Newfoundland English

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Newfoundland English is any of several accents and dialects of Atlantic Canadian English found in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Most of these differ substantially from the English commonly spoken elsewhere in Canada and North America.

The dialects that comprise Newfoundland English developed because of Newfoundland's history and geography. As to history, Newfoundland was one of the first areas settled by England in North America, beginning in small numbers in the early 17th century^[1] before peaking in the early 19th century. After the 1783 independence of the colonies that were to form the United States of America, Newfoundland was one of the colonies grouped administratively as British North America. In 1867, all of these colonies except Newfoundland and Bermuda confederated as the Dominion of Canada. Newfoundland was a British colony until 1907 when it became a Dominion within the British Empire. Bermuda remains a self-governing British colony, now termed British Overseas Territory. Within British North America, Newfoundland and Bermuda had been somewhat subordinated under the Maritimes, with the political centre at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Besides naval, military and civil governmental links, the established Church of England included Newfoundland and Bermuda as parts of the See of Nova Scotia until 1839, after which the island of Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador, and Bermuda, became parts of the Diocese of Newfoundland and Bermuda, with the shared Bishop (Aubrey George Spencer being the first) alternating his residence between the two colonies. A separate Bermuda Synod was incorporated in 1879, but continued to share its Bishop with Newfoundland until 1919, when the separate position of Bishop of Bermuda was created. The Catholic and Methodist churches also linked Bermuda with the Maritimes and there was considerable movement between the areas, possibly contributing to similarities between Newfoundland English and Bermudian English (most notably the similar use of "b'y" in Newfoundland and "bye" in Bermuda).^[2][3][4]

Newfoundland became a part of Canada in 1949 as the last province to join the confederation. As to geography, Newfoundland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, separated by the Strait of Belle Isle from Labrador, the sparsely populated mainland part of the province. Most of the population remained rather isolated on the island, allowing the dialects time to develop independently of those on the North American continent. Today, some words from Newfoundland English have been adopted through popular culture in other places in Canada (especially in Ontario and eastward).

Historically, Newfoundland English was first recognized as a separate dialect in the late 18th century when George Cartwright published a glossary of Newfoundland words.

Newfoundland English is often called Newfinese (also spelled Newfunese).^[5] The word Newfie^[6] is also sometimes used but is often seen as pejorative.