Introduction

Newfoundland English

The English spoken in Newfoundland has long been recognised as a distinct variety of North American English (see, for example, Bailey 1982: 163; Chambers, this volume). Unlike much of the rest of eastern Canada, Newfoundland received little if any settlement of United Empire Loyalists from the eastern United States in the post-revolutionary period. Rather, most present-day Newfoundlanders are the descendants of immigrants from two highly concentrated areas in the British Isles: southwest England (particularly the counties of Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Hampshire – see Handcock 1977) and southeast Ireland (especially the counties of Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Cork – see Mannion 1977a). While the beginnings of permanent settlement in Newfoundland can be traced back to the early seventeenth century, the peak period of immigration to the island came two centuries later; Irish immigration was particularly high in the periods 1811–1816 and 1825–1833 (Mannion 1977a: 7).

Within Newfoundland, the Irish were to settle primarily on the Avalon peninsula, south of the present-day capital, St John's (see figure 7.1). Much of the remainder of the long coastline of the island was inhabited by those of West Country English stock. As a result of sparse overall settlement, as well as the lack of inland transportation links until well into the present century, many of the small fishing communities or outports that dotted the coast remained fairly isolated from the outside world; some remain so even today.