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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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ideolect
As a linguistic term, ideolect has a neutral connotation.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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The trick is to put it where you would use the US huh, "New hummer, huh?" In the part of the US I am from, "huh" is mostly used as a marker of confusion or not understanding: "Huh?", or, in an interestingly ironic twist, to indicate understanding, maybe mixed with a little "if you say so" skepticism, generally after an explanation: "Huh." Around here, most people would actually use the /ay/ sound on your example: "New Hummer, aay?", but it is not the same phoneme as the Canadian. It is a bit harder and longer. I would venture to say that it probably dripped south from Canada, being as close as we are. It is sometimes accompanied by an elbow nudge (or movement). I always thought of the Canadian /ay/ as used in looking for confirmation or rolling a question to another person, as in "I don't, eh?", meaning "I don't know, do you?". My mother was Canadian (making me 1/2, ha ha), but she didn't use "eh" much at all. She probably dropped before I was born, having moved here when she got married, but she was also a teacher, and perhaps scrubbed it from her speech for that reason. :0)
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Carpal Tunnel
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This thread led me to a bit of googling, which, in turn, informed me that there's a project afoot to update the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (1967). The project is being lead by an Austrian academic ( link)
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Maybe "right" would have been a better US translation, at least in some states. Apparently if I was writing US''n dialogue i would get that wrong too.
English speaking Canadians do tend to be more active in listening; nodding, murmuring or saying confirmations (this is not considered interrupting) and the speaker's eh invites that. It is also used to turn a statement into a question rather than changing the word order or merely added onto the end of a question or sentence for emphasis. Or it may merely be a verbal tic, more common in the east as I said.
"I don't know, eh?" would usually mean "Really, I don't know." This is a good example of foreign written dialogue.
What part of the true north is your Mom from?
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My mom was a native Torontonian. My grandmother lived there on her own, and came down to visit, as we would go up to visit. I have very fond memories of Toronto, and a couple of years ago took my son up in the CN tower, which he was thrilled with. We used to hit Canada once a year or so, if only Niagara Falls, but now you are supposed to have passports and such, and it's more hassle. Bummer!
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Carpal Tunnel
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I see what you mean about the eh inviting an "I'm listening/understanding what you mean" response. I do know that it's uncomfortable when you're talking with somebody and you get no reponse. You feel the need to say "do you know what I mean" when getting no reactions.
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ideolect
As a linguistic term, ideolect has a neutral connotation. Did I say it didn't? Sorry if I gave the impression that it was somehow pejorative. It is just the individual version of 'dialect.'
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The trick is to put it where you would use the US huh, "New hummer, huh?" In the part of the US I am from, "huh" is mostly used as a marker of confusion or not understanding: "Huh?", or, in an interestingly ironic twist, to indicate understanding, maybe mixed with a little "if you say so" skepticism, generally after an explanation: "Huh." Maybe "right" would have been a better US translation, at least in some states. Apparently if I was writing US''n dialogue i would get that wrong too. I have an American friend from Ohio via California who uses "huh" in both ways, sometimes like "eh?" on the end of a sentence, as in "It's a nice day, huh?" and sometimes as a marker indicating that he is following what you're saying, where he will nod his head and say "huh" or less frequently "uh-huh." Whether this reflects an Ohian or Californian dialect or is just Phil's ideolect I have no idea.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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As far as I am aware, the Canadian eh has no relationship to Fonzie's ideolect.
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As far as I am aware, the Canadian eh has no relationship to Fonzie's ideolect. Hmm. How would you spell the Fonz' 'eh'? It's a lot longer than just 'eh.' But 'eeeehhhh' sounds too much like a girl's scream. Perhaps 'aaaayyyy'?
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