BILL WESTCOTT
The Compass

The most extreme and recognizable of Canada's accents, the Newfoundland dialect is, these days, something to be emulated by poseurs and carefully maintained by those who have left the rock".

- Linguist Gerald Van Herk, 2008

Please don't call me Newfie! Next to calling Newfoundland the rock, I absolutely detest Newfie tagged to my name.

There are many ways to speak the Queen's English and ours is one of them. There are some out there, at M.U.N. for example, who think we Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans have "the most extreme and recognizable of Canada's accents. They call it "the Newfie dialect."

One writer in commenting about the way we speak said: "It's different; it's associated with characters and sardonic wit, perhaps because of the influence of television personalities like Rick Mercer, Rex Murphy and Cathy Jones.

I'm sure Rex Murphy will be pleased to know he has an extreme Canadian accent. Really?

Like Mercer, Murphy and Jones I too have an accent. Mine is a townie one. My corner boy's accent sounds flat and somewhat Irish. That is why I called this weekly column Scribblings of a Corner Boy. I love my accent and I hope to God it never leaves me. There are real advantages of having a distinctive accent like ours here in Newfoundland. Here are a couple of experiences of mine to prove my point.

Boston connection

Once on a trip to Florida, we took the milk run, as it is called. We were routed through Halifax, Montreal, and then to Boston where we had to change planes and board an American Airline to fly to Tampa, Florida.

We had never been to Logan International Airport before, so needless to say it was crazy. We were carrying our pet puppy in his travel bag at the time and we also had two suitcases. Before we could take our second flight we had to collect our baggage and take them to U.S. Customs.

We found out that Logan was under a huge reconstruction and that we would have to go outside the arrivals' terminal and walk to the next building marked international departures.

Here we were, frustrated and confused. We were outside the terminal and a security guard told us to follow the crowd to the next building up the sidewalk a distance.

That was fine except the building was quite a walk away, about the length of a football field, and there was an awkward diversion on the way where a walkway was being replaced. With luggage in tow and puppy secured inside his travel bag, we started off. It was exhausting and it was getting chilly.

We asked a fellow wearing a hard-hat who was walking by, how much farther did we have to go to reach the departure area once we were inside?

No sooner did the words come out of my mouth when he said, "You guys are Canadians eh?"

"Yes we are," I replied, "we're from Newfoundland."

"Jazzes," he said, "I work with some of your countrymen here in Boston. They are great guys. I recognized the accent when you first spoke to me," he added.

I soon learned that he was from Ireland. He was with the Irish soccer team and in the off-season he worked for a huge U.S. construction company with connections to Ireland.

He was a big guy and he grabbed the heaviest suitcase and trekked towards terminal 2. He lugged it all the way to our departure area and when I tried to give him a tip, he turned and said "No need mate; It was a pleasure meeting ye. I'd love to visit Newfoundland sometime." Then he headed up an escalator towards his workplace.

Vancouver connection

Another special experience happened when we were in Vancouver. We were downtown and it was a holiday. I needed some directions as I was looking for a convenience store.

The only activity there echoed from a construction site where extensive renovations to a large department store were underway inside.

I decided to walk past the barricades and enter the work area. A few guys were busy installing overhead lights. I approached one of them and said, "excuse me but do you know where I can find a convenience store that's open today?"

"Hold on! Stay where you are 'til I comes where you're at," a voice bellowed from atop a scaffold. A young construction worker wearing a hard hat climbed down and said, "You're from Newfoundland aren't you?"

"Yep, sure am," I replied.

"I recognized the accent. Follow me bud," he said.

He headed out of the building and up the sidewalk a fair distance with me in tow. Stopping at a small side road he pointed to a small grocery store with a sign advertising Groceries and a liquor express.

"Look over there, that's what you are looking for buddy," he said.

"Are you a Newfoundlander?" I asked.

"No, but I worked with a lot of Newfoundland guys on construction in B.C. and I sure liked them, still do of course," he replied. "That's how I learned the "stay where you are" limerick. I don't mind doing a favour for Newfoundlanders, they're the best in the country," he added.

In a second he turned around and headed back to work.

"Thanks so much, come visit Newfoundland sometime," I shouted as he scurried off.

Accents vary

It is generally agreed that accents and dialects don't exist without they have a dominant local flair. In this province just about every community has its own way of saying things. From St. John's to Rigolette in Labrador and everywhere in between, every community has its own expressions.

Linguistic students found when generation after generation stays rooted in the same communities, language can stay the same locally. But, when children move away to cities and towns on the mainland, and with mass media bringing English spoken from all over the world into television and I-pods, it seems likely the English language of Newfoundland will become globalized like everything else.

But, that doesn't mean that the inventive and unique expressions that make up a lot of our particular regional/local vocabulary will disappear completely.

The Ottawa Citizen

Last December while in Florida, surfing the net I came across the following commentary carried in the prestigious Ottawa Citizen newspaper. I think it is a fine example of what I am trying to say here.

"There's really no such thing as one defined Newfoundland accent. There are many and they vary quite a bit even within urban areas of the province. For instance there are at least three townie accents - townie being someone from St. John's (like your humble scribbler). Go a little farther outside the cities of St. John's and Mount Pearl and you'll find more, from the lilt of the Irish loop to the soft 17th-century Devonshire and Dorset tones found along certain parts of the coast.

No different than others

It makes me angry when people (and I meet many in my travels) say we talk differently than most folk in other parts of Canada. Why are our accents any different than the Irish, Scots, British, French Canadian, Chinese, Pakistani or Asian-Canadian, I ask?

Many Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans these days are multi-lingual, so to speak. We all speak Canadian English, but when required we can pull up a few local expressions in a blink of an eye just to add a little colour. It's as colourful as it gets and we are all quite proud of it regardless of those mainland scoffers.

Bill Westcott writes from Florida.