Newfoundland English refers to several
accents and
dialect
A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
s of
Atlantic Canadian English
Atlantic Canadian English is a class of Canadian English dialects spoken in Atlantic Canada that is notably distinct from Standard Canadian English. It is composed of Maritime English (or Maritimer English) and Newfoundland English. It was m ...
found in the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...
. Most of these differ significantly from the English commonly spoken elsewhere in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, reflecting the province's history and geography. Newfoundland was one of the first areas settled by England in North America, beginning in small numbers in the early 17th century and peaking in the early 19th century. After the 1783 independence of the colonies that formed the
United States of America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...
, Newfoundland remained part of
British North America
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...
, becoming a
Dominion
A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...
within the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
in 1907. It joined Canada in 1949 as the last province to join the confederation.
The dialects of Newfoundland English developed in relative isolation due to the province’s geography.
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
is an island in the
North Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
, separated from
Labrador
Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...
by the
Strait of Belle Isle
The Strait of Belle Isle ( ; ) is a waterway in eastern Canada, that separates Labrador from the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Location
The strait is located in the southeast of the ...
. This isolation allowed the dialects to develop independently of those on the North American mainland. Historically, Newfoundland English was first recognized as a distinct dialect in the late 18th century when
George Cartwright published a glossary of Newfoundland words. Today, some words from Newfoundland English, such as "b'y" (a form of address), have gained recognition through popular culture in other parts of Canada, particularly in Ontario and eastward.
Newfoundland English shares some linguistic features with
Bermudian English
Bermudian English is a regional dialect of English found in Bermuda, a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic. Standard English is used in professional settings and in writing, while vernacular Bermudian English is spoken on more ca ...
, likely due to historical connections between the two regions. Both were part of the
See of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
until 1839, after which they became part of the
Diocese of Newfoundland and Bermuda. The shared ecclesiastical and cultural ties, along with movement between the regions, may have contributed to similarities such as the use of "b'y" in Newfoundland and "bye" in Bermuda.
Newfoundland English is often referred to as ''Newfinese'' (also spelled ''Newfunese''). The term ''
Newfie
''Newfie'' (also ''Newf'' or sometimes ''Newfy'') is a colloquial term used by Canadians and others for someone who is from Newfoundland. Many Newfoundlanders consider "Newfie" a slur first used by American and Canadian military forces statione ...
'' is also used but is often considered pejorative.
Influences
Much of Newfoundland’s English has been influenced by the languages and dialects of European settlers of the past, such as those who were British, Irish, or French. Also, Indigenous languages prevailed on the island, with some of their influence remains today.
British
While there was an early dominance of merchants and migrants from
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, they accounted for only around 30 percent of the English population in places like St. John's and Conception Bay in Newfoundland.
Most of the coast, except the Avalon Peninsula, was settled by migrants from
Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
,
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
, and
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, which Handcock
refers to as "
Wessex
The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886.
The Anglo-Sa ...
."
A major reason for the migration pattern is that
Poole, Dorset became a major port for the Newfoundland fish trade in the mid-1700s, which resulted in settlements that were densely clustered and mainly derived from Devon, Dorset, Somerset, and Hampshire, as these were located near major ports in the West Country of England.
That group of migrants accounts for almost 80 percent of all English settlers on Newfoundland.
Ultimately, that has allowed for the preservation of speech patterns derived from the West Country in Newfoundland English. Paddock
illustrates how the speech pattern survived in 72 coastal communities in Newfoundland. Specifically, the use of "dark" or "velar" allophone in the communities are phonological features of the West Country. There are regional differences in phonological features. Another preserved phonological feature is the Irish-like fronting for all vowels, which is found in communities on the southern shores of the Avalon Peninsula.
Another speech pattern that is adopted is the conservative paradigm for the verbs "have" and "do" found in the West Country. The verbs "have" and "do" are dependent on their function as auxiliaries or lexical verbs. As auxiliaries, the vernacular paradigm remains uninflected: "he haven't seen her".
