Prosodic features

Little research has been conducted into the prosodic aspects of NfldE. A popular observation, however, is that Newfoundlanders “talk fast”, and many traditional and vernacular speakers exhibit a tendency towards allegro speech. This results in a high rate of application of such phonological processes as segment deletion and assimilation. For example, there is considerable elision of unstressed vowels: items like electric, expect, according, away are regularly articulated without initial vowel. Likewise, the (unstressed) vowel of it is often deleted before auxiliary and copula verbs, resulting in such old-fashioned realizations as ‘twill for it will, ‘twas for it was, and ‘tis rather than it’s. Apheresis is also common in initial unstressed syllables; thus before is often pronounced as ‘fore, and instead, as ‘stead. In conservative NfldE, particularly in generations past, the vowel of the definite article the (in which th- was typically pronounced as a stop) was often elided before a vowel, resulting in such sequences as d’en’ for the end. In addition, there is a rhythmic tendency towards open syllables, as in the pronunciation of at all as a # tall, with aspirated [t].

Intonation patterns associated with conservative and vernacular NfldE have yet to be described in any detail. Distinctive “Irish” vs. “English” patterns appear to exist, both of which differ from those encountered in much of mainland Canada. As to stress, traditional speakers in Irish-settled areas of the province display a now recessive tendency towards Irish-like non-initial syllable stress in words like inteRESTed, separATE, and appreciATE.

One distinctive feature of NfldE – a feature shared with varieties spoken in Canada’s Maritime provinces, and to a much smaller degree parts of New England – is the use of the ingressively articulated discourse particles yeah, mm and no. Ingressives are more typical of women’s than men’s speech, and appear to be somewhat less frequent among younger generations. In contemporary NfldE, they are found among speakers of all social levels.