Faith Avis

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Eileen Faith Avis ( née  Hutchison; 1924—2010) was a Canadian journalist, writer, naturalist and mother of three. [1] She was indirectly involved in the creation of A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles [2] and other dictionaries of Canadian English by Gage Ltd. As an unpaid female "assistant" to her linguist husband at the time, she was not afforded, common for women in the 1950s and 1960s, official recognition for contributions to the study of Canadian English. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Faith Avis was born in Spalding, Saskatchewan. [1] She earned a BA in journalism from Carleton University in 1945 as one of the two first graduates in journalism in Canada. [4] One of her examiners was Douglas Leechman, who would become, with Avis's husband Walter S. Avis, one of the six editors of A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (1967) — the "Big Six" in Canadian English [3] —and later a major Canadian contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary. [5]

Career

She was a regular contributor of reviews to the Kingston Whig-Standard daily newspaper. [4] Consistent with her own role as a first woman as journalism graduate and PR person for a Canadian hospital, Avis published on disprivileged women, advice all this in the Canadian prison system. [6] She was Honorary President of the Kingston Field Naturalists until her death on 6 February 2010. [7]

Role in Canadian English

In the 1950s and 1960s, women usually only played minor roles in linguistic research, if any. [8] A recent biographer of Walter Avis and Charles J. Lovell reasons that "Faith Avis may have played a more major role in Canadian English than first meets the eye," [9] as, common in these days, she not only typed her husband's manuscripts but had the university contracts on account of her education that her husband lacked. Faith hosted at least one academic event at Carleton with her husband. [9] Walter S. Avis, who, together with Lovell, is considered as a "founder" [3] of Canadian English as a linguistic subject. Walter Avis

"must have met Faith Hutchison [in 1945/46 in Ottawa], who was just about to graduate with her BA in journalism. Faith Hutchison was not just anyone. She was nothing less than one of the best-educated women the country at that point in time." [10]

At present there are no reliable indicators to suggest that Faith Avis directly carried out research on Canadian English. [3] That role as the earliest female researcher on Canadian English is currently reserved for Helen C. Munroe from Montreal and her 1929, 1930 and 1931 papers in American Speech on Montreal English. [3] Faith Avis held a university degree in 1946 from Carleton when her husband had not yet entered the right to attend university in nearby Kingston, Ontario. By the end of his career Walter Avis was compared to Noah Webster and H.L. Mencken, who created the linguistic autonomy of American English. The linguistic autonomy of Canadian English was achieved by Walter S. Avis, with the considerable support of Faith Avis, [9] Charles J. Lovell [11] and their team

Works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian English</span> Set of varieties of the English language native to Canada

Canadian English encompasses the varieties of English used in Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French (20.8%) or other languages (21.1%). In the Canadian province of Quebec, only 7.5% of the population are mother tongue anglophone, as most of Quebec's residents are native speakers of Quebec French.

Eh is a spoken interjection used in many varieties of English. The oldest Oxford English Dictionary defines eh as an "interjectional interrogative particle often inviting assent to the sentiment expressed." Today, while eh has many different uses, it is most popularly used in a manner similar in meaning to "Excuse me?", "Please repeat that", "Huh?", or to otherwise mark a question. It is also commonly used as an alternative to the question tag "right?", as a method for inciting a reply, as in "Don't you think?", "You agree with me, right?", as in, "It's nice here, eh?". In the Americas, it is most commonly associated with Canada and Canadian English, though it is also common in England, Scotland, and New Zealand. It is also known in some American regions bordering Canada, including the area stretching from northern Wisconsin up to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Similar interjections exist in many other languages, such as Azerbaijani and Italian and Dutch.

<i>Castle Rackrent</i> 1800 novel by Maria Edgeworth

Castle Rackrent is a short novel by Maria Edgeworth published in 1800. Unlike many of her other novels, which were heavily "edited" by her father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, before their publication, the published version is close to her original intention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catharine Parr Traill</span> English-Canadian author and botanical artist

Catharine Parr Traill was an English-Canadian author and naturalist who wrote about life in Canada, particularly what is now Ontario. In the 1830s, Canada covered an area considerably smaller than today. At the time, most of Upper Canada had not been explored by European settlers.

Maureen Anne McTeer is a Canadian author and lawyer, married to Joe Clark, the 16th Prime Minister of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Sterry Hunt</span> 19th-century American geologist and chemist

Thomas Sterry Hunt was an American geologist and chemist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molly Brant</span> Canadian aboriginal leader

Molly Brant, also known as Mary Brant, Konwatsi'tsiaienni, and Degonwadonti, was a Mohawk leader in British New York and Upper Canada in the era of the American Revolution. Living in the Province of New York, she was the consort of Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, with whom she had eight children. Joseph Brant, who became a Mohawk leader and war chief, was her younger brother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Canadian English</span> Dialects of Canadian English

Atlantic Canadian English is a class of Canadian English dialects spoken in Atlantic Canada that is notably distinct from Standard Canadian English. It is composed of Maritime English and Newfoundland English. It was mostly influenced by British and Irish English, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and some Acadian French. Atlantic Canada is the easternmost region of Canada, comprising four provinces located on the Atlantic coast: Newfoundland and Labrador, plus the three Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Regions such as Miramichi and Cape Breton have a wide variety of phrases and words not spoken outside of their respective regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Dobbs</span> Irish-Canadian philanthropist (1808–1887)

Harriet Dobbs, later Harriet Dobbs Cartwright, was an Irish-born Canadian philanthropist.

