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Allomorph
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Table of Content
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Short description, In English, Past tense allomorphs, Plural allomorphs, Negative allomorphs, In Sámi languages, Stem allomorphy, History, See also, References
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Allophone
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Short description
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thumb|A simplified procedure to determine whether two sounds represent the same or different phonemes. The cases on the extreme left and the extreme right are those in which the sounds are allophones.
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is one of multiple possible spoken soundsor phonesused to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plosive (as in stop ) and the aspirated form (as in top ) are allophones for the phoneme , while these two are considered to be different phonemes in some languages such as Central Thai. Similarly, in Spanish, (as in dolor ) and (as in nada ) are allophones for the phoneme , while these two are considered to be different phonemes in English (as in the difference between dare and there).
The specific allophone selected in a given situation is often predictable from the phonetic context, with such allophones being called positional variants, but some allophones occur in free variation. Replacing a sound by another allophone of the same phoneme usually does not change the meaning of a word, but the result may sound non-native or even unintelligible.
Native speakers of a given language perceive one phoneme in the language as a single distinctive sound and are "both unaware of and even shocked by" the allophone variations that are used to pronounce single phonemes.
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Allophone
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History of concept
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History of concept
The term "allophone" was coined by Benjamin Lee Whorf circa 1929. In doing so, he is thought to have placed a cornerstone in consolidating early phoneme theory. The term was popularized by George L. Trager and Bernard Bloch in a 1941 paper on English phonology and went on to become part of standard usage within the American structuralist tradition.
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Allophone
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Complementary and free-variant allophones
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Complementary and free-variant allophones
Each time a speaker vocalizes a phoneme, they pronounce it differently from previous iterations. There is debate regarding how real and universal phonemes are (see phoneme for details). Only some of the variation is perceptible to listeners speakers.
There are two types of allophones: complementary allophones and free-variant allophones.
Complementary allophones are not interchangeable. If context requires a speaker to use a specific allophone for a given phoneme (that is, using a different allophone would confuse listeners), the possible allophones are said to be complementary. Each allophone from a complementary set is used in a specific phonetic context and may be involved in a phonological process.
Otherwise, allophones are free-variant; speakers choose an allophone by habit or preference.
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Allophone
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Allotone
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Allotone
An allotone is a tonic allophone, such as the neutral tone in Standard Mandarin.
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Allophone
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Examples
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Examples
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Allophone
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English
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English
There are many allophonic processes in English: lack of plosion, nasal plosion, partial devoicing of sonorants, complete devoicing of sonorants, partial devoicing of obstruents, lengthening and shortening vowels, and retraction.
Aspiration: In English, a voiceless plosive is aspirated (has a strong explosion of breath) if it is at the beginning of the first or a stressed syllable in a word. For example, as in pin and as in spin are allophones for the phoneme because they cannot be used to distinguish words (in fact, they occur in complementary distribution). English-speakers treat them as the same sound, but they are different: the first is aspirated and the second is unaspirated (plain). Many languages treat the two phones differently.
Nasal plosion: In English, a plosive () has nasal plosion if it is followed by a nasal, whether within a word or across a word boundary.
Partial devoicing of sonorants: In English, sonorants () are partially devoiced after a voiceless sound in the same syllable.
Complete devoicing of sonorants: In English, a sonorant is completely devoiced after an aspirated plosive ().
Partial devoicing of obstruents: In English, a voiced obstruent is partially devoiced next to a pause or next to a voiceless sound within a word or across a word boundary.
Retraction: In English, are retracted before .
Because the choice among allophones is seldom under conscious control, few people realize their existence. English-speakers may be unaware of differences between a number of (dialect-dependent) allophones of the phoneme :
post-aspirated as in top,
unaspirated as in stop.
glottalized (or rather substituted by the glottal stop) as in button, but many speakers preserve at least an unreleased coronal stop .
In addition, the following allophones of /t/ are found in (at least) some dialects of American(ised) English;
flapped as in American English water,
nasal(ized) flapped as in American English winter.
unreleased as in American English cat, but other dialects preserve the released , or substitute the glottal stop .
However, speakers may become aware of the differences iffor examplethey contrast the pronunciations of the following words:
Night rate: unreleased (without a word space between and )
Nitrate: aspirated or retracted
A flame that is held in front of the lips while those words are spoken flickers more for the aspirated nitrate than for the unaspirated night rate. The difference can also be felt by holding the hand in front of the lips. For a Mandarin-speaker, for whom and are separate phonemes, the English distinction is much more obvious than for an English-speaker, who has learned since childhood to ignore the distinction.
One may notice the (dialect-dependent) allophones of English such as the (palatal) alveolar "light" of leaf as opposed to the velar alveolar "dark" in feel found in the U.S. and Southern England. The difference is much more obvious to a Turkish-speaker, for whom and are separate phonemes, than to an English speaker, for whom they are allophones of a single phoneme.
These descriptions are more sequentially broken down in the next section.
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Allophone
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Rules for English consonant allophones
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Rules for English consonant allophones
Peter Ladefoged, a renowned phonetician, clearly explains the consonant allophones of English in a precise list of statements to illustrate the language behavior. Some of these rules apply to all the consonants of English; the first item on the list deals with consonant length, items 2 through 18 apply to only selected groups of consonants, and the last item deals with the quality of a consonant.
These descriptive rules are as follows:Ladefoged, Peter (2001). A Course in Phonetics (4th ed.). Orlando: Harcourt. . p. 56-60.
Consonants are longer when they come at the end of a phrase. This can be easily tested by recording a speaker saying a sound like "bib", then comparing the forward and backward playback of the recording. One will find that the backward playback does not sound like the forward playback because the production of what is expected to be the same sound is not identical.
Voiceless stops are aspirated when they come at the beginning of a syllable, such as in words like "pip, test, kick" . We can compare this with voiceless stops that are not syllable initial like "stop" [stɑp]. The voiceless stop follows the (fricative) here.
Voiced obstruents, which include stops and fricatives, such as , that come at the end of an utterance like in "improve" or before a voiceless sound like in "add two") are only briefly voiced during the articulation.
Voiced stops and affricates in fact occur as partially devoiced at the beginning of a syllable unless immediately preceded by a voiced sound, in which the voiced sound carries over.
Approximants (in English, these include ) are partially devoiced when they occur after syllable-initial like in "play, twin, cue" .
Voiceless stops are not aspirated when following after a syllable initial fricative, such as in the words "spew, stew, skew."
Voiceless stops and affricates are longer than their voiced counterparts when situated at the end of a syllable. Try comparing "cap" to "cab" or "back" to "bag".
When a stop comes before another stop, the explosion of air only follows after the second stop, illustrated in words like "apt" and "rubbed" .
Many English accents produce a glottal stop in syllables that end with voiceless stops. Some examples include pronunciations of "tip, pit, kick" .
Some accents of English use a glottal stop in place of a when it comes before an alveolar nasal in the same word (as opposed to in the next word), such as in the word "beaten" .
Nasals become syllabic, or their own syllable, only when immediately following an obstruent (as opposed to just any consonant), such as in the words "leaden, chasm" . Take in comparison "kiln, film"; in most accents of English, the nasals are not syllabic.
The lateral , however, is syllabic at the end of the word when immediately following any consonant, like in "paddle, whistle" .
When considering as liquids, is included in this rule as well as present in the words "sabre, razor, hammer, tailor" .
Alveolar stops become voiced taps when they occur between two vowels, as long as the second vowel is unstressed. Take for instance mainly American English pronunciations like "fatty, data, daddy, many" .
When an alveolar nasal is followed by a stop, the is lost and a nasal tap occurs, causing "winter" to sound just like "winner" or "panting" to sound just like "panning". In this case, both alveolar stops and alveolar nasal plus stop sequences become voiced taps after two vowels when the second vowel is unstressed. This can vary among speakers, where the rule does not apply to certain words or when speaking at a slower pace.
All alveolar consonants assimilate to dentals when occurring before a dental. Take the words "eighth, tenth, wealth". This also applies across word boundaries, for example "at this" .
Alveolar stops are reduced or omitted when between two consonants. Some examples include "most people" (can be written either as or with the IPA, where the is inaudible, and "sand paper, grand master", where the is inaudible.
A consonant is shortened when it is before an identical consonant, such as in "big game" or "top post".
A homorganic voiceless stop may be inserted after a nasal before a voiceless fricative followed by an unstressed vowel in the same word. For example, a bilabial voiceless plosive can be detected in the word "something" even though it is orthographically not indicated. This is known as epenthesis. However, the following vowel must be unstressed.
Velar stops become more front when the following vowel sound in the same syllable becomes more front. Compare for instance "cap" vs. "key" and "gap" vs. "geese" .
The lateral is velarized at the end of a word when it comes after a vowel as well as before a consonant. Compare for example "life" vs. "file" or "feeling" vs. "feel" .Poppy Blake, a Course in Phonetics Ladefoged & Johnson Chapter 3
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Allophone
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Other languages
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Other languages
There are many examples for allophones in languages other than English. Typically, languages with a small phoneme inventory allow for quite a lot of allophonic variation: examples are Hawaiian and Pirahã. Here are some examples (the links of language names go to the specific article or subsection on the phenomenon):
Consonant allophones
Final devoicing, particularly final-obstruent devoicing: Arapaho, English, Nahuatl, Catalan and many others
Voicing of initial consonant
Anticipatory assimilation
Aspiration changes: Algonquin
Frication between vowels: Dahalo
Lenition: Manx, Corsican
Voicing of clicks: Dahalo
Allophones for : Arapaho, Xavante
Allophones for : Xavante
Allophones for : Bengali
Allophones for : Xavante
Allophones for : Manam
Allophones for : Garhwali
and as allophones: a number of Arabic dialects
and as allophones: Some dialects of Hawaiian, and some of Mandarin (e.g. Southwestern and Lower Yangtze)
Allophones for
: Finnish, Spanish and many more.
wide range of variation in Japanese (as archiphoneme /N/)
Allophones for : Bengali, Xavante
Allophones for : Bengali
Allophones for : Bengali, Taos
and as allophones: Hawaiian
Allophones for :
and : Hindustani, Hawaiian
fricative before unrounded vowels: O'odham
Allophones for : Bengali
Vowel allophones
and are allophones of and in closed final syllables in Malay and Portuguese, while and are allophones of and in Indonesian.
as allophones for short , and as allophones for short in various Arabic dialects (long , , , are separate phonemes in most Arabic dialects).
Polish
Russian
Allophones for , and : Nuxálk
Vowel/consonant allophones
Vowels become glides in diphthongs: Manam
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Allophone
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Representing a phoneme with an allophone
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Representing a phoneme with an allophone
Since phonemes are abstractions of speech sounds, not the sounds themselves, they have no direct phonetic transcription. When they are realized without much allophonic variation, a simple broad transcription is used. However, when there are complementary allophones of a phoneme, the allophony becomes significant and things then become more complicated. Often, if only one of the allophones is simple to transcribe, in the sense of not requiring diacritics, that representation is chosen for the phoneme.
However, there may be several such allophones, or the linguist may prefer greater precision than that allows. In such cases, a common convention is to use the "elsewhere condition" to decide the allophone that stands for the phoneme. The "elsewhere" allophone is the one that remains once the conditions for the others are described by phonological rules.
For example, English has both oral and nasal allophones of its vowels. The pattern is that vowels are nasal only before a nasal consonant in the same syllable; elsewhere, they are oral. Therefore, by the "elsewhere" convention, the oral allophones are considered basic, and nasal vowels in English are considered to be allophones of oral phonemes.
In other cases, an allophone may be chosen to represent its phoneme because it is more common in the languages of the world than the other allophones, because it reflects the historical origin of the phoneme, or because it gives a more balanced look to a chart of the phonemic inventory.
An alternative, which is commonly used for archiphonemes, is to use a capital letter, such as /N/ for [m], [n], [ŋ].
In rare cases, a linguist may represent phonemes with abstract symbols, such as dingbats, to avoid privileging any particular allophone.
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Allophone
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See also
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See also
Allo-
Allophonic rule
Allomorph
Alternation (linguistics)
Diaphoneme
List of phonetics topics
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Allophone
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References
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References
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Allophone
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External links
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External links
Phonemes and allophones
Category:Phonetics
Category:Phonology
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Allophone
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Table of Content
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Short description, History of concept, Complementary and free-variant allophones, Allotone, Examples, English, Rules for English consonant allophones, Other languages, Representing a phoneme with an allophone, See also, References, External links
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Affix
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Short description
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In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. The main two categories are derivational and inflectional affixes. Derivational affixes, such as un-, -ation, anti-, pre- etc., introduce a semantic change to the word they are attached to. Inflectional affixes introduce a syntactic change, such as singular into plural (e.g. -(e)s), or present simple tense into present continuous or past tense by adding -ing, -ed to an English word. All of them are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes.
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Affix
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Affixes, infixes and their variations
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Affixes, infixes and their variations
Changing a word by adding a morpheme at its beginning is called prefixation, in the middle is called infixation, and at the end is called suffixation.
