
Guide to Canadian English Usage
Reissue
Oxford University Press, Canada
2nd Edition
Published on 24. March 2011
Book
Hardback
676 pages
978-0-19-544593-0 (ISBN)
Description
The complexities of the English language can be daunting for even the most fluent speakers, and for Canadians this is doubly so with the mixture of British and American traditions. Almost anyone engaged in formal writing will sometimes need to consult a usage guide for advice, but Canadians have always been forced to choose between a British or an American source. With the Guide to Canadian English Usage, writers will have an authoritative reference based on Canadian sources that provides pithy direction on numerous details of the language.
From the indefinite article to zoology, alphabetically arranged entries clarify issues of word choice, punctuation, spelling, and abbreviation. Throughout it offers guidance on Canadianisms, confusibles, difficult expressions, First Nation names, foreign phrases, grammar, inclusive language, punctuation, spelling, and troublesome pronunciations. Each entry explains the problem at hand, outlines a range of prescriptions, and then either recommends a particular usage or reviews the alternatives from which the now-informed reader can choose. All entries feature a wide range of fascinating quotations from Canadian sources.
Newly reissued in an attractive hardcover edition, the Guide to Canadian English Usage is the essential reference for any writer, editor, or speaker of English in Canada.
From the indefinite article to zoology, alphabetically arranged entries clarify issues of word choice, punctuation, spelling, and abbreviation. Throughout it offers guidance on Canadianisms, confusibles, difficult expressions, First Nation names, foreign phrases, grammar, inclusive language, punctuation, spelling, and troublesome pronunciations. Each entry explains the problem at hand, outlines a range of prescriptions, and then either recommends a particular usage or reviews the alternatives from which the now-informed reader can choose. All entries feature a wide range of fascinating quotations from Canadian sources.
Newly reissued in an attractive hardcover edition, the Guide to Canadian English Usage is the essential reference for any writer, editor, or speaker of English in Canada.
Reviews / Votes
"A most welcome ... clear ... addition to your collection of interesting, informative lexicons."--Globe and Mail
"Splendidly comprehensive, beautifully organized, lucidly written, this book seems certain to become not only the standard reference work on its subject but also an important contribution to the ongoing debates about how language is used."
--Canadian Literature
"A book to end all arguments, it should also prove invaluable to word-smiths of all stripes."
--Halifax Daily News
"A good book, well worth having."
--Books in Canada
"... the [Guide to Canadian English Usage] makes a balanced presentation of areas where controversy may arise in English usage, carving out for itself a niche which distinguishes it from a standard dictionary on the one hand and from an encyclopedia on the other. The volume will be of use to Canadian students, scholars, and writers as a reference source; to researchers and writers outside of Canada as a source of data on Canadian English usage; and to
anyone interested not just in English but in general knowledge of Canada as a source of entertainment and information to be 'snacked' on from time to time or even to be devoured cover to cover."
--Language, the journal for the Linguistic Society of America
More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
None
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 44 mm
Weight
1146 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-544593-0 (9780195445930)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Margery Fee is the former Director of the Strathy Language Unit at Queen's University. She currently teaches Canadian and post-colonial literature at the University of British Columbia.
Janice McAlpine is the former Unit Director of the Strathy Language Unit at Queen's University.
Janice McAlpine is the former Unit Director of the Strathy Language Unit at Queen's University.
Author
Professor of EnglishProfessor of English, University of British Columbia, Canada
Former Unit Director of the Strathy Language UnitFormer Unit Director of the Strathy Language Unit, Queen's University, Canada
Content
Introduction to the Second Edition ; Introduction to the First Edition ; Acknowledgements ; Notes on Format ; Usage Guide ; Appendix I Provinces and Territories ; Appendix II A Notes on Measurement ; Appendix III Aboriginal Groups Mentioned in the Guide ; Glossary ; Sources ; Works Consulted