Newfoundland French

Flag of the Franco Newfoundland

The Newfoundland French is a variety of French language , it is in Newfoundland spoken. Newfoundland French is very different from the other French-Canadian dialects, particularly Quebec French and Acadian French . Since it is critically endangered, efforts are being made to reintroduce it as the language of instruction. Newfoundland French is only spoken by a few elderly Newfoundland Francophones these days. The total number of French-born Newfoundland dogs is estimated at 15,000, which is around 3 percent of the island's population. Francophone communities are found mainly on the Port-au-Port peninsula, namely in L'Anse-à-Canards, La Grand'Terre and Cap Saint-Georges. Acadian French is the most common in Newfoundland . Standard French Canadian is taught in schools.

Systems linguistic and typological aspects

Influences

Academic French
Northern French dialects (Norman), Basque , Breton
Laurentian French (especially through the media)

Regional variations on the islands

The vocabulary from the language of the fishermen is being used in normal language. Less strong deviations from standard French than in Québec and Acadia .

phonetics

Opening of the vowels :

[ɛ, e] becomes [a] :jamais [ʒama] ,

[ɔ, o] become [u] :votre [vut]

Diphthongization:

z. B.: malade [malaʊ̯d] ,

mère [maɛr]

Reduction of consonant groups in the final :

arbre [from]

Palatalization of [k] and [g]
Grapheme -oi- is pronounced [wa] , [we] or [wɛ] :

z. E.g .: boîte [bwɛt] ,

quoi [kwa]

The final [t] is pronounced more often than in standard French:

bout [but]

Morpho syntax

Verbal ending of the 3rd person plural on -ont [ɔ̃] :

z. E.g .: ils écoutont [il'ekutɔ̃]

participe passé of verbs in -ir has the ending -i :

z. E.g .: couri instead of couru ,

offri instead of offert

Analog conjugations :

z. E.g .: tiendre instead of tenir (from je tiens ),

vous boivez instead of vous buvez (from je bois )

no irregular plural formations:

z. E.g .: un chual - des chuals instead of un cheval - des chevaux

Nouns that begin with a vowel are feminine:

z. E.g .: une argent , une hôtel , une avion , une espace

Double negative:

z. B .: On ne veut pas rien dire.

Relative pronoun :

y en a qu'ont parti d'ici , que also as the subject of the relative clause ;

les camions que je vous parle : que as an equivalent to the standard French dont

In the plural there is no difference between male and female:

z. E.g .: Les jeunes filles, ils venaient se louer pour leur pain.

Verbs:

no phonetic liaison of the plural [s] ; z. E.g .: ils étaient [il'etɛ] , les hôtels [le'otɛl]

Verbs of movement are conjugated with avoir "haben"; z. B .: il a parti , j'ai retourné etc., instead of "to be" with être ; il est parti , je suis retourné etc.

hardly any use of the Subjonctif ; z. E.g .: il fallait que le pêcheur lavait son poisson instead of il fallait que le pêcheur lavât son poisson

Lexicons

English loan translations:

z. E.g .: je disais de même pour fun (engl. For fun = high fr. "Pour rire")

Anglicisms :

z. E.g .: rum-runner "traficant d'alcool au temps de la prohibition" ( Anglais d'Amérique )

Marine vocabulary, vocabulary of fishermen and sailors:

z. B .: Bourlinguer "hard work" as opposed to the standard French meaning "against the waves fighting; go to sea"

Archaisms - 17th Century French:

z. E.g .: la ressource as opposed to the modern standard French la source .

literature

Brasseur, Patrice (1996): Changements vocaliques initiaux dans le français de Terre-Neuve, in: Lavoie, Thomas (ed.): Français du Canada - français de France , Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Brasseur, Patrice (2001): Dictionnaire des régionalismes du français de Terre-Neuve , Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Brasseur, Patrice / Péronnet, Louise (1993): L'atlas linguistique des côtes francophones, in Wolf, Lothar / Niederehe, Hans-Joseph (eds.): Français du Canada - français de France , Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Chaudenson, Robert (1991): La francophonie: représentations, réalités, perspectives . Paris: Didier Erudition.
Dorais, Louis-Jacques (1990): Qu'est-ce que l'Amérique française? in: Corbett, Noël (eds.): Langue et identité. Le français et les francophones d'Amérique du Nord , Québec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval.
Magord, André (1995): Une minorité francophone hors Québec: les Franco-Terreneuviens , Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Mougeon, Raymond (ed.) (1989): La français candien parlé hors Québec. Aperçu sociolinguistique , Québec: Les Presses de l'Université de Laval.
Thomas, Gerald (1983): Les deux traditions: Le conte populaire chez les Franco-Terreneuviens , Montréal: Bellarmin.

Others

Émile Benoît (March 24, 1913 - September 2, 1992) recorded several chansons in Newfoundland French: Émile's Dream 1979, Ça vient du Tchoeur 1982 and Vive la Rose 1992.