In contrast, when used as lexical verbs, the "-s" inflection appears throughout the paradigm, as in "they haves/has no business being here" or "we doos
u:zdoes that all the time."
Other forms of preservation are specific terms in vocabulary like "moreish," meaning a particular food of which one cannot help having more,
and are still used in Newfoundland.
Newfoundland was a British colony for nearly two centuries until 1949, when it became a province of Canada. That makes Newfoundland English have features similar to those found in the English of the West Country. They include the use of certain vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Newfoundland English has also developed its own distinct features over time, particularly by the influence of Irish and French migrants and its isolation from the rest of Canada.
Irish
Irish people in Newfoundland fisheries can be traced back to 1675.
Approximately
half of the population of most settlements on the shores of the Avalon Peninsula was Irish by 1750.
The first significant influx of immigrants occurred mainly during the first thirty years of the 19th century. The number of immigrants on the island had grown to 38,000 by 1836, which constituted half of the total population of Newfoundland.
Approximately 85% of Irish immigrants originated from the counties of
Kilkenny
Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...
,
Wexford
Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...
,
Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
,
Tipperary, and
Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...
, in south-eastern Ireland.
The remainder came from western counties, like Cork and Kerry.
Irish migrants inhabited relatively limited areas of the province, primarily in the southern parts of the
Avalon Peninsula
The Avalon Peninsula () is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland in Canada. It is in size.
The peninsula is home to 270,348 people, about 52% of the province's population, according to the 2016 Ca ...
.
Irish and English migrants were divided by their different religious affiliations of Catholicism and Protestantism.
There was intermingling of local economics, but those interactions were limited. The geography of the island reinforced the religious division resulted in distinctive and resistant dialects of English in Newfoundland and thus preserved the south-eastern speech patterns of Ireland in Newfoundland.
The speech pattern of using the "after" form of the perfect aspect of the verb has been widely adopted in Newfoundland English. That particular construction, as in "look what I'm after doin' now!", has quickly spread throughout the region, despite the existence of several other alternatives such as "I've done," "I've adone," and "I bin done," which come from the
West Country
The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...
.
Another speech pattern that is preserved is the slit fricative
variant, a well-known feature of Irish English. The postvocalic /t/ contexts are prevalent in pre-pause positions except before consonants and are commonly used in Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.
On the other hand, that characteristic is not shared by the Newfoundland settlements from the West Country.
In addition, the monophthongal /e/ and postvocalic /l/ pronunciations are inherited from the Irish and are mainly used today by older Irish ethno-religious people.
French
French settlement influences are prevalent in the Bay d’Espoir and Port au Port Peninsula on the west coast of the island.
Newfoundland French
Newfoundland French or Newfoundland Peninsular French () is the French spoken on the Port au Port Peninsula (part of the so-called “French Shore”) of Newfoundland. The francophones of the region can trace their origins to Continental French ...
was deliberately discouraged by the
government of Newfoundland in the public schools during the mid-20th century, and only a small handful of people, who are mainly elderly, still fluently speak the French-Newfoundland dialect. In the last couple of decades, many parents in the region have demanded and obtained
Canadian French
Canadian French (, ) is the French language as it is spoken in Canada. It includes multiple varieties, the most prominent of which is Québécois (Quebec French). Formerly ''Canadian French'' referred solely to Quebec French and the closely re ...
education for their children, but that would be
Standard French
Standard French (in French: , , or ) is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language. It is a set of spoken and written formal varieties used by the educated francophones of several nations around the world.
As French is ...
education and does not represent a continuation of the old dialect per se.
Also, some people living in the
Codroy Valley, on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland, have
ancestors who were
francophone
The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
but represent
Acadian
The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...
settlers from Canada's
Maritime Provinces
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...
. They arrived during the 19th century and have lost the French language as well.
Indigenous
Most of the Indigenous influence within Newfoundland English has been assimilated and forgotten under colonialism. The Beothuk, the Indigenous people of the island, whose language and people were eradicated in the 19th century, have had bits and pieces of their vocabulary poorly transcribed.
