Title

Many researches but not many informations: Mass noun pluralization in Canadian English

Abstract

Canada is a highly diverse country; as a settler colonial nation, its population has always been fueled by immigration from around the world. Due to increased globalization and shifts in immigration patterns, English in Canada has more contact with other languages and with other varieties of English than ever before. There is to date very little research on the influence of this language contact on Canadian English. Linguistic influence can be analyzed through the proliferation of innovative features such as the pluralization of mass nouns – when a typically uncountable noun such as research is pluralized, e.g. I read two researches about it. This project examines mass noun pluralization in the Strathy and GloWbE corpora of Canadian English to assess potential change in progress. The phenomenon is found to be less coherent than expected, with trends in frequency attributable to factors other than language change.

About the student

I received my BA in Linguistics with a concentration in Language and Society from the University of Victoria. At SFU, I've continued to work in the area of sociolinguistics, and I'm passionate about incorporating a sociolinguistic perspective into linguistic research. In my free time, I cross-country ski and attempt to solve cryptic crosswords.

Learn more about Amelia here. 

Readers

• Dr. Panos Pappas (Supervisor) 
• Dr. Cécile B. Vigouroux (Committee member)