Most of these differ significantly from the English commonly spoken elsewhere in Canada and North America, reflecting the province's history and geography.
The dialects of Newfoundland English developed in relative isolation due to the province’s geography.
Newfoundland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, separated from Labrador by the Strait of Belle Isle.
Today, some words from Newfoundland English, such as "b'y" (a form of address), have gained recognition through popular culture in other parts of Canada, particularly in Ontario and eastward.
The shared ecclesiastical and cultural ties, along with movement between the regions, may have contributed to similarities such as the use of "b'y" in Newfoundland and "bye" in Bermuda.
[6] 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.
[7] 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.
[8] Most of the coast, except the Avalon Peninsula, was settled by migrants from Dorset, Somerset, and Hampshire, which Handcock[8] refers to as "Wessex."
[8] Ultimately, that has allowed for the preservation of speech patterns derived from the West Country in Newfoundland English.
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.
[8] 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.
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.
[8] Approximately 85% of Irish immigrants originated from the counties of Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Tipperary, and Carlow, in south-eastern Ireland.
[11] Irish migrants inhabited relatively limited areas of the province, primarily in the southern parts of the Avalon Peninsula.
The speech pattern of using the "after" form of the perfect aspect of the verb has been widely adopted in Newfoundland English.
", 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.
[9] 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.
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 Maritime Provinces.
A scarce number of Indigenous terms are still used in Newfoundland’s lexis and are influenced by the Innu, Mi’kmaq, and Inuit peoples.
The stopping of the interdental /ð/ is present in the speech of those in Petty Harbour, a region south of the capital, St.
[13] Research has shown that men tend to have /ð/ stopping more often than women within this region, but that is not the case with function words like "this, them, that, these."
Middle-aged women were found to start /ð/ stopping when they say function words, which would thus change to "dis, dem, dat, dese.
A similar merger is found in the Norfolk dialect of East Anglia, England, and in New Zealand English.
People in the Avalon Peninsula, which underwent Irish settlement, display obvious Canadian raising pattern for /ɑɪ/ but not typically for the /ɑʊ/ diphthong.
The latter feature has long existed in Newfoundland English but is not very common except in the rural South Coast community of Newhook.
[26] Use or ownership in Newfoundland English is characterized by pronouncing "my" as "me," which is common also in Ireland, Scotland, Northern and Western England, and some dialects in Australia.
They have been retained also in Northern England such as in the Yorkshire dialect and in Geordie and are sometimes heard in the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
Coming in a close second might be "You're stunned as me arse, b'y;" it implies incredible stupidity or foolishness in the person being spoken to.
It is shorthand for "boy", (and is a turn of phrase particularly pronounced with the Waterford dialect of Hiberno-Irish) but is used variably to address members of either sex.