OTTAWA VALLEY

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OTTAWA VALLEY. A distinctive DIALECT region of Canada that extends along the Ottawa River from north-west of Montreal through the city of Ottawa and north to Algonquin Park. While the speech of the major towns is standard spoken CanE, that of the rural districts is strongly influenced by IrE, both from Ulster and the South, with small pockets of Lowland and Highland ScoE, and GAELIC, GERMAN, and Polish influence. The stereotypical feature of the accent is the local place-name Carp as /kærp/. Syntax includes for to as an infinitive complement: Mary wants for to leave. Vocabulary includes (cow) byre a cow-shed, cow barn, moolie a cow without horns, snye a channel (from French chenail), and weight-de-buckety or weighdee a teeter-totter, see-saw. See DIALECT (CANADA).