Newfoundland English

Abstract

The English language has undergone many variations, leaving uncountable dialects in every nook and cranny of the world. Located at the north-east of Canada, the island of Newfoundland presents one of those dialects. However, within the many varieties the English language features, Newfoundland English (NE) remains as one of the less researched dialects in North America. The aim of this paper is to provide a characterisation of NE. In order to do so, this paper focuses on research questions on the origins of the dialect, potential variation within NE, the languages it has been in contact with, its particular linguistic features and the role of linguistic distinction in the Newfoundlander identity. Thus, in this paper I firstly assess the origins of NE, which are documented to mainly derive from West Country, England, and south-eastern Ireland, and I also provide an overview of the main historical events that have influenced the language. Secondly, I show the linguistic variation NE features, thus displaying the multiple dialectal areas that are found in the island. Furthermore, I discuss the different languages that have been in contact with the variety, namely, Irish Gaelic and Micmac, among others. Thirdly, I present a variety of linguistic features of NE -both phonetic and morphosyntactic- that distinguish the dialect from the rest of North American varieties, including Canadian English. Finally, I tackle the issue of language and identity and uncover a number of innovations and purposeful uses of certain features that the islanders show in their speech for the sake of identity marking. I conclude this overview of the variety of English spoken in Newfoundland by revisiting some of the aspects that are still pending of further research if we are to understand both this minority variety and its sociolinguistic situation better. Among these pending issues, I mention that the role of language contact in the formation of NE is yet to be investigated, and the differences between the dialectal areas of the island are also to be further documented. Additionally, future research could focus on the changes NE has undergone -or is most likely to undergo- with the territory’s newfound role as a tourist destination.