Canadian English
Fortunately, evidence can be found indicating that bridges are being made, through various media forms, to educate the public and disseminate knowledge on features of Canadian English. The best example of this bridging effort is from a 2018 article from the10and3.com entitled ‘This is How Canada Talks’ by Zack Gallinger and Arik Motskin. The article summarizes the results of a questionnaire survey, conducted by the authors in consultation (and oversight) with the esteemed Canadian linguist Charles Boberg, enquiring as to “the different ways Canadians speak”. The survey was distributed via social media, elicited 9500 responses covering every province and territory and identified several “interesting linguistic subregions like Cape Breton, Labrador and the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland”. The results of the survey provide an easy-to-read series of regional maps illustrating 19 regional Canadianisms (read vocabulary differences) and three regional maps based on pronunciation. According to the CBC News article ‘Lost in Translation: Study on Canadian slang draws strange dividing lines’ by Wallis Snowdon, “The resulting map went viral last week and spurred heated debate at office water coolers and online message boards across the country”. This is precisely how academia can bridge the “linguistic chasm” as coined by Dollinger.