Editing Newfoundland English (section)

== 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Urquhart |first=Emily |date=2015 |title=The Unique Language of Newfoundland |url=https://hakaimagazine.com/features/unique-language-newfoundland/}}</ref>

=== British ===
While there was an early dominance of merchants and migrants from [[Devon]], they accounted for only around 30 percent of the English population in places like St. John's and Conception Bay in Newfoundland.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=Sandra |editor-first1=Raymond |editor-last1=Hickey |date=2009 |title=The Legacy of British and Irish English in Newfoundland |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/legacies-of-colonial-english/A71FBEBB4254796653FDF5BCCE0D8347 |journal=Legacies of Colonial English |series=Studies in English Language |pages=242–261|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511486920 |isbn=9780521830201 }}</ref> Most of the coast, except the Avalon Peninsula, was settled by migrants from [[Dorset]], [[Somerset]], and [[Hampshire]], which Handcock<ref name=":3" /> refers to as "[[Wessex]]."

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.<ref name=":3" /> That group of migrants accounts for almost 80 percent of all English settlers on Newfoundland.<ref name=":3" />

Ultimately, that has allowed for the preservation of speech patterns derived from the West Country in Newfoundland English. Paddock<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Paddock |first=Harold |date=1982 |title=Newfoundland Dialects of English |url=https://dialectatlas.mun.ca/about/H%20Paddock_1982%20paper_final%20_Oct%2019-12.pdf |journal=Languages in Newfoundland and Labrador |volume=2 |pages=71–89}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":3" />

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".<ref name=":3" /> 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 [du:z]/does that all the time."<ref name=":3" />

Other forms of preservation are specific terms in vocabulary like "moreish," meaning a particular food of which one cannot help having more,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=McLeod |first=James |date=2018 |title=The Newfoundland dialect is full of charming turns of phrase, but its real distinction is found in how it echoes the past |url=https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/the-newfoundland-dialect-is-full-of-charming-turns-of-phrase-but-its-real-distinction-is-found-in-how-it-echoes-the-past}}</ref> 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 involvement in Newfoundland fisheries can be traced back to 1675.<ref name=":3" /> Approximately half of the population of most settlements on the shores of the Avalon Peninsula was Irish by 1750.<ref name=":3" /> 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.<ref name=":3" />

Approximately 85% of Irish immigrants originated from the counties of Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Tipperary, and Carlow, in south-eastern Ireland.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Hickey |first=Raymond |date=2002 |title=The Atlantic Edge: The Relationship Between Irish English and Newfoundland English |url=https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.23.2.06hic |journal=English World-Wide |volume=23|doi=10.1075/eww.23.2.06hic }}</ref> The remainder came from western counties, like Cork and Kerry.<ref name=":2" />

Irish migrants inhabited relatively limited areas of the province, primarily in the southern parts of the Avalon Peninsula.<ref name=":3" /> Irish and English migrants were divided by their different religious affiliations of Catholicism and Protestantism.<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref name=":4" />

Another speech pattern that is preserved is the slit fricative [t] 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.<ref name=":3" /> On the other hand, that characteristic is not shared by the Newfoundland settlements from the West Country.<ref name=":3" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=Sandra |date=2012 |title=Phonetic Change in Newfoundland English |journal=World Englishes |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=509|doi=10.1111/j.1467-971X.2012.01777.x }}</ref>

=== French ===
French settlement influences are prevalent in the Bay d’Espoir and Port au Port Peninsula on the west coast of the island.<ref name=":1" /> [[Newfoundland 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]] education for their children, but that would be [[Standard French]] 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]] but represent [[Acadian]] settlers from Canada's [[The Maritimes|Maritime Provinces]]. 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.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> ''Sina'' refers to the edge of a floating ice field and is from the Inuit language.<ref name=":0" />