+ Categories of affixes Affix Example Schema Description Prefix un-do prefix-stem Appears before the stem Prefixoid/semi-prefix/pseudo-prefix flexi-cover prefixoid-stem Appears before the stem, but is only partially bound to it Suffix/postfix look-ing stem-suffix Appears after the stem SuffixoidKremer, Marion. 1997. Person reference and gender in translation: a contrastive investigation of English and German. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, p. 69, note 11./semi-suffixMarchand, Hans. 1969. The categories and types of present-day English word-formation: A synchronic-diachronic approach. Munich: Beck, pp. 356 ff./pseudo-suffix cat-like stem-suffixoid Appears after the stem, but is only partially bound to it Infix(see also tmesis) educated stem Appears within a stem — common e.g. in Austronesian languages Circumfix enen circumfixcircumfix One portion appears before the stem, the other after Interfix speed-o-meter stema-interfix-stemb Links two stems together in a compound Duplifix money~shmoney (shm-reduplication) stem~duplifix Incorporates a reduplicated portion of a stem(may occur before, after, or within the stem) Transfix Maltese: ktb "he wrote"(compare root ktb "write") stem A discontinuous affix that interleaves within a discontinuous stem Simulfix mouse → mice stem\simulfix Changes a segment of a stem Suprafix produce (noun)produce (verb) stem\suprafix Changes a suprasegmental feature of a stem Disfix Alabama: tipli "break up"(compare root tipasli "break") stem The elision of a portion of a stem
Prefix and suffix may be subsumed under the term adfix, in contrast to infix.
When marking text for interlinear glossing, as shown in the third column in the chart above, simple affixes such as prefixes and suffixes are separated from the stem with hyphens. Affixes which disrupt the stem, or which themselves are discontinuous, are often marked off with angle brackets. Reduplication is often shown with a tilde. Affixes which cannot be segmented are marked with a back slash.
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Affix
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Lexical affixes
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Lexical affixes
Semantically speaking, lexical affixes or semantic affixes, when compared with free nouns, often have a more generic or general meaning. For example, one denoting "water in a general sense" may not have a noun equivalent because all the nouns denote more specific meanings such as "saltwater", "whitewater", etc. (while in other cases the lexical suffixes have become grammaticalized to various degrees.) Although they behave as incorporated noun roots/stems within verbs and as elements of nouns, they never occur as freestanding nouns. Lexical affixes are relatively rare and are used in Wakashan, Salishan, and Chimakuan languages — the presence of these is an areal feature of the Pacific Northwest of North America - where they show little to no resemblance to free nouns with similar meanings. Compare the lexical suffixes and free nouns of Northern Straits Saanich written in the Saanich orthography and in Americanist notation:
Lexical Suffix Noun -o, -aʔ "person", ełtálṉew̱ ʔəɬtelŋəxʷ "person" -nát -net "day" sȼićel skʷičəl "day" -sen -sən "foot, lower leg" sxene, sx̣ənəʔ "foot, lower leg" -áwtw̱ -ew̕txʷ "building, house, campsite", á,leṉ ʔeʔləŋ "house"
Some linguists have claimed that these lexical suffixes provide only adverbial or adjectival notions to verbs. Other linguists disagree, arguing that they may additionally be syntactic arguments just as free nouns are and, thus, equating lexical suffixes with incorporated nouns. Gerdts (2003) gives examples of lexical suffixes in the Halkomelem language (the word order here is verb–subject–object):
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="line-height: 1.0em; font-size: 75%"
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| style="background: #bbbbff" | VERB
| style="background: #ffebad" | SUBJ
| style="background: #ffbbbb" | OBJ
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| (1)
| niʔ
| šak’ʷ-ət-əs
| łə słeniʔ
| łə qeq
|-
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| colspan="4" | "the woman washed the baby"
|- style="line-height: 1.0em; font-size: 75%"
| bgcolor=white colspan=5|
|- style="line-height: 1.0em; font-size: 75%"
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| style="background: #bbbbff" | VERB+LEX.SUFF
| style="background: #ffebad" | SUBJ
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|-
| (2)
| niʔ
| šk’ʷ-əyəł
| łə słeniʔ
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|-
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| colspan="4" | "the woman baby-washed"
|}
In sentence (1), the verb "wash" is šak’ʷətəs where šak’ʷ- is the root and -ət and -əs are inflectional suffixes. The subject "the woman" is łə słeniʔ and the object "the baby" is łə qeq. In this sentence, "the baby" is a free noun. (The niʔ here is an auxiliary, which can be ignored for explanatory purposes.)
In sentence (2), "baby" does not appear as a free noun. Instead it appears as the lexical suffix -əyəł which is affixed to the verb root šk’ʷ- (which has changed slightly in pronunciation, but this can also be ignored here). The lexical suffix is neither "the baby" (definite) nor "a baby" (indefinite); such referential changes are routine with incorporated nouns.
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Affix
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Orthographic affixes
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Orthographic affixes
In orthography, the terms for affixes may be used for the smaller elements of conjunct characters. For example, Maya glyphs are generally compounds of a main sign and smaller affixes joined at its margins. These are called prefixes, superfixes, postfixes, and subfixes according to their position to the left, on top, to the right, or at the bottom of the main glyph. A small glyph placed inside another is called an infix.Robert Sharer & Loa Traxler, 2006, The Ancient Maya, Stanford University Press. Similar terminology is found with the conjunct consonants of the Indic alphabets. For example, the Tibetan alphabet utilizes prefix, suffix, superfix, and subfix consonant letters.Andrew West, "Precomposed Tibetan Part 1 : BrdaRten" BabelStone, September 14, 2006
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Affix
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See also
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See also
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Affix
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References
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References
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Affix
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Bibliography
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Bibliography
Montler, Timothy. (1986). An outline of the morphology and phonology of Saanich, North Straits Salish. Occasional Papers in Linguistics (No. 4). Missoula, MT: University of Montana Linguistics Laboratory.
Montler, Timothy. (1991). Saanich, North Straits Salish classified word list. Canadian Ethnology service paper (No. 119); Mercury series. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization.
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Affix
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External links
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External links
Comprehensive and searchable affix dictionary reference
Category:Lexical units
Category:Linguistics terminology
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Affix
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Table of Content
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Short description, Affixes, infixes and their variations, Lexical affixes, Orthographic affixes, See also, References, Bibliography, External links
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Allegory
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Short description
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thumb|Pearl, miniature from Cotton Nero A.x. The dreamer stands on the other side of the stream from the Pearl-maiden. Pearl is one of the greatest allegories from the High Middle Ages.Stephen A. Barney (1989). "Allegory". Dictionary of the Middle Ages. vol. 1. .
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughout history in all forms of art to illustrate or convey complex ideas and concepts in ways that are comprehensible or striking to its viewers, readers, or listeners.
Writers and speakers typically use allegories to convey (semi-) hidden or complex meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey. Many allegories use personification of abstract concepts.
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Allegory
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Etymology
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Etymology
thumbnail| Salvator Rosa: Allegory of Fortune, representing Fortuna, the goddess of luck, with the horn of plenty
thumb|Allegory of the recognition of the Empire of Brazil and its independence. The painting depicts British diplomat Sir Charles Stuart presenting his letter of credence to Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, who is flanked by his wife Maria Leopoldina, their daughter Maria da Glória (later Queen Maria II of Portugal), and other dignitaries. At right, a winged figure, representing History, carving the "great event" on a stone tablet.
thumb| Marco Marcola: Mythological allegory
First attested in English in 1382, the word allegory comes from Latin allegoria, the latinisation of the Greek ἀλληγορία (allegoría), "veiled language, figurative",ἀλληγορία, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library literally "speaking about something else", which in turn comes from ἄλλος (allos), "another, different"ἄλλος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library and ἀγορεύω (agoreuo), "to harangue, to speak in the assembly",ἀγορεύω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library which originates from ἀγορά (agora), "assembly".ἀγορά, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, in the Perseus Digital Library.
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Allegory
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Types
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Types
Northrop Frye discussed what he termed a "continuum of allegory", a spectrum that ranges from what he termed the "naive allegory" of the likes of The Faerie Queene, to the more private allegories of modern paradox literature.
In this perspective, the characters in a "naive" allegory are not fully three-dimensional, for each aspect of their individual personalities and of the events that befall them embodies some moral quality or other abstraction; the author has selected the allegory first, and the details merely flesh it out.
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Allegory
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Classical allegory
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Classical allegory
The origins of allegory can be traced at least back to Homer in his "quasi-allegorical" use of personifications of, e.g., Terror (Deimos) and Fear (Phobos) at Il. 115 f.Small, S. G. P. (1949). "On Allegory in Homer". The Classical Journal 44 (7): 423. The title of "first allegorist", however, is usually awarded to whoever was the earliest to put forth allegorical interpretations of Homer. This approach leads to two possible answers: Theagenes of Rhegium (whom Porphyry calls the "first allegorist," Porph. Quaest. Hom. 1.240.14–241.12 Schrad.) or Pherecydes of Syros, both of whom are presumed to be active in the 6th century B.C.E., though Pherecydes is earlier and as he, is often presumed to be the, first writer of prose. The debate is complex, since it demands that we observe the distinction between two often conflated uses of the Greek verb "allēgoreīn," which can mean both "to speak allegorically" and "to interpret allegorically."Domaradzki, M. (2017). "The Beginnings of Greek Allegoresis". Classical World 110 (3):301
In the case of "interpreting allegorically," Theagenes appears to be our earliest example. Presumably in response to proto-philosophical moral critiques of Homer (e.g., Xenophanes fr. 11 Diels-KranzH. Diels and W. Kranz. (1951). Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, vol. 1. 6th edn. Berlin: Weidmann, 126–138.), Theagenes proposed symbolic interpretations whereby the Gods of the Iliad actually stood for physical elements. So, Hephestus represents Fire, for instance (for which see fr. A2 in Diels-KranzH. Diels and W. Kranz. (1951). Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, vol. 1. 6th edn. Berlin: Weidmann, 51–52.). Some scholars, however, argue that Pherecydes cosmogonic writings anticipated Theagenes allegorical work, illustrated especially by his early placement of Time (Chronos) in his genealogy of the gods, which is thought to be a reinterpretation of the titan Kronos, from more traditional genealogies.
In classical literature two of the best-known allegories are the Cave in Plato's The Republic (Book VII) and the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa (Livy ii. 32).
Among the best-known examples of allegory, Plato's Allegory of the Cave, forms a part of his larger work The Republic. In this allegory, Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall (514a–b). The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows, using language to identify their world (514c–515a). According to the allegory, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality, until one of them finds his way into the outside world where he sees the actual objects that produced the shadows. He tries to tell the people in the cave of his discovery, but they do not believe him and vehemently resist his efforts to free them so they can see for themselves (516e–518a). This allegory is, on a basic level, about a philosopher who upon, finding greater knowledge outside the cave of human understanding, seeks to share it as is his duty, and the foolishness of those who would ignore him because they think themselves educated enough.
In Late Antiquity Martianus Capella organized all the information a fifth-century upper-class male needed to know into an allegory of the wedding of Mercury and Philologia, with the seven liberal arts the young man needed to know as guests. Also, the Neoplatonic philosophy developed a type of allegorical reading of Homer and Plato. As scholars of allegory point out, ”the literal reading of a text has its counter-part in allegorical interpretation. This way of reading, which must have started with the first readers of Homer and found a fertile ground in Philo's allegorical commentaries on the Bible, was amazingly natural for Proclus, whose writings and commentaries represent the last phases of late antique philosophy, and particularly of the relation between philosophy and rhetoric.”
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Allegory
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Biblical allegory
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Biblical allegory
Other early allegories are found in the Hebrew Bible, such as the extended metaphor in Psalm 80 of the vine and its impressive spread and growth, representing Israel's conquest and population of the Promised Land. Also allegorical is Ezekiel 16 and 17, wherein the capture of that same vine by the mighty Eagle represents Israel's exile to Babylon.
Allegorical interpretation of the Bible was a common early Christian practice and continues. For example, the recently re-discovered Fourth Commentary on the Gospels by Fortunatianus of Aquileia has a comment by its English translator: "The principal characteristic of Fortunatianus' exegesis is a figurative approach, relying on a set of concepts associated with key terms in order to create an allegorical decoding of the text."
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Allegory
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Medieval allegory
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Medieval allegory
thumbnail| British School 17th century – Portrait of a Lady, Called Elizabeth, Lady Tanfield. Sometimes the meaning of an allegory can be lost, even if art historians suspect that the artwork is an allegory of some kind.
Allegory has an ability to freeze the temporality of a story, while infusing it with a spiritual context. Medieval thinking accepted allegory as having a reality underlying any rhetorical or fictional uses. The allegory was as true as the facts of surface appearances. Thus, the Papal Bull Unam Sanctam (1302) presents themes of the unity of Christendom with the pope as its head in which the allegorical details of the metaphors are adduced as facts on which is based a demonstration with the vocabulary of logic: "Therefore of this one and only Church there is one body and one head—not two heads as if it were a monster... If, then, the Greeks or others say that they were not committed to the care of Peter and his successors, they necessarily confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ." This text also demonstrates the frequent use of allegory in religious texts during the Medieval Period, following the tradition and example of the Bible.
In the late 15th century, the enigmatic Hypnerotomachia, with its elaborate woodcut illustrations, shows the influence of themed pageants and masques on contemporary allegorical representation, as humanist dialectic conveyed them.
