
The Canadian linguistic quirk of putting "eh" at the end of a sentence is an example of a
tag,
which is a word or phrase appended to a sentence. In Mandarin, any
statement appended with "ma" turns that statement into a question. In
English, the tag "isn't it?" provokes a response of agreement or
disagreement. As a tag, "eh" is more universal and flexible. It can be
used for just about anything.
There are a few major
ways a Canadian could use “eh.” The first is while stating an opinion:
“It’s a nice day, eh?” Another would be as an exclamation tag, which is
added to a sentence in order to indicate surprise: “What a game, eh?” Or
you could use it for a request or command: “Put it over here, eh?” And
then there’s the odd example of using it within a criticism: “You really
messed that one up, eh?”
Jack Chambers, a linguist at the
University of Toronto, writes that these “ehs” are all of a piece. “All
of these uses have one pragmatic purpose in common: they all show
politeness,” he wrote in a 2014 paper. Using “eh” to end the statement
of an opinion or an explanation is a way for the speaker to express
solidarity with the listener. It’s not exactly asking for reassurance or
confirmation, but it’s not far off: the speaker is basically saying,
hey, we’re on the same page here, we agree on this.
Even in the
use of “eh” as a criticism or a command, the word seeks to find common
ground. If I say “you’re an idiot, eh?”, what I’m saying is, you’re an
idiot, but you should also think you’re an idiot, and our understanding
of you as an idiot finds us on common ground.
The tag "eh" is also used to give orders and to tell stories. Read about these and the general
usage of "eh" among Canadians at Atlas Obscura.
No comments:
Post a Comment