Why canadians say eh

A survey on Canadian contemporary uses of eh shed light on the debate. Linguist Elaine Gold questioned students in her Introduction to Linguistics course at the University of Toronto about their use of and attitude toward 10 different constructions of eh.

Of the respondents, 35 were males and 74 were females — all were 30 years of age or younger. While some linguists agree that eh is a marker of Canadian speech, they disagree over what type of eh is uniquely Canadian. Dictionaries cite one of two main uses: eh as a question tag; or, the narrative eh. Both individually and collectively, the dictionaries listed above do not come close to citing the many nuances of eh.

This guy is up on the 27th floor, eh? For each of the 10 categories, the survey asks respondents if they have heard that particular type of use, whether they use it themselves and whether their attitude to the usage is positive, neutral or negative. Most of the respondents have heard people use the 10 different types of eh , with recognition rates ranging from 50 to per cent.

The narrative eh also receives the highest negative response. Despite the reported aversion toward the narrative eh , lexicographers equate the narrative eh with Canada.

Walter Avis was unable to find examples of the narrative eh in literature from any other country besides Canada, which suggests that this type of eh is peculiar to Canada. This divisive attitude towards the narrative eh captures the larger attitude towards eh as a unique Canadianism: Canadians do not identify as users of the narrative eh but it is internationally recognized as a symbol of Canada and a lingual marker of Canadian identity.

Popular culture, for instance, equates the narrative eh with Canadians. Literature and film often use eh as a deliberate stereotype: the film Canadian Bacon satirizes American stereotypes of Canada by portraying a friendly Mountie who uses the narrative eh. Whether Canadians use eh or not, people identify it as a marker of Canadian English. Within Canada, eh is popular from coast to coast.

Business Visionaries. Hot Property. Times Events. Times Store. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options. By David M. Surprised, eh? More From the Los Angeles Times. Politics GOP Sen. Dyspepsy, eh! Britain, the U. I got in my truck, eh, to go to Tim Hortons, eh, for a double-double. The connection became cemented in the s. There was a difference, though: Within the Great White North, Denis says, the McKenzie brothers mirrored a certain kind of Canajun, the doofuses from up the road.