The denial of medieval allegory as found in the 12th-century works of Hugh of St Victor and Edward Topsell's Historie of Foure-footed Beastes (London, 1607, 1653) and its replacement in the study of nature with methods of categorisation and mathematics by such figures as naturalist John Ray and the astronomer Galileo is thought to mark the beginnings of early modern science.
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Allegory
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Modern allegory
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Modern allegory
Since meaningful stories are nearly always applicable to larger issues, allegories may be read into many stories which the author may not have recognized. This is allegoresis, or the act of reading a story as an allegory. Examples of allegory in popular culture that may or may not have been intended include the works of Bertolt Brecht, and even some works of science fiction and fantasy, such as The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.
The story of the apple falling onto Isaac Newton's head is another famous allegory. It simplified the idea of gravity by depicting a simple way it was supposedly discovered. It also made the scientific revelation well known by condensing the theory into a short tale.
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Allegory
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Poetry and fiction
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Poetry and fiction
thumb|Detail of Laurent de La Hyre's Allegory of Arithmetic,
While allegoresis may make discovery of allegory in any work, not every resonant work of modern fiction is allegorical, and some are clearly not intended to be viewed this way. According to Henry Littlefield's 1964 article, L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, may be readily understood as a plot-driven fantasy narrative in an extended fable with talking animals and broadly sketched characters, intended to discuss the politics of the time.Littlefield, Henry (1964). "The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism". American Quarterly, 16 (1): 47–58. . Yet, George MacDonald emphasized in 1893 that "A fairy tale is not an allegory."
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is another example of a well-known work mistakenly perceived as allegorical, as the author himself once stated, "...I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned – with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."
Tolkien specifically resented the suggestion that the book's One Ring, which gives overwhelming power to those possessing it, was intended as an allegory of nuclear weapons. He noted that, had that been his intention, the book would not have ended with the Ring being destroyed but rather with an arms race in which various powers would try to obtain such a Ring for themselves. Then Tolkien went on to outline an alternative plot for "Lord of The Rings", as it would have been written had such an allegory been intended, and which would have made the book into a dystopia. While all this does not mean Tolkien's works may not be treated as having allegorical themes, especially when reinterpreted through postmodern sensibilities, it at least suggests that none were conscious in his writings. This further reinforces the idea of forced allegoresis, as allegory is often a matter of interpretation and only sometimes of original artistic intention.
Like allegorical stories, allegorical poetry has two meanings – a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.
Some unique specimens of allegory can be found in the following works:
Edmund Spenser – The Faerie Queene: The several knights in the poem actually stand for several virtues.
William Shakespeare – The Tempest: an allegory of the civilisation/barbarism binary as it pertains to colonialism
John Bunyan – The Pilgrim's Progress: The journey of the protagonists Christian and Evangelist symbolises the ascension of the soul from earth to Heaven.
Nathaniel Hawthorne – Young Goodman Brown: The Devil's Staff symbolises defiance of God. The characters' names, such as Goodman and Faith, ironically serve as paradox in the conclusion of the story.
Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter: The letter represents self-reliance from America's Puritan and conformity.
Esteban Echeverría – The Slaughter Yard: The slaughter yard represents the violence and brutality of the Federalist regime of Juan Manuel de Rosas in Buenos Aires and his parapolice thugs, the Mazorca.
George Orwell – Animal Farm: The pigs stand for political figures of the Russian Revolution.
Julio Cortázar – Casa Tomada: The take over of the protagonists' house is said to represent Peronism taking over Argentina.
László Krasznahorkai – The Melancholy of Resistance and the film Werckmeister Harmonies: It uses a circus to describe an occupying dysfunctional government.
Edgar Allan Poe – The Masque of the Red Death: The story can be read as an allegory for humans' inability to escape death.Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 137.
Arthur Miller – The Crucible: The Salem witch trials are thought to be an allegory for McCarthyism and the blacklisting of Communists in the United States of America.
Shel Silverstein – The Giving Tree: The book has been described as an allegory about relationships; between parents and children, between romantic partners, or between humans and the environment.
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Allegory
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Art
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Art
Some elaborate and successful specimens of allegory are to be found in the following works, arranged in approximate chronological order:
Ambrogio Lorenzetti – Allegoria del Buono e Cattivo Governo e loro Effetti in Città e Campagna ()
Sandro Botticelli – Primavera ()
Albrecht Dürer – Melencolia I (1514)
Bronzino – Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time ()
The English School's – "Allegory of Queen Elizabeth" ()
Artemisia Gentileschi – Allegory of Inclination (), An Allegory of Peace and the Arts under the English Crown (1638); Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting ()
The Feast of Herod with the Beheading of St John the Baptist by Bartholomeus Strobel is also an allegory of Europe in the time of the Thirty Years' War, with portraits of many leading political and military figures.
Jan Vermeer – Allegory of Painting ()
Fernand Le Quesne – Allégorie de la publicité
Jean-Léon Gérôme – Truth Coming Out of Her Well (1896)
Graydon Parrish – The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy (2006)
Many statues of Lady Justice: "Such visual representations have raised the question why so many allegories in the history of art, pertaining occupations once reserved for men only, are of female sex."Cäcilia Rentmeister: The Muses, Banned From Their Occupations: Why Are There So Many Allegories Female? English summary from Kvinnovetenskaplig Tidskrift, Nr.4. 1981, Lund, Sweden as PDF. Retrieved 10.July 2011 Original Version in German: Berufsverbot für die Musen. Warum sind so viele Allegorien weiblich? In: Ästhetik und Kommunikation, Nr. 25/1976, S. 92–112. Langfassung in: Frauen und Wissenschaft. Beiträge zur Berliner Sommeruniversität für Frauen, Juli 1976, Berlin 1977, S.258–297. With illustrations. Full Texts Online: Cäcilia (Cillie) Rentmeister: publications
Damien Hirst Verity (2012)
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Allegory
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Gallery
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Gallery
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Allegory
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See also
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See also
Allegorical interpretations of Plato
Allegorical interpretation of the Bible
Allegory in Renaissance literature
Allegorical sculpture
Cultural depictions of Philip II of Spain
Diwan (poetry)
Freemasonry ("a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.")
Parable
Semiotics
Theagenes of Rhegium
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Allegory
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References
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References
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Allegory
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Further reading
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Further reading
Frye, Northrop (1957) Anatomy of Criticism.
Fletcher, Angus (1964) Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode.
Foucault, Michel (1966) The Order of Things.
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Allegory
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External links
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External links
Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Allegory in Literary history
Electronic Antiquity, Richard Levis, "Allegory and the Eclogues" Roman definitions of allegoria and interpreting Vergil's Eclogues.
What is an Allegory? Introduction to Allegory
Category:Figures of speech
Category:Narrative techniques
Category:Poetic devices
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Allegory
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Table of Content
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Short description, Etymology, Types, Classical allegory, Biblical allegory, Medieval allegory, Modern allegory, Poetry and fiction, Art, Gallery, See also, References, Further reading, External links
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Allotropy
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short description
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thumb|193x193px|Diamond and graphite are two allotropes of carbon: pure forms of the same element that differ in crystalline structure.
Allotropy or allotropism () is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements. Allotropes are different structural modifications of an element: the atoms of the element are bonded together in different manners.
For example, the allotropes of carbon include diamond (the carbon atoms are bonded together to form a cubic lattice of tetrahedra), graphite (the carbon atoms are bonded together in sheets of a hexagonal lattice), graphene (single sheets of graphite), and fullerenes (the carbon atoms are bonded together in spherical, tubular, or ellipsoidal formations).
The term allotropy is used for elements only, not for compounds. The more general term, used for any compound, is polymorphism, although its use is usually restricted to solid materials such as crystals. Allotropy refers only to different forms of an element within the same physical phase (the state of matter, such as a solid, liquid or gas). The differences between these states of matter would not alone constitute examples of allotropy. Allotropes of chemical elements are frequently referred to as polymorphs or as phases of the element.
For some elements, allotropes have different molecular formulae or different crystalline structures, as well as a difference in physical phase; for example, two allotropes of oxygen (dioxygen, O2, and ozone, O3) can both exist in the solid, liquid and gaseous states. Other elements do not maintain distinct allotropes in different physical phases; for example, phosphorus has numerous solid allotropes, which all revert to the same P4 form when melted to the liquid state.
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Allotropy
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History
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History
The concept of allotropy was originally proposed in 1840 by the Swedish scientist Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779–1848).See:
From p. 14: "Om det ock passar väl för att uttrycka förhållandet emellan myrsyrad ethyloxid och ättiksyrad methyloxid, så är det icke passande för de olika tillstånd hos de enkla kropparne, hvari dessa blifva af skiljaktiga egenskaper, och torde för dem böra ersättas af en bättre vald benämning, t. ex. Allotropi (af αλλότροπος, som betyder: af olika beskaffenhet) eller allotropiskt tillstånd." (If it [i.e., the word isomer] is also well suited to express the relation between formic acid ethyl oxide [i.e., ethyl formate] and acetic acid methyloxide [i.e., methyl acetate], then it [i.e., the word isomers] is not suitable for different conditions of simple substances, where these [substances] transform to have different properties, and [therefore the word isomers] should be replaced, in their case, by a better chosen name; for example, Allotropy (from αλλότροπος, which means: of different nature) or allotropic condition.)
Republished in German: From p. 13: "Wenn es sich auch noch gut eignet, um das Verhältniss zwischen ameisensaurem Äthyloxyd und essigsaurem Methyloxyd auszudrücken, so ist es nicht passend für ungleiche Zustände bei Körpern, in welchen diese verschiedene Eigenschaften annehmen, und dürfte für diese durch eine besser gewählte Benennung zu ersetzen sein, z. B. durch Allotropie (von αλλότροπος, welches bedeutet: von ungleicher Beschaffenheit), oder durch allotropischen Zustand." (Even if it [i.e., the word isomer] is still well suited to express the relation between ethyl formate and methyl acetate, then it is not appropriate for the distinct conditions in the case of substances where these [substances] assume different properties, and for these, [the word isomer] may be replaced with a better chosen designation, e.g., with Allotropy (from αλλότροπος, which means: of distinct character), or with allotropic condition.)
Merriam-Webster online dictionary: Allotropy. The term is derived .. After the acceptance of Avogadro's hypothesis in 1860, it was understood that elements could exist as polyatomic molecules, and two allotropes of oxygen were recognized as O2 and O3. In the early 20th century, it was recognized that other cases such as carbon were due to differences in crystal structure.
By 1912, Ostwald noted that the allotropy of elements is just a special case of the phenomenon of polymorphism known for compounds, and proposed that the terms allotrope and allotropy be abandoned and replaced by polymorph and polymorphism. From p. 104: "Substances are known which exist not only in two, but even in three, four or five different solid forms; no limitation to the number is known to exist. Such substances are called polymorphous. The name allotropy is commonly employed in the same connexion, especially when the substance is an element. There is no real reason for making this distinction, and it is preferable to allow the second less common name to die out." Although many other chemists have repeated this advice, IUPAC and most chemistry texts still favour the usage of allotrope and allotropy for elements only.Jensen 2006, citing Addison, W. E. The Allotropy of the Elements (Elsevier 1964) that many have repeated this advice.
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Allotropy
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Differences in properties of an element's allotropes
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Differences in properties of an element's allotropes
Allotropes are different structural forms of the same element and can exhibit quite different physical properties and chemical behaviours. The change between allotropic forms is triggered by the same forces that affect other structures, i.e., pressure, light, and temperature. Therefore, the stability of the particular allotropes depends on particular conditions. For instance, iron changes from a body-centered cubic structure (ferrite) to a face-centered cubic structure (austenite) above 906 °C, and tin undergoes a modification known as tin pest from a metallic form to a semimetallic form below 13.2 °C (55.8 °F). As an example of allotropes having different chemical behaviour, ozone (O3) is a much stronger oxidizing agent than dioxygen (O2).
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Allotropy
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List of allotropes
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List of allotropes
Typically, elements capable of variable coordination number and/or oxidation states tend to exhibit greater numbers of allotropic forms. Another contributing factor is the ability of an element to catenate.
Examples of allotropes include:
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Allotropy
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Non-metals
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Non-metals
Element AllotropesCarbon Diamond – an extremely hard, transparent crystal, with the carbon atoms arranged in a tetrahedral lattice. A poor electrical conductor. An excellent thermal conductor.
Lonsdaleite – also called hexagonal diamond.
Graphene – is the basic structural element of other allotropes, nanotubes, charcoal, and fullerenes.
Q-carbon – a ferromagnetic, tough, and brilliant crystal structure that is harder and brighter than diamonds.
Graphite – a semimetallic, soft, black, flaky solid, a good electrical conductor. The C atoms are bonded in flat hexagonal lattices (graphene), which are then layered in sheets.
Linear acetylenic carbon (carbyne)
Amorphous carbon
Fullerenes, including buckminsterfullerene, also known as "buckyballs", such as C60.
Carbon nanotubes – allotropes having a cylindrical nanostructure.
Schwarzites
Cyclocarbon
Glassy carbon
Superdense carbon allotropes – proposed allotropesNitrogen Dinitrogen – by far the most common and stable form of nitrogen, found in the air.