None of it is used in today’s vernacular.
A scarce number of Indigenous terms are still used in Newfoundland’s lexis and are influenced by the Innu, Mi’kmaq, and Inuit peoples. For example, the term ''tabanask'', a term from the Innu language, refers to a toboggan. Also, the term ''babbish'' refers to stretched animal hide used in snowshoes.
''Sina'' refers to the edge of a floating ice field and is from the Inuit language.
Phonology
Consonants
Th-stopping
The is used to represent the voiced "th" sound , and a to represent the voiceless one . For example, "that thing over there" becomes "dat ting over dere" and is derived from
Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English or Irish English (IrE), also formerly sometimes called Anglo-Irish, is the set of dialects of English native to the island of Ireland. In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, English is the first language in e ...
. The stopping of the interdental /ð/ is present in the speech of those in Petty Harbour, a region south of the capital, St. John’s. Research has shown that men tend to have /ð/ stopping more often than women within this region, but that is not the case with function words like "this, them, that, these." Middle-aged women were found to start /ð/ stopping when they say function words, which would thus change to "dis, dem, dat, dese."
Slit fricative t
The phoneme at the end of words or between vowels is pronounced as in Hiberno-English. The most common pronunciation is as a
voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative, also known as a "slit fricative." The phoneme does not have a separate symbol in IPA and can be transcribed as (a
retracted voiceless dental fricative
The voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is familiar to most English speakers as the 'th' in ''think''. Though rather rare as a phoneme among the world's languages, it is encount ...
). Thus, "hitting" is distinguished from "hissing" only by the fricative in the latter word being pronounced with clenched teeth (see
sibilant consonant
Sibilants (from 'hissing') are fricative and affricate consonants of higher amplitude and pitch, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth. Examples of sibilants are the consonants at the beginning of the English word ...
) and being
laminal
A laminal consonant is a phone (speech sound) produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue, in contact
with upper lip, teeth, alveolar ridge, to possibly, ...
, rather than the
apical sound of the slit fricative in "hitting". As the "th" sounds are stopped in Newfoundland, there is no confusion between the slit and the sound. As a result, it is very common to hear "thing" being pronounced as "ting," as is mentioned above. The slit fricative /t/, which replaces the usual Canadian /θ/, acts as a marker of Newfoundlanders' identity.
Voiced fricatives
The modification of initial voiceless fricatives to voiced fricatives can be heard by those in the West Country region (the Northeast, South, and West Coasts and Labrador). Voiceless fricatives, such as /f/ and /s/, are often modified to their voiced fricative counterparts, /v/ and /z/ respectively. Terms like ''salt'' and ''fir'' thus change to ''zalt'' and ''vir'' as a result of that shift. Those speech patterns are less prominent today but survive in pockets in the West Country regions.
Simplified consonant clusters
The West Country is known to remove the last consonant of clusters in their speech. Terms like ''loft'', ''bald'', and ''almost'' are simplified to like ''lof'', ''bal,'' and ''almos''.
H-dropping
Both
h-dropping
''H''-dropping or aitch-dropping is the elision, deletion of the voiceless glottal fricative or "''H''-sound", . The phenomenon is common in many dialects of English language, English, and is also found in certain other languages, either as a pu ...
and
h-insertion occur in the West Country, and in many varieties of Newfoundland English. For example, Holyrood becomes Olyrood, and Avondale becomes Havondale.
Rhoticity
Newfoundland is mainly
rhotic, like the rest of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, and in Ireland and the West Country. Some non-rhoticity is found in some regions.
L-darkness
Some speakers of Newfoundland English pronounce as unvelarized and so the phrase ''sell it later'' is pronounced (cf. General American ). That may be from Irish-influenced varieties of English since they have light variants in both coda and onset positions.
Pulmonic ingressive
Newfoundland English often pronounces the affirmative "yeah" with an inhalation, rather than an exhalation, in the older generations. That is an example of a rare
pulmonic ingressive phone.
