Browse "Language"

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Chanson in Quebec

Chanson in Quebec. It is through the oral folk tradition, deriving its essential qualities from European folklore, that the Quebec chanson has carved out its privileged position.

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Indigenous Language Revitalization in Canada

Before European settlement in Canada, Indigenous peoples spoke a wide variety of languages. As a means of assimilating Indigenous peoples, colonial policies like the Indian Act and residential schools forbade the speaking of Indigenous languages. These restrictions have led to the ongoing endangerment of Indigenous languages in Canada. Indigenous communities and various educational institutions have taken measures to prevent more language loss and to preserve Indigenous languages.

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Inuktitut

Inuktitut is an Indigenous language in North America, spoken in the Canadian Arctic. The 2021 census reported 40,320 people have knowledge of Inuktitut. Inuktitut is part of a larger Inuit language family, stretching from Alaska to Greenland. Inuktitut uses a writing system called syllabics, created originally for the Cree language, which represent combinations of consonants and vowels. The language is also written in the Roman alphabet, and this is the exclusive writing system used in Labrador and parts of Western Nunavut. Inuktitut is a polysynthetic language, meaning that words tend to be longer and structurally more complex than their English or French counterparts. (See also Indigenous Languages in Canada.)

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Joual

Joual is the name given, in specific sociological and socio-historical situations, to the variety of French spoken in Québec.

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Language

Language is a form of communication. More specifically, language is a communication system based on human sounds. There are, however, other forms of communication systems based on touch, scent, movement, colour, gesture and even the electrical impulses that pass through computers.

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Saint Patrick’s Basilica

Saint Patrick’s Basilica is a minor basilica located in Montreal. It was constructed between 1843–47 as a parish church for Montreal’s growing Irish Catholic population (see Irish Canadians; Catholicism in Canada). The church was elevated to the status of a minor basilica in 1989. In addition to playing a significant religious and cultural role for the city of Montreal’s Irish community, Saint Patrick’s Basilica is recognized as the mother church for English-speaking Catholics in the city (see Canadian English; Languages in use in Canada).

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Siksikáí’powahsin: Blackfoot Language

Siksikáí’powahsin (commonly referred to as the Blackfoot language) is an Algonquian language spoken by four Blackfoot nations: the Siksiká (Blackfoot), Aapátohsipikani (North Piikani), Aamsskáápipikani (South Piikani) and Kainai (Blood). While there are some dialectal differences between these groups, speakers can generally understand one another. Blackfoot is an endangered language; since the 1960s, the number of new speakers has significantly decreased. The development of language programs and resources in Canada and the United States seek to preserve the language and promote it to new speakers.

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The Official Languages Act

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The Battle of the Hatpins