Hexazine
Octaazacubane
Tetranitrogen
Trinitrogen
Solid nitrogenPhosphorus White phosphorus – crystalline solid of tetraphosphorus (P4) molecules
Red phosphorus – amorphous polymeric solid
Scarlet phosphorus
Violet phosphorus with monoclinic crystalline structure
Black phosphorus – semiconductor, analogous to graphite
Diphosphorus – gaseous form composed of P2 molecules, stable between 1200 °C and 2000 °C; created e.g. by dissociation of P4 molecules of white phosphorus at around 827 °COxygen Dioxygen, O2 – colorless (faint blue liquid and solid)
Ozone, O3 – blue
Tetraoxygen, O4 – metastable
Octaoxygen, O8 – redSulfur Cyclo-Pentasulfur, Cyclo-S5
Cyclo-Hexasulfur, Cyclo-S6
Cyclo-Heptasulfur, Cyclo-S7
Cyclo-Octasulfur, Cyclo-S8Selenium "Red selenium", cyclo-Se8
Gray selenium, polymeric Se
Black selenium, irregular polymeric rings up to 1000 atoms long
Monoclinic selenium, dark red transparent crystalsSpin isomers of hydrogen Orthohydrogen, H2 with nuclear spins aligned parallel
Parahydrogen, H2 with nuclear spins aligned antiparallel
These nuclear spin isomers have sometimes been described as allotropes, notably by the committee which awarded the 1932 Nobel prize to Werner Heisenberg for quantum mechanics and singled out the "allotropic forms of hydrogen" as its most notable application.Werner Heisenberg – Facts Nobelprize.org
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Allotropy
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Metalloids
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Metalloids
Element AllotropesBoron Amorphous boron – brown powder – B12 regular icosahedra
α-rhombohedral boron
β-rhombohedral boron
γ-orthorhombic boron
α-tetragonal boron
β-tetragonal boron
High-pressure superconducting phaseSilicon Amorphous silicon
α-silicon, a semiconductor, diamond cubic structure
β-silicon - metallic, with the BCC similar to molybdenum and beta-tin (High Pressure Phase)
Q-Silicon - a ferromagnetic (Similar to Q-Carbon) and highly conductive phase of silicon (similar to graphite)
Silicene, buckled planar single layer Silicon, similar to GrapheneGermanium Amorphous germanium
α-germanium – semimetallic element or semiconductor, with the same structure as diamond (similar chemical properties with sulfur and silicon)
β-germanium – metallic, with the same structure as beta-tin
Germanene – Buckled planar Germanium, similar to grapheneArsenic Yellow arsenic – molecular non-metallic As4, with the same structure as white phosphorus (Similar chemical properties with nitrogen and phosphorus)
Gray arsenic, polymeric As (metallic, though heavily anisotropic) (similar to aluminum and antimony in chemical properties)
Black arsenic – molecular and non-metallic, with the same structure as red phosphorusAntimony Blue-white antimony – stable form (metallic), with the same structure as gray arsenic (similar to arsenic in chemical properties)
Black antimony (non-metallic and amorphous, only stable as a thin layer)Tellurium Amorphous tellurium – gray-black or brown powder
Crystalline tellurium – hexagonal crystalline structure (metalloid) (similar chemical properties with selenium)
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Allotropy
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Metals
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Metals
Among the metallic elements that occur in nature in significant quantities (56 up to U, without Tc and Pm), almost half (27) are allotropic at ambient pressure: Li, Be, Na, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Sr, Y, Zr, Sn, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Yb, Hf, Tl, Th, Pa and U. Some phase transitions between allotropic forms of technologically relevant metals are those of Ti at 882 °C, Fe at 912 °C and 1,394 °C, Co at 422 °C, Zr at 863 °C, Sn at 13 °C and U at 668 °C and 776 °C.
ElementPhase name(s)Space groupPearson symbolStructure typeDescriptionLithiumα-LiRmhR9α-SmForms below 70 K.β-LiImmcI2WStable at room temperature and pressure.FmmcF4CuForms above 7GPaRmhR1α-HgAn intermediate phase formed ~40GPa.I3dcI16Forms above 40GPa.oC88Forms between 60 and 70 GPa.oC40Forms between 70 and 95 GPa.oC24Forms above 95 GPa.Berylliumα-BeP63/mmchP2MgStable at room temperature and pressure.β-BeImmcI2WForms above 1255 °C.Sodiumα-NaRmhR9α-SmForms below 20 K.β-NaImmcI2WStable at room temperature and pressure.FmmcF4CuForms at room temperature above 65 GPa.I3dcI16Forms at room temperature, 108GPa.PnmaoP8MnPForms at room temperature, 119GPa.tI19*A host-guest structure that forms above between 125 and 180 GPa.hP4Forms above 180 GPa.MagnesiumP63/mmchP2MgStable at room temperature and pressure.ImmcI2WForms above 50 GPa.Aluminiumα-AlFmmcF4CuStable at room temperature and pressure.β-AlP63/mmchP2MgForms above 20.5 GPa.PotassiumImmcI2WStable at room temperature and pressure.FmmcF4CuForms above 11.7 GPa.I4/mcmtI19*A host-guest structure that forms at about 20 GPa.P63/mmchP4NiAsForms above 25 GPa.PnmaoP8MnPForms above 58GPa.I41/amdtI4Forms above 112 GPa.CmcaoC16Formas above 112 GPa.Ironα-Fe, ferriteImmcI2Body-centered cubicStable at room temperature and pressure. Ferromagnetic at T<770 °C, paramagnetic from T=770–912 °C.γ-iron, austeniteFmmcF4Face-centered cubicStable from 912 to 1,394 °C. δ-ironImmcI2Body-centered cubicStable from 1,394 – 1,538 °C, same structure as α-Fe.ε-iron, HexaferrumP63/mmchP2Hexagonal close-packedStable at high pressures.Cobaltα-Cobalthexagonal-close packedForms below 450 °C.β-Cobaltface centered cubicForms above 450 °C.ε-CobaltP4132primitive cubicForms from thermal decomposition of [Co2CO8]. Nanoallotrope.Rubidiumα-RbImmcI2WStable at room temperature and pressure.cF4Forms above 7 GPa.oC52Forms above 13 GPa.tI19*Forms above 17 GPa.tI4Forms above 20 GPa.oC16Forms above 48 GPa.Tinα-tin, gray tin, tin pestFdmcF8d-CStable below 13.2 °C.β-tin, white tinI41/amdtI4β-SnStable at room temperature and pressure.γ-tin, rhombic tinI4/mmmtI2InForms above 10 GPa.γ'-SnImmmoI2MoPt2Forms above 30 GPa.σ-Sn, γ"-SnImmcI2WForms above 41 GPa. Forms at very high pressure.δ-SnP63/mmchP2MgForms above 157 GPa.StanenePoloniumα-Poloniumsimple cubicβ-Poloniumrhombohedral
Most stable structure under standard conditions.
Structures stable below room temperature.
Structures stable above room temperature.
Structures stable above atmospheric pressure.
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Allotropy
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Lanthanides and actinides
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Lanthanides and actinides
right|thumb|250px|Phase diagram of the actinide elements.
Cerium, samarium, dysprosium and ytterbium have three allotropes.
Praseodymium, neodymium, gadolinium and terbium have two allotropes.
Plutonium has six distinct solid allotropes under "normal" pressures. Their densities vary within a ratio of some 4:3, which vastly complicates all kinds of work with the metal (particularly casting, machining, and storage). A seventh plutonium allotrope exists at very high pressures. The transuranium metals Np, Am, and Cm are also allotropic.
Promethium, americium, berkelium and californium have three allotropes each.
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Allotropy
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Nanoallotropes
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Nanoallotropes
In 2017, the concept of nanoallotropy was proposed. Nanoallotropes, or allotropes of nanomaterials, are nanoporous materials that have the same chemical composition (e.g., Au), but differ in their architecture at the nanoscale (that is, on a scale 10 to 100 times the dimensions of individual atoms). Such nanoallotropes may help create ultra-small electronic devices and find other industrial applications. The different nanoscale architectures translate into different properties, as was demonstrated for surface-enhanced Raman scattering performed on several different nanoallotropes of gold. A two-step method for generating nanoallotropes was also created.
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Allotropy
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See also
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See also
Isomer
Polymorphism (materials science)
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Allotropy
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Notes
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Notes
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Allotropy
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References
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References
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Allotropy
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External links
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External links
Allotropes – Chemistry Encyclopedia
Category:Chemistry
Category:Inorganic chemistry
Category:Physical chemistry
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Allotropy
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Table of Content
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short description, History, Differences in properties of an element's allotropes, List of allotropes, Non-metals, Metalloids, Metals, Lanthanides and actinides, Nanoallotropes, See also, Notes, References, External links
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Short description
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thumb|250px|right|Silver stater of Agathocles, depicting Athena and Pegasus with the triskeles.
Agathocles (, Agathoklḗs; 361–289 BC) was a tyrant of Syracuse from 317 BC and king of much of Sicily from 304 BC until his death. Agathocles began his career as a military officer, and raised his profile as a supporter of the democratic faction in Syracuse against the oligarchic civic government. His opponents forced him into exile and he became a mercenary leader. He eventually made his way back to Syracuse and was elected as a general. A few years later he took control through a coup d'état. In practice he was a tyrant, although a democratic constitution theoretically remained in force.
Agathocles had led a long, costly war against the Carthaginians, who ruled the western half of Sicily, between 311 and 306 BC. In a military campaign he led the invasion of Carthage's North African heartland in 310 BC. After initial successes he abandoned his army in Africa and returned to Sicily in 307 BC, where he made peace with the Carthaginians and restored the status quo ante bellum. He then assumed the royal title and managed to bring almost the entire Greek portion of Sicily, and part of Calabria, under his control. Agathocles came close to of bringing the entirety of Magna Graecia under his control but his attempt to establish a dynasty fell apart as a result of conflict within his family.
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Biography
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Biography
Agathocles was a son of Carcinus, who came from Rhegium. Carcinus was expelled from his hometown, so he migrated to Thermae Himeraeae and married a local citizen woman. Thermae, which was located on the north coast of Sicily, belonged to the western part of the island, which was under Carthaginian control. The couple had two sons, Antander and Agathocles. In 343 BC, when Agathocles was around eighteen years old, the family re-settled in Syracuse. Carcinus had answered a call from the commander Timoleon, which had overthrown the tyrannical regime of Dionysius II. Timoleon sought new citizens for the city, which had been depopulated by the civil wars. Thus, Carcinus and Agathocles acquired Syracusan citizenship. According to the sources, Carcinus was a potter and Agathocles followed him in his profession. Modern historians generally argue that he must have been a wealthy man who owned a pottery workshop. In later times, Agathocles frequently advertised his lower class origins and used them as part of his self-presentation as a ruler, since performative modesty and presenting himself as a man of the people would be important parts of his persona.
Agathocles began his military career during Timoleon's rule. He initially served as a soldier and then as an officer. Later, after Timoleon's death in 337 BC, Agathocles participated in an expedition against Acragas and began a relationship with the general, Damas, who promoted him to chiliarch. After Damas' death, Agathocles married his widow. This made him one of the richest men in Syracuse, which gave him a good platform to begin his political ascent.
After Timoleon's death, Syracuse descended into the traditional conflict between democrats and oligarchs. The oligarchs had the upper hand and ruled the city as a club, called "the Six Hundred." Agathocles' elder brother, Antander, was elected to a generalship, during this period, so he must have had good relationships with members of the ruling circle. Agathocles, on the other hand, spoke in the people's assembly and placed himself on the side of the opposition democrats, but he was unable to overcome their power. After a successful campaign to defend Croton in southern Italy from the Bruttii, he denied an award for bravery which he felt he had earnt. After this, he openly opposed the government and openly accused the leading oligarchs, Sosistratus and Heracleides, of seeking to become tyrants. These accusations were not successful and the two oligarchs solidified their power. Agathocles' situation in Syracuse was then untenable and he declared that he was compelled to leave the city. This does not necessarily mean that he was formally exiled.
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Double exile
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Double exile
Agathocles went to southern Italy, where he led the life of a mercenary captain. At the same time, he built up an independent power base, as preparation for a return to Syracuse. His first military effort was a failure, however: he attempted to bring the major city of Croton in Calabria under his control by force, probably in alliance with the local democrats, but he was completely defeated and had to flee with his surviving followers to Tarentum. The Tarentines accepted him into their mercenary forces, but they distrusted him because of his ambition and plots, which led to his dismissal. After this, he gathered together democrats who had been expelled from their cities by local oligarchs. An opportunity appeared at Rhegium, the hometown of Agathocles' father. There, the democrats were in power, but the city was attacked by forces led by the Syracusan oligarchs, who wanted to help the local oligarchs take power by force. Agathocles defeated this Syracusan expeditionary force, which destabilised Sosistratus and Heracleides' position in Syracuse and as a result they were overthrown in a coup. The democrats returned to power and drove the leading oligarchs out of Syracuse. The exiled oligarchs allied themselves with the Carthaginians. These developments allowed Agathocles to return home around 322 BC.
