Jack Chambers, professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto, a leading authority on Canadian dialects and expressions, explained: “What it is, the way Canadians use it, is a politeness marker. So when it comes up at the end of an assertion, it has a rising intonation, eH? And what the person who says it is trying to do is elicit your support -- in general, include you in the conversation. “It saves the person from making a bald assertion and instead allows the person to bring you in as a participant in the assertion. So it’s a politeness marker. Canadians are, of course, renouned for being polite. Not rude, that is.” The fact is, he added, every other English-speaking nation uses eh in much the same way. “But the concensus is that Canadians use it more frequently, so it becomes associated with Canadians traditionally.”
Eh’s origin is obscure. It’s one of the many hesitation markers in English. Every language has them. One that is common in the U.S. and other countries is huh. Hah? Is another. In French, bien functions in much the same way as eh, francophone friends advise. But it can be used in a sharply aggressive way, too. It’s pronounced as a sort of nasal eh.
I'm presuming from this information that I'm not a very accommodating Canadian... I don't use
the word 'eh'.
Allow me to offer my own observation... the word (and I use that description loosely) 'eh' is used
most often by Canadians who live in smaller centres and rural areas; it's not a metropolitan
expression, and I find that it's also not a word used very often by academics or professionals. All
of us have our pet words (oftentimes slang) that creap into our coversation more than other
words. We use these words without being aware of doing so, and they will often take up space
when no other word comes readily to mind... the word "um" is a good example. With these words I
place the word 'eh?'. It's true that many Canadians use the word "eh"; it's also true that many
others do not... but have their own little speech ideosyncracy.
The following is a message I received from a visitor to this site regarding my thoughts on the use
of 'eh?'. I said I would have my friends and family try to catch me using it and I challenged him to
find someone who did not use it... Prime Minister Chretien???
Date sent: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 23:12:25 -0400
From: "Matthew M. Broughton" toughguy@netcore.ca
To: Beverly.Leeck@UAlberta.CA
Subject: "eh?"
I have just read that you claim not to use the word "eh?" in your
speech. I'm not calling you a liar but I do disagree. I'm from Windsor
Ontario, the southern and probably the most "americanized" city in
Canada. For a short period of my life (I'm only 18) I thought that the
presumtion that all Canadians say eh was wrong, because "I don't say
eh?" The truth is I do, without noticing. We all do, and we don't
notice because we all say it, it becomes second nature. When I did
notice it was when i started to travel to the United States, where the
don't say it. People could tell I was from Canada, not because I looked
different, but because I said eh. The longer I was in the US the more
and more I would catch myself saying it. If you actually don't say eh,
then you are rare and I apologize, but I think that if you took and
extended trip into the US, you would find that in fact you do say it. WE
ALL SAY "EH?"
Thanks for listening and feel free to send a response.