Vowels
In much of Newfoundland, the words
''fear'' and ''fair'' are
homophones
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...
. A similar merger is found in the
Norfolk dialect of
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included.
The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
, England, and in
New Zealand English
New Zealand English (NZE) is the variant of the English language spoken and written by most English-speaking New Zealanders. Its language code in ISO and Internet standards is en-NZ. It is the first language of the majority of the populati ...
.
Newfoundland English traditionally lacked
Canadian raising, but that has changed to some extent in the generations since Newfoundland's 1949 joining Canada. People in the Avalon Peninsula, which underwent Irish settlement, display obvious Canadian raising pattern for /ɑɪ/ but not typically for the /ɑʊ/ diphthong. The latter feature has long existed in Newfoundland English but is not very common except in the rural South Coast community of
Newhook. There, it exists in the speech patterns of more women than men.
Many speakers of Newfoundland English have a complete merger of and (a
''kit''–''dress'' merger), usually realized with (in words like ''bit'' and ''bet'') but with before (in words like ''beer'' and ''bear''). The merger is common in Irish-settled parts of Newfoundland and is thought to be a relic of the former Irish pronunciation.
Tempo
Speakers of Newfoundland English may seem to speak faster than other Canadian English speakers. The perceived tempo difference may be a coupling of obvious pronunciation differences with Newfoundland's unusual sayings and is a contributing factor to the difficulty that outsiders sometimes experience with understanding the dialect.
Grammar
"After" past
In a move that was almost certainly taken from
Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English or Irish English (IrE), also formerly sometimes called Anglo-Irish, is the set of dialects of English native to the island of Ireland. In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, English is the first language in e ...
and influenced by the
Irish language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
, Newfoundland English avoids using the verb "to have" in
past participles and prefers formulations with "after" such as "I'm after telling him to stop" instead of "I have told him to stop." That is because Irish has no verb "to have" but more particularly has a construction using the words ''Tar éis'' (meaning "after") to convey the sense of having just done something: ''Táim tar éis é a dhéanamh'' means "I am just after doing it" or "I have just done it." Possession in Irish would be indicated by ''Ta ... agam'', literally "... is at me."
Northern Subject Rule
Newfoundland English often follows the
Northern Subject Rule, a legacy of settlement from southeastern Ireland, which in turn was influenced by the
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...
settlement from
Northern England
Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...
into Ireland. For example, the verb "to fly" is conjugated for third-person plural as "the birds flies." According to a 2011 study by Philip Comeau, that feature of Newfoundland English differs from the rule of dialects in Northern England because Newfoundland uses it as a marker of
habitual aspect
In linguistics, the aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow (or lack thereof) in a given action, event, or state. As its name suggests, the habitual aspect (abbreviated ), not to be confused with iterative aspect ...
or verb
stativity.
Archaic pronouns
"Ye" is the plural form of "you" (singular) instead of ''you'' (plural), similar to how "you guys" is often used to replace "you" (plural) in
Standard Canadian English. For example, when addressing two or more people, or when addressing one person but referring to everyone accompanying a person is, Newfoundland English uses "What do ye think?" instead of "What do you guys think?" Alternately, "What do you think?" is used to refer to a single person. That avoids the confusion of other English dialects in which a group of people would not know whether the speaker is inquiring about only the opinion of the person who is being speaking or the various opinions of the entire group. In most areas of Newfoundland that use the pronoun, such as the
Avalon Peninsula
The Avalon Peninsula () is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland in Canada. It is in size.
The peninsula is home to 270,348 people, about 52% of the province's population, according to the 2016 Ca ...
outside
St. John's, "ye" mirrors the same variant in Hiberno-English in which "you" (singular), "you" (plural), and "they" correspond to "you," "ye," and "dey." The last arises simply from a change in pronunciation and so it is written "they," but the other words are pronounced as in Standard English. Variants of "ye" are also used such as "yeer" (your), "yeers" (yours), and "yeerselves" (yourselves). In some communities on the Northeast Coast, "you" (singular), "you" (plural), and "they" correspond to "ye," "dee," and "dey," respectively.