Agathocles distinguished himself in the subsequent battles against the Carthaginians and oligarchs, but did not manage to acquire a leading position in the city. Instead, the Syracusans chose to request a commander from their mother city, Corinth, in accordance with a law established by Timoleon. The Corinthians sent one Acestorides, who organised an amnesty for the oligarchs, made peace with the Carthaginians, and exiled Agathocles. The radical democrats were forced out and a moderate oligarchy was established. Acestorides even attempted to have Agathocles assassinated. Agathocles established a private army, apparently funded from his own assets. He took advantage of the fact that the Syracusans were considered oppressive by other cities in Sicily and successfully presented himself as a supporter of these cities' interests against the Syracusans. He managed to take over Leontini and even led an attack on Syracuse. The situation became so tenuous for the oligarchs in Syracuse that they reached out to the Carthaginians for help.
Agathocles outpaced the oligarchs. He negotiated with the Carthaginian commander in Sicily, Hamilcar, and convinced him to withdraw. Allegedly, they had concluded a personal agreement to support each other in establishing themselves as sole rulers of their respective cities.Justin, Epitome 22.2.5-7 After the loss of Carthaginian support, Syracuse was isolated. The citizens, who did not really wish to fight for oligarchy, agreed to allow Agathocles to return home. He swore the Syracuse "great oath", promising that he would not establish a tyranny. After that, he was elected commander in chief of the Syracusan army in 319/318 BC.
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Seizure of power
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Seizure of power
The position of Agathocles within the city of Syracuse was initially that of a regular military commander, with wide but limited powers. His title was General and Guardian of the Peace ().Diodoros, Bibliotheke 19.5.5 In Syracuse, the surviving oligarchs banded together as "The Six Hundred" and continued to oppose him. Agathocles took advantage of the conflicts between the Syracusans and the non-Greek Sicels and between the rich and poor within Syracuse to overcome these opponents. On the pretext of taking military action against external enemies, he was able to gather a powerful force, which was loyal only to him, without raising suspicion.
In 317/6 or 316/5 BC, Agathocles used this force to launch a coup. At a meeting that the leading members of the opposition party had been invited to, he accused around forty of the oligarchs there of planning an attack on him and had them arrested and executed on the spot. His trumpeters gave the sign for battle and a general slaughter took place in the city, in which the wealthy and their supporters were the main victims. Their houses were plundered. According to Diodorus Siculus's account, over 4,000 people were killed, purely because they belonged to the upper class. More than 6,000 people escaped from the city, even though the gates had been locked. They mostly fled to Agrigentum.Diodorus Bibliotheke 19.6.4-19.8.2
Finally, Agathocles called an assembly of the people, in which he presented himself as a saviour of democracy in the face of the oligarchs and announced that he would retire from his position and return to private life. His followers responded by calling on him to take over the leadership of the state. He responded that he was willing to be general once more, but only if he could hold the role without any colleagues, as General with unlimited power (). This was the title that the earlier ruler Dionysius I had used as the legal basis for his tyranny. The people elected him to this position and also entrusted him with a general "management of the city" (). After this he announced a cancellation of debts and redistribution of the land, two planks of the traditional populist programme.Diodoros, Bibliotheke 19.9.1-5
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Rulership
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Rulership
thumb|Silver drachma of Agathocles, depicting Apollo and the triskeles.
War with Carthage followed. In 311 BC Agathocles was defeated in the Battle of the Himera River and besieged in Syracuse. In 310 BC he made a desperate effort to break through the blockade and attack Carthage. He landed at Cape Bon in August 310 BC, and was able to defeat the Carthaginians for the first time, and establish a camp near Tunis. He then turned east and tried to take over coastal trading cities such as Neapolis and Hadrumetum, and on this occasion concluded an alliance with Ailymas, king of the Libyans according to Diodorus of Sicily, in an attempt to surround and isolate Carthage. After capturing Hadrumetum, Thapsus and other coastal towns, Agathocles turned his attention to central Tunisia. Before or during this campaign, he broke his alliance with Ailymas, whom he pursued and killed, but he kept his Numidian army, including war chariots they built.
In 309/8 BC, Agathocles began trying to sway Ophellas, ruler of Cyrenaica, as he was likely to prove a useful ally in Agathocles' war against the Carthaginians. To gain his allegiance, he promised to cede to Ophellas whatever conquests their combined forces might make in Africa, reserving to himself only the possession of Sicily.Diodorus xx. 40.1-4 Ophellas gathered a powerful army from the homeland of his wife Euthydike (a descendant of Miltiades), Athens, where many citizens felt disgruntled after having lost their voting rights. Despite the natural obstacles that presented themselves on his route, Ophellas succeeded in reaching the Carthaginian territories after a toilsome and perilous march of more than two months.Diodorus xx. 41-42 He was received by Agathocles with every demonstration of friendship, and the two armies encamped near each other, but a few days later, Agathocles betrayed his new ally by attacking the camp of the Cyrenaeans and having Ophellas killed.Diodorus xx. 42.4-5; 43.3-4 The Cyrenean troops, left without a leader, went over to Agathocles.
thumb|Silver tetradrachm of Agathocles, depicting Nike nailing up a war trophy.
thumb|Gold coin of Agathocles, depicting Athena on the obverse and a thunderbolt on the reverse. The Doric Greek inscription reads: ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕOΣ, "Of King Agathocles".
After several victories, he was finally completely defeated (307 BC) and fled secretly to Sicily. After concluding peace with Carthage in 306 BC, Agathocles styled himself king of Sicily in 304 BC, and established his rule over the Greek cities of the island more firmly than ever. A peace treaty with Carthage left him in control of Sicily east of the Halycus River. Even in his old age, he displayed the same restless energy and is said to have been contemplating a fresh attack on Carthage at the time of his death.
His last years were plagued by ill health and the attempted usurpation of his throne by his grandson Archagathus, whom Diodorus Siculus states had him poisoned; however Justinius and the majority of modern historians assert he died a natural death (presumably from cancer of the jaw).Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus, 23.2 He was a born leader of mercenaries, and he did not shrink from cruelty for the purposes to royal power. Agathocles restored the Syracusan democracy on his deathbed and did not want his grandson to succeed him as king.
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Family
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Family
Agathocles was married three times. His first wife was the widow of his patron Damas, by whom he had two sons:
Archagathus, who was murdered by the army in Africa in 307 BC after Agathocles abandoned it. He had one son, also called Archagathus, who was Agathocles' main general and heir in the 290s BC, but became involved in a succession dispute with his younger uncle, also called Agathocles, and was assassinated immediately after his father's death in 289 BC.
Heracleides, who was murdered with his brother in Africa in 307 BC.
Agathocles' second wife was Alcia, with whom he had two children:
Lanassa, second wife of King Pyrrhus of Epirus and mother of Alexander II of Epirus.
Agathocles, who was murdered in a succession dispute shortly before his father's death.
Agathocles' third wife was Theoxena, who was the second daughter of Berenice I and her first husband Philip and thus a stepdaughter of Ptolemy I Soter, king of Egypt. She escaped to Egypt with their two children following Agathocles' death in 289 BC:
Archagathus and Theoxena, who escaped to Egypt in 289 BC. Their descendants included Agathocleia and Agathocles of Egypt, who were Ptolemy IV's chief mistress and chief minister respectively, and dominated Egypt in the first years of Ptolemy V's reign.
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Legacy
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Legacy
Agathocles was cited as an example "Of those who become princes through their crimes" in chapter 8 of Niccolò Machiavelli's treatise on politics - The Prince (1513).
He was described as behaving as a criminal at every stage of his career. Machiavelli claimed:
Machiavelli goes on to reason that Agathocles' success, in contrast to other criminal tyrants, was due to his ability to commit his crimes quickly and ruthlessly, and states that cruelties are best used when they
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Family tree of Agathocles
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Family tree of Agathocles
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Primary sources
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Primary sources
Diodorus Siculus Library of History Books 19–21.
Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus Book 22.
Polyaenus 5.3
Polybius 9.23
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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References
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References
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Bibliography
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Bibliography
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Further reading
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Further reading
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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External links
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External links
Coinage of Agathocles
Agathocles- Encyclopædia Britannica
Agathocles of Syracuse- Ancient History Encyclopedia
|width=25% align=center|Preceded by:oligarchy position previously held by Timoleon in 337 BC
|width=25% align=center|Tyrant of Syracuse317 BC289 BC
|width=25% align=center|Succeeded by:Hicetas
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Category:361 BC births
Category:289 BC deaths
Category:Ancient Greek generals
Category:Sicilian tyrants
Category:4th-century BC Syracusans
Category:Ancient Himeraeans
Category:Greek exiles
Category:3rd-century BC Syracusans
Category:4th-century BC Greek monarchs
Category:3rd-century BC monarchs in Europe
Category:People of the Sicilian Wars
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Agathocles of Syracuse
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Table of Content
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Short description, Biography, Double exile, Seizure of power, Rulership, Family, Legacy, Family tree of Agathocles, Primary sources, References, Bibliography, Further reading, External links
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Economy of Alberta
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Short description
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The economy of Alberta is the sum of all economic activity in Alberta, Canada's fourth largest province by population. Alberta's GDP in 2018 was CDN$338.2 billion.
Although Alberta has a presence in many industries such as agriculture, forestry, education, tourism, finance, and manufacturing, the politics and culture of the province have been closely tied to the production of fossil energy since the 1940s. Alberta—with an estimated 1.4 billion cubic metres of unconventional oil resource in the bituminous oil sands—leads Canada as an oil producer.
In 2018, Alberta's energy sector contributed over $71.5 billion to Canada's nominal gross domestic product. According to Statistics Canada, in May 2018, the oil and gas extraction industry reached its highest proportion of Canada's national GDP since 1985, exceeding 7% and "surpass[ing] banking and insurance" with extraction of non-conventional oil from the oilsands reaching an "impressive", all-time high in May 2018. With conventional oil extraction "climbed up to the highs from 2007", the demand for Canadian oil was strong in May.
From 1990 to 2003, Alberta's economy grew by 57% compared to 43% for all of Canada—the strongest economic growth of any region in Canada. In 2006 Alberta's per capita GDP was higher than all US states, and one of the highest figures in the world. In 2006, the deviation from the national average was the largest for any province in Canadian history. Alberta's per capita GDP in 2007 was by far the highest of any province in Canada at C$74,825 (approx. US$75,000). Alberta's per capita GDP in 2007 was 61% higher than the Canadian average of C$46,441 and more than twice that of all the Maritime provinces. From 2004 to 2014 Alberta's "exports of commodities rose 91%, reaching $121 billion in 2014" and 500,000 new jobs were created. In 2014, Alberta's real GDP by expenditure grew by 4.8%, the strongest growth rate among the provinces." In 2017, Alberta's real per capita GDP—the economic output per person—was $71,092, compared to the Canadian average of $47,417. In 2016, Alberta's A grade on its income per capita was based on the fact that it was almost "identical" to that of the "top peer country"—Ireland.
The energy industry provided 7.7% of all jobs in Alberta in 2013, and 140,300 jobs representing 6.1% of total employment of 2,286,900 in Alberta in 2017. The unemployment rate in Alberta peaked in November 2016 at 9.1%. Its lowest point in a ten-year period from July 2009 to July 2019, was in September 2013 at 4.3%. The unemployment rate in the spring of 2019 in Alberta was 6.7% with 21,000 jobs added in April. By July 2019, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate had increased to 7.0%.
By August 2019, the employment number in Alberta was 2,344,000, following the loss of 14,000 full-time jobs in July, which represented the "largest decline" in Canada according to Statistics Canada.
Beginning in June 2014, the record high volume of worldwide oil inventories in storage—referred to as a global oil glut—caused crude oil prices to collapse at near ten-year low prices. By 2016 West Texas Intermediate (WTI)—the benchmark light, sweet crude oil—reached its lowest price in ten years—US$26.55. In 2012 the price of WTI had reached US$125 and in 2014 the price was $100. By February 2016 the price of Western Canadian Select WCS—the Alberta benchmark heavy crude oil—was US$14.10—the cheapest oil in the world. Alberta boom years from 2010 to 2014 ended with a "long and deep" recession that began in 2014, driven by low commodity pricing ended in 2017. By 2019—five years later—Alberta was still in recovery. Overall, there were approximately 35,000 jobs lost in mining, oil and gas alone. Since 2014, sectors that offered high-wage employment of $30 and above, saw about 100,000 jobs disappear—"construction (down more than 45,000 jobs), mining, oil and gas (down nearly 35,000), and professional services (down 18,000)," according to the economist, Trevor Tombe. There was a decrease in wages, in the number of jobs, and in the number of hours worked. The total loss of incomes from "workers, business, and government" amounted to about 20 percent or about CDN$75 billion less per year. Since 2011, prices have increased in Alberta by 18%. However, a typical worker in Alberta still earns more than a typical worker in all the other provinces and territories.
By March 2016, Alberta lost over 100,000 jobs in the oil patch. In spite of the surplus with the low price of WCS in 2015—99% of Canada's oil exports went to the United States and in 2015 Canada was still their largest exporter of total petroleum—3,789 thousand bpd in September—3,401 thousand bpd in October up from 3,026 thousand bpd in September 2014. By April 2019, two of the major oil companies, still had thousands of workers—Suncor had about 12,500 employees and Canadian Natural Resources had about 10,000 full-time employees.