A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (DCHP) is a historical usage dictionary of words, expressions, or meanings which are native to Canada or which are distinctively characteristic of Canadian English though not necessarily exclusive to Canada. The first edition was published by W. J. Gage Limited in 1967. The text of this first edition was scanned and released as a free-access online dictionary in 2013.

The Österreichisches Wörterbuch, abbreviated ÖWB, is the official spelling dictionary of Standard German in Austria, i.e. of Austrian Standard German. It has been edited since 1948 by a group of linguists under the authority of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture and contains a number of terms unique to, distinct or characteristic for Austrian German. Such Austrianisms may be more frequently or differently used or pronounced compared to other German-speaking areas. A considerable amount of this Austrian vocabulary is also common in Southern Germany, especially Bavaria, and some of it is used in Switzerland as well. The most recent edition is the 44th from 2022. Since the 39th edition from 2001 the orthography of the ÖWB was adjusted to the German spelling reform of 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon</span> Canadian writer and poet (1829–1879)

Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon, born Rosanna Eleanor Mullins, was a Canadian writer and poet. She was "one of the first English-Canadian writers to depict French Canada in a way that earned the praise of, and resulted in her novels being read by, both anglophone and francophone Canadians."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arika Okrent</span> American linguist

Arika Okrent is an American linguist and writer of popular works on linguistic topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marianne Meed Ward</span> 29th mayor of Burlington

Marianne Meed Ward is an American-born Canadian politician and former journalist who has served as the 29th and current mayor of Burlington since December 3, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobs Cogill Haworth</span> Canadian artist

Bobs Cogill Haworth (1900–1988) was a South African-born Canadian painter and potter. She practiced mainly in Toronto, living and working with her husband, painter and teacher Peter Haworth. She was a member of the Canadian Group of Painters with Yvonne McKague Housser, Isabel McLaughlin and members of the Group of Seven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Meteyard</span> English writer

Eliza Meteyard (1816–1879) was an English writer. She was known for journalism, essays, novels, and biographies, particularly as an authority on Wedgwood pottery and its creator. She did living writing for periodicals.

Walter Spencer Avis was one of the foremost Canadian linguists of his day. Throughout the 1950s to his death at age 60, Avis' mission has been described as "plant[ing] into the minds of his compatriots the notion of Canadian English (CanE) as related but different from other "Englishes"." In that sense, Avis was an early proponent of World Englishes, by looking at non-dominant standard forms, with Standard Canadian English in focus, in what would later be called a pluricentric model.

Robert John Gregg, known as Bob Gregg or R. J. Gregg, was a linguist, a pioneer of the academic study of Ulster-Scots as well as a linguistic authority on Canadian English.

Literary Garland was a Montreal-based literary magazine published by John Lovell and John Gibson. During its run from 1838 to 1851, it was the most successful literary magazine in Canada, and started the careers of many prominent Canadian literary authors and composers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Julian McManus</span> Canadian poet (1865–1918)

Emily Julian McManus was a Canadian poet, writer, and educator. In addition to a number of poems, some of which were reproduced in the collection of George William Ross, and some by William Douw Lighthall in Songs of the Great Dominion, she was the author of "Froney", of "A Romance of Carleton", of "The Thirteenth Temptation", and of the Old, Old Story, the latter a novel.

References

  1. 1 2 "Remembering the life of Eileen (Faith) AVIS". thewhig.remembering.ca. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  2. ↑ Dictionary of Caianisms on Historical Principles, first edition, 1967; digitized 2013
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Dollinger, Stefan (2019). Creating Canadian English: the professor, the mountaineer, and a national variety of English. Cambridge New York, NY Port Melbourne New Delhi Singapore: Cambridge University Press. pp. 45–46. ISBN   978-1-108-70875-3.
  4. 1 2 "Faith Avis". School of Journalism and Communication. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  5. ↑ Dollinger, Stefan (2019). Creating Canadian English: The Professor, the Mountaineer, and a National Variety of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 47–9. ISBN   978-1-108-49771-8. She [Faith] certainly knew Douglas Leechman before Wally [Walter S.] Avis, ... [at] that time, Wally had not even started his BA degree.
  6. ↑ Faith, Avis. 2002. Women in Cages The Prison for Women and the Elizabeth Fry Society . Markham, ON: Quarry Press.
  7. ↑ "KFN at 70 – Kingston Field Naturalists". kingstonfieldnaturalists.org. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  8. ↑ Lovell, Charles J (1958). "What and hows of collecting for a Canadian dictionary". Canadian Journal of Linguistics.
  9. 1 2 3 Dollinger, Stefan (2019). Creating Canadian English: the professor, the mountaineer, and a national variety of English. Cambridge New York, NY Port Melbourne New Delhi Singapore: Cambridge University Press. p. 47. ISBN   978-1-108-70875-3.
  10. ↑ Dollinger, Stefan (2019). Creating Canadian English: the professor, the mountaineer, and a national variety of English. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 71. ISBN   978-1-108-49771-8.
  11. ↑ McDavid, Raven I. 1981. Webster and Avis — spokespeople for linguistic autonomy. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 26(1).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.