Habitual aspect using "be"
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" for "that rock is usually under water," but the normal conjugation of "to be" is used in all other cases.
"Does be" is a
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
of
Irish grammar
The morphology of Irish language, Irish is in some respects typical of an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language. Nouns are declined for Grammatical number, number and Declension, case, and verbs for Grammatical person, person and number ...
into English. Since there is no
habitual aspect
In linguistics, the aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow (or lack thereof) in a given action, event, or state. As its name suggests, the habitual aspect (abbreviated ), not to be confused with iterative aspect ...
in English, Irish speakers learning English would say "does be" as a literal translation of ''bíonn mé'' "I (habitually) am".
"Me" for "my" and "mine"
Use or ownership in Newfoundland English is characterized by pronouncing "my" as "me," which is common also in Ireland, Scotland, Northern and Western England, and some dialects in Australia. Before the
Great Vowel Shift
The Great Vowel Shift was a series of English phonology, pronunciation changes in the vowels of the English language that took place primarily between the 1400s and 1600s (the transition period from Middle English to Early Modern English), begi ...
, "my" was pronounced , "mine" as , and "me" as . As with all other sound shifts, not all possible words have been changed in the other dialects that were noted. An example in Newfoundland is "Where's me hat?" for "Where's my hat?"
Use of "to" for location
The use of "to" to denote location is common in Newfoundland English by using "where's that to?" Replacing the standard "where's that?" is a usage comes from the West Country and is still common in southwestern England, particularly in
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
.
Expressions
Archaic adverbial intensifiers are preserved in Newfoundland such as ''that play was right boring'' and ''that play was some boring'' for "that play was very boring". They have been retained also in Northern England such as in the
Yorkshire dialect
Yorkshire dialect, also known as Yorkshire English, Broad Yorkshire, Tyke, or Yorkie, is a grouping of several regionally neighbouring Dialect, dialects of English language, English spoken in Yorkshire. Yorkshire experienced drastic dialect ...
and in
Geordie
Geordie ( ), sometimes known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English, is an English dialect and accent spoken in the Tyneside area of North East England. It developed as a variety of the old Northumbrian dialect and became espe ...
and are sometimes heard in the
Maritime Provinces
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...
of Canada.
Newfoundland English is not homogeneous and varies markedly from community to community and from region to region, which reflects both ethnic origin and relative isolation. For many decades, Newfoundland had very few roads connecting its many communities. Fishing villages, in particular, remained very isolated.
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.'' Or perhaps ''How ya gettin' on?'' To which the response might be ''Same way I gets off!'' The question/greeting is a phrase still current in the Irish Midlands and North but is rarely, if ever, responded to with such a literal answer there.
In recent years, the most commonly-noted Newfoundland English expression might be ''Whadd'ya at?'' (''What are you at?''), loosely translated to "How's it going?" or "What are you doing?" Coming in a close second might be "You're stunned as me arse, b'y;" it implies incredible stupidity or foolishness in the person being spoken to.
Other local expressions include:
* ''Eh, b'y'' (also spelled 'Aye b'y' and 'ay b'y', and sometimes said as 'yes b'y): shortened form of "yes, boy." It's a term used to agree with what someone is saying. Can be used sarcastically.
* ''Yes, b'y'': Yes boy. It is an expression of awe or disbelief. Also commonly used sarcastically to mean yeah right. It is similar to "eh, b'y."
* ''Where ya at?'': Where are you?
* ''Stay where you're to/at till I comes where ya're at/to.'': Wait there for me
* ''Get on the go'': Let's go. It is also a common euphemism for partying. ''on the go'' by itself can also refer to a relationship – similar to a dating stage, but more hazy. The term also refers to drinking ("gettin on the go tonight" – going out drinking tonight)
* ''Havin' a time'': having fun
* ''You knows yourself'': Responding to statement in agreement.