Alberta has the "lowest taxes overall of any province or territory" in Canada, due in part to having high resource tax revenues. However, overall tax revenues from oil royalties and other non-renewable sources has fallen steeply along with the drop in global oil prices. For example, in 2013, oil tax revenues brought in 9.58 billion, or 21% of the total Provincial budget, whereas in 2018 it had fallen to just 5.43 billion, or 11% of the Provincial budget.
In the spring of 2020, Alberta's economy suffered from the economic fallout of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war."
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Economy of Alberta
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Data
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Data
YearNominal GDP
(in bil. CA-Dollar)GDP per capita
(in CA-Dollar)Unemployment
(in %)2019334.577,2396.8%2018334.378,3116.9%201732877,7658.7%2016314.675,4478.6%2015326.579,3244.6%2014338.383,9464.7%2013319.581,4954.5%2012302.178,9795.0%2011290.577,3755.9%2010272.273,5236.6%2009258.971,1564.9%2008273.577,0683.7%200727077,7483.6%2006264.878,5333.8%2005248.675,8674.5%2004237.774,0644.9%2003224.771,2185.4%2002216.870,1144.9%2001211.669,8825.2%2000207.869,8605.0%199919666,9845.9%1998193.267,5695.3%1997184.365,8326.4%
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Economy of Alberta
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Current overview
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Current overview
According to ATB Financial's Vice President and Chief Economist—Todd Hirsch, who spoke during an April 2, 2020, webinar hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta and its "economic fallout will permanently reshape our economy." Hirsch said that he expects that the resulting contraction in Alberta's economy will be the "worst...Alberta has ever seen."
The global price of oil decreased dramatically because of the combination of COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war. In March 2020, the United States benchmark crude oil EWest Texas Intermediate (WTI)—upon which Alberta's benchmark crude oil Western Canadian Select (WCS) price is based—dropped to an historical below of US$20 a barrel. The price of WCS bitumen-blend crude was US$3.82 per barrel by the end of March.
In 2018, the low price of heavy oil negatively impacted Alberta's economic growth.
In November 2018, the price of Western Canadian Select (WCS), the benchmark for Canadian heavy crude, hit its record low of less than US$14 a barrel, as a "surge of production met limited pipeline space causing bottlenecks." Previously, from 2008 through 2018, WCS had sold at an average discount of US$17 against West Texas Intermediate (WTI)—the U.S. crude oil benchmark, but by the fall of 2018, the differential between WCS and WTI reached a record of over US$50 per barrel. In response, then Premier Rachel Notley made a December 2 announcement of a mandatory cut of 8.7% in Alberta's oil production. By December 12, after the announcement of the government's "mandated oil output curtailment", the price of WCS rose c. 70% to c. US$41 a barrel with the WTI differential falling from US50 to c. US$11., according to the Financial Post. The WCS price rose to US$28.60 by January 2019, as the international price of oil had begun to recover from the December "sharp downturn" caused by the ongoing China–U.S. trade war In March 2019, the differential of WTI over WCS decreased to $US9.94 as the price of WTI dropped to US$58.15 a barrel, which is 7.5% lower than it was in March 2018, while the price of WCS increased to US$48.21 a barrel which is 35.7% higher than in March 2018. According to TD Economics' September 2019 report, the government's "mandated oil output curtailment", has resulted in a sustained rebound in WCS prices. However, investment and spending were low in the province. The loss of 14, 000 of the full-time jobs out of 2,344,000 in Alberta in July 2019, represented the "largest decline" in employment in Canada for that month, according to Statistics Canada.
In 1985, Alberta's energy industry accounted for 36.1% of the provinces $66.8 billion GDP. In 2006, the mining, oil and gas extraction industry accounted for 29.1% of GDP; by 2012 it was 23.3%; in 2013, it was 24.6% of Alberta's $331.9 billion GDP, and in 2016, the mining, oil and gas extraction industry accounted for about 27.9% of Alberta's GDP.
By comparison, "In 2017, the federal, provincial and territorial governments spent some $724 billion on programs and more than $58 billion on interest payments on their public debt, which, combined, amounted to about 36 percent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). Their combined borrowing that year was $27 billion, and their net financial debt at year-end stood at around $1.2 trillion, about 54 percent of GDP."
In his July 2019 CBC News article, economist Trevor Tombe said that prior to the 2014 recession, Albertans had experienced boom years from 2010 to 2014, with workers earnings reaching exceptional highs. The recession, which "ended over two years ago" in 2017, was "long and deep". By 2019—five years later—the province was still in recovery. Overall, there were approximately 35,000 jobs lost in mining, oil and gas alone. By 2019, the slow recovery and low earnings growth have resulted in workers getting "fewer hours, fewer jobs and, in some cases, lower wages". Tombe said that from 2014 to 2016, Alberta earned CDN$75 billion less per year with the "total incomes of workers, business, and government combined [falling] by nearly 20 per cent". Tombes said that relative to Alberta's "growth path prior to the recession" Alberta's economy is "down $100 billion per year", compared to what was anticipated. Tombes said that the "boom years that ended in 2014 were the outliers" and the lower earnings in 2019 reflect a "natural adjustment that's moving Alberta to a more normal and balanced labour market." While earnings are lower, because of inflation, prices have increased in Alberta by 18% since 2011. "The $1,183 per week a typical worker earns today goes about as far as $1,000 did nearly a decade ago.", according to Tombe. In spite of the typical worker in Alberta earns $1,183 per week compared to Saskatchewan, where the typical worker earns $1,070 per week. The weekly income a typical worker in all the other Canadian provinces and territories is less than that.
Since 2014, sectors that offered high-wage employment of $30 and above, saw about 100,000 jobs disappear—"construction (down more than 45,000 jobs), mining, oil and gas (down nearly 35,000), and professional services (down 18,000)."
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Economy of Alberta
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Alberta's deficit
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Alberta's deficit
Alberta's net debt was $27.5 billion by March 2019, which represents the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year (FY). By November 2018, Alberta's government expenditures were $55 billion while the revenue was about $48 billion, according to a report by the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy (SPP) economist, Trevor Tombe. Capital investment amounted to $4.3 billion. The provincial government employs more than "210,000 full-time equivalent workers across hundreds of departments, boards and other entities." Tombe, cited a $8.3 billion deficit in his November report, prior to the release in February 2019 of the corrected deficit figures, which was "$1.9 billion less in 2018-19 than originally expected", —$6.9-billion deficit instead of the original $8.8-billion".
Alberta's current deficit is "unusual for the province", says Tombe in 2018. During the financial crisis, Alberta's "net asset position equivalent to 15 per cent of GDP"−it "owned more financial assets than it owed in debt."
In 2009 Alberta had $31.7 billion in financial assets.
+ Net government debt to GDP by province March 2019 BC Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Ontario Quebec New Brunswick Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island Newfoundland 15.5% 8.7% 15.4%34.2%37.6%43%40%34.233%47.3%
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Economy of Alberta
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Alberta's credit rating
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Alberta's credit rating
On December 3, 2019, Moody's downgraded Alberta's credit rating from Aa2 stable from Aa1 negative and "downgraded the long-term debt ratings of the Alberta Capital Finance Authority and the long-term issuer rating of ATB Financial to Aa2 from Aa1." The agency said that there is a "structural weakness in the provincial economy that remains concentrated and dependent on non-renewable resources ... and remains pressured by a lack of sufficient pipeline capacity to transport oil efficiently with no near-term expectation of a significant rebound in oil-related investments...Alberta's oil and gas sector is carbon-intensive and Alberta's greenhouse gas emissions are the highest among provinces. Alberta is also susceptible to natural disasters including wildfires and floods which could lead to significant mitigation costs by the province."
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Economy of Alberta
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Alberta's real per capita GDP
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Alberta's real per capita GDP
In 2006 Alberta's per capita GDP was higher than all US states, and one of the highest figures in the world. In 2006, the deviation from the national average was the largest for any province in Canadian history. In 2007, Alberta's per capita GDP in 2007 was C$74,825 (approx. US$75,000)—by far the highest of any Canadian province—61% higher than the Canadian average of C$46,441 and more than twice that of all the Maritime provinces. In 2017, Alberta's real per capita GDP—the economic output per person—was $71,092, compared to the Canadian average of $47,417. Alberta's A grade on its income per capita was based on the fact that it was almost "identical" to that of the "top peer country" in 2016, Ireland.
In 2017, Alberta's real per capita GDP—the economic output per person—was $71,092 compared to the Canadian average output per person of $47, 417 and Prince Edward Island at $32,123 per person. Since at least 1997, Alberta's per capita GDP has been higher than that of any other province. In 2014, Alberta's reached its highest gap ever—$30,069—between its real capita GDP and the Canadian average.
According to the Conference Board of Canada, in 2016 Alberta earned an "A grade with income per capita almost identical to the top peer country, Ireland." In 2016 income per capita in Alberta was $59,259.
+ Alberta Income per capita 1981 1988 1991 1997 2000 2003 2005 2007 2009 2010 2014 2016 42,441 45,995 45,393 53,748 57,106 57,646 61,163 62,518 57,321 59,254 66,031 59,249
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Economy of Alberta
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Alberta's GDP compared to other provinces
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Alberta's GDP compared to other provinces
A table listing annual ""Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, provinces and territories (x 1,000,000)." from 2014 through 2018 with value chained to 2012 dollars.
ProvinceorTerritory GDP(millionCAD, 2014) GDP(millionCAD, 2015) GDP(millionCAD, 2016) GDP(millionCAD, 2017) GDP(millionCAD, 2018) 219,060.9 224,153.4 231,509.9 240,657.9 246,506.3 338,262.6 326,476.7 313,241.5 327,596.2 335,095.6 80,175.7 79,574.2 79,364.4 81,179.082,502.7 58,276.3 59,082.5 60,066.261,941.2 62,723.1 659,861.2 677,384.0 693,900.4 712,984.3 728,363.7 338,319.0341,688.0346,713.7 356,677.9 365,614.4 29,039.6 29,275.7 29,686.3 30,271.8 30,295.3 5,205.6 5,280.7 5,372.2 5,553.3 5,700.0 34,747.2 35,013.4 35,549.3 36,075.4 36,518.2 31,143.3 30,806.0 31,334.5 31,610.6 30,757.9 2,510.9 2,320.2 2,482.5 2,554.5 2,626.1 4,574.6 4,621.3 4,679.8 4,861.3 4,954.7 2,363.6 2,353.0 2,434.3 2,685.3 2,955.0
Source: Statistics Canada: GDP (totals),
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Economy of Alberta
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Economic geography
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Economic geography
thumb|left|Alberta's location within Canada
Alberta has a small internal market, and it is relatively distant from major world markets, despite good transportation links to the rest of Canada and to the United States to the south. Alberta is located in the northwestern quadrant of North America, in a region of low population density called the Interior Plains. Alberta is landlocked, and separated by a series of mountain ranges from the nearest outlets to the Pacific Ocean, and by the Canadian Shield from ports on the Lakehead or Hudson Bay. From these ports to major populations centres and markets in Europe or Asia is several thousands of kilometers. The largest population clusters of North America (the Boston – Washington, San Francisco - San Diego, Chicago – Pittsburgh, and Quebec City – Windsor Corridors) are all thousands of kilometers away from Alberta. Partly for this reason, Alberta has never developed a large presence in the industries that have traditionally started industrialization in other places (notably the original Industrial Revolution in Great Britain) but which require large labour forces, and large internal markets or easy transportation to export markets, namely textiles, metallurgy, or transportation-related manufacturing (automotives, ships, or train cars).
Agriculture has been a key industry since the 1870s. The climate is dry, temperate, and continental, with extreme variations between seasons. Productive soils are found in most of the southern half of the province (excluding the mountains), and in certain parts of the north. Agriculture on a large scale is practiced further north in Alberta than anywhere else in North America, extending into the Peace River country above the 55th parallel north. Generally, however, northern Alberta (and areas along the Alberta Rockies) is forested land and logging is more important than agriculture there. Agriculture is divided into primarily field crops in the east, livestock in the west, and a mixture in between and in the parkland belt in the near north.
Conventional oil and gas fields are found throughout the province on an axis running from the northwest to the southeast. Oil sands are found in the northeast, especially around Fort McMurray (the Athabasca Oil Sands).
Because of its (relatively) economically isolated location, Alberta relies heavily on transportation links with the rest of the world. Alberta's historical development has been largely influenced by the development of new transportation infrastructure, (see "trends" below). Alberta is now served by two major transcontinental railways (CN and CP), by three major highway connections to the Pacific (the Trans-Canada via Kicking Horse Pass, the Yellowhead via Yellowhead Pass and the Crowsnest via Crowsnest Pass), and one to the United States (Interstate 15), as well as two international airports (Calgary and Edmonton). Also, Alberta is connected to the TransCanada pipeline system (natural gas) to Eastern Canada, the Northern Border Pipeline (gas), Alliance Pipeline (gas) and Enbridge Pipeline System (oil) to the Eastern United States, the Gas Transmission Northwest and Northwest Pipeline (gas) to the Western United States, and the McNeill HVDC Back-to-back station (electric power) to Saskatchewan.
