Strathy Language Unit

The Strathy Language Unit is a research unit at Queen’s University dedicated to the study of the English language in Canada.

The mission of the unit is to initiate, support and promote research on Canadian English from a variety of perspectives. Topics of inquiry may include:

dialectal variation
historical change
language and identity
standardization
relationships between English and Canada's other languages (Canadian varieties of French, Indigenous languages, and the heritage languages of immigrant communities)

Activities of the unit include undertaking research projects, maintaining a corpus of Canadian English, training and mentoring student researchers, creating digital resources, sponsoring the course in Canadian English at Queen’s, and participating in conferences and public events.

The unit is located in Kingston Hall, rooms 306 & 310, on the ��˴�Ƭ campus. For more information or to arrange a visit, please contact the Strathy Unit.

If you have any questions about The Strathy Language Unit, please contact the director, Anastasia Riehl.

Recent Student Projects

Wes and Nilu Talk Slang!

During their internship at the Unit, Wes Paubst and Nilu Hosseinkashi interviewed students on campus about slang. Film student David Vassos turned this footage into a series of fun videos highlighting some of the words.

View all the episodes on .

Canadianisms: The Great Canadian Baking Show

In this series for the Strathy Blog, intern Jet McCullough explores baking terminology in The Great Canadian Baking Show. This reality show baking competition, an adaptation of The Great British Bake Off, treats viewers not only to scenes of decadent dessert-making, but also an opportunity to reflect on how Canadians use language. Do the Canadian contestants use the same baking terms as the contestants in the British show? Do they instead use terms typical of North American English, terms specific to Canada, or – as we have come to expect from the hybrid quality of Canadian English – a combination of the three?

Read Jet’s full articles.

To see more projects, visit the Strathy Blog.