Canadian English survey finds more American forms but stronger Canadian spelling
A comparison with a 1972 survey finds changes in vocabulary and pronunciation alongside greater use of spellings such as ‘colour’ and ‘centre’. The results come from questionnaire responses, not recordings of everyday speech.
McGill University reported on 27 October that a new survey of Canadian English found greater use of some American words and pronunciations across Canada than in a comparable 1972 study, while Canadian spellings gained ground. The findings matter because they show that changes in one part of the language need not move in the same direction as changes in another.
The study, by Charles Boberg, Claire Henderson and Jackson Mundie, was published online in the Canadian Journal of Linguistics in June. Its authors describe an overall gradual shift away from British forms toward American ones, and away from distinctively Canadian forms toward forms associated with either or both varieties.
Which Canadian English words and spellings changed?
Henderson gave ‘napkin’ in place of ‘serviette’ as one example of an American form becoming more popular. Another was pronouncing ‘lever’ to rhyme with ‘never’ rather than ‘beaver’, she said in the McGill report carried by Phys.org.
Spelling moved differently. Henderson said spellings such as ‘colour’ and ‘centre’ had become more popular. The published study describes spelling as an exception to its general pattern and says nearly two thirds of respondents in the new survey chose British-style spellings.
How the survey compares with 1972
Researchers collected about 14,000 responses across Canada in 2023 and 2024. The questionnaire had 85 questions about vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation and grammar. McGill says the original survey collected more than 14,000 responses from Grade 9 students and their parents, who answered 104 questions in 1972. Those differences in participants and questions matter when comparing the two snapshots.
The newer questionnaire was distributed through community groups, libraries, museums, retirement homes, university departments, social media and news outlets, according to McGill’s account. The responses provide a large basis for comparing answers by region and age, but they should not be read as a population count of how every Canadian speaks.
The authors also identify a limit of written self-report: conventional spelling can conceal differences in pronunciation. The results therefore describe the forms respondents selected, rather than directly recording their everyday speech.
What comes next for the survey
McGill says later publications are expected to examine age and regional differences in more detail, including how people’s language changes after moving between regions. Its report says regional variations appear to be declining, but does not quantify that change in the account released on 27 October.
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Sources and context
- A new survey of Canadian English shows what has changed in 50 yearsMcGill University, as provided to Phys.org
- A New Survey of Canadian English: Fifty Years of Language ChangeCambridge University Press
- New Survey of Canadian EnglishMcGill University
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.