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Economy of Alberta
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Economic regions and cities
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Economic regions and cities
Since the days of early agricultural settlement, the majority of Alberta's population has been concentrated in the parkland belt (mixed forest-grassland), a boomerang-shaped strip of land extending along the North Saskatchewan River from Lloydminster to Edmonton and then along the Rocky Mountain foothills south to Calgary. This area is slightly more humid and treed than the drier prairie (grassland) region called Palliser's Triangle to its south, and large areas of the south (the "Special Areas") were depopulated during the droughts of the 1920s and 30s. The chernozem (black soil) of the parkland region is more agriculturally productive than the red and grey soils to the south. Urban development has also been most advanced in the parkland belt. Edmonton and Red Deer are parkland cities, while Calgary is on the parkland-prairie fringe. Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are prairie cities. Grande Prairie lies in the Peace River Country a parkland region (with isolated patches of prairie, hence the name) in the northwest isolated from the rest of the parkland by the forested Swan Hills. Fort McMurray is the only urbanized population centre in the boreal forest which covers much of the northern half of the province.
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Economy of Alberta
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Calgary and Edmonton
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Calgary and Edmonton
The Calgary and Edmonton regions, by far the province's two largest metropolitan regions, account for the majority of the province's population. They are relatively close to each other by the standards of Western Canada and distant from other metropolitan regions such as Vancouver or Winnipeg. This has produced a history of political and economic rivalry and comparison but also economic integration that has created an urbanized corridor between the two cities.
The economic profile of the two regions is slightly different. Both cities are mature service economies built on a base of resource extraction in their hinterlands. However, Calgary is predominant in hosting the regional and national headquarters of oil and gas exploration and drilling companies. Edmonton skews much more towards governments, universities and hospitals as large employers, while Edmonton's suburban fringes (e.g. Fort Saskatchewan, Nisku, Strathcona County (Refinery Row), Leduc, Beaumont, Acheson) are home to most of the province's manufacturing (much of it related to oil and gas).
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Economy of Alberta
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Calgary-Edmonton Corridor
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Calgary-Edmonton Corridor
The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized region in the province and one of the densest in Canada. Measured from north to south, the region covers a distance of roughly . In 2001, the population of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor was 2.15 million (72% of Alberta's population). It is also one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. A 2003 study by TD Bank Financial Group found the corridor was the only Canadian urban centre to amass a U.S. level of wealth while maintaining a Canadian-style quality of life, offering universal health care benefits. The study found GDP per capita in the corridor was 10% above average U.S. metropolitan areas and 40% above other Canadian cities at that time.
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Economy of Alberta
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Calgary–Edmonton rivalry
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Calgary–Edmonton rivalry
Seeing Calgary and Edmonton as part of a single economic region as the TD study did in 2003 was novel. The more traditional view had been to see the two cities as economic rivals. For example, in the 1980 both cities claimed to be the "Oil Capital of Canada".
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Economy of Alberta
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Background
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Background
thumb|left|The Leduc No. 1 well, which blew in 1947, marked the beginning of series of petroleum-related economic booms.
Alberta has always been an export-oriented economy. In line with Harold Innis' "Staples Thesis", the economy has changed substantially as different export commodities have risen or fallen in importance. In sequence, the most important products have been: fur, wheat and beef, and oil and gas.
The development of transportation in Alberta has been crucial to its historical economic development. The North American fur trade relied on birch-bark canoes, York boats, and Red River carts on age-old Native trails and buffalo trails to move furs out of, and European trade goods into, the region. Immigration into the province was eased tremendously by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway's transcontinental line across southern Alberta in 1880s. Commercial farming became viable in the area once the grain trade had developed technologies to handle the bulk export of grain, especially hopper cars and grain elevators. Oil and gas exports have been possible because of increasing pipeline technology.
Prior to the 1950s, Alberta was a primarily agricultural economy, based on the export of wheat, beef, and a few other agricultural products. The health of economy was closely bound up with the price of wheat.
In 1947 a major oil field was discovered near Edmonton. It was not the first petroleum find in Alberta, but it was large and spawned an industry that significantly altered the economy of the province (and coincided with growing American demand for energy). Since that time, Alberta's economic fortunes have largely tracked the price of oil, and increasingly natural gas prices. When oil prices spiked during the 1967 Oil Embargo, 1973 oil crisis, and 1979 energy crisis, Alberta's economy boomed. However, during the 1980s oil glut Alberta's economy suffered. Alberta boomed once again during the 2003-2008 oil price spike. In July 2008 the price of oil peaked and began to decline, and Alberta's economy soon followed suit, with unemployment doubling within a year. By 2009 with natural gas prices at a long-term low, Alberta's economy was in poor health compared to before, although still relatively better than many other comparable jurisdictions. By 2012 natural gas prices were at a ten-year low and the Canadian dollar was highly valued compared to the U.S. dollar, but then oil prices recovered until June 2014.
The spin-offs from petroleum allowed Alberta to develop many other industries. Oilpatch-related manufacturing is an obvious example, but financial services and government services have also benefited from oil money.
A comparison of the development of Alberta's less oil and gas-endowed neighbours, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, reveals the role petroleum has played. Alberta was the least-populous of the three Prairie Provinces in the early 20th century, but by 2009, Alberta's population was 3,632,483, approximately three times as much as either Saskatchewan (1,023,810) or Manitoba (1,213,815).
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Economy of Alberta
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Employment
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Employment
Alberta's economy is a highly developed one in which most people work in services such as healthcare, government, or retail. Primary industries are also of great importance, however.
By March 2016 the unemployment rate in Alberta rose to 7.9%— its "highest level since April 1995 and the first time the province’s rate has surpassed the national average since December 1988." There were 21,200 fewer jobs than February 2015. The unemployment rate was expected to average 7.4% in 2016. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) claimed that Alberta lost 35,000 jobs in 2015–25,000 from the oil services sector and 10,000 from exploration and production. Full-time employment increased by 10,000 in February 2016 after falling 20,000 in both December 2015 and January 2016. The natural resources industry lost 7,400 jobs in February. "Year-over-year (y/y), the goods sector lost 56,000 jobs, while the services sector gained 34,800." In 2015 Alberta's population increased by 3,900. While Alberta had a reprieve in job loss in February 2016—up 1,400 jobs after losing jobs in October, November, December 2015 and January 2016—Ontario lost 11,200 jobs, Saskatchewan lost 7,800 jobs and New Brunswick lost 5,700 jobs.
The unemployment rate in spring 2019 in Alberta was 6.7% with 21,000 jobs added in April; in Calgary it was 7.4%, in Edmonton it was 6.9%, in Northern Alberta it was 11.2%, and in Southern Alberta it was 7.8%. By July 2019, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate had increased to 7.0%, which represented an increase of 0.3% from the previous year. The unemployment rate in Alberta peaked in November 2016 at 9.1%. Its lowest point in a ten-year period from July 2009 to July 2019 was in September 2013 at 4.3%.
By August 2019, the employment number in Alberta was 2,344,000, following the loss of 14,000 full-time jobs in July, which represented that the "largest decline" in Canada according to Statistics Canada.
Employment by industry, Alberta – seasonally adjusted (000s)
Industries August 2019 July 2019 August 2018All industries 2,344.3 2,343.7 2,340.2Goods-producing sector 589.6 595.6 602.1Agriculture 49.9 50.7 48.5Forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas 138.3 144.3 154.4Utilities 24.5 24.1 23.7Construction 241.9 242.1 246.5Manufacturing 134.9 134.5 129.0Services-Producing Sector 1,754.8 1,748.1 1,738.1Trade 339.3 340.0 337.1Transportation and Warehousing 139.4 140.0 138.3Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Leasing 105.7 107.2 102.3Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 187.2 185.4 181.5Business, Building and Other Support Services 83.2 84.4 88.6Educational Services 157.2 157.7 160.7Health Care and Social Assistance 292.4 290.6 278.8Information, Culture and Recreation 79.0 74.3 78.7Accommodation and Food Services 140.4 136.7 146.6Other Services 115.1 118.2 116.7Public Administration 116.0 113.6 108.8
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Economy of Alberta
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Extraction industries
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Extraction industries
According to the Government of Alberta, the "mining and oil and gas extraction industry accounted for 6.1% of total employment in Alberta in 2017". By April 2019, there were about 145,100 people working directly with the oil and gas industry. In 2013, there were 171,200 people employed in the mining and oil and gas extraction industry.
In 2007 there were 146,900 people working in the mining and oil and gas extraction industry.
Oil and Gas Extraction industry = 69,900
Support Activities for Mining & Oil & Gas Extraction (primarily oil and gas exploration and drilling) = 71,700
Mining other than oil and gas (mainly coal and mineral mining & quarrying) = 5,100
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Economy of Alberta
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Largest employers of Alberta
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Largest employers of Alberta
According to Alberta Venture magazine's list of the 50 largest employers in the province, the largest employers are:
Rank (2012) Rank (2010) Rank (2007) Employer Industry 2019 Employees (Total) 2012 Employees (Total) 2010 Employees (Total) 2007 Employees (Total) Head office Description Notes 1 1 * Alberta Health Services Healthcare 102,700 99,400 92,200 see note Edmonton Provincial public health authority Created in 2008 by merging nine separate provincial health authorities. 2 2 4. Canada Safeway Limited Wholesale and Retail Trade 30,000 30,000 34,318 Calgary Food and drug retailer subsidiary of Sobeys Inc. since 2014, before that subsidiary of American chain 3 6 n/a Agrium Inc. Agri-business 15,200 (2016)FP 14,800 11,153 n/a Calgary Wholesale producer, distributor and retailer of agricultural products and services in North and South America n/a = not listed in 2007 4 7 8 University of Alberta Education 14,500 10,800 11,000 Edmonton Publicly funded accredited university 5 4 29 Canadian Pacific Railway Transportation 12,695 14,169 14,970 15,232 Calgary Railway and inter-modal transportation services 6 5 31 Suncor Energy Petroleum Resource Industry ~12,500 13,026 12,978 5,800 Calgary Petroleum extraction, refining, and retail Merged with Petro-Canada in 2009 7 9 35 Shaw Communications Communications 12,500 10,000 8,985 Calgary Provider of digital telecommunications services [cable television / internet / telephony] and community television production facilities 8 8 15 Flint Energy Services Ltd. Energy 11,211 10,280 6,169 Calgary Energy / Construction 9 11 n/a Stantec Inc. Professional Services 11,100 9,300 n/a Edmonton Architecture/Engineering/Construction n/a = not listed in 2007 10 12 9 Calgary Board of Education Public Education 14,000 9,106 9,278 10,972 Calgary Municipal K-12 Public Education School Board
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Economy of Alberta
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Sectors
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Sectors
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Economy of Alberta
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Oil and gas extraction industries
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Oil and gas extraction industries
thumb|Drilling rig in Alberta.
In 2018, Alberta's energy sector contributed over $71.5 billion to Canada's nominal gross domestic product. In 2006, it accounted for 29.1% of Alberta's GDP; by 2012 it was 23.3%; in 2013, it was 24.6%, and in 2016 it was 27.9%. According to Statistics Canada, in May 2018, the oil and gas extraction industry reached its highest proportion of Canada's national GDP since 1985, exceeding 7% and "surpass[ing] banking and insurance". with extraction of non-conventional oil from the oilsands reaching an "impressive", all-time high in May 2018. With conventional oil extraction "climbed up to the highs from 2007", the demand for Canadian oil was strong in May.
Alberta is the largest producer of conventional crude oil, synthetic crude, natural gas and gas products in the country. Alberta is the world's 2nd largest exporter of natural gas and the 4th largest producer.State of Alaska - Trade Report on Alberta Two of the largest producers of petrochemicals in North America are located in central and north central Alberta. In both Red Deer and Edmonton, world class polyethylene and vinyl manufacturers produce products shipped all over the world, and Edmonton's oil refineries provide the raw materials for a large petrochemical industry to the east of Edmonton. Since the early 1940s, Alberta had supplied oil and gas to the rest of Canada and the United States. The Athabasca River region produces oil for internal and external use. The Athabasca Oil Sands contain the largest proven reserves of oil in the world outside Saudi Arabia.
The Athabasca Oil Sands (sometimes known as the Athabasca Tar sands) have estimated unconventional oil reserves approximately equal to the conventional oil reserves of the rest of the world, estimated to be . With the development of new extraction methods such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), which was developed in Alberta, bitumen and synthetic crude oil can be produced at costs close to those of conventional crude. Many companies employ both conventional strip mining and non-conventional in situ methods to extract the bitumen from the oil sands. With current technology and at current prices, about of bitumen are recoverable. Fort McMurray, one of Canada's fastest growing cities, has grown enormously in recent years because of the large corporations which have taken on the task of oil production. As of late 2006 there were over $100 billion in oil sands projects under construction or in the planning stages in northeastern Alberta.
Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the oil sands was the price of oil. The oil price increases since 2003 made it more than profitable to extract this oil, which in the past would give little profit or even a loss.
Alberta's economy was negatively impacted by the 2015-2016 oil glut with a record high volume of worldwide oil inventories in storage, with global crude oil collapsing at near ten-year low prices. The United States doubled its 2008 production levels mainly due to substantial improvements in shale "fracking" technology, OPEC members consistently exceeded their production ceiling, and China experienced a marked slowdown in economic growth and crude oil imports.
Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction Industry (2017)
AlbertaMining and Oil and Gas Extraction Industry Employment 2,286,900 140,300 Employment Share N/A 6.1% Unemployment 194,700 8,800 Unemployment rate 7.8% 5.9%
Data Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, CANSIM Table 282–0008, 2017 "Employment share is obtained by dividing the number of employment in this industry by total employment in Alberta."
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Economy of Alberta
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Natural gas
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Natural gas
Natural gas has been found at several points, and in 1999, the production of natural gas liquids (ethane, propane, and butanes) totalled , valued at $2.27 billion. Alberta also provides 13% of all the natural gas used in the United States.
Notable gas reserves were discovered in the 1883 near Medicine Hat. The town of Medicine Hat began using gas for lighting the town, and supplying light and fuel for the people, and a number of industries using the gas for manufacturing.
One of North America's benchmarks is Alberta gas-trading price—the AECO "C" spot price.
In 2018, 69% of the marketable natural gas in Canada was produced in Alberta. Forty nine per cent of Alberta's natural gas production is consumed in Alberta. In Alberta, the average household uses of natural gas annually. Domestic demand for natural gas is divided across sectors, with the highest demand—83% coming from "industrial, electrical generation, transportation and other sectors," and 17 percent going towards residential and commercial sectors.
Of the provinces, Alberta is the largest consumer of natural gas at 3.9 billion cubic feet per day.
By August 2019, the Financial Post said that "AECO daily and monthly natural gas prices" were at the lowest they have been since 1992. Canada's largest natural gas producer, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., announced in early August that it had "shut in gas production of 27,000 million cubic feet per day because of depressed prices. Previously natural gas pipeline drilled in the southern Alberta and shipped to markets in Eastern Canada. By 2019, the entire natural gas industry had was primarily operating in northwestern Alberta and northeastern B.C., which resulted in strained infrastructure. New systems will not be complete until 2021 or 2023. In September 25, 2017 Alberta's benchmark AECO natural gas prices fell into "negative territory – "meaning producers have had to pay customers to take their gas". It happened again in early October with the price per gigajoule dropping to -7 cents. TransCanada (now TC Energy Corp)—which "owns and operates Alberta's "largest natural gas gathering and transmission system, interrupted its pipeline service in the fall of 2017 to complete field maintenance on the Alberta system. In July 2018, RS Energy Group's energy analyst Samir Kayande, said that faced with a glut of natural gas across North America, the continental market price was $3 per gigajoule. Alberta is "awash" with natural gas but faces pipeline bottlenecks. CEOs of nine Alberta natural gas producers requested the Kenney government to mandate production cuts to deal with the crisis. On June 30, the AECO price of gas dropped to 11 cents per gigajoule, because of maintenance issues with the pipeline giant TC Energy Corp.
In 2003 Alberta produced of marketable natural gas. That year, 62% of Alberta's natural gas was shipped to the United States, 24% was used within Alberta, and 14% was used in the rest of Canada. In 2006, Alberta consumed of natural gas. The rest was exported across Canada and to the United States. Royalties to Alberta from natural gas and its byproducts are larger than royalties from crude oil and bitumen. In 2006, there were 13,473 successful natural gas wells drilled in Alberta: 12,029 conventional gas wells and 1,444 coalbed methane wells. There may be up to of coalbed methane in Alberta, although it is unknown how much of this gas might be recoverable. Alberta has one of the most extensive natural gas systems in the world as part of its energy infrastructure, with of energy related pipelines.
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Economy of Alberta
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Coal
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Coal
thumb|Remains of the former Atlas Coal Mine, near Drumheller, now a National Historic Site of Canada.
Coal has been mined in Alberta since the late 19th century. Over 1800 mines have operated in Alberta since then.
The coal industry was vital to the early development of several communities, especially those in the foothills and along deep river valleys where coal was close to the surface.
Alberta is still a major coal producer, every two weeks Alberta produces enough coal to fill the Sky Dome in Toronto.
Much of that coal is burned in Alberta for electricity generation. By 2008, Alberta used over 25 million tonnes of coal annually to generate electricity. However, Alberta is set to retire coal power by 2023, ahead of 2030 provincial deadline.
Alberta has vast coal resources and 70 per cent of Canada's coal reserves are located in Alberta. This amounts to 33.6 Gigatonnes.
Vast beds of coal are found extending for hundreds of miles, a short distance below the surface of the plains. The coal belongs to the Cretaceous beds, and while not so heavy as that of the Coal Measures in England is of excellent quality. In the valley of the Bow River, alongside the Canadian Pacific Railway, valuable beds of anthracite coal are still worked. The usual coal deposits of the area of bituminous or semi-bituminous coal. These are largely worked at Lethbridge in southern Alberta and Edmonton in the centre of the province. Many other parts of the province have pits for private use.
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Economy of Alberta
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Electricity
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Electricity
, Alberta's generating capacity was 16,261 MW, and Alberta has about of transmission lines.
Alberta has 1491 megawatts of wind power capacity.
Production of electricity in Alberta in 2016 by source:
Generation GWh Share by Fuel Coal 42,227 50.2% Natural Gas 33,184 39.4% Hydro 1,773 2.1% Wind 4,408 5.2% Biomass 2,201 2.6% Others 338 0.4% Total 84,132 100%
Alberta has added 9,000 MW of new supply since 1998.
Peak for power use in one day was set on July 9, 2015 – 10,520 MW.
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Economy of Alberta
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Mineral mining
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Mineral mining
Building stones mined in Alberta include Rundle stone, and Paskapoo sandstone.
Diamonds were first found in Alberta in 1958, and many stones have been found since, although to date no large-scale mines have been developed.
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Economy of Alberta
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Manufacturing
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Manufacturing
The Edmonton area, and in particular Nisku is a major centre for manufacturing oil and gas related equipment. As well Edmonton's Refinery Row is home to a petrochemical industry.
According to a 2016 Statistics Canada report Alberta's manufacturing sales year-over-year sales fell 13.2 per cent, with a loss of almost four per cent from December to January. Alberta's economy continued to shrink because of the collapse of the oil and gas sector. The petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry is now third— behind food and chemicals.
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Economy of Alberta
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Biotechnology
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Biotechnology
Several companies and services in the biotech sector are clustered around the University of Alberta, for example ColdFX.
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Economy of Alberta
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Food processing
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Food processing
Owing to the strength of agriculture, food processing was once a major part of the economies of Edmonton and Calgary, but this sector has increasingly moved to smaller centres such as Brooks, the home of XL Foods, responsible for one third of Canada's beef processing in 2011.
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Economy of Alberta
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Transportation
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Transportation
thumb|400px|Headquarters of the airline WestJet, in Calgary.
Edmonton is a major distribution centre for northern communities, hence the nickname "Gateway to the North". Edmonton is one of CN Rail's most important hubs. Since 1996, Canadian Pacific Railway has its headquarters in downtown Calgary.
WestJet, Canada's second largest air carrier, is headquartered in Calgary, by Calgary International Airport, which serves as the airline's primary hub.Contact Us. WestJet. Retrieved on May 20, 2009. Prior to its dissolution, Canadian Airlines was headquartered in Calgary by the airport.. Canadian Airlines. March 3, 2000. Retrieved on May 20, 2009. Prior to its dissolution, Air Canada subsidiary Zip was headquartered in Calgary.Pigg, Susan. "Zip, WestJet in fare war that could hurt them both; Move follows competition bureau ruling Battle could intensify when Zip flies eastward ." Toronto Star. January 22, 2003. Business C01. Retrieved on September 30, 2009.
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Economy of Alberta
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Agriculture and forestry
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Agriculture and forestry
thumb|200px|left|Grain elevator in southern Alberta
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Economy of Alberta
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Agriculture
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Agriculture
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In the past, cattle, horses, and sheep were reared in the southern prairie region on ranches or smaller holdings. Currently Alberta produces cattle valued at over $3.3 billion, as well as other livestock in lesser quantities. In this region irrigation is widely used. Wheat, accounting for almost half of the $2 billion agricultural economy, is supplemented by canola, barley, rye, sugar beets, and other mixed farming. In 2011, Alberta producers seeded an estimated total of to spring wheat, durum, barley, oats, mixed grains, triticale, canola and dry peas. Of the total seeded area, 94 per cent was harvested as grains and oilseeds and six per cent as greenfeed and silage. Saudi Arabia is a major export target especially for wheat and processed potato products. SA having decided to phase out their own forage and cereal production, Alberta expects this to be an opportunity to fill livestock feed demand in the kingdom.
Agriculture has a significant position in the province's economy. Over three million cattle are residents of the province at one time or another, and Albertan beef has a healthy worldwide market. Although beef could also be a major export to Saudi Arabia, as with wheat and potatoes above, market access is lacking at the moment. Nearly one half of all Canadian beef is produced in Alberta. Alberta is one of the prime producers of plains buffalo (bison) for the consumer market. Sheep for wool and lamb are also raised.
Wheat and canola are primary farm crops, with Alberta leading the provinces in spring wheat production, with other grains also prominent. Much of the farming is dryland farming, often with fallow seasons interspersed with cultivation. Continuous cropping (in which there is no fallow season) is gradually becoming a more common mode of production because of increased profits and a reduction of soil erosion. Across the province, the once common grain elevator is slowly being lost as rail lines are decreased and farmers now truck the grain to central points.
Clubroot (Plasmodiophora brassicae) is a costly disease of Brassicaceae here including canola. In several experiments by Peng et al., out of fungicides, biofungicides, inoculation with beneficial microbes, cultivar resistance, and crop rotation, only genetic resistance combined with more than two years rotation worked susceptible cultivars rotated with other crops did not produce enough improvement.
Alberta is the leading beekeeping province of Canada, with some beekeepers wintering hives indoors in specially designed barns in southern Alberta, then migrating north during the summer into the Peace River valley where the season is short but the working days are long for honeybees to produce honey from clover and fireweed. Hybrid canola also requires bee pollination, and some beekeepers service this need.
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Economy of Alberta
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Forestry
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Forestry
The vast northern forest reserves of softwood allow Alberta to produce large quantities of lumber, oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood, and several plants in northern Alberta supply North America and the Pacific Rim nations with bleached wood pulp and newsprint.
In 1999, lumber products from Alberta were valued at $4.1 billion of which 72% were exported around the world. Since forests cover approximately 59% of the province's land area, the government allows about to be harvested annually from the forests on public lands.
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Economy of Alberta
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Services
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Services
Despite the high profile of the extractive industries, Alberta has a mature economy and most people work in services. In 2014 there were 1,635.8 thousand people employed in the services-producing sector. Since then, the number has steadily increased to 1754.8 thousand jobs by August 2019, which is an increase of 16.7 thousand jobs from August 2018 This includes wholesale and retail trade; transportation and warehousing; finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing; professional, scientific and technical services; business, building and other support services; educational services; health care and social assistance; information, culture and recreation; accommodation and food services; other services (except public administration) and public administration.
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Economy of Alberta
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Finance
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Finance
The TSX Venture Exchange is headquartered in Calgary. The city has the second highest number of corporate head offices in Canada after Toronto, and the financial services industry in Calgary has developed to support them. All major banks including the Big Five maintain corporate offices in Calgary, along with smaller banks such as Equitable Group. Recently there has also been a number of fintech companies founded in Calgary such as the National Digital Asset Exchange and Neo Financial, founded by the Skip-the-Dishes team.
One of Canada's largest accounting firms, MNP LLP, is also headquartered in Calgary.
Edmonton hosts the headquarters of the only major Canadian banks west of Toronto: Canadian Western Bank, and ATB Financial, as well as the only province-wide credit union, Servus Credit Union.
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Economy of Alberta
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Government
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Government
Despite Alberta's reputation as a "small government" province, many health care and education professionals are lured to Alberta from other provinces by the higher wages the Alberta government is able to offer because of oil revenues. In 2014 the median household income in Alberta was $100,000 with the average weekly wage at $1,163—23 per cent higher than the Canadian national average.
In their May 2018 report co-authored by C. D. Howe Institute's President and CEO, William B.P. Robson, evaluating "the budgets, estimates and public accounts" of 2017/18 fiscal year that were tabled by senior governments in the Canadian provinces and the federal government in terms of reporting financial information, appropriately, with transparency, and in a timely fashion, Alberta and New Brunswick ranked highest. The report also said that, prior to 2016, Alberta had scored poorly in comparison with other provinces, because of "confusing array of "operating," "saving" and "capital" accounts that were not Public Sector Accounting Standards (PSAS) consistent." but since 2016, Alberta has received A-plus grades. The report said that Alberta and New Brunswick in FY2017 provided "straightforward reconciliations of results with budget intentions, their auditors record no reservations, and their budgets and public accounts are timely."
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Economy of Alberta
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Technology
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Technology
Alberta has a burgeoning high tech sector, including prominent technology companies iStockPhoto, Shareworks, Benevity, and Attabotics in Calgary, and Bioware and AltaML in Edmonton. Growth in Calgary's technology sector, particularly at Benevity, fueled predictions of a modest economic recovery in February 2020.
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Economy of Alberta
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See also
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See also
Economy of Canada
Energy policy of Canada
Economy of Lethbridge
Canadian Oil Patch, for the petroleum industry
History of the petroleum industry in Canada
Canada's Global Markets Action Plan
Free trade agreements of Canada
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