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Ottawa Valley Twang refers to the English spoken in the Ottawa Valley by anglophones and francophones alike. The twang, while often seen as an accent, is in fact more generally a dialect, encompassing both the pronunciation and vocabulary of the people who inhabit the region. The "twang" is very noticeable in the elderly inhabitants of the region, but it is diminishing among the younger population.

Origins

The region, presently inhabited by nearly 1.3 million people, traces many of its descendants from the Gauls, local Aboriginal tribes, and perhaps most noticeably, Celts. With the strong Celtic heritage of the region, it comes as no surprise that a slight trill of the "R", otherwise known as a "Rolling R" or alveolar trill, is not uncommon in some parts of the Ottawa Valley.

While the Ottawa Valley (forming part of the Bilingual belt) is divided between the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, many of its inhabitants are bilingual, and this too has played a significant role in the development of the dialect, with many Gallicisms not only employed by bilingual and francophone speakers, but by anglophones as well.

The dialect, while coming to the fore in predominantly rural areas, is detectable throughout the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben including the city of Ottawa itself (although, in recent years its influence has diminished greatly). Amongst the communities that are most active in utilizing the "Ottawa Valley Twang" are rural communities in Lanark County, Ontario, Renfrew_County,_Ontario, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties Prescott and Russell United Counties in Ontario and the Outaouais region and Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality, Québec

The manner of speaking was popularized in the City of Ottawa proper for a while by the radio comedy duo "Cecil Wiggins and Delmer McGregor". Migration between the urban and rural sides of the valley and Ottawa's urban sprawl continue to have an influence on the English spoken both within the City of Ottawa and the river valley upon which it lies.

Ottawa Valley Twang Expressions

Chief amongst the expressions heard in the Ottawa Valley is the phrase "G'Day lad" (sometimes "G'Day myn"). While this phrase has currency throughout the Ottawa Valley, in recent years it has become acceptable to remove the "G'd" from the phrase, rendering it thus: "'ay Lad" or "'ay myn". This is not to be confused with the popular Canadian Eh.

"Going up the line," a local phrase generally meaning to go in a north, or north-westerly direction. It may refer to the Opeongo Line, a stretch of land opened up by the Canadian government to spur settlement and development of the area by farmers.

Like any community which traces much of its livelihood to dangerous and isolated work, such as logging, alcohol and more specifically phrases referring to the consumption of alcohol have played a major role in the expressions found in the Ottawa Valley. Amongst these are: hammed, a few under your belt, got a jag on, loaded, plastered, pinned, right wrecked, right twisted, three sheets to the wind. Much of this vocabulary can be seen in other parts of Canada, and indeed the world.

It is because of the strong influence of the French language on the region that it is not uncommon, especially amongst those on the Quebecside of the Ottawa Valley, to replace to "th" phoneme with "d". This renders words such as "those" and "there" as "doze" and "derr", respectively.

Town names themselves have become a part of the Ottawa Valley dialect and vocabulary: the town of Arnprior, Ontario is known by speakers of the 'twang as The 'Prior; the town of Renfrew, Ontario is known as The 'Frew; and, the town of Carleton Place is known locally as either Cartoon Place or Cartoon Town. While some of these names, to an etic observer may seem derogatory or insulting, they are taken with indifference or even humour to locals.

Similarity to Other Dialects

It should be noted that many of the terms that are employed in the rural regions of the Ottawa valley can be found throughout rural Canada. Chief among them is Prince Edward Island where terms such as "slippy", "warsh", "get'er", and "giv'er" are all found throughout the rural areas of PEI.

See also

• Irish language
• Newfoundland English

References

• Differences Among Regions by M.H. Scargill at The Canadian Encyclopedia

v • d • e   Dialects and accents of Canadian English West British Columbian English · Chinook Jargon · Canadian Prairies English · Chinglish Ontario Midwestern Ontario English · Ottawa Valley Twang · Eastern Ontario English · Toronto English · Chinglish Quebec Quebec English Atlantic Maritimer English · Newfoundland English · Cape Breton accent · Lunenburg English

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