This creative nonfiction dissertation is a memoir of the author's search for the somewhat mysterious hidden past of her father, the lexicographer Charles J. Lovell, who died in 1960, when the author was nine. Her father's early death left the author with many unanswered questions about his past and his family and so she undertakes a search to answer, if possible, some of those questions. Her search takes her to Portland, Maine; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Pasadena, California, where she tries to discover the facts and uncover the forces that shaped her father's life. Along the way, she realizes how profoundly his death affected and shaped her own life, contributing to the theme of loss that pervades the memoir. In addition, she begins to realize how much her mother, Dixie Hefley Lovell, whose significance she previously overlooked, shaped her life. Ultimately, she comes to understand and accept that some of her questions are unanswerable.

Our study deals mainly with two Quebec dictionaries: Dictionnaire nord-américain de la langue française which will be given the name the Bélisle (1979) and the Dictionnaire du français plus designated by the Plus (1988). We have concentrated on the words that the Bélisle (1979) accompanies with: 1- "X" designating the "anglicismes"; 2- "C" designating the "canadianismes"; 3- the "Fleur de Lys" designating the "mots folkloriques". Our goal is to see the changes that the Quebec dialect has undergone from the Bélisle (1979) to the Plus (1988) with regard to the three above categories: whether theses words still exist in the latter dictionary or not, and if so, under which of these categories, if any, they fall. In addition, we have consulted other Quebec dictionaries dating from 1880 to present. These consultations helped us determine, to a certain degree, the year an "anglicisme", a "canadianisme" or a "mot folklorique" was recorded in these dictionaries, signaling therefore their usage for the first time in the Quebec dialect. Our thesis is divided into three chapters: the first one deals with the "anglicismes", the second one with the "canadianismes" and the third one with the "mots folkloriques". Each chapter contains data of each three categories obtained from our consultations of the Bélisle (1979), the Plus (1988) and other Quebec dictionaries. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Linguistics." Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on December 4, 2009). At head of title screen : University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

A survey of the use of standard and prestige in general descriptions of English, and of Canadian English in particular, reveals terminological confusion caused by the similarity of the two concepts and by cultural differences among the national dialects being discussed. This work argues, however, that these concepts can and should be distinguished. Once working definitions for both terms are formulated, they are tested against data from the Survey of Vancouver English. Vancouver English reveals little or no evidence of prestige, defined as "that variety (or those forms) used by the highest socio-economic group and emulated by others." The absence of a highest socio-economic group sufficiently well established to provide forms for others to emulate may explain this result, since, in Vancouver, social homogeneity seems to complement the geographical homogeneity that typifies Canadian English. While Vancouver English does reveal evidence of standard, defined as "that variety used by the majority of speakers and typified by correctness," the evidence also suggests that the notion of standard may need to be refined. The effect of various social factors on correctness is analyzed in order to provide a more precise notion of what "correctness" reflects, and education is found to contribute significantly to correctness. Furthermore, consideration of the four processes of standardization -- selection, codification, elaboration of function and acceptance -- in Canadian English confirms the importance of education to standardization and suggests not only that a standard exists in Canadian English but also that Canadian English is a standard variety distinct from other varieties of English. Standard is thus redefined to reflect more directly the role of correctness and the centrality of the four processes to standardization. The study concludes with a brief reconsideration of standard and prestige in light of these Canadian findings and suggests directions for further research. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate