Newfoundland
| Pronunciation of English in most of Canada is overall very similar to American pronunciation; this is especially true in Central and Western Canada. The island of Newfoundland has its own distinctive dialect of English known as Newfoundland English while many in the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island speak Canadian English with an accent sounding more similar to Scottish and, in some places, Irish pronunciation than American. There is also some French influence in pronunciation for some English-speaking Canadians who live near, and especially work with, French-Canadians. |
The syntax of the Irish language is quite different from that of English (i.e., Shelta). Various aspects of Irish syntax have influenced Hiberno-English, though it should be noted that many of these idiosyncrasies are disappearing in urban areas and among the younger population. As for the preservation of older English and Norman French usage such as Cambro-Norman and Ulster Scots, the verb "mitch" is common in Ireland, indicating being truant from school. This word appears in Shakespeare, but is seldom heard these days in British English, although pockets of usage persist in some areas (notably South Wales, Devon, and Cornwall).
Most North American speech is rhotic, as English was in most places in the 17th century. Rhoticity was further supported by Hiberno-English, Scottish English, and West Country English. In most varieties of North American English, the sound corresponding to the letter "R" is a retroflex or alveolar approximant rather than a trill or a tap. The loss of syllable-final r in North America is confined mostly to the accents of eastern New England, New York City and surrounding areas, South Philadelphia, and the coastal portions of the South. Dropping of syllable-final r sometimes happens in natively rhotic dialects if r is located in unaccented syllables or words and the next syllable or word begins in a consonant. In England, lost 'r' was often changed into (schwa), giving rise to a new class of falling diphthongs. Furthermore, the 'er' sound of (stressed) fur or (unstressed) butter, which is represented in IPA as stressed [?] or unstressed [?] is realized in American English as a monophthongal r-colored vowel. This does not happen in the non-rhotic varieties of North American speech. Some other British English changes in which most North American dialects do not participate.
EASTERN NEW ENGLAND The Boston accent is the dialect of English not only of the city of Boston, Massachusetts itself, but more generally of all of eastern Massachusetts; it shares much in common with the accents of Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Southern Maine. The three regions are frequently grouped together by sociolinguists under the cover term Eastern New England accent, combined with New York-New Jersey English, forms a part of Northeastern American English.
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non-rhotic pronunciations reflecting some origin by displaced Lowlands and the influence of AAVE non-rhotic pronunciations |
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