Newfoundland English - Phonological and Grammatical Features

Phonological and Grammatical Features

• Like most North American dialects as well as Irish and historical West Country dialects, Newfoundland English is Rhotic.

• In much of Newfoundland, the words fear and fair are homophones. A similar phenomenon is found in the Norfolk dialect of East Anglia.

• The word bes is sometimes used in place of the normally conjugated forms of to be to describe continual actions or states of being, as in that rock usually bes under water instead of that rock is usually under water, but normal conjugation of to be is used in all other cases. Bes is likely a carryover of British Somerset usage with Irish grammar) or Cornish.

• archaic adverbial-intensifiers are preserved in Newfoundland (e.g., in Newfoundland that play was right boring and that play was some boring both mean "that play was very boring"). This kind of grammar is also retained in Northern English dialects such as Yorkshire and Geordie.

• Newfoundland dialect is not homogenous and can vary markedly from community to community as well as from region to region. This reflects both ethnic origin as well as relative isolation. For many decades Newfoundland had very few roads connecting its many communities. Fishing villages in particular remained very isolated.

• The loss of dental fricatives (voiced and voiceless th sounds) is characteristic in many varieties of the dialect (as in many other nonstandard varieties of English); they are usually replaced with the closest voiced or voiceless alveolar stop (t or d).

• Newfoundland English also includes nonstandard or innovative features in verb conjugation. In many varieties, the third-person singular inflection is generalized to a present tense marker; for example, the verb "to like" is conjugated I likes, you likes, he/she/it likes, we likes, you likes, and they likes.

• In some communities on the island's northeast coast, you (singular), you (plural), and they correspond to dee, ye, and dey, respectively.

• The use of ownership in Newfoundland English is characterized by replacing words like "My" or "Mine" with "Me", an older form common in Irish, Scottish, Northern English and Western English dialects. Such an example would be, "Where's me hat gone to?" as opposed to "Where is my hat?", or "Drop over me house we haves a cup of tea", as opposed to "Come to my house for a cup of tea".

• The use of "to" to denote location is common in Newfoundland English. Where's that to? ("Where's that?"). This is a carryover from West Country dialects and is still common in southwest England, particularly Bristol. In a move almost certainly taken from Hiberno-English and influenced by the Irish language, speakers avoid using the verb to have in past participles, preferring formulations including after, such as I'm after telling him to stop instead of I have told him to stop. This is because in the Irish language there is no verb "to have", and more particularly because Irish Gaelic uses a construction using the words "Tar éis" (meaning "after") to convey the sense of "having just" done something. "Táim tar éis á dhéanamh" meaning "I am just after doing it" or " I have just done it". Possession is indicated by "Ta ... agam" literally ".... is at me".

• The merger of diphthongs and to (an example of the line–loin merger) is extensive throughout Newfoundland and is a significant feature of Newfoundland English.

• In Newfoundland English the affirmative yeah is often made with an inhalation rather than an exhalation among the older generations. This is an example of a rare pulmonic ingressive phone.

• In Newfoundland English, it is typical for a response to a metaphorical question like How's she cuttin'? with a dry, literal response. A proper response to the foresaid question would be Like a knife. (the question/greeting of "How's she Cuttin'?" is a phrase still current in the Irish midlands and north and rarely if ever responded to with such a literal answer)

• Newfoundland English lacks Canadian raising.

• To non-Newfoundlanders, speakers of Newfoundland English may seem to speak faster than speakers of General Canadian. This perceived tempo difference may be a coupling of subtle pronunciation differences and unusual sayings and can be a contributing factor to the difficulty non-Newfoundlanders sometimes experience with the dialect.