* ''What are ye at?'', or ''Wadda ya'at b'y?'': How are you doing, or sometimes What are you doing?
* ''Wah?'': what?
* '' What's after happenin' now?'' : What happened? (used when someone seems distraught or emotional)
* ''Havin' a yarn'': Used to refer to a group telling a long story or having a long conversation.
* ''Luh!'': Look! (Also used the same way as "Lo", to draw attention to something or somewhere)
* ''G'wan b'y!'': Literally, "go on, b'y/boy?" Can be used as a term of disbelief or as sarcasm, like the term "No, really?"
* ''Hows you gettin' on, cocky?'': "How are you today?"
* ''You're a nice kind young feller'': "You are a nice young boy"
* ''Me Son'': a term of endearment, like "my friend" or "my bud."
* ''Me ol' cock'': another term of endearment like "my friend," "me son," or "my bud."
* ''You're some crooked'': You are grouchy
* ''He
he/deyjust took off'':, They left recently/quickly. Whether or not it denotes time depends on use of the word "just;" by not including "just" denotes speed, whereas using "just" denotes time.
* ''Mudder'' or ''me mudder'': mother
* ''Fadder'' or ''me fadder'': father
* ''Contrary'': Difficult to get along with.
* ''After'': "have." For example, "I'm after sitting down" for "I have sat down." it is also used like "trying" (i.e.: ''whaddya after doin' now?'', "what have you done?")
* ''Oh me nerves'': an expression of annoyance
* ''Ducky'': female friend or relative, used affectionately. This is commonly used in the
English Midlands
The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshi ...
but is used for both genders.
* ''My love'': female friend or relative
* ''Batter'': Leave/begone. Typically used in the form of the phrase "Batter to Jesus." It can also be used as "Take that (object) away from here", in the form of "Batter that"
* ''My treasure'': female friend or relative. These three terms are used platonically.
* ''Rimmed/Warped'': to be deformed or distorted in an unusable fashion. Often used to describe someone who is seen upon as weird or an outcast (i.e., She's rimmed, b'y).
* ''Right'': synonym for "very;" i.e.: "She's right pretty."
* ''Scrob/Scrawb'': a scratch on one's skin, likely from the Irish "scríob" (i.e.: "The cat gave me some scrob, b'y" falling into disuse in lieu of "scratch")
* ''Gets on/Getting on'', used to refer to how a person or group behaves (i.e. "You knows how da b'ys gets on" / "How's she getting on?")
* ''On the go'', To have something processing ("I've got an application on the go") or be in a relationship ("He's got some missus on the go")
* ''Can't do 'ar ting when ya got nar ting ta do 'ar ting wit.'' – "You can't do anything when you have nothing to do anything with."
ar – any, opposite of nar (from ''nary,'' as in "nary a one" – not a one)(Some examples taken from ''A Biography of the English Language'' by C.M. Millward)
Also of note is the widespread use of the term ''b'y'' as a common form of address. It is shorthand for "boy", (and is a turn of phrase particularly pronounced with the Waterford dialect of Hiberno-Irish) but is used variably to address members of either sex. Another term of endearment, often spoken by older generations, is ''me ducky'', used when addressing a female in an informal manner, and usually placed at the end of a sentence which is often a question (Example: ''How's she goin', me ducky?'') – a phrase also found in East Midlands British English. Also pervasive as a sentence ending is ''right'' used in the same manner as the Canadian ''eh'' or the American ''huh'' or ''y'know''. Even if the sentence would otherwise be a non-question, the pronunciation of ''right'' can sometimes make it seem like affirmation is being requested.
Certain words have also gained prominence amongst the speakers of Newfoundland English. For instance, a large body of water that may be referred to as a "lake" elsewhere may often (but not uniformly) be referred to as a "pond." In addition, a large landmass that rises high out of the ground, regardless of elevation, is referred to unwaveringly as a "hill," but there is a difference between a hill and a big hill.
