Katherine Barber comes to Whitby
Oct 15, 2007 - 10:58 AM
By Lesley Bovie
WHITBY -- If her profession has given her a certain amount of celebrity as Canada's word lady, Katherine Barber doesn't mind one bit.
"I think it's wonderful people are interested in the language," says the editor-in-chief of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. "I think it's a great contribution to make people aware of the Canadian language."
Ms. Barber appears at the Whitby Public Library Oct. 17 to discuss her latest book, Only in Canada, You Say.
"People said to us they wanted a book of words that are just unique to us," she explains.
Organized thematically, rather than alphabetically, the book is "meant to be a fun and entertaining look at Canadian English".
For instance, who would have thought that "buttertart" or "eavestrough" were uniquely Canadian? Ms. Barber says it's a classic example of Canadians' lack of knowledge of their own English.
"There's a lot more to us than 'eh'," she says. "That's what my mission is in life, to prove it. We talk about 'eh' because Americans have picked up on it. But that's allowing Americans to define our identity."
Ms. Barber's love of words began young in life. The daughter of an English teacher, she remembers pouring over Fowler's Modern English Usage in bed at night when she was 13 and how she wanted to write a dictionary.
Her first experience as a lexicographer was with the Bilingual Canadian Dictionary, a project with the University of Ottawa.
In 1991, Oxford University Press recruited her to head up its newly-created Canadian dictionary department. The first edition of The Canadian Oxford Dictionary took six people five years to complete and contained 2,000 words uniquely Canadian, along with 5,000 words Canadians share with the US.
"Sports is a good example," explains Ms. Barber, pointing to words like "hockey" and "curling" that are not contained in the English version of the dictionary but are in its Canadian cousin.
Certain industries are also specific to Canada like logging and mining and don't appear in the English version.
"A dictionary is really a picture of a culture through words," adds Ms. Barber.
Ms. Barber appears Wednesday, Oct. 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Meeting Room 1A and 1B at Whitby Public Library. Those interest in attending can register by calling 905-668-6531, ext. 2020 or e-mail askalibrarian@whitbylibrary.on.ca.
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