Personal Nicknames in Cape Breton: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

While the use of personal nicknames is a widespread characteristic found in many languages, nicknames and nicknaming practices are particularly prevalent in the Cape Breton region. This paper considers the main practices of name creation in Cape Breton, classifies these names according to the phonetic features and according to the social genesis for these nicknames, and concludes with a brief discussion of some of the social functions for nicknaming.