Another major characteristic of some variants of Newfoundland English is adding the letter 'h' to words that begin with vowel sounds or removing 'h' from words that begin with it. In some districts, the term house commonly is referred to as the "ouse," for example, and "even" might be said "h'even." The idiom "'E drops 'is h in 'Olyrood and picks en up in H'Avondal." is often used to describe that by using the neighbouring eastern towns
Holyrood and
Avondale as examples. There are many different variations of the Newfoundland dialect depending on geographical location within the province. It is also important to note that Labrador has a very distinct culture and dialect within its region.
Other
Although it is referred to as "Newfoundland English" or "Newfinese", the island of Newfoundland is not the only place which uses the dialect. Some southerly areas of Labrador and an area near the Labrador border, the mostly English-speaking
Basse-Côte-Nord of
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, also use it. Younger generations of the area have adapted the way of speaking, and created some of their own expressions. Some older generations speak Newfoundland English, but it is more commonly used by the younger generations. ''B'y'' is one of the most common terms used in the area.
It is also common to hear Newfoundland English in
Yellowknife
Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...
;
Southern Alberta
Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2016, the region's population was approximately 291,112. The primary cities are Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. The region is known mostly for agricultural production, but o ...
; and
Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...
,
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, where many Newfoundlanders have moved or commute regularly for employment. Newfoundland English is also used frequently in the city of
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers, in the central part of the Ontario Peninsula. The city had a population ...
because of the high population of Newfoundlanders there, most of whom are from
Bell Island.
See also
*
Newfoundland Irish
The Irish language was once spoken by some immigrants to the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland before it disappeared in the early 20th century. The language was introduced through mass immigration by Irish speakers, chiefly from coun ...
*
List of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador
This article lists unincorporated communities of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Incorporated towns and cities are incorporated municipalities and can be found on List of municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Newfoundl ...
*
List of people of Newfoundland and Labrador
*
Highland English
*
Manx English
References
Works cited
* "CBC Archives." ''CBCnews''. CBC/Radio Canada, n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "Comedian Says Memorial University Taking His Catch Phrase , CBC News." ''CBCnews''. CBC/Radio Canada, 19 July 2012. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "Dictionary of Newfoundland English." ''Dictionary of Newfoundland English Search''. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "Do Be Doing Be's: Habitual Aspect in Irish English." ''Sentence First''. N.p., 12 May 2015. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "Great Vowel Shift." ''The History of English – Early Modern English (c. 1500 – c. 1800)''. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* Higgins, Jenny. "Scottish in NL." ''Scottish in NL''. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "Language." ''Language''. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* McCafferty, Kevin. "'
under Storms Is Verry Dangese in This Countrey They Come in Less than a Minnits Notice...' The Northern Subject Rule in Southern Irish English." ''The Northern Subject Rule in Southern Irish English , Kevin McCafferty''. John Benjamins Publishing Company, n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "Newfie English Dictionary." ''Largest Source of Internet Humour, Eh!'' N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "Newfoundland." ''IDEA International Dialects of English Archive''. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – In Search of the Newfoundland Soul , Convivium." ''Archive.is''. N.p., 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "Sponsored Settlement: The Colonization of Newfoundland." ''Sponsored Settlement: The Colonization of Newfoundland.'' N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
* Statistics Canada. "Population by Selected Ethnic Origins, by Province and Territory (2006 Census)." ''Population by Selected Ethnic Origins, by Province and Territory (2006 Census)''. N.p., 28 July 2009. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "The Proper Spelling of the Newfoundland Slang "B'." ''GregPike.ca''. N.p., 30 July 2009. Web. 21 May 2019.
* "The West Country." ''West Country''. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
*
* "同志社大学附属 同志社国際学院 Doshisha International Academy." ''同志社大学附属 同志社国際学院 Doshisha International Academy''. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2019.
External links
''Dictionary of Newfoundland English'', 2d edCBC News report (8 November 1982) on the publication of the DictionarySamples of Newfoundland Dialect(s)/Accent(s)
{{English dialects by continent
Languages attested from the 18th century
Canadian English
English
English language in Canada