The English Language in Nova Scotia

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and honorary chief of the Mi’kmaq of Prince
Edward Island.

The English language, like Topsy in other circumstances, has “jest
growed.” This collection of 12 essays, all written by specialists in
their respective fields, deals with aspects of that growth. An
introduction by John Reid provides a political backdrop; a closing
chapter by co-editor Lilian Falk offers some literary representation of
earlier existing dialect. For each chapter, the editors have provided
succinct and scholarly overviews that, like the glossary of terminology,
will be of great help to the general reader. The American system of
phonetics is preferred. This is a book for anyone interested in Nova
Scotia society, for it is largely through language that the culture of a
society finds expression.