How you talk might tell others you are from Northern Ontario

THUNDER BAY — Sali Tagliamonte says Northern Ontarians should feel proud of where they come from, how they speak, and what their culture is.

"I think it's very important that we have our own voices...There's a unique identity in Northern Ontario that I think is very valuable," she told TBnewswatch.

It's one of the reasons the respected University of Toronto linguist has travelled north this week to speak about her research and collect more information for the Ontario Dialects Project that she has led for a number of years.

Tagliamonte, who was born in Kirkland Lake, calls Northern Ontario "a gold mine" of interesting words and phrases.

On Wednesday she'll give an in-person and virtual presentation at the Thunder Bay Historical Museum on the history and culture of dialects in Northern Ontario.

Her trek to the north is also an opportunity for Tagliamonte and her team to meet area residents and learn "what their lives are like...to hear their stories and documenting what we see as the history, culture and language of Northern Ontario."

The chair of the U of T's linguistics department, and Canada Research Chair in Language Variation and Change, said "You never know what kind of words you're going to find or what kinds of expressions people use until you hang out with them and have a talk."

Tagliamonte cited a recent conversation with a Thunder Bay teacher in which she described one Northern Ontario definition of getting your feet wet in a puddle as a "soaker," but he revealed that he and his friends used the term "booter" for the same experience.

"Regional dialects are dying. It's important to document these varieties and the culture that is comprised within these communities for the future. A child seven generations into the future might want to hear the stories that their great, great, great grandmother told back in the day," she said.

Tagliamonte said there's also another important reason this kind of research into language needs to be done.

"Regional ways of speaking...the ways of speaking in regional communities, actually give us insight into the past, in a way that mainstream varieties as they're spoken in urban centres do not give us."

She added "It's almost like doing linguistic archaeology... because we can find features that give us insight into the way people spoke in the past. There are these tracks of the history of our language, of our culture, in [rural] places that you wouldn't find in Toronto."

Tagliamonte said linguistic changes have accelerated over the past century in Toronto, due to factors including economic and population changes, but language tends to change more slowly in outlying areas of the province. 

She feels there's an audience receptive to learning the outcomes of this kind of research, explaining that "People love to learn about different words and expressions" from different parts of Canada and the world.

One of the ways she's gathering information is through the Ontario Dialect Survey, available online to anyone.  

Among the 22 questions it asks is one that's familiar to many anglers in Northwestern Ontario:  "What do you call this fish?" – with options that include both pickerel and walleye.

Another question asks what you call your summer retreat, with options including camp, cottage, and cabin.

The survey also asks how people acknowledge a "Thank you" after they do something nice for another person.

Tagliamonte said the answers may vary widely, depending on where respondents live in Ontario.

Some uniquely regional and Canadian words and phrases have found their way into the Oxford English Dictionary as a result of the work she's been doing since 2002. 

Admission to her lecture, which takes place at 7 p.m. July 13 at the Thunder Bay Museum, is free.

Participation is also available via a Zoom webinar.