Interrogative sentence conclusion.

[Oscar]

The word is spelled "eh" people...

Main Entry: eh
Pronunciation: \ā, 'e,'a, also with h preceding and/or with nasalization\
Function: interjection
Etymology: Middle English ey
Date: 13th century
—used to ask for confirmation or repetition or to express inquiry ; used especially in Canadian English in anticipation of the listener's or reader's agreement.


Aye, on the other hand, is a positive vote or an affirmative answer, so let's get it right, eh?

[vifferman]

Fairy Nuff.
But "sentance" is spelled "sentence", Dude.
And "spelt" is spelled "spelled", unless you're talking about spelt (which is a grain, like wheat).

You need to brush up your curmudgeonly skills, Sir!

[Oscar]

Fairy Nuff.
But "sentance" is spelled "sentence", Dude.
And "spelt" is spelled "spelled", unless you're talking about spelt (which is a grain, like wheat).

Jeez, you were quick - I changed "sentence" immediately on posting.
"Spelt" on the other hand, I missed, eh?

[Hitcher]

And "spelt" is spelled "spelled", unless you're talking about spelt (which is a grain, like wheat).

Nonsense. "Spelled" means rested, retired. One comes from the "spelt" school. Either form is acceptable.

And the BDOTGNZA applauds the interrogative campaign, eh!

[Hitcher]

"Spelt" on the other hand, I missed, eh?

No. Don't take a backwards step on that score, eh.

[martybabe]

Aye, I fail to disagree, eh.

[Oscar]

No. Don't take a backwards step on that score, eh.

On reflection, I think I use both.
However, being a how I am English, whichever I use is correct.
It is my language after all and you colonials are only using it until you master Te Reo, eh?.

Actually I think I might take a leaf from those helpful Maori chaps and start correcting all and sundry on pronunciation of the Mother Tongue...

[Big Dave]

EH is a Holden, hey.

[klingon]

It's called a "tag declarative" where I come from.
We use it uniquely in New Zealand (not to be confused with the Canadian version).

And yes, it's definitely "eh" not "aye"

[xwhatsit]

It's called a "tag declarative" where I come from.
We use it uniquely in New Zealand (not to be confused with the Canadian version).

And yes, it's definitely "eh" not "aye"

Would you care to spell out the differences in usage for us? I'm doing Linguistics 100 to make up points

[vifferman]

Nonsense. "Spelled" means rested, retired. One comes from the "spelt" school. Either form is acceptable.

Criminy.
Your curmudgeonly standards are slipping too - your Mrkn vacation must've made you less of a pedantrist than you used to was.

[Oscar]

Would you care to spell out the differences in usage for us? I'm doing Linguistics 100 to make up points

No problem.

Obviously the Canucks get a bit wound up about it...

EH IS CANADIAN, EH?:

USAGE, FUNCTIONS AND THE IDENTITY CRISIS OF EH
By Kailin Wright
copyright 2006

We have all heard of the interjection “eh” as in “I am Canadian, eh?” but what does it really mean and is it uniquely Canadian? Linguists debate over whether eh is peculiar to Canada. The 1970s saw a handful of essays on eh as a Canadian interjection. More recently, linguists such as Gaelan De Wolf and Howard B. Woods surveyed the use of eh in Vancouver and Ottawa, respectively. In 2004, Elaine Gold published a survey on Canadian uses of and attitudes toward eh. Using these surveys, evidence found in dictionaries, and critical essays, I will build on the argument that eh is uniquely Canadian. Eh is a Canadianism because of the many different functions of eh in Canada and because of the frequency of use. While eh only has two main constructions in England (as a request for repetition and as a tag), there are ten popular functions of eh in Canada. Canadian literature uses eh more than any other national literature and certain types of eh are only found in Canadian texts and speech. The interjection is also internationally recognized as Canadian. I will review surveys of contemporary Canadian usage in order to analyze what eh means, who uses it, how people use it, and the general attitudes toward the different constructions of eh.

Historical Context

While the scholarly debate centers on whether eh is a Canadian expression, critics often gloss over the history of the interjection. The Modern English eh derives from Middle English interjections such as “ey,” “ei,” and “a” (“Eh,” OED). The modern spelling “eh,” could have developed independently from the Middle English variants, however, it was most likely adopted from the French “eh” (“Eh,” OED). The use of eh as a demand for repetition compares with Chaucer’s use of “I” in Troilus and Criseyde (1385): “For love of God, make of this thing an ende, / Or slee us both at ones er that ye wende . . . ‘I, what?’ quod she. ‘By God and by my trouthe, / I noot not what ye wilne that I saye” (III). By the 18th Century eh was in use as an interjectional interrogative particle and in 1771 Goldsmith writes, “Wasn’t it lucky, eh?” (“Eh,” OED 2). Eh as a request for repetition such as “Eh? What’s that, Sackville?” appears by the 19th Century (“Eh,” OED 3). This history reveals that eh has its roots in Middle English and did not originate in Canada.

Full text:
http://http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/...362-wright.htm

[Oscar]

A quick look on the interweb would suggest that both are used by the English, but the latter is considered incorrect in the USA.

[The Pastor]

Aye whats all this then?

[Ixion]

The word is spelled "eh" people...

Main Entry: eh
Pronunciation: \ā, 'e,'a, also with h preceding and/or with nasalization\
Function: interjection
Etymology: Middle English ey
Date: 13th century
—used to ask for confirmation or repetition or to express inquiry ; used especially in Canadian English in anticipation of the listener's or reader's agreement.


Aye, on the other hand, is a positive vote or an affirmative answer, so let's get it right, eh?

Pah. Pfff. That may be all well and good for Canadians, they are strange anyway, it is the effect of being buried under ice and snow for 11 months of the year.

But in Godzone, eh and aye are cognate. Eh is the conditional interrogative, seeking affirmation of a suggestion. Aye is the affirmative.

As in

"Bugger me, but I'm drier than an abo's arsehole. What say we knock off for a quick one , eh?"

"Aye , I'm all for that. "