Northern Ontario English
Encyclopedia
Northern Ontario
English has several distinct qualities from West/Central Canadian English
. With a francophone population of nearly 100,000, there are several French and English words that are used interchangeably. For example, Northern Ontario Francophones often use the English
'truck' instead of the French
'camion', e.g. "J'ai achete' un nouveau truck."
Southern Ontarians often refer to a cottage
as such, while Northern Ontarians would refer to it as a 'camp'. Similarly, Northern Ontarians often refer to backpacks as pack sacks. Northerns often make the grammatical error of saying "I seen", where the standard English is "I saw" or "I have seen", e.g. "I seen him go to the shop."
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
English has several distinct qualities from West/Central Canadian English
West/Central Canadian English
The West–Central Canadian English dialect is one of the largest and most homogeneous dialect areas in North America, ranging from Ontario, through the Prairie Provinces to British Columbia. It forms a dialect continuum with the accent in the Western United States, and borders the Canadian North,...
. With a francophone population of nearly 100,000, there are several French and English words that are used interchangeably. For example, Northern Ontario Francophones often use the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
'truck' instead of the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
'camion', e.g. "J'ai achete' un nouveau truck."
Southern Ontarians often refer to a cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
as such, while Northern Ontarians would refer to it as a 'camp'. Similarly, Northern Ontarians often refer to backpacks as pack sacks. Northerns often make the grammatical error of saying "I seen", where the standard English is "I saw" or "I have seen", e.g. "I seen him go to the shop."