proposed by previous linguists. then i will give the reasons why canadian english takes on the present flavor by citing historical materials. since canadian english is a mixture of british and american english, i will focus on the comparison between canadian english and the other two varieties, and analyze why canadian english is british in some areas while american in others. in the concluding chapter, the research findings will be summarized and discussed. what is more, a new classification of the contributing factors of language change will be proposed after that. delimitations of this study and implications for future study will also be proposed. 5 chapter ii study on varieties of english the study of different varieties of english did not begin to prosper until the age of descriptive linguistics. even several decades ago, british english with rp (received pronunciation) was the most esteemed english form around the world, however, american english has become the order of the day. as a specific example, rp was the only pronunciation adopted in college entrance examination in china in the early 1990s, but today british and american pronunciation are given the equal weight in that kind of examination. in the linguistic area, other varieties of english, such as irish english, singaporean english, african english, have received increasing attention by linguists and are examined in the descriptive approach. thus, we cannot help asking, how and why linguistic prescription moved toward linguistic description? 2.1 from linguistic prescription to linguistic description languages, especially standard languages or official languages used in courts of law, for administration of government, and for the promulgation of official works, tend to acquire norms and standards over time. once english became the language of administration of law in england, a form of late middle english called chancery english became such a standard. when william caxton introduced printing with movable type into england, the norms of his grammar and spelling were taken largely from chancery english (). however, the “correctness” of english grammar was not a major subject of formal study until the eighteenth century. poet john dryden remarked that the grammar in use in his day (the second half of 1600s) was an improvement on the usage of william shakespeare. dryden was himself the first to promulgate the rule that a sentence must not end with a preposition, a rule taken from latin grammar. 6 samuel johnsons 1755 dictionary contributed to the standardization of english spelling. more influentially, the first of a long line of prescriptive usage commentators, robert lowth, published a short introduction to english grammar in 1762. lowths grammar is the source of many of the prescriptive shibboleths that are studied in schools. lowths method included the criticism of “false syntax”; his examples of false syntax were culled from shakespeare, the king james bible, john donne, john milton, jonathan swift, alexander pope, and other famous writers. his approach was based largely on latin grammar, and a number of his judgments were arrived at by applying latin grammar to english. within a decade of the appearance of lowths grammar, its various versions were adapted for schools, and lowth stylistic opinions acquired the force of law in the classroom (www. ). during the 19th century, with the rise of popular journalism, the common usage of a tightly-knit educated and governing class was extended to a more widely literate public than before or since, through the usage of editors of newspapers and magazines. therefore, there began to be a broader market for usage guides. in general, these attempted to elucidate the distinctions between different words and constructions, promoting some and condemning others as unclear, dclass, or simply wrong. perhaps the most well-known and historically important text of this sort was henry watson fowlers much-praised dictionary of modern english usage. originally published in 1926, it was extensively revised for the 1996 third edition, and remains a primary reference for many educated speakers and editors. besides fowler, other writers in this tradition include the 19th-century poet and editor william cullen bryant, and, in the 20th century, theodore bernstein and william safire. () in the second half of the 20th century, the prescriptive tradition of usage fell under increasing criticism, and prescriptive linguistics met with huge obstacles. like all theoretical sciences, prescriptive linguistics aims to make as explicit as possible its axioms and procedures, so that its hypotheses and theories can be adequately tested. the explicitness required demands a measure of formalism, which makes linguistic 7 publications daunting to the uninitiated and difficult for the layman to gain access to, because of too much mathematics and symbolic logic involved. this is one of the drawbacks proposed by jackson (1980). in addition, linguistic prescription is commonly considered to be dogmatic in lack of real and living evidence, and narrow- minded to ignore the diversity of language. in the 60s of the 20th century, with the rise of generative grammar, “descriptive” began to be used in a third contrast pair, i.e. in contrast to generative, explanatory, or formal, the characterizing attributes of the chomskys theory of language. according to jackson (1980: 1), the descriptive approach “starts with a language as it is spoken and written, with the data of actually occurring utterances and sentences, and seeks to analyze, catalogue and describe that data and that language.” the label descriptive was first applied primarily to the work of bloomfield and his followers, but the term was then later also extended to cover any non-historical, non-prescriptive work outside the generative paradigm. this includes the work on american indian languages as well as other exotic languages in the tradition of boas and sapir, as well as the monumental grammars of european languages such as jespersens multi- volume modern english grammar on historical principles (1909-49) (). by way of this extension, the term descriptive has come to be associated with the concept of a generally informal statement of the “facts” of a given language. as in most academic disci