Eileen Faith Avis (; 1924—2010) was a Canadian journalist, writer, naturalist and mother of three. She was indirectly involved in the creation of '' A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles'' and other dictionaries of Canadian English by Gage Ltd. As an unpaid female "assistant" to her linguist husband at the time, she was not afforded, common for women in the 1950s and 1960s, official recognition for contributions to the study of

Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the Variety (linguistics), varieties of English language, English used in Canada. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or ...

Early life and education

Faith Avis was born in Spalding, Saskatchewan. She earned a BA in journalism from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

in 1945 as one of the two first graduates in journalism in Canada. One of her examiners was Douglas Leechman, who would become, with Avis's husband Walter S. Avis, one of the six editors of '' A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles'' (1967) — the "Big Six" in Canadian English —and later a major Canadian contributor to the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

Career

She was a regular contributor of reviews to the ''

Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published four days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postm ...

'' daily newspaper. Consistent with her own role as a first woman as journalism graduate and PR person for a Canadian hospital, Avis published on disprivileged women, advice all this in the Canadian prison system. She was Honorary President of the Kingston Field Naturalists until her death on 6 February 2010.

Role in Canadian English

In the 1950s and 1960s, women usually only played minor roles in linguistic research, if any. A recent biographer of Walter Avis and Charles J. Lovell reasons that "Faith Avis may have played a more major role in Canadian English than first meets the eye," as, common in these days, she not only typed her husband's manuscripts but had the university contracts on account of her education that her husband lacked. Faith hosted at least one academic event at Carleton with her husband. Walter S. Avis, who, together with Lovell, is considered as a "founder" of Canadian English as a linguistic subject. Walter Avis "must have met Faith Hutchison n 1945/46 in Ottawa who was just about to graduate with her BA in journalism. Faith Hutchison was not just anyone. She was nothing less than one of the best-educated women the country at that point in time." At present there are no reliable indicators to suggest that Faith Avis directly carried out research on Canadian English. That role as the earliest female researcher on Canadian English is currently reserved for Helen C. Munroe from Montreal and her 1929, 1930 and 1931 papers in ''

American Speech ''American Speech'' is a quarterly academic journal of the American Dialect Society, established in 1925 and currently published by Duke University Press. It focuses primarily on the English language used in the Western Hemisphere, but also publi ...

'' on Montreal English. Faith Avis held a university degree in 1946 from Carleton when her husband had not yet entered the right to attend university in nearby Kingston, Ontario. By the end of his career Walter Avis was compared to

Noah Webster Noah Webster (October 16, 1758 – May 28, 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and author. He has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education" ...

and H.L. Mencken, who created the linguistic autonomy of

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

. The linguistic autonomy of Canadian English was achieved by Walter S. Avis, with the considerable support of Faith Avis, Charles J. LovellMcDavid, Raven I. 1981. Webster and Avis — spokespeople for linguistic autonomy. ''Canadian Journal of Linguistics'' 26(1). and their team

Works

* Faith, Avis. 2002. ''Women in Cages The Prison for Women and the

Elizabeth Fry Society The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) is an association of groups operating under the Elizabeth Fry Society banner, similar in many respects to the John Howard Society. The Elizabeth Fry Society groups work on issues affecting ...

''. Markham, ON: Quarry Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avis, Faith 1924 births 2010 deaths Canadian journalists Canadian non-fiction writers