Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- 1 Canada
- Introduction
- 1 The foundations
- 2 The fading Canadian duality
- 3 Official bilingualism: from the 1960s to the 1990s
- 4 Official multiculturalism
- 5 Language in education: bridging educational policy and social psychological research
- 6 Aboriginal languages: history
- 7 Aboriginal languages: current status
- 8 French: Canadian varieties
- 9 French in Quebec
- 10 French in New Brunswick
- 11 French outside New Brunswick and Quebec
- 12 English: Canadian varieties
- 13 English Quebec
- 14 The teaching of international languages
- 15 French immersion in Canada
- 16 Language in Newfoundland
- 17 Language in Prince Edward Island
- 18 Language in Nova Scotia
- 19 Language in New Brunswick
- 20 Language in Quebec: aboriginal and heritage varieties
- 21 Language in Ontario
- 22 Language in Manitoba
- 23 Language in Saskatchewan: Anglo-hegemony maintained
- 24 Language in Alberta: unilingualism in practice
- 25 Language in British Columbia
- 26 Language in the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory
- Index of names
- Index of language families, languages, dialects
- Index of subjects
17 - Language in Prince Edward Island
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 February 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- 1 Canada
- Introduction
- 1 The foundations
- 2 The fading Canadian duality
- 3 Official bilingualism: from the 1960s to the 1990s
- 4 Official multiculturalism
- 5 Language in education: bridging educational policy and social psychological research
- 6 Aboriginal languages: history
- 7 Aboriginal languages: current status
- 8 French: Canadian varieties
- 9 French in Quebec
- 10 French in New Brunswick
- 11 French outside New Brunswick and Quebec
- 12 English: Canadian varieties
- 13 English Quebec
- 14 The teaching of international languages
- 15 French immersion in Canada
- 16 Language in Newfoundland
- 17 Language in Prince Edward Island
- 18 Language in Nova Scotia
- 19 Language in New Brunswick
- 20 Language in Quebec: aboriginal and heritage varieties
- 21 Language in Ontario
- 22 Language in Manitoba
- 23 Language in Saskatchewan: Anglo-hegemony maintained
- 24 Language in Alberta: unilingualism in practice
- 25 Language in British Columbia
- 26 Language in the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory
- Index of names
- Index of language families, languages, dialects
- Index of subjects
Summary
If Quebec leaves Canada, the province of Prince Edward Island will probably become unilingually English within a short time. This contention is based both on table 17.1 and on my conviction that Quebec's departure would spell the end of the admirable efforts in this province, by francophones and anglophones alike, to foster French. No other languages are in a position to survive at all. English is so dominant on Prince Edward Island that its state of health is not very interesting. More interesting are French and Micmac, the latter because provincial and federal government policies have brought it, the province's one aboriginal tongue, to the point of extinction. Accordingly, this chapter will be devoted to these two languages only.
FRENCH
The history of Island French could be described as a series of waves, each peak somewhat lower than the one before. To substantiate this claim in what follows, I draw upon the work of Arsenault (1989), Baldwin (1985) and King (1996). In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht gave ‘the Acadian peninsula’ of Nova Scotia to England, while France retained the rest of what would become the Maritime provinces. Shortly afterwards, the French began building the fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, to protect the approaches to their principal colony, Quebec.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Language in Canada , pp. 